Blue Archive: Clock Tower Trinity [OC-Insert] [Blue Archive/Nasu]

[Nihilo]

A Fate OC's adventures in Kivotos! A Student's life of Guns, Charm, and Zeal!

Tags: Mob appreciation, The JTF mobs are free, You can take them home, I have a whole squad living with me right now.

Co-Authored with KillerQueen. Beta'd by Boozeshlager aka ChefRustyDick

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Chapter 1: Demons are a girl's best friend

Greetings, student. We regret to inform you that, during the recent group study project, your body was rendered unto a state in which you are no longer capable of taking classes in this Worldline.

Our investigation into the matter has led us to conclude that the on site faculty's negligence was the primary cause for the accident. This, combined with the binding nature of the agreement permitting your study at Clock Tower, has led us to our current course of action.

We have gathered as much of 'you' as we could, created a body native to the primary Worldline you have been entangled in, and arranged for your transfer to an affiliated Academy therein. As per your arrangements with Clock Tower, your housing and tuition at Trinity General Academy are fully paid through graduation. In addition, your Clock Tower credits will be counted towards your Trinity education.

While we were able to gather 95% of your existence into this crafted body, the remaining 5% was lost beyond recovery. As such, your memories of life before your arrival in your new Worldline may be incomplete. However, since you will be entirely unable to return to your previous Worldline, this should pose you little difficulty moving forward. We hope that you find prosperity in your new life and your new home.

Signed, Daybit Sem Void.

A blank, unfinished outline, sitting in a white, unfinished void, reads a letter. "Created a body," huh? Well, it certainly doesn't seem finished. But maybe that's on purpose? One's self image tends to affect these things.

"Who was I…?" She– ah, there's a bit of self trickling in. She's a she. She doesn't feel terribly attached to the designation, but she thinks she likes girls, so being one would be a win-win. As she comes to this understanding, her outline slowly takes on a feminine shape.

A memory trickles in, a stuffy classroom, her lips quirking wryly as she introduces herself to a fellow magus, the name tasting like a joke on her tongue. Kaika Fukajo. Blooming deep, dark affection.

Like a pulled string, more comes as she tugs. She's a magus, but only in the barest sense. A first generation magus, for one. Taken under someone's wing, someone she can't recall… not important.

For another, she's devoted herself to curses. Ideation, thoughts and feelings, grown so powerful they warp reality. They don't care for Thaumaturgical Foundations or Magic Circuits and in fact even the most mundane person can bring them into being with powerful enough feelings. Her only true magecraft is a set of tongs to handle this ideation, refine it under controlled conditions, give it purpose, because… because…

As Kaika remembers her magecraft, she can feel prana coursing through her Magic Circuits as they take form, running down her spine and limbs. The familiar sensation brings with it a surge of more memories.

…Because wild curses are unpredictable things, the monstrous older brother of actions taken in the heat of the moment. More than that, curses can take life to fulfill their purpose. Demons. Irrational creatures that perceive reality through a tinted, warped lens. Ethereal unless (until) they possess something or someone.

But should someone have strong mental discipline, shape their thoughts with Self-Hypnosis, an artificial demon can be created. Something that can be trusted with tasks more complex than sowing chaos.

There's more. Memories of a long haired man, the scent of soldering, gemstone chips and feather threads mingling with complex circuitry. A laptop and a smartphone, set to draw in and filter ideation. A demon, iterated for generations with a twin, to help shape and process it. The perfect glassware for the labwork that is demonology.

Kaika's body is almost finished. She's a schoolgirl in her mid to late teens. Her hair is short and purple. Her clothes are starting to form, along with her tools and talismans.

There's something missing, she remembers seeing demons outside digital containers and false-flesh made from ether clumps. How–

A cacophony of disjointed snippets. Ghostwriting homework late at night, gingerly testing an experimental mystic code, a towering stack of theses needing proofreading and peer-reviewing. Bitterness weighing down her shoulders and tongue, that her projects are being neglected, all to rack up enough favors to… to…

The moon, burning into her eyes, engraving glowing rings around her pupil. Lunatic Eyes, low grade Mystic Eyes capable of seeing ethereal entities if not forces such as mana or ideation themselves. Attainable through a complex (expensive) ritual. Indispensable for a demonologist.

The bitterness returns and with it a memory. A shove, such a simple thing, completely unexpected among magi. Straight into an anomaly. Only enough time to look over her shoulder and see a sneering face.

Tria Nuado Solmand.

She didn't even get to sic a dying curse on the bitch.

That's… that's enough reminiscing about school. Yes.

She… Kaika looks at herself. Her outline has filled. Her body is defined. Her face and hands are complete. Her Mystic Eyes are intact. All twenty of her Magic Circuits are there, just as freakishly long as always, completely intact. And her…halo? It's an odd thing, four chambers clenching and expanding in a complex dance to the tune of her heart.

As she considers her Halo, new feelings wash over Kaika. She had been partially entangled in a new Worldline, and this new body was made from that Worldline's material. She is now a native of this place. Her Origin is still Aním, she wouldn't be the same person if it wasn't, but it now expresses itself as a Mystic…whatever that means.

Kaika shakes her head, putting the thought aside for later. It's probably just some dimensional flotsam that got caught in. She'll have Sultore and Paimon give her a deep scan later.

As she looks at her surroundings once again, she sees that she is no longer naked in a blank void. Instead, she is sitting in a train car, wearing an unfamiliar school uniform. A sailor uniform…a knapsack…

A bolt of terror strikes through Kaika's heart for a moment. Her babies! Paimon, Sultore, Bosse! Did they get pulled apart with her too!? Were they left behind to either die by inches from a lack of ideation or get dissected by her colleagues!?

Her hand jumps to her neck, patting frantically. The old cord is still there, and so's Sultore's brooch. A core where the floating eyeball can sleep while not at work as her sensor suite. Petrichor fills her nostrils and the brooch radiates warmth. He's fine.

Next her hand drifts to the custom holster on her belt. Ozone and a digital eye peering at her from a smartphone screen, her lab assistant chirping out a greeting. Paimon is fine.

The brass bracelet is still there. She smells burning lilies, ethereal green fire trickling from the stud of bone that the shotgun shaped demon sleeps in as her grumpiest child, Bosse, reassures her he's fine.

She slumps bonelessly on her seat. She isn't alone. She isn't alone.

As the panic gives way to bone deep relief, Kaika can't help but start giggling, somewhat hysterically. She's… free now, isn't she? She has a new life, in a new body, and her friends are here, too! And she's in a new Worldline…what's it like? What kinds of sights and smells and flavors are there to experience?

She jumps to her feet, jitters too much to stay seated. The train is empty! Which normally would be deeply unsettling, but here and now it means she can run and scream as she pleases to let off energy. Frankly, the only reason she isn't making wild curses is her Keys (a grandiose name for her laptop and phone) greedily sucking up everything she emits.

With little warning, the screech of metal on metal sounds forth as the train decelerates rapidly. Kaika, having been running around the train car at the time, gets flung unceremoniously by cruel physics. She rolls ass over teakettle before coming to rest with her face on the floor and her bottom in the air.

It's a minor miracle she hasn't broken her nose. Actually, the only scrapes and bruises are on her pride.

"Attention, passengers. Communication with Sanctum Tower is lost. Until communication is restored, all public works are on standby. You may choose to remain on the train, or to disembark here. Highlander Railway Academy thanks you for your patience and understanding." Comes the PA after a moment.

"Wait, what? The whole city freezes if comms go down?" The magus asks, completely jarred out of her good mood by sheer confusion. Christ, that's a worse system than the CCT. Thankfully, it doesn't last. Because she runs a Structural Analysis on herself and has to laugh at what it reports. This body is SHOCKINGLY durable.

Looks like she won't have to bother Reinforcing herself anymore, beyond maybe her sensory organs and nerves. It's actually a blessing in disguise that the train's stopped, it means she can go on a run.

As Kaika makes a hasty exit from the train, she is stopped by a cute girl with a generic looking halo reminiscent of a scope and a handgun strapped under her arm. "Excuse me, miss! Are you sure you want to leave the train right now? Let's see…according to the register…you were disembarking at Trinity, right? That's a good distance away from here, and it looks like there's a lot of hoodlums causing trouble out there…"

These halos… is the supernatural an open secret here? At least they'd have a higher tolerance for the strange. Well, it isn't like she can't erase this girl's memories if she's wrong, so!

The eye slams open, the pupil contracts.

Fire races down her arm, five angular lines of turquoise tracing out the limb all the way to her fingertips. Power flows, and one of the studs on the brass bracelet on her wrist pops in a deluge of blue sludge, whirling around the carved fingerbone. Like a vacuum bag pulling taut, it contracts, leaving a sleek lever action shotgun sitting so comfortably in her hand she may as well have been born with him.

A flare of ghostly green fire, and the remaining layer of goop burns away like so much paper, revealing lovingly burnished brass and intricate reliefs glowing with an inner light. Spider lilies still in their bud, set against a snowscape.

…But, he used to be a deeper green? The ghostly, foglike wisps he's giving off are new, too. The effect almost looks like neon, or blacklight. It looks great, don't get her wrong, but–

Mimesises. Creatures of Terror, the other side of the Mystic. Beings of Emotion. Differences from demons…negligible to nonexistent. The same feeling that Kaika experienced when she considered her halo washes over her again, bringing with it new whispers.

Apparently it wasn't just a bit of flotsam. Ah, well, at least it's helping for now and none of her demons are screaming, especially Sultore, so it should be fine to wait until she's at the dorms.

For now, she pushes the thoughts aside, clears her throat and poses with her dear child.

"That's what I got Bosse here for!" Kaika says with a beaming grin even as she silently gauges the young woman's reaction.

The girl blinks, cocks her head to the side in mild confusion, and looks at her clipboard again. "Trinity…? Not Gehenna, or Hyakkiyako? Huh. The administrators must be taking the upcoming Eden Treaty more seriously than I thought."

Score!

She nods, puts the clipboard away, and gives the student an equally beaming customer service smile. "Well, if you're sure, then let me give you a map with directions to your destination! We at Highlander Railway Academy would like to welcome you to the Academy City of Kivotos! We wish you a safe journey, and hope you ride with us again!"

…It makes her feel slightly slimy to be on the receiving end of that. Even if she did harvest a bunch of retail workers for Bosse's ideation. Still, her good mood carries the day, making sure her smile remains on and very much genuine, "Thanks, otherwise I'd have had to beat some directions out of the delinquents."

Or climb to a rooftop to look around with Sultore. There is no way in hell a school named Trinity doesn't have a cathedral of some sort, and those stick out like a sore thumb.

With a grin and a wave, the magus snatches the offered map from the Railway Academy student's hand (with a free Structural Analysis of the woman when their fingers brush. Yep, just as durable, as she thought) and starts to run; away from the train, over the kiosk, and into the bright, sunny streets of a gorgeous city of bright whites and pale blues. There are halos everywhere. In the sky, on some of the buildings, and hovering over the slowly drifting zeppelins high above. Though not everything is bright and clean. The sounds of angry shouts and the staccato rhythm of gunfire echoes in the distance, and the smell of smoke and gunpowder taints the otherwise clean, fresh air.

Between the amazing sights all around her, the potential for danger around every corner, and the fact that she really needs to look over her map and brochure, Kaika quickly finds her attention split in multiple directions.

Reading the map tells her a great many things. Firstly, the distance she will have to walk from the city outskirts to the Trinity District is significant. Thirty minute bus ride significant. Ah, well, it just means she'll get a full body workout!

Secondly, the Academy City of Kivotos is BIG. Exact distances are hard to gauge in her distracted state, but it is at the very least big enough for one district near the outskirts to be facing destruction through desertification, another district to be built on an active Volcano, and the largest of the districts to be dominated by endless winter. Both her own district and the volcano…hey, that's Gehenna! The Trinity and Gehenna districts share the majority of the beach, nice!

The brochure helps to contextualize the information. While this "Red Winter" place had the most land, the most prestigious and powerful schools were a place called Millennium Science Academy, Gehenna, and her very own Trinity! And…oh. The term "demon" is in use here, as a primary person demographic studying at Gehenna. A quick glance at her Student ID tells Kaika that her own race is on the ledger as "Magus."

Guess she'll be calling her own demons "Mimesises" from now on? It sounds exactly like what magi would call them if given half a chance. Alas, her poor children, fallen prey to pompous language.

Still! Back on track! She sets Sultore loose to start scouting. A single eyeball encased in a globe of red 'flesh' drifts out of her brooch, trailing six tentacles that fade into yellow. Even if a delinquent has the right eyes to see him AND the consecrated ammo to do anything, he is still a target the size of a tennis ball a mile up in the air.

Kaika notices the same glow and wisps coming from Sultore as are coming from Bosse, but at this point she's expecting it. If her children are here with her, then they're made of this Worldline's materials now, too. She's just thankful that they're okay, and still work the same as before.

Sultore chimes in an instant, immediately spotting a group of potential hostiles about three blocks away. The five haloed high school girls are dressed in old fashioned japanese delinquent outfits. The styles are varied, but on closer inspection, there are common trends around weapon types. The two girls using SMGs have short skirts and ponytails, the lone rifle woman has a shorter haircut and long skirt, and the two blondes with machine guns are wearing pants and sarashi.

The group of Sukeban are on light alert, thoroughly distracted by the collection of purses they are rummaging through.

Kaika, for her own part, is very pleased with the answer to 'can I wall jump?'. It is exhilarating to pinball between buildings until she's at the roof, at which time it is child's play to hop around until she's got a delicious ambush set up.

Now, she just needs a minute to cook up something fun.

---

"Yahoo~ I'm here to rob you!" She chirrups as her feet slam into a machinegun wielder's head like a runaway train courtesy of a subtle curse to do with density. Her answer to people thinking they can push her around just because she's small and cute. Red and white marbles, easily overlooked, fall from Kaika's sleeves as she goes.

Momentum carries the pair into a nearby wall, Kaika's feet embedding the blonde's head a centimeter into the brickwork. The Sukeban is bruised, and knocked out cold.

That would've pulped a normal human's head four times over. She loves this world!

"What the - YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, PUNK!" The thugs shake off their confusion with a cliche line, and immediately scramble into better positions. The two SMG users open fire on Kaika immediately, giving the rifle woman and the remaining MG user a chance to move into better engagement ranges.

"Showtime!" She calls as she jumps away from her first victim, dodging most of the bullets and shrugging off the rest. With a snap and a flash, the marbles at their feet erupt into pillars of bone and lashing masses of flayed muscle just as she programmed them, tripping the delinquents and forming a dome around them.

Fun fact, Lunatic Eyes, due to their connection with the night, confer exceptional low light vision. The tiny trickle of light making it through the small airhole at the top is more than enough for her to nail the remaining MG between the eyes with a bolt of green-edged black courtesy of Bosse.

After that it's a complete joke. She doesn't even need to make her grumpy child bloom. Just work the lever and leave delinquents with a formative experience. Sickness and exhaustion, just like the worst day in someone's retail career.

The rifle woman (leader, maybe?) groans in pain, physically unharmed yet unable to muster the strength to stand. "What…what even is this? Who the hell are you!?"

One of the SMG users whines. "I'm dizzy…my tummy hurts…"

"It's a miracle~" She sing songs with a toothy grin, doing a little curtsy as she introduces herself, Bosse hanging in the air to free her hand, "Kiaka Fukajo, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, cough out the cash. I'm going to treat myself to some unagi after this."

The rifle woman struggles to lift her prone body. Her elbows buckle, and she falls flat on her face again. "You won't get away with this, Kaika Fukajo! The Chicken Dinner Street Gang will never forget this humiliation!" She tries to sound tough, but her voice is muffled by its close proximity to the pavement.

The MG users are out cold. The SMG user who's still awake continues to whine. "I need to go to the bathroom…"

"Right, lemme just–" Bosse's stock melts away, leaving her free to swing the ethereal demon through the poor girl's head, ripping away the sickness curse. Of course, she flips the gun back around and gives her a point blank shot of exhaustion before she can even think about getting cute. "There you go. Can't have my mugging victims soiling themselves while I'm in the middle of fleecing them."

"As for you…" She says, skipping over to the fallen riflewoman, squatting next to her. With her feet fully on the ground, of course, she is no western spy, "If you are serious about that, give me your phone number. We can coordinate a rematch."

The rifle woman's eyes go wide, and her face goes red. "Don't…don't mess with me! Just because you have a cute face doesn't mean I'm going to fall for your charms!"

She then turns her gaze to the ground. "Besides, everyone knows that the SMG girls are cuter…damn it!"

"I, uh, I mean, uhm, that's–" Kaika segfaults, tripping over her own words before shaking her head hard enough to nearly dislodge her hairband, "That wasn't a pick up line. Even if a fight at midnight sounds romantic and you look pretty good and– I'm going to shut up now. Wallet, now."

Kaika leaves 53000 credits richer, but at what cost?

---

The next few hours for Kaika are a blur of activity. As she follows her map on a lazy, meandering path through the turmoil embroiled cityscape, she finds many fantastic sights. The Chicken Dinner Street Gang is only one of what turns out to be many roving delinquent gangs dressed in the Sukeban style. However, they are far from the only forces at play.

"NOBODY MESSES WITH THE HELMET GANG! CRUSH THEM ALL!"

Only slightly less prolific than the omnipresent Sukeban, are the Helmet Gang. Haloed Students wearing sailor outfits and biker helmets with cute yellow ribbons. The grunts wear black, and the officers wear red. Occasionally, there's a robot or two with them, painted black with yellow highlights and wearing the same black helmet as the grunts. What really surprises Kaika, though, are the tanks. Not only do the Helmet Gangsters have tanks, painted and ribboned in their signature style, but the streets of Kivotos seem to be built to accommodate them. Are…are tanks a common means of transportation here!?

"THIS BUSINESS IS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF KAISER SECURITY! STAND DOWN IMMEDIATELY, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"

The more expensive looking buildings often have a mix of combat robots and students in tactical gear guarding them. They occasionally deploy tanks as well, but generally stick to the specific buildings and businesses that hired them. They don't spare a second's attention on anyone or anything else.

Which is good, because it means they don't give a damn as she sets up ambushes to fleece the delinquents. It is laughably easy to bounce between walls to get up on a rooftop, at which point she just has to box them in with Mercer disposable demons and shoot them like fish in a barrel. Honestly, the reason Enforcers are looked down on must be jealousy, this is a high and a half.

The only thing she steers clear of are the basements on tracks. She has, in theory, a way to deal with them. And besides, she'd rather not risk a tank shell to the face. It'd be a pain to actually get in and loot their wallets. Even if the idea of making a Mimesis to possess a tank is sorely tempting. Sadly, the paperwork says she'll be staying at the dorms, so she doubts there will be anywhere to keep a trophy that large.

Speaking of, she's glad that she has a backpack, because her wallet couldn't take any more money ten groups in.

That aside, Kivotos keeps delivering weirdness straight to her lap. Dogs, cats, and birds - all bipedal, fully clothed, and roughly four to five feet tall - cower behind locked doors. With them are robots with screens for faces, clearly not built for combat like the Kaiser models. A quick Structural Analysis as she parkours by tells Kaika that they, too, are unnaturally durable, but not to the same degree as people with a halo.

It's easy to tell when Kaika is on the home stretch, and not just because she has a map. The delinquent gangs, while still present, are much less prevalent. The buildings look nicer, with an architectural style that strongly reminds her of a fusion between the Church and Clock Tower. There's no sign of Kaiser anywhere. Instead…

"HALT! THIS IS THE JUSTICE TASK FORCE OF TRINITY ACADEMY! PRESENT YOUR STUDENT ID, OR YOU WILL BE DETAINED IMMEDIATELY!"

The forces suppressing the delinquents with ruthless efficiency, and protecting the townspeople fearlessly, can be described succinctly as absolutely adorable.

She wants to take them home and spoil them rotten.

Thankfully, by now she's vented all her steam and then some, so all she displays is a small pleasant smile and the ID on her offhand, "As great as I'm sure your hospitality is, I'm afraid I have some prior commitments with my dorm room."

One of the beret wearing first years takes the offered ID, while the rest keep their guns trained on Kaika. Which, hey, fair enough. She still has Bosse out. The first year wastes no time confirming the veracity of the ID, and gives her squad the 'all clear' sign.

"Right then, you're good. I'm having two of my squadmates escort you to your dorm."

The rest of the squad either lowers their guns, or turns around in a defensive holding pattern around them. "Nobody's seen a Magus before, and with all the craziness going on, we don't want any panicked students to mistake you for a trespasser."

"I do have the uniform, but I suppose the eyes make me look out of place enough they may think I looted it from someone." She replies with an easy roll of the shoulders.

"They're very pretty," The squad leader says with honest appreciation, making Kaika preen. "But you hit the nail on the head. The stories I could tell…but we can chat about it over tea later. For now, we have to get back on patrol, and to get you to your destination safely. Hantei, Kinben, you're up."

At the squad leader's word, two of the adorable First Years take up positions covering Kaika's flanks. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Aye aye, ma'am." Kaika says with a smile and a two finger salute, "I do so love a professional."

After the brief exchange, the two groups part ways. Afterwards, Kaika and her new escorts only have to travel for three blocks before they arrive at the main gate.

It hadn't really sunk in until now that she's going to a religious school. Poor Sultore has to retreat back into his brooch from how bright the old brickwork shines with faith. Thankfully, it is only that. Bright. Not burning. Not at all like a church back home, whose mere vicinity would be degrading her children.

Once she gets past that, the campus… honestly, it is to the Clocktower as Kivotos is to London. Shining blue and white, utterly immaculate, like an ideal made physical. There's none of the oppressiveness of the Mage Association, and she doesn't need supernatural senses to tell the ideation here is warm and welcoming.

She just keeps trading up, huh?

There's a lot she could say about it, but now that she's cooled back down, all she can manage is a, "Pleasant enough place. Which is the dorm building?"

"Right this way, past the Cathedral and the Library," Kinben answers. She and Hantei appear to be more relaxed now that the group is on campus grounds, but they haven't dropped their guard entirely.

"By the way, Kaika-senpai. How do you get your gun to glow and smoke like that? It's really pretty, and scary without being TOO scary." Kinben's tone is one of interest, as though she was asking a friend about their makeup.

"Oh, that's because Bosse isn't really a gun, just a gun-shaped demon." She replies on automatic, before catching herself, "Er, I think they're called Mimesises around here?"

"Huh. Mimesises…I've heard that word before…Hantei, wasn't that what the Sisterhood called those four armed things we fought in the ruins the other day?" Kinben asks, with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Yeah, that's right. The Sisterhood keeps their secrets close, but they did give us a bit of intel. How do you keep it under control, Kaika-senpai?" Hantei looks at Bosse with a raised eyebrow. "The ones we saw acted on instinct, and would have started shooting already."

"Oh, yeah, wild de- Mimesises are like that. It's like they're perpetually trapped in a heated moment, makes them irrational." Kaika starts explaining, "Of course, that ju–"

The sound of gunfire rings out from the nearby library building, cutting Kaika off mid sentence and sending the JTF students into high alert again immediately.

"..." For the first time since she got off the train, Kaika's smile vanishes. Her entire expression shutters into something more at home in a corpse, not allowing a single shred of emotion through. "Make way."

The building obliges, white brick parting like a curtain to let her blur through, fire racing down her nerves.

Kinben freezes up for a moment, confused and seemingly torn. "Wait! We're supposed to be…and how did you…"

Hantei, on the other hand, leaps into action immediately. "Oh, shut it, Kinben! You want to intervene, too! Kaika-senpai just simplified things!"

"R..right!" Kinben snaps out of it quickly, and joins Hantei and Kaika as they charge into the library with murderous intent.

The scene awaiting them is enough to make a bibliophile's blood run cold. A small handful of Sukeban, holding lit zippos, are keeping a librarian at gunpoint. "YOU HEARD ME!!! WAIVE THE LATE FEES OR WE'RE PAYING IN LEAD! OR DO YOU WANT US TO DROP THE LIGHTERS?"

"Boss? Don't you think we're going too far this time? We wouldn't have late fees in the first place if we didn't like the books…"

"Too late." Whispers the specter of death right behind them, the whole building seeming to suck in a breath as all lights go out, even the zippos. "Freikugel."

The only source of illumination is the glowing trail of the spectral bullet as it punches right through the chest of the rearmost Sukeban, the spark of blue jumping from heart to eye to brain to gut. Wheezes come out as muscles seize, the delinquents toppling like unstrung puppets.

By the time the lights come back on, they're all stuck in a barrel of bone, encased up to their necks in a massive clump of the material.

"They didn't damage anything, did they?" Kaika asks softly, wringing her hands and looking around trying to find the slightest evidence of a damaged book. She doesn't so much as spare a glance for the Sukeban maki roll.

"Umm…no, I don't think so…?" The mousy librarian girl answers, trembling. The look on her face says she wants to be anywhere but here right now. "May I ask who you are, miss…?"

"Kaika Fukajo." She introduces herself, internally screaming because oh god oh fuck the poor girl's afraid and she's dogshit at being comforting. Oh, wait! "Paimon, activate Solomon Protocol."

The phone slotted into her belt chimes in agreement.

"It's fine, Chie-san," Hantei reassures her classmate, as Kinben radios for cleanup. "Kaika-senpai's weapons are scary, but she's nice!"

By then, however, Kaika is in the throes of Self-Hypnosis.

The eye snaps open, the pupil contracts.

Ideation wells up, power shapes it, reality buckles.

Light pours from her phone, ether clumps form on her hand.

"I name you Dachi."

They meet.

"Wee~" The little floating octopus chirps, floating over to hug the librarian, its tentacles suddenly lengthening to accomplish its righteous mission. "Prrrrrrrrrrrr"

"Oh, that makes sense!" Hantei exclaims, snapping her fingers as the pieces fall into place in her mind. "You can safely use the Mimesises because you made it!"

Three seconds pass in silence. "Wait. You can MAKE Mimesises?"

Kaika blinks owlishly. "Yeah? That's what I was getting to. Wild ones are erratic, so make them under controlled conditions to get something reliable. It just takes gathering some ideation, er, thoughts and feelings, and refining them."

Chie nervously pokes the purring octopus clinging to her. When it reacts by snuggling and purring louder, the young girl begins to smile and laugh.

Success!

Kinben turns her attention away from her walkie talkie for a moment to watch the scene unfolding. "... Kaika-senpai? What emotions did you use just now, to make Dachi?"

"Erm, I- I used my desire to comfort her." She mumbles, looking anywhere but at Chie, cheeks burning.

Hantei and Kinben share a look and a nod. "Mimesis on site, non hostile. I repeat, non hostile. Situation Green."

---

The next half hour or so goes by in a blur. One of the older members of the JTF brings a small group to pick up the trapped delinquents. After assurance from Kaika that the bone would melt on its own after a couple of hours, it was decided that they would be placed in their cell as they were.

Hantei and Kinben escorted Kaika the rest of the way to her dorm room. Before parting ways, however, the pair express interest in meeting again, and possibly learning Cursecraft themselves. If Kaika is interested, of course. And that Chie would probably want to come too, she was absolutely smitten with Dachi.

It is only when she is inside her dorm room, checking over the Greater Key's files that it hits her.

"...Sister, I think I made friends."

The files labeled MA-F don't answer.

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 2: Diogenes of the pool, what is your wisdom?

"This is the Kronos Journalism Academy, reporting to you live from the S.C.H.A.L.E. Building! After yesterday's daring heroics…"

Kaika watches the morning news in her dorm room as she eats breakfast. Yesterday, she didn't have to wait for long before the Sanctum Tower came back online, and public works were restored. As it turned out, the reason that Sanctum Tower was a necessity for so many things was that those things were under the control of the General Student Council President. Who is now a missing person.

She'd keep watching, but there is only so much time until classes start. Apparently she somehow managed to fall asleep during the deep scan despite the complete lack of Bounded Fields keeping her safe. And nobody woke her up! Damn treacherous children, conspiring against her…

So, yeah, she has to… shit, she can't carve them into the floor without getting in trouble. Fuck it, she'll use curses to alter the grain of the wood. It'll be good training.

It all becomes a blur as Self-Hypnosis puts her in the zone. Ideation gathering. Mana gathering. Terror. Bad vibes. Tripwire. Notice me not.

The layers come together, from innermost to outermost. Nothing fancy, just the standard six plus her personal ideation siphon. She doesn't know anything really fancy when it comes to bounded fields, but–

Dun dun dun du du duuun dun.

She jolts up as the tripwire sends the first notes of the imperial march into her brain. She has visitors. Did she– fuck.

"Applepie!" She calls as she stomps on the matrix, hitting the emergency shut down and running to the door, "Terribly sorry about that!"

As Kaika opens the door and bows in apology, she startles Kinben and Hantei, who had already moved on to try another door. They were holding a box of what appeared to be fresh, hot donuts. "Kaika-senpai? So this was the right door after all…?"

"Phew, you didn't trigger more than the SEP, alright." The demonologist slumped in relief, "Sorry, I was setting up some basic defenses and you showed up before I had the exclusion list done."

"I…okay?" Kinben responds, confused. "We brought donuts for us to share? We've also been asked to show you around campus, and to take you to the administration office before class."

"Oh, good, saves me ideation." Mapping curses are expensive given how much ground they need to cover. "Come on in, make yourselves at home. Would you like a small crash course on Bounded Fields while I add you to the exclusion list?"

Her room is completely bare of personality at the moment, nothing but the (rather fancy) accouterments Trinity gave to all her students. Cream wallpaper, matching curtains and sheets, a few shelves, a desk, a kitchenette and some assorted furniture.

"Sure, sounds interesting!" Hantei answers, taking her shoes off at the door. "Oh, Vice President Hasumi-senpai is on the news again! And so is the new Sensei!"

Jesus Christ, what a woman. I want her to–

Kaika swiftly partitions off the section of her brain wallowing in the gutter and wolf whistling. Useful ideation, but she could do without the distraction. Haah, wonders of mental discipline.

"She's so pretty…" Kinben says, starry eyed. Hantei, on the other hand, pays close attention to her movements before sighing. "She's doing it again. That thing she does with her hands whenever she's thinking about her weight."

"Has anyone bothered telling her that muscle is denser than fat, so having an active lifestyle actually leaves you heavier?" Kaika says, adding another layer to the partition as that corner of her brain got louder.

"We've tried everything shy of telling her to her face," Hantei sighs. "Apparently, she was the slender, traditional beauty type last year, so it's just not connecting in her brain that she's got the body of a fertility goddess."

"HANTEI! You can't just say things like that about our senpai!" Kinben's face is a full tomato red blush.

"I'm not saying anything bad. Who DOESN'T dream of a lap pillow from Hasumi-senpai?"

"Guilty." Kaika chimes as she takes a donut, unable to help a low moan at the chocolate filling. Fuck yeah, this is the good stuff. She'll make them some potato hash later, if she can find the ingredients. Or maybe treat them to something? Her withered heart recoils at the idea of paying for other people's food, even if they are adorable and she's already all set to–

Oh, right! "So, Bounded Fields. If you've ever heard about magical protections on a building, that's pretty much it. You weave a network of magic energy through a structure to establish a boundary," She explains, a tiny bit of curse trickery making the mandalas crawling through the room like ivy visible as lines of ethereal blue, "And then add sigils as both a terminal and a signal booster," She points at the scrawl of runes on the wood grain, "Making the effect project outwards. What I have here is, in order: Notice me not, intruder alarm, paranoia, terror, mana gathering, ideation gathering."

She makes each layer glow brighter as she points them out. Hantei's eyes seem to light up brighter in sync with the display. "So cool…wait, this is the wood grain, isn't it? That's amazing, you didn't even carve anything up!"

"Yyyeah, I didn't think anyone would appreciate me carving up the flooring. Thankfully, curses are versatile like this." Kaika says, scratching the back of her head.

Kinben's eyes are equally sparkly, until a look of realization crosses her face. "Kaika-senpai…while everyone appreciates how considerate you're being, I have to ask. What happens when someone DOES trigger the trap all the way down to terror? Do they just have a panic attack in the hallway?"

"Yeah, it isn't the subtlest thing, but it is part of the basic six because if someone gets so deep in, it's a solid deterrent." Kaika says, not seeing the issue, "It's stan…dar… shit, fuck, I'm not in the Clocktower anymore. I actually don't want to give my colleagues a panic attack if they snoop around."

Hantei and Kinben share a look, but choose not to say anything.

"Uhhh, alright, let's see, dial down the throughput regulator, shift the mental interference to anxiety, add a recursive ideation latch and…" She mutters as the mandalas unravel and shift, growing more complex as toxic green light is worked into them. "Phew, alright, this should instead make people suddenly remember some other pressing business and make them anxious as all hell about taking care of it. This bit here is a failsafe that will make them think they left the water running at home if there's nothing legitimate to pull."

The two First Years watch in fascination as the wood grain lights up and shifts before their eyes to mutters of 'gotta adjust the terminal too'. At the end, they begin to clap in applause. "So pretty!"

"Clock Tower Academy must have been a crazy place if that was the norm. But I understand wanting to keep your room safe…oh! Is there a trap that turns someone's hair a funny color!?" Kinben asks.

She's just… she's just going to focus on the second half instead of traumatizing her with what she remembers of that viper pit, "I know an Alteration matrix that makes registered humans glow a certain color. It's just an introductory piece to teach students how to target specific souls. It should be simple enough to shift the effect to changing hair color."

"Yay! Cotton candy color!" Kinben giggles and cheers. "It looks complicated, but I'm looking forward to trying it!"

She glances idly at the clock, and her face pales. "Oh, no! We're out of time! We're going to be late to Kaika's meeting with the Administrators!"

The next few minutes are a blur of activity, as the three girls cram fried baked goods into their mouths in a decidedly unladylike fashion while getting their shoes back on. Soon after, the trio are running across the campus, Hantei taking the lead and Kinben holding the rear.

Miraculously, the trio reach their destination a few minutes early. Long enough to catch their breaths and chat a moment before the Administrators arrive.

"Hey, remember that Sensei who was with Hasumi and those other students? The one who supposedly helped them beat the Fox of Calamity?"

"Yeah? What about her? She's cute if a bit plain, and Hasumi-senpai looks like she might like her, but what else is there to say? We only know what we saw on tv."

"But Hantei, she's a Teacher! A real Teacher! And she can visit any Academy that she wants! What if she comes to Trinity? Don't you want to know what her classes are like?"

She has to wonder what the quality of the teachers around here is if they're kicking such a fuss about having a 'real' one possibly swing by. Hopefully it isn't as bad as that one guest lecture she got from Bram, she thought her soul would abandon ship and never return.

---

Kaika finds herself sitting across the table from a group of mechanical citizens in business suits. Standing next to them is a Student carrying a large box that couldn't be more obviously from the Mage Association if it tried. Nevermind how it makes her skin prickle with the magic energy wafting off of it, the real giveaway is that it's handmade. Kivotos clearly doesn't believe in artisanal goods from what she's seen so far.

"Welcome, miss Fukajo," One of the machine people says, his lack of a mouth no hindrance. "We are the Trinity Academy Administrative Board. We have received the package from your previous school, and understand that there may be significant differences between how this school is run compared to your previous one."

Eh, sure, but they are all changes for the better so far. She simply shrugs.

"One point that your previous instructors were concerned about was the difference in firearm culture. However, reports from the Justice Task Force imply that you've taken to it like a fish to water. Would you agree?"

She nods, face completely blank out of habit.

"The second point of utmost importance. Here in the Academy City of Kivotos, Schools are more than places of learning. They are political entities, not unlike small countries unto themselves. Student Councils are ruling bodies, and enforcer groups like the Justice Task Force are military forces. Hot wars between schools are rare now, but have been more common in the past."

But cold wars aren't. Right, she'll have to watch her back, but what's new?

"This leads to the third point. It is the students who hold the power, and the students who maintain the traditions of their respective Academies. As such, it only makes sense that the Students be the primary motivators in their education."

Wait wha–

"We in the Administration Board are not teachers, nor are the on site faculty. Teachers are, in fact, a rarity in the Academy City. Our job is to keep and maintain the Blu Rays and Tech Notes with your lessons on them, and to ensure that grading is carried out in a fair and accurate manner."

As he says this, the Administrator pulls out a set of simple textbooks of uniform design, and a set of disks in cardboard covers. Each is emblazoned with what Kaika has come to recognize as the Trinity logo, but apart from the colors, there is very little to tell one book or disk from another.

…

"While private tutors are available for a fee, we are unable to answer questions you may have about the material."

She already misses El Melloi's tutoring sessions. She never did get into his classroom, being in the Department of Curses and already taking a few lessons in the Department of Spiritual Evocation, but the man had helped her build her devices.

"Lastly, your lesson plan. The majority of your classes will be the standard Trinity curriculum. However, your previous school has sent us a package with the Blu Rays and Tech Notes required to finish your previous degree during your stay with us. For these classes, you will have a private tutor, paid for in full by Clock Tower Academy." As he says this, the box is finally brought forward. Inside are a set of Blu Rays and Tech Notes, in the same style and color as the Trinity ones, but with the Department of Curses' symbol.

Only experience keeps her expression blank, turning a sigh and slump of relief into a slightly more vigorous nod. She can't recall what her deal with the Clocktower was, other than a vague impression of having caught someone's eye, but it's got to be something above and beyond to get this sort of treatment.

---

Aesthetically speaking, the classroom is beautiful. The desks are comfortable. The windows are large, and the class is bright.

The lessons, however, are an exercise in patience. Once the materials are dropped off at the classroom, the Blu Ray goes in, the textbooks are opened, and everyone takes notes for twenty minutes.

After the video lesson concludes, the remaining ten minutes of class are spent in free study. The students who either feel comfortable about the material - or who simply don't care - spend the time gossiping. Those who are struggling with the material find a friend to study with, or suffer alone like the Sukeban in the corner.

She doesn't know how anyone can struggle with material that simple. Even just taking notes is overkill and she only bothers to have quick reference material for when the exams swing around.

She's so busy musing on this that she only realizes what she's doing when she's already tapping the Sukeban on the shoulder. Internally, she screams. Fucking bleeding heart sneaking up on her. It's all Sultore's fault, she let him roam around the classroom and he tipped her off to the poor girl's despair.

"Eh? Whadda you want, new girl? Are you picking a fight?" The Sukeban immediately goes on the defensive in surprise. Her eyes dart around at the other students, and to the machine gun case leaning against her desk.

"I was just going to offer help studying, but if you want a fight…" Kaika trails off, feeling Bosse stir on her bracelet in anticipation. As expected of a Mimesis made from retail worked ideation, he's vicious.

Several of the gossiping girls glance in the pair's direction, and giggle. The Sukeban blushes, and tries to bury her face in her textbook. "Just…just leave me alone, okay? You don't want to get mixed up with a thug like me. Besides, this is your first class here, right?"

The feelings radiating off of the Sukeban are small amounts of gratitude and hope, moderate amounts of despair and acceptance, and large amounts of shame. 'If she gets it after one class and I've been struggling for a week, I really AM that dumb…'

"Nah, it's actually a good move. It will make assholes basically wave a big neon sign over their heads." She says with a laugh, which only gets louder as the gossiping girls suddenly yelp. Almost as if they had gotten pinched, how mysterious.

"...Eh? What? But you-" The blonde thug stammers, thoroughly confused by what she just witnessed.

"Alright, let's start with the trophic chain and go from there into how the population balances and checks go. It's pretty simple…" She's learned her lesson when it comes to momentum, she grabs a nearby chair and doesn't waste a moment in helping the blonde.

The remaining ten minutes of class fly by. The deeply confused Sukeban leaves her encounter with Kaika with a far more thorough understanding of the material than she does of her present surroundings.

"...Eh?"

---

Two more classes went by, in much the same manner as the first. It was dull, dreadfully dull, but she powered through with the characteristic stubbornness of magi everywhere. However, lunch is here, and if Kaika's eyes do not betray her, it's going to be as filling for the heart as it is for the stomach.

"Thank you for saving me yesterday, Kaika-senpai! And for introducing me to Dachi!"

While Kaika had planned on going to a cafe for lunch, Hantei and Kinben waylayed her, insisting that she join them at the central fountain instead. She's very happy that she did; Chie was waiting for them there, and is now offering her what looks to be a very large homemade bento.

"Please, accept this token of my gratitude! And…and I hope that we can be…friends?"

"You just earned my friendship twice over." Kaika says, her stomach growling in agreement. She would protect this woman with her life. Hantei and Kinben share a look, and start giggling jovially.

"Ehehe~" Chie blushes happily, with a big silly grin on her face. Kaika can hear Dachi chirping happily from somewhere in Chie's massive knapsack. The ideation that the group is putting out must be a feast for the little guy.

Speaking of feasts, Chie went all out on this one. Kaika opens the bento and is greeted by the sight of tempura, takoyaki, and more!

"Correction, thrice over." The demonologist says hoarsely before digging in.

I'm in heaven~

"So, Kaika-senpai. How are your classes so far?" Kinben asks, as she and Hantei take a seat next to Kaika on the lip of the gigantic, three tiered fountain. The pair of enforcers pull out bentos of their own. They seem to have prioritized foods that can be eaten quickly, and put back away easily. Are they used to having their meals interrupted?

"They're making me miss even desert dry teachers like Prof Crough." She grouses in between bites, rapping her chopsticks against the rim of her bento in agitation, "Even the most curmudgeonly magus will happily debate you and expound on their field. They're passionate, instead of these droning blue rays."

"Wow, Clock Tower Academy had TEACHERS? Like, more than one of them?!?" Kinben's eyes sparkle brightly as she hangs on to every word coming out of Kaika's mouth.

Chie, meanwhile, sighs sadly. "I know what you mean, Kaika-senpai. The tone is supposed to be soothing, but with how slowly they speak, it really does come across as droning. I like the textbooks so much better. I can set my own pace, then."

Hantei looks at Chie in shock. "What? The Blu Rays are too slow for you? But they seem to go so fast…I can keep up, but only just!"

"Agreed on the books." At least those were passable. "But yea, the Clocktower is actually a university. Field experts give lessons in exchange for access to the facilities and resources."

"Woooow~" Kinben has a dreamy expression on her face imagining it.

Hantei, on the other hand, looks at Kaika in surprise. "You too, Kaika-senpai? Wait, what about you, Kinben? The material isn't slow for you too, is it?"

Kinben is broken from her reverie by Hantei's desperate pleading. She thinks for a moment, before opting to give her fellow enforcer a comforting pat on the head instead of answering her directly. "There, there~"

Hantei is not comforted. "KINBEEEEN!"

"Pft. Come on now, no shame in having a different learning style." Kaika says with a snort and a twirl of her chopsticks, "I do best with reading, since I can double check things and cross reference."

"Ara, ara~ Such wise words! Our new transfer student is such a wonderful senpai~!" A lazy, sing-song voice echoes from the fountain behind them. As the group turns around to look, they spot a girl with long, pink hair floating on her back in the fountain. She's wearing a one piece swim– no, no those are tan lines, she's wearing a string bikini and a smile.

Hantei and Kinben slam their bentos shut and jump into action immediately. "URAWA HANAKO! COVER YOURSELF AND EXIT THE FOUNTAIN IMMEDIATELY!"

"Oh my! Such bold kouhai we have~! Are you that curious? Do you want to see every angle of me that badly?" She's…Hanako's doing this on purpose, Sultore reports as Kaika coaxes it out. Not to seduce. Just to get a rise out of as many people as she possibly can.

Well, two can play at that game. "Lunch and a show, today's the gift that keeps on giving."

"Please don't encourage her, Kaika-senpai! AND YOU HEARD ME, HANAKO!" Hantei's face is an atomic red as she points her gun at the nudist in the public foundation. "If the one piece swimsuit wasn't okay, then why in Kivotos would THIS be?!?"

"Aww, no honorifics for me~? So sad… I just want people to be honest with themselves," Hanako teases, giving Kaika a conspiratorial wink. "Everyone just goes about their day, pretending not to feel these things. So many secrets. So many little lies…" Correction. The high school Diogenes in the public fountain. And that look in her eyes…she's not just talking about sexual repression, is she?

"But that's okay. I'm behaving, see? I've covered myself, and I'm getting out of the water!" And just like that, she's back to being a big tiddied troll. Hanako arranges her hair to cover her chest, stands up, and climbs out of the fountain. She makes no effort to cover any other part of herself, nor does she take particular care to keep her hair where she put it.

"Let me help!" Kaika chirruped with a grin, a brilliant red ribbon forming out of thin air and snaking around the pinkette, making the woman even more indecent for all that it technically covers the essentials. Ah, the power of lingerie.

"Aww…" Hanako looks at her ribbon clad body with conflicting feelings.

"Thank you, Kaika-senpai! This technically covers more!" Hantei is still in full enforcer mode, so her words come out clipped. But in all fairness, the incident isn't exactly resolved. "Now! The rest of your clothes! Put them on!"

"Ara? But I'm still soaking wet?"

"AND WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?!?"

"I mean, she's clothed, technically." Kaika chuckles, blowing Hanako a kiss, "A ribbon is cloth and it covers the essentials. It also isn't a swimsuit, so rules as written, she's golden."

Hanako snaps her fingers, and her eyes light up in mischief. "Oh! You're right, Kaika-san! Okay, then. Since I'm fully dressed, I'll be returning to class now~"

Hantei goes into a full sprint immediately in pursuit of Hanako. Kinben runs around the fountain to try to find Hanako's clothes. "Kaika-senpai, whyyyyyyy!?"

Poor Chie can't even speak through the stammering, the glow of her blushing face only overshadowed by the soft blue glow of Dachi covering her eyes.

"People like that are important to keep everyone from being too uptight." Kaika says, cheerfully omitting how the ribbon is going to melt in a couple of hours. She's sure Hanako will appreciate the surprise.

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 3: Take me to the moon

The soft red glow of sunset illuminates the hallways of Trinity Academy. Most of the Students have retired to their dorms, giving the campus a calm, empty feeling. A mechanical citizen with "Fredericks" on his nametag is leading Kaika to a private study room, to meet her tutor for the first time.

"Your tutor will join you at some point after lessons begin," the faculty member says, nervousness tinting his lightly autotuned voice. "He is adamant that only you ever see him while he is on campus."

Mr Fredericks glances at Kaika, as if hoping for a response of some kind. When all he sees is the mask of politeness that the young magus has spent years cultivating, he shudders visibly.

That tells her it isn't quite working as intended, but it is the only way she knows how to interact with nominal superiors… actual ones. Not colleagues with a superiority complex. Fucking snobs.

"I'm sorry to say it, but I'm unsure that we will be able to grade these lessons," Mr Fredericks continues, straightening his tie compulsively. "How they managed to encrypt segments of video feed on this medium is beyond me. And the parts we COULD see felt like we were watching 'The Loft,'" He says, a nervous chuckle indicating the attempt at breaking the ice with humor.

Kaika's polite laughter is as soulless as her shuttered expression. She feels sorry for the poor man, but she isn't going to risk overstepping her bounds.

The sounds of soulless and nervous laughter combined echo through the empty hallway, creating an eerie noise that serves only to enhance the tension. Mr Fredericks quickly stops, and increases his pace.

"If at any point you feel as though your tutor is taking undue advantage of the situation, please inform us immediately. We don't want these classes to have a negative impact on your experience here at Trinity, and we are ready to help you make adjustments as needed."

The clearly rattled citizen glances up at the room numbers. In one swift motion, he grabs a door handle, spins on his heels, and opens the door as he power walks away. "ThankyouIwishyouluckhaveagoodclassBYE"

"Goodbie, sir." She says placidly. She really should do something nice for the guy, but she doesn't know how without potentially making a target of herself. Maybe something anonymous?

Finding his office or home would be easy. Being an ideation specialist meant information was laughably easy to gather.

The room that Kaika steps into is small and windowless. There's a nice wooden table, two chairs, and a television set currently playing static. The lights are off, leaving the glow of the television as the room's only light source. As the door closes, and Kaika takes her seat, the static is replaced by the same symbol that Kaika had seen on the Blu Ray cases for her Clocktower class.

She wonders what curses the Department used to encrypt this. She definitely knows how she'd do it, a minor demon that analyzes incoming ideation to determine who is and isn't in the know.

Kaika isn't sure what she was expecting from these video lessons. But when what looks like handheld camcorder footage of an utterly baffled Professor Twich Crough appears, Kaika is sure this wasn't it.

"Professor El Melloi! What is the meaning of this?! I'm teaching a class right now!" Wait, what? The loudly dressed old man looks like he's alone! And…is Professor Waver recording this?!?

"That confounded contraption does WHAT? Wait, she's still alive? And you expect her to learn from a recording?! How's she supposed to ask questions? What context is she going to have if she can't hear her peers' questions? WHAT KIND OF LESSON IS THIS? I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS, WAVER!"

Ooh, he's MAD.

Thoughts and prayers, Professor Waver. Thoughts and prayers.

"FINE. If it settles accounts, then FINE!" Professor Crough grabs a piece of chalk, and starts scribbling on the blackboard like a man possessed. "But on ONE condition! Edit out what's required of you, but ONLY THAT! I DON'T WANT YOU TOUCHING MY LESSON!"

Oh. Oh, no. This is going to be a DELICIOUS disaster. She'd have to squirrel away the recording to let the Kinben and co enjoy.

Kaika can see why this had been compared to what she could only assume was this Worldline's version of "The Room." What follows is simultaneously the most interesting, and deranged, that she's ever seen the old curmudgeon. It's glorious.

Kaika isn't sure exactly when it happens. She never hears the door open, or sees another source of light. But some ways into the lesson, she notices out of the corner of her eye that she isn't alone in the room anymore.

Sitting in the chair next to her is a tall, wooden puppet. He is wearing a rumpled suit, and is bereft of shoes. He has two heads growing from a single neck. Both heads have flat faces, with stylized impressions of eyes carved into the wood. He makes no movement of any sort, simply starting at the screen as Crough howls.

Honestly, he barely makes it into the top ten of weirdest shit she's seen, and that's only because he's apparently qualified as a teacher.

The pair continue to sit in silence as the video plays. The only sounds other than the voice of the elderly magus are those of pencils running across paper as Kaika takes notes.

Eventually, the video comes to an end. The television shuts itself off, and the lights turn back on. The puppet is still in the room. In front of him is an open notebook, and a pencil. Kaika realizes at that moment that he had been taking notes on the lesson right alongside her.

"Hello. I am Maestro. You have questions, yes?" He has no visible mouth, yet he speaks without difficulty.

Okay, so they are doing it like that. "Call me Shin, then. What's your nature?"

"Perceptive. I am an outsider to this City. I am a seeker of Truth. And, possibly most importantly, I am an Artist." Maestro closes his notebook.

"I am not a Magus. The privilege to learn these lessons by your side is the payment that I receive as your tutor. However, I understand that what we do otherwise has a great deal in common."

Maybe, just maybe, she doesn't need to guard herself around him like she does the Administration. There's one very easy way to find out, "What is art to you?"

Her eyes are no longer dead, instead boring into her fellow Outsider with the full intensity of a curious magus.

Despite the unchanging nature of the carved, wooden "faces," Kaika can feel a similar intensity returned to her in kind. "...the exploration of the nature of things. Replication, reflection. Emotions, experiences. The Terror, and the Sublime."

The way he said Terror…

"Mimesises, and the Emotions that make them."

She doesn't need Sultore for this, that conviction resonates in her bones.

"Art is interaction," A tiny crack in her facade, an uptick of her lips. "Art is discovery," It widens, something shaking and feverish peering through, "Art is expression," Gone is the dispassionate tone, she speaks like a true believer preaching the word. "How we convey and inspire the deepest feelings and ideas."

She shudders, hugging herself, "You understand. You know the siren song of the muse, the maddened jitters, the feverish urges. You know what it is to rip open your heart and smear its darkness and light into the canvas."

He's like her. A true artist. A brother.

The sound of creaking wood echoes as Maestro trembles. "The despair when the muse is silent, eclipsed a hundredfold by the joy when she sings once again. The exhultation when your work is finally SEEN. The Kaleidoscope of EMOTION that a viewer can bring, their perspective expanding upon a piece beyond what its maker ever dared to dream!"

It's too much, she has to– she has to–

"Mother Moon and Father Sun," She prays feverishly, Sultore and Paimon leaping to help their enraptured mother, "Watch over your daughter as she wrings dreams from your light and paints them onto reality."

She doesn't need Self-Hypnosis, not here, not now. Not when she proves herself to her brother.

"This is a gift for a brother."

Wood and wind sound, singing glory glory glory.

"For a kindred spirit."

Strings of light dance, twirling like the stars themselves, weaving a tapestry of kinship.

"From your deepest sorrows to your highest joys, from your most ferocious rage to your most serene peace."

She dances with them, every motion sending ripples through the orchestra and the dancers, the world bending knee to the power of creation.

"Let this be the quill to your heart's ink, the boxwood to your mind's clay."

Power flows. Ideation wells up. Reality buckles.

"Let her be named Adestria, my helping hand, now and forever by your side."

Everything collapses into a single beautiful point, floating in the middle of the room. A shimmering wand of the purest bismuth, shimmering in every color of the rainbow. It shifts like quicksilver. One moment a brush, another a sgraffito, the next a chisel.

As the gift descends into the wooden doll's trembling, outstretched palms, he falls to his knees, likewise overcome.

"Such a splendid gift…alas…if only I could work the clay of creation as adroitly as you, my sister in spirit…"

A mixture of feelings radiate from Maestro. Wonder. Gratitude. A deep melancholy.

"I have no Circuits. I am forced to work slowly…coaxe out the shape over days…you will be made to wait for your gift…"

"There's… no shame in it… the muse works… at its own pace and…. no-one else's." She says, breathing heavy too. That… that was a rush like few she's ever had. The sheer joy of finding a kindred spirit at long last overcoming all her magus self-control. "I'm just… happy my youngest… will find purpose so… soon."

---

"Sister, today I met someone like me. Well and truly. I can't wait to introduce you."

The files, once more, don't reply. She still plays their song, letting it wash over her.

---

"... Kaika-senpai? Are you listening to me?"

The young magus is shaken from her daydreaming over the previous day's progress by the adorable pouting face of her friend and kouhai, Kinben. As an apology for her role in the Hanako incident, she has agreed to help walk the young enforcer through the process of making her first Bounded Field.

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts for a moment. I finally found the key to finishing a year long project." She says with a giddy smile. Oh, she can't wait~! She's going to floor Maestro. "Aaanyways, let's get started. Structural Analysis first, need to know where your circuits are before I force them open."

"Wait, what? Circuits? Force?" Kinben babbles in confusion as Kaika's hand comes down to pat the adorable First Year's head. Her eyes dilate for a moment as information crashes into her, only to be ruthlessly cut down into manageable parts and processed. The wonders of a disciplined mind.

"Huh, that's funny." Kaika mutters. "Also, you need more ginger in your diet. Low on antioxidants and your stomach is a greasy meal away from mutiny."

"Don't…please don't tease me like that, Kaika-senpai! And what do you mean by 'Circuits'? I'm not a machine person!" Kinben whines adorably.

"Pffft. Here, let me show you." She says, a tiny curse letting her take off her shirt like she's a yakuza. She even turns around to show her the fancy turquoise patterns on her back, the band of impenetrable black around her torso receding just enough to expose it. Starting from the base of her skull, ten of her twenty circuits split off at the shoulders to run down her arms all the way to the fingertips, while the other ten split off at the hips to do the same with her legs and toes. "Magic Circuits are a spiritual tissue that allows for the processing of od, vital energy, and mana, the world's ambient energy, into magic energy, or prana as some call it."

"Ooh, pretty… but wait, do I really have something like that? I'm a Judgement Angel, not a Youkai or a Magus…" Kinben fidgets in place as she watches Kaika's circuits glow and thrum.

"The answer is kinda! It looks like they're tied to your halo, but there's enough roots in your brain for me to work with. It's about on par with five high quality circuits, which normally would leave you fairly below average in capacity but it's completely fine for what I'm teaching you. Anyone can do the basics and curses only ever need magic energy if you want to give them extra kick." For her own part, she is well above average. Her count may be average, but the freakish length of her circuits means they can process a fair bit of energy just by sheer surface area despite not being special in composition. "Now, for a regular magus I'd be feeding them either a bit of my blood or a decent amount of ether clumps, but that's because circuits tend to be around the torso and so putting some magic energy in the gut gets them going."

Magic energy (and vital energy, for that matter) lingered in bodily fluids. Even a fourth grade magus knew how to concentrate that up.

"For you, though, the quickest way is to hypnotize you." Well, either that or frenching her, but she doesn't think angels are nearly as cavalier about physical intimacy as magi. Back home sexual fluids were sold as mana potions by poorer magi, because blood opened you up to too much. Thankfully, she never needed to stoop that low. "I needed to, anyways, to set up your activation sequence. It's just a mental image and sometimes a couple of words that reflexively activate your circuits."

"That's…a lot to take in at once…" Kinben answers with a strained smile and a nervous laugh. "I'm very happy that we won't need to use blood, but the fact that you're going to be opening something that's inside my brain is a little scary… it doesn't hurt, right?"

"Sorry, I ramble." Kaika chuckles, shaking her head, "And don't worry, it'll burn a bit but that'll be on your scalp and skull if anything. Circuit ends don't hurt since that's not where the energy's being processed. Now, what do you want for your activation sequence? It should be something simple but that makes your brain twinge. Mine's an eye slamming open and the pupil turning into a pinprick."

Kinben sighs in relief, before bringing a finger to her chin in thought. "Hmm. So it's a mental image with meaning… got it. Putting a weight on a scale, bringing it to balance."

"Alright. Now, you'll feel a bit of pressure then heat. This is normal, just stay relaxed." Not that she needs a lack of resistance to do her work, but it's the difference between giving a docile dog a checkup and having to tie a hissing hellbeast to the table. Both were eminently doable, but one was much easier and cleaner.

There's no real fanfare to it, she just locks eyes with the girl, sends a thread of magic energy through the connection and she's in. Even doing this, she can't exactly see what's in her mind, just feel its general state and send orders. A bit like using a computer console in that way.

Now, slip in and prime the suggestion, grasp the bits of nervous system she'd seen through her Structural Analysis and–

While the form of Kinben's "circuits" isn't remotely the same, the function is, and Kaika is DEFINITELY feeding it. Kinben shudders as her halo flickers and takes on a new shape. Her hair glows, and takes on a blue tint to the underside. Small, black feathered wings sprout from her lower back, a mirror to Hasumi's.

"Wew, girl, you'd have some of the magi back home frothing at the mouth. I could probably write a whole thesis on this." Not her field, though. As is, though, all she cares is that a second Structural Analysis shows everything is in perfect working order. "Take it easy now, just get used to the feeling."

Kinben doesn't seem to be in any pain, but she is extremely disoriented. She shakes her head in an attempt to rid herself of her dizziness, and almost tips over. As Kaika catches her and redirects her to a nearby sofa, she sees Kinben's new wings reflexively ruffle, causing her feathers to puff up cutely. "Wow… that was a rush…"

"That's magic for you." Kaika laughs, idly stroking the feathers. She knows that wings are VERY high upkeep, maybe her friend will want some help grooming them? They're stupidly soft. "I'll teach you Structural Analysis once you're on even keel. That's about the most harmless trick I know, and it is fundamental for a reason."

"Okay…okay, I'll trust you…" Kinben murmurs, as she slumps into the soft cushions and stares at the ceiling. "The air on my skin feels different…and I'm seeing strange colors…my wings growing in is the least strange feeling I'm having…"

"Ah, you must be one of those with sharp magic senses. I both do and don't envy you. Here, let me just–" She hugs the poor girl, her circuits flaring to life as she does. She's been told that her magic energy at a rest is very soothing.

Kinben's face rests naturally against Kaika's modest chest as she relaxes into the hug. "... it's like a very loud cat, or a very smooth tank engine. Loud, but nice…"

A few minutes pass, with neither of the girls moving.

"Kaika-senpai? Do you usually go without a bra, or was this for the circuit demonstration?" Kinben asks her question plainly, too out of it to realize she would normally be flustered right now.

"Without. Bras are a pain to shop for." Especially when you're small like them, she doesn't need to add, "So I just developed a tiny curse that does the same for exactly no cost other than a minute of concentration every morning."

No chafing, no soaking sweat, no wires stabbing her between the fucking ribs.

She didn't remember swathes of her life, but by the Root she remembered siccing that decay curse on the shop.

"That makes sense… The smoke is sooo soft…" Yup, Kinben is completely out of it. "You have a really pretty glow, Kaika-senpai…I didn't see it before…is it a magic thing? Are the boobies or the glow prettier?"

"Tangible shadows, actually. Picked up the concept from a novel." She chuckles, "Hm, could just be you seeing the magic energy I'm cycling, could be you getting a glimpse of my soul, could be the lattices my devices cover me with to drain ideation."

Really, it is anyone's guess given the girl isn't human. For all Kaika knows, she's seeing the ideation wafting off of her and into the Lesser Key.

Also, now she's pondering which she should be prouder of, her chest or whatever energies she's emanating.

The pair remain on the couch for a few minutes longer before Kinben falls into a deep sleep. Kaika carefully carries her to her bed, tucks her in, and leaves. There's plenty of time to teach her later.

---

A week of carefree days go by. Classes come and go. Hantei and Chie notice the change in Kinben, and immediately go to Kaika for their own rituals.

Hantei ends up as Kinben's red mirror, but with a knack for Reinforcement rather than magical senses. Her disorientation was similar to Kinben's, though she tried to move around several times before fully recovering.

Chie, meanwhile, grows a set of wings on her back AND her head. She cleaves closer to the typical Magus experience of a splitting headache, with Kaika spending about an hour grooming her owl-like plumage as she recovers. Her talent isn't immediately obvious just yet.

Kaika's Clocktower lessons likewise continue. Not just Crough, but all of her old teachers got visits from Professor Waver. While their reactions varied, many of them took a similar approach as Crough did, refusing to let Waver engage in editing. She can't take the recordings with her to show them to her friends, but she has her phone recording the moment Professor Yvernecarisburdoa appears on the screen.

Magus politics never change, but at least Kaika now has the distance from it to laugh safely.

Maestro, as promised, sat ever by her side. Sometimes, he would ask Kaika to clarify an aspect of Magus culture that came up. Sometimes, Kaika would have a question about how a concept translated between Worldlines, and Maestro would work with her to find a bridge. It feels like the pair are both learning something new. That both of them are advancing their Art, one step at a time.

It's a Friday night. The last lesson of the week has ended, and Maestro closes his notebook with a soft thud. "Come, walk with me, Shin. I believe that your gift is ready."

She lets her excitement bleed into sparkles in and around her eyes as she springs to her feet. She's practically bouncing in place, overflowing with anticipation at what her brother in spirit had made for her. "With pleasure!"

Walking with Maestro is an odd experience. At times, he is at Kaika's side. Then, a street lamp will shine in the pair's direction, or a sparrow citizen who's had a few drinks too many will glance their way, and he seems to vanish. A moment of searching reveals Maestro to be several yards further down the path, past whatever obstacle he sought to avoid.

"You are blessed to have a body native to this city. My colleagues and I have no such protection. Our best defense is to remain unseen."

Kaika's heart bleeds. For an artist to be limited in where they can go and who they can interact with… no, she will find a solution for this. Already, her mind's eye fills with cloth like a hole cut into the night itself. A void ignored in favor of the stars.

"Do not worry yourself, my sister in spirit. There is pain, but there are also advantages. My colleagues and I are seekers of Truth. We wish to learn the true nature of the Sublime. Gathering secrets is easier when you, yourself, are a secret."

"...Very well." She relents after a moment, "Perhaps I will make a piece so we can at least walk together undisturbed. An umbrella, perhaps, but the question becomes the pattern. I had initially thought of the void between the stars, but perhaps the clouds hiding them away?"

"Hmm. Mist is also a potent metaphor…" Maestro adds. The discussion for the rest of the journey is one concerning art minutiae, and brainstorming several small projects. The pair leave the Trinity campus, and make their way to a disused park, before a taxi with the Kaiser logo arrives to pick them up. There doesn't appear to be a driver, but with mechanical citizens, that means little.

"A favor from a colleague. We are fine."

With that, the pair continue onwards. Away from the clean and inviting architecture, and into a sprawl of urban decay. Reminds her of some of her fieldtrips and assignments with the Department of Curses. Go to this or that slum, see what wild demon a crack addict has made, maybe harvest some ideation.

Kaika can FEEL their destination nearby as the pair disembark from the taxi. The weight of history, of purpose subverted and restored, then allowed to fester and ferment over a long period of disuse.

"Just as I gave you a brush, you gave me a canvas." The magus breathes, in quiet awe at the sheer density of ideation. Her senses for it aren't the best and yet she can feel it like a weighted blanket on her shoulders. This is the sort of site magi families would start feuds over.

"You understand perfectly," Maestro answers, his voice trembling lightly. "I did have to work to restore the building to a functional state. But for our Art, places with such history make deep, rich canvases."

As the pair turn the corner, Kaika's eyes land on a large building, with a flat rooftop and ancient looking brickwork. As Maestro said, there are signs that the building has received more care than the sprawl of urban decay around it, but not so much as to stick out like a sore thumb.

"These stones have stood atop one another since the days before the first Eden Treaty created the Trinity you know today. When the schools of Pater, Filius, and Sanctus, along with several others, were in the midst of a Hot War." The wooden doll runs a hand across the brickwork as the pair approach the front door. "This place was built to be a library. But it became a bunker, where Pater laid siege to Filius. Eventually, the rest of the ruined district was rebuilt, but… you know how durable your body is. You can imagine why brickwork from an age of Hot War would be DEEPLY upsetting to the people who live here, yes?"

Kaika has to think for a moment. It was a Hot War, so actual death had to have taken place. But what would it take to kill someone as durable as a student…? Her reptilian hindbrain is all too happy to hiss the answer into her ears.

You still need to breathe, don't you?

"Human pillars." Kaika says with a shiver. There were horrible, horrible things you could do with that sort of lingering thoughts. Inugami had nothing on what humans did to each other.

She knows what will be born here. The name sits like a stone on her tongue.

The wait will be agonizing, but there is an order to her magnum opus she has to follow. This is the Thirteenth.

"Indeed. Whether there are bodies in the walls or not is of little consequence. What matters is that people feared the possibility enough that they refused to tear the walls down. That once the Treaty was signed, and the building was once again a library, no one would visit it. It was allowed to fester, alongside the district around it."

Maestro turns, and gives Kaika a deep, showman's bow.

"I look forward to seeing what works you create upon this canvas. However, the time has come for me to exit the stage. I understand that, to a Magus, where one chooses to make their Workshop is a deeply private matter. So, if there is even the most remote of possibility that this place would suffice, my presence would be but a sour note in the song."

They may be siblings in spirit, but not even family is allowed in the Workshop.

She smiles. "Good night, Maestro."

"Good night, Shin."

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 4: The Fool

"We give our prayers to the pregnant moon, so she may grace us with a hale and fey child."

"Tonight we write a new chapter in the book of demonology."

"Paimon, start the clock. T-minus fifty-five minutes"

"Sultore, prepare for spiritual invocation."

On the roof of Trinity's main building, in the dead center of its halo, a woman sang.

---

It's well past dark on the night of the full moon. A student in the dorms is struggling to fall asleep. Their room is quiet, and their bed is comfortable. However, their window is facing the main campus building. A building from which strange lights are currently shining.

Eventually, enough is enough. The student grabs their smartphone, thumbs through their contacts, and hits the "call" button.

"Hello? Justice Task Force? Yeah, it's me again. Yeah, someone's doing something stupid on the roof again. Lots of lights. Yeah, can I get a new dorm room, please?"

---

"This is Squad Three. Perimeter is secure. Over."

They say that Justice never sleeps. In truth, Justice sleeps in shifts, so someone is always awake to do patrols. On a quiet night at light alert, that means three squads of First Years are ready to bust whatever party is happening on the roof of the main building.

Although the roof is the least of their concerns right now, not when the building facade is shimmering with golden light, as if it is caught in the middle of a sunrise. It feels warm and welcoming, like coming home to a warm meal and a smile.

All of this isn't enough to hide the movement inside the windows.

"Roger, Squad Three. Squad Two, begin operation."

The glow continues inside, it is like looking at the sky while underwater, beautiful ripples of light dancing over every surface. It means they don't have to rely on flashlights, but the way the light shifts creates the impression of things scuttling about.

"This is spooky…" One of the girls whispers. Her squad leader makes a sharp gesture with her hand for silence. She is clearly rattled, her eyes darting at every flicker of every shadow.

"The heart." A childish voice speaks at the very edge of hearing, the sound drifting from one of the many rows of shoe lockers surrounding them.

"ON YOUR SIX! OPEN FIRE!"

The squad leader cracks, and the quiet calm is shattered by the sound of gunfire. The First Years open fire on the shoe lockers where the whispering emanated from, ripping the soft metal to shreds in a hail of bullets.

For a moment, silence.

"The heart."
"Visitors come."
"The heart. She calls."
"Do they want to play?"

Child-like voices murmur excitedly all around them. Squad Two falls further into disarray.

"I don't like the sound of that…"
"Form up! I want eyes in all directions!"
"I'm scared…you told me ghosts weren't real…you meanies!"

"We PLAY!" One side of the lockers shout, met by the other's cry of, "We DANCE!"

Locker doors open like missile silos, launching shoes trailing light like tracer rounds as they smash into the freshmen.

In their fear, Squad Two shoots erratically, filling the walls and ceiling with bullets, and failing to land a shot on a single flying shoe. In response, they are pelted by the flying footwear mercilessly, and are forced into a 'tactical retreat'.

Squad Three watches as their clubmates in Squad Two flee the building at a full sprint, tripping over each other and crying.

"Squad One? This is Squad Three. Call for backup."

---

"So you're saying that Kaika-san is incapable of stopping the ritual?"

Thirty minutes have gone by since the shoe locker incident. Since then, the glow and the wild Mimesises have spread through the entirety of the main building, and are slowly expanding outwards onto the campus grounds.

The entire Justice Task Force has been mobilized, their sleep interrupted to contain the situation. Squads of First Years are engaging in combat with possessed school supplies and plush toys in the courtyard, while snipers are trying to get a clear shot on Kaika. Difficult when there's whole flocks of animated notebooks flying around and attacking them like irate gull-goose hybrids.

"That's right, Hasumi-senpai," Kinben answers with tears in her eyes. "If distractions can ruin a ritual, then a magus uses Self-Hypnosis to hard code their thoughts and actions. She can't see or hear anything that's going on around her."

"I see…" The matronly third year sighs, as she takes a bite of candied orange to stay awake. She had heard good things about this "Kaika" person, and Hantei and Kinben were clearly much better for their time together. But this fracas is giving her second thoughts. "And what do you think she's trying to do, here?"

"I honestly don't have a clue. She's mentioned a project that she's had on the backburner for over a year, but she never went into detail about it…"

"HASUMI-SENPAI! SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING TO THE TARGET!"

Immediately, the pair stop talking, and grab binoculars to get a better view of the rooftop. The sight of her friend makes Kinben's blood run cold.

It's like someone scooped out her right eye and replaced it with a live flare, the flesh around it melting into rivers of waxy red, something squirming and glowing underneath the skin like a nest of vipers.

Her fingers, too, are distorted. Like dripping candles fashioned into talons, plucking at the streamers of light surrounding her, splitting and stitching them into some sort of cocoon.

Kinben drops her binoculars, and grabs Hasumi in a panic. "SHE'S HURTING HERSELF! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS NOW! PLEASE!"

Hasumi looks down at Kinben in surprise and concern. But before she can say anything, a bony hand with long fingers comes down on top of the head of the hyperventilating First Year. She freezes in place as the hand awkwardly moves through her hair in what is probably intended to be a comforting gesture.

"Don't worry. I'm here now. I'll get your friend back." These were the words that the President of the Justice Task Force, the reliable and invincible senpai, attempted to say.

"Ehehehe…I'm…here…uuuuuu…FRIEND…" These are the mangled noises that escape the maw of the tactical weapon of Trinity, the mad dog of the JTF.

Vice President Hasumi looks her friend in the eye and nods. President Tsurugi takes off at a dead sprint towards the ritual site, cackling like a woman possessed. Kinben shivers and cuddles close to Hasumi for comfort. "Kaika-senpai… please be okay… and please forgive me…"

---

Hantei is leading one of the suppression squads in the courtyard. While she could have stayed in the command area with Hasumi, Kinben was already there, and her own talents were better suited to the implementation than to the planning.

Right now, she regrets this decision. "CURSE YOU, HANAKO! YOU MADE THE FOUNTAIN LEWD!!!"

The gorgeous, three tiered fountain, a famous landmark synonymous with Trinity, is now filled with animate water. Tendrils of said animate water are attempting to molest her and her squad.

And it won't stop singing.

"The heart. Queen of Cards! The heart. She arrives!"
"The heart. She lives! The heart. She shines!"
"The heart. She comes! The heart. She is born!"
"Queen of Cards. Oh, our Majesty is here!"

From somewhere behind them, a blood red light shoots into the sky like a beacon. A beastly howl echoes forth, and the sound of insane cackling approaches. Seconds later, a red and black blur comes tearing through the plaza. Tsurugi runs through the fountain, somehow maintaining enough self control not to destroy the brickwork, yet still sending over half of the animate water splashing everywhere. "DIIIE!!! EEEYAHAHAHA!!!"

Hantei looks on, her face morphing from shock, to hope, and finally to despair in the course of seconds. The tentacle monster is gone. In its place is a plaza full of animate puddles, seemingly dead set on dispensing tickles. Already, half of her squadmates had fallen prey to the merciless beasts.

Most worryingly, the singing does nothing but pick up in intensity.

"She seeks help! The heart. She has decided!"
"She calls! The heart. She CALLS!!!"
"The heart. CALLS! The heart. CALLS!"

---

Paimon is a good child. Paimon continues to oversee the ritual, exactly as mother programmed 'her'.

<Ars Solomonis Magna Protocol progress: 92.9%>
<Ars Solomonis Magna Protocol progress: 95.3%>
<Ars Solomonis Magna Protocol progress: 97.8%>

Suddenly, a shape crests over the edge of the roof. A student in a tattered and bloodsoaked JTF uniform had run up the wall of the building. Now, she has lept high into the air with her jagged wings outstretched. Her red halo drips blood, and her crimson eyes glow.

<Threat identified>

"KIYAAAAAA!!!!!"

<Threat level assigned: Alpha-BHO>
<Engaging diversion>

The flock of possessed notebooks fly, ready to intercept the howling berserker. But the judgment angel keeps cackling. She grips her two shotguns tightly, and a red glow suffuses them. She spins in the air, and the guns ROAR. Tsurugi lands on her feet, her gymnastics applauded with burning notebook confetti.

<Theoretical: Greater force required>
<Practical: Sibling-Bosse exists>
<Calculation: Pain-curse suboptimal against BHO-class>
<Calculation: Fatigue-curse suboptimal against BHO-class>
<Advisement: Sickness-curse>
<Engaging diversion>

Ideation and magical energy are shunted, brass and green fire claw themselves into reality, not even waiting to be fully formed to start unloading a barrage on the threat.

The blast hits Tsurugi at center mass, and flings her into a chimney. The impact cracks brick, and sends up a cloud of dust. But the laughter doesn't stop.

<Calculation: Sickness-curse effect delayed>
<Advisement: Hold until relieved>

---

To all beasts of the land, sea and sky
To all deities in their lofty seats
To all monsters in their wretched pits

Awareness. A sense of self, of being, where once there was naught but void. Who am I? What am I?

I, the progenitor, invite you
Bear witness to this blasphemy
My perversion of holy genesis

Senses. A pinprick at first, but the range grows rapidly. Shapes, colors, sights, and smells come later. For now, there is Ideation, Emotion, Soul. It's everywhere, suffusing everything. Love, care, and concern is doing battle with memories of joy, hope, and fun. There is pain, yes. Confusion, and anger. But the good outweighs the bad by so very much.

No clay but man's dreams
No breath but man's desire
No image but man's shadow

Context. Purpose. She is her mother's…no, her sister's magnum opus. She is the first step in a long journey that the pair would walk, hand in hand. What is to become of them at the end? A mystery. One of many she is eager to solve. So very much…

I name you my beloved sister
And upon this altar christen you-

Nother​

The young girl's eyes slam open. She is standing in the light of the full moon, on a beautiful starry night. At her feet is a magic circle, glowing a brilliant gold for all it smells coppery.

In front of her stands a truly dazzling soul. It's filled with romance, tempered by virtue, and driven into a kaleidoscope of color and sensation by its nature. Through destruction, the Bloody Handed One protects.

This most gorgeous and worthy of souls is currently feeding her beloved sister a shingle sandwich. Now is probably a good time to dematerialize. Yes.

The splatter of ether clumps on the ground sounds like an 'I'm sorry.'

---

The first thought as consciousness returns is that she hurts good. Her whole face, her ribs, her gut, her hands. It aches like a motherfucker and it's the most satisfying thing in the world.

The second thought is voiced, "I want the number of whoever did this."

As Kaika opens her eyes (or rather, eye, her right is covered by bandages as is that half of her face), she sees that she is currently in the school infirmary. Most of her body is heavily bandaged, and…oh. Those are handcuffs on her ankles. Attached to the bed frame. She wonders if they're reinforced enough to take her. She could melt them with a curse or make them blow up with–

"Oh! You're awake!" Kaika looks up from her chained ankles to see a pink haired nurse dressed in the same color. She's at the foot of Kaika's bed, going over her chart. "Please don't worry. We'll remove the cuffs as soon as your friends confirm that your Self-Hypnosis is gone. You had a wild night last night."

"I'm guessing that ten percent chance ended up being a nine in ten." She chuckles. Old joke, that. It prickles at her pride that apparently the ritual went so wrong as to draw major attention, she doesn't think she'd have gotten beaten black and blue over the minor lightshow she expected. Honestly, ten percent had been an optimistic estimate, given she hadn't had time to REALLY zero in on the differences in metaphysics of this Worldline. No choice, either, the ritual was about new beginnings and a journey's start, it had to be done during her first month to really be worthy of her magnum opus. Otherwise she'd have had to wait until she graduated.

She hopes Nother is alright. Memories under heavy Self-Hypnosis are hard to parse, but she thinks everything turned out fine in the end.

"Anyways, don't worry about the poultices my medical file mentions. Those are optional," More importantly, they take alchemy to make because they work by making her body a bit more pliable to her soul. Really, she only got access to them because her patron was very generous, "They just speed up my recovery and make the mutations hurt less, nothing some tight bandaging can't handle."

She doesn't mind the pain, but suppressing spasms is a bother.

The nurse freezes in place, before turning woodenly to face Kaika. Her smile is forced, and her temple is throbbing lightly. "Medical file, Kaika-san? What medical file? Your previous school never sent one. Do you mean to say that there are known treatments for your… mutations?"

She startles, half rising from her bed with no regard for her body's screaming, "Wait, they didn't– oh. Ohhh." She slumps back down, groaning, "Okay, I know what happened. My baseline changed completely due to a full body… unpleasantness that had to be fixed with very advanced magic. So they probably thought there was no point in sending over the data."

It feels like walking on a tightrope, opening up about this, but she's spent enough time in this world to know she no longer needs to hide things. The medics are genuinely here to help, not dissect anything interesting in her given half an excuse.

"I got it memorized but a lot of stuff will be touch and go since I used to be even more fragile than a halo-less citizen. I was expecting a week-long recovery as my soul reverts the changes, but that's probably going to be reduced in half at the very least." Mystics are ferocious bullshit and she loves having one. "But yeah, point me at a device or some blank paper, I've got a curse for porting over data."

"I see. That makes sense." The nurse takes the information in stride, only slightly surprised. She takes a moment to retrieve a tablet, and holds it close to Kaika's bandaged hand to let her apply the curse. "I've cared for outsiders before, so I should be able to parse the differences. Thank you for informing me."

The information flows. In seconds, the nurse is reading Kaika's chart. She has further questions. "Just so I understand this correctly. You knew that the ritual was going to give you mutations. And you didn't tell your friends in advance? Are mutations like these something they're going to have to worry about in the future?"

"For themselves? They'd have to be interested in a sub-branch of a sub-branch that's known to be dangerous, and I wouldn't let them even start trying until at least a full year into instruction if they perform excellently." Kaika denies firmly, before wilting slightly, "As for myself… I'm trying to ease them into things. The plan was to hide the damage under an illusion. They should've only found out if something went so wrong as to leave me unconscious on the roof with nobody the wiser, I left a letter in my room so they'd know where I was and what had happened. Together with an apology."

As she listens to Kaika's words, and reads her chart, the nurse grows visibly calmer. She lets out a sigh, and sets the tablet down on the table. "I see. In that case, I'm going to reapply your bandages before letting your friends in to see you. You may want to prepare your apology now. Kinben saw you in the process of mutating, and thought that your Halo was breaking."

She hisses a breath through her teeth, a full body wince taking over. She doesn't need to know the specifics to understand the implications of that.

Fuck, she is an awful friend. She may have to brace herself for if they want to cut ties, she knew the risks of hiding things from them going in. It may be expected between magi, but among the people of this world? Betrayal.

The nurse works quickly as Kaika ponders. While the infirmary lacks the alchemical poultices described in Kaika's chart, more mundane painkillers are on hand. In short order, the mutations are wrapped appropriately, and Kaika is left alone with her thoughts.

"Don't worry, sister. Your friends don't want to leave you. It's going to be okay."

Just like that, the tension evaporates from her body, leaving her lying limp on the bed. "Thanks, Nother. Sorry I couldn't properly greet you last night."

Kaika looks at the open window where she heard the voice coming from. There, she sees the ghostly outline of her mirror sister, the beginning of her magnum opus, smiling gently. Nother is sitting on the window sill, kicking her legs playfully.

"It's okay, sister! You weren't able to talk at the time. Your mouth was full of roof shingles!"

Nother hops down from her perch, and runs up to Kaika. "To answer your first question, when you woke up? I heard that her name is Kenzaki Tsurugi. Her soul was GORGEOUS. Are all berserkers that pretty? Or just the Throne candidates?"

"Natural berserkers have this purity of feeling that's just mhhh~" She says, biting her lip. She'd only ever seen a couple at a distance. All of them Enforcers. "Artificial ones are just sad, tortured things."

Fuck the Glascheit family, she was a magus and still felt sick when she caught a glimpse of that poor boy's mind through Sultore.

"I can't speak for Throne candidates, I haven't ever met someone that exceptional." Well, properly met. She remembers catching a glimpse of Zelretch once.

Nother giggles happily. "Oh, I can't wait until we get to see her again, sister! Or the rest of our friends! You were right, this place is so much fun!"

The ghostly, dematerialized entity runs around the infirmary with her arms outstretched. "I want to sing and dance and snuggle some more!"

"Hah, I'm glad." She truly is. Nother has turned out perfectly, the sister she never had. This world is a blessing, so bright and joyful, rather than out to crush dreams. "I'd offer to make you some ether clumps for a quick hug, but I don't want to juggle my apology with explaining you, so you'll have to wait a bit."

Nother stops dead in her tracks. "Oh. Oh, right. They're almost here. I'm going to hide, and give you some space, okay?"

With a much more subdued smile, Nother hops back onto the window sill, and from there, climbs towards the roof. Moments later, the sound of hurried footfalls heralds the coming of Kaika's friends. The door slams open, and a sobbing Kinben is at Kaika's side in an instant.

"KAIKA-SENPAI!!! I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!" Kinben's face is a mess as she clings to Kaika's blanket, clearly wanting to hold her senpai but unsure where to touch. "I was so scared and I didn't want to lose you and I messed up your spell and it's my fault that President Tsurugi –"

"Give her some space, Kinben," Hantei said, somewhat curtly, behind her. "She's still recovering, and we have plenty of time to talk." Oh dear. Hantei is mad. Chie quietly enters behind them, carrying a basket of fruit.

"Sorry for worrying you. I fucked up." Kaika opens with, gently patting Kinben's head. It makes her fingers throb, but that's just a bonus, honestly. "And I'd never hate you, Kinben."

Kinben calms down at that, leaning gently into Kaika's hand. Hantei accepts the offered invitation to begin voicing her feelings. "So what was all of that anyways, Kaika-senpai? We've only been friends for a couple of weeks, but I'd like to think that I know you well enough to say that the swarms of wild mimesises were an accident."

Kaika flinches, there. Shit, it got that bad? She had been hoping it was only wild curses.

"But when you sneak off to do a ritual at midnight without telling a single soul what you're trying to do, it's hard to stick up for you, you know? So please. What were you doing, and why didn't you tell us?"

"My magnum opus. I only had two possible windows for the ritual, either the first month being here, or the first month after graduating. And with everything falling into place so neatly, I couldn't stop myself." The magus says with a deep sigh. "I had to rush, things here are subtly different than in the Clocktower. What was supposed to be a ten percent chance of a lightshow and maybe some benevolent wild curses apparently ended up with enough turbulence to make wild mimesises."

"As for why I didn't tell you…" She hesitates, worrying her lip before going with what her gut tells her. A small curse, and her bandages become invisible. Red skin like runny wax, a milky white eye, deep trenches carved into her face. She gently takes her hand away from Kinben's head, conscious of how hideous it is. "I didn't want you to see the price I was ready to pay for the work of my life, not when it would go away in a week and could be hidden under illusions."

Chie gasps. Kinben starts to tremble again. Hantei closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly to calm herself.

"Okay. Thank you, Kaika-senpai. You have answered most of my questions. But what IS your magnum opus? What were you trying to do that was worth THIS?" Hantei's calm doesn't last, her voice rising to a near shout at the end.

"You were willing to go this far… and I ruined it… you're going to do it again when you graduate…" Kinben whispers, horrified.

"Hah, nah, Lady Luck decided to be kind to me. I got what I wanted, even if it caused unacceptable chaos." Kaika reassures Kinben before turning to Hantei. From the corner of her eye, Kaika sees Nother's upside down head looking in through the window, waiting for her cue.

"Imagine an odd, ill-fitting girl. She shows talent and is taken under the wing of a powerful man who promises her greatness, her strangeness turned to strength. She says goodbye to her home and what few friends she has and is sent to live with people like her." Kaika sighs, a sad and broken sound. "They aren't. They're vipers who want nothing more than to take out a no-name upstart who's showing up the scions of ancient families. I came here because I was nearly killed in a group project. What would this girl dream of, throw everything she has into making?"

The eye slams open, the pupil contracts.

Ether clumps snake down the side of the bed and pool underneath the window. As the immaterial form of Nother slides back into the room through the window, her foot lands in the pool. Like water soaking into paper, the ether disappears, and the once ghostly form of a young girl becomes solid, and visible to all present.

"A sister."

Mist gently wisps from the glowing, younger near-twin of Kaika as she curtsies. "Hello. I am Nother. Thank you for caring for my beloved sister when I could not. For years, I was just an unfinished project, where Kaika-onesama would keep her diary and share her troubles."

Here, Nother's curtsy becomes a deep bow. "Thank you for being my sister's friends! These past weeks she's spent with you have been the happiest of her life, and I would be privileged to share this time together!"

Kaika sinks herself into her blankets with a deathrattle, blush incandescent. This is the part of the sister experience that she didn't prepare for. You can't just go and say that. How can someone be so shameless?

Hantei is startled. Over the course of Kaika's speech, her expression had slowly morphed into one of distress. Nother's declaration, however, immediately put her back off balance. Confused, Hantei defaults to politeness, and returns Nother's bow. "N-nice to meet you, too?"

Nother's expression goes from solemn to joyful in a heartbeat. "Yay! I'm friends with Hantei-senpai now!"

Calling Hantei "senpai" is the finishing blow. Her anger has evaporated, leaving a goofy grin on her face.

"That you are." Kaika sighs from where she lies, "This isn't exactly how I wanted to introduce you to the others, but I'm happy you're getting along."

Chie looks to be deep in thought, while Nother proceeds to run over to Kinben. "Oh, right! Kinben-senpai! Now that we're friends, I have a question for you! That pretty lady on the rooftop! You called her President Tsurugi? She's from your club? I really want to meet her again! Can you introduce us?"

The sheer joy and excitement in Nother's eyes surprises Kinben. "Wait…you WANT to see Tsurugi-senpai again? You aren't scared, or angry, or traumatized?"

"I want her number." Kaika snorts. Maybe get a proper fight this time, with her giving the lady the full and undivided attention she deserves. Only when she's done recovering, though, medics are scary.

Kinben collapses bonelessly into the side of Kaika's bed, overcome with relief.

With the tension in the room broken, the next few minutes are spent in idle conversation. Soon, Kinben and Hantei have to go on patrol, leaving Chie alone with Kaika and Nother.

"Kaika-senpai? I didn't want to ask this during your talk with the others. But I have one more question." Chie's expression is clinical, and the shift in her manner of speech is notable. Has…has she figured out how to use Self-Hypnosis in social situations?

"You said that you HAD to perform Nother-chan's ritual during a specific portion of your life. Can you please elaborate? I have my suspicions, but I would like to hear it from you."

"She's my magnum opus, yes, but she isn't finished. The ritual's themes were a journey's beginning. Frankly, if I had waited until graduation, it would've lost a lot of power." Kaika says with a light shake of her head. "If you're familiar with Tarot, I called upon the Fool Arcana when making her."

Chie sighs. "Thank you for being honest with me, Kaika-senpai. Yes, we have Tarot here. And ever since you started teaching us, I've been reading up on as much supplementary material as I can, to try and find helpful parallels. The symbolism wasn't lost on me."

"You really live up to your namesake." Kaika chuckles mirthlessly. It makes her happy to see such a diligent student, but it is a touch inconvenient right now, "I know your next question, but ask it anyways."

"Are you going to be doing twenty one more of these rituals? If so, will you be mutating again?" There is no accusation in Chie's voice, yet.

"Yes and no. Grand rituals, yes. Underplanned messes like last night, no." Kaika sighs, staring up at the ceiling. She wants to see what lays at the end of the road. She doesn't care for the Root, but seeing a true miracle… "But yes, I will be mutating again. It's called Spiritual Invocation, taking a mimesis or spirit into your body to obtain their powers. It is dangerous, but only if you don't keep to strict time limits. The soul can repair the body from a great deal."

"And yes, before you ask. It hurts. Like acid and insects crawling under my skin. But no proper magus is afraid of pain and, er…" She blushes, looking off to the window, "I actually kinda like the ache afterwards."

Hopefully they hadn't come this far only for Chie to think she is a degenerate for enjoying a little pain.

Thankfully, Chie's Self-Hypnosis is well coded. She continues on in a neutral tone, without a hint of the nervous shyness she displays when she overthinks a social interaction.

"I see. This does make this awkward. You see, I'm more than happy to help you with your rituals. This journey is FASCINATING. But I'd be a poor friend if I didn't object to you endangering yourself on a regular basis. Is there some kind of alternative to the Spiritual Invocation, or some means that a third party could mitigate the damage?"

"...Well. There is a theoretical one. Cybernetics. A mimesis could possess it like Paimon inhabits my devices. But I have no clue where to even begin in that respect beyond asking Millennium." Kaika says with a shake of her head, "As for mitigation… there may be something that can be done to let you bolster my soul. I'd need to figure out what your Origin is, but mine should be compatible with most things. The closest word in this language for it is Spirit, the animating force and emotional drive."

"Honestly, you don't need to worry much, I'm operating on the safe thresholds from when I was even more fragile than halo-less citizens." She tries to wave off, even knowing it is futile.

"I see. In that case, please give me further details on the cybernetic theory when you can. I might be able to get you in contact with a Millennium student." Chie sighs, and prepares to leave. "And count me in for whatever that Origin thing is. If I want to see you happy AND safe, I can work to make it happen. Speaking of work, we can be certain that patrols on full moon nights will be on high alert for the foreseeable future."

"Will do. Thank you, Chie."

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 5: Lay Back and Think of Daemonengines

As Kaika had theorized, her recovery time is faster than it used to be. What would have once taken a week is instead as good as new in just three days. The magus soon finds herself waving goodbye to the Remedial Knights, before immediately walking to the JTF building to offer a public apology to her staunchest allies in the school.

It could've gone worse, honestly. It stung horribly, admitting to fucking up so bad, but it would've felt worse if she didn't. At least everyone accepted that it had been a complete accident, and she was ready to fix everything she'd damaged. When Hasumi had suggested doing so as a public "slap on the wrist" to smooth things over, Kaika jumped at the opportunity.

Anyways, that leads her to now, with her wrist deep in metal, the lockers running like wax as the holes are patched. It takes some tricky cursework to make all the bits that flew off home back in, but she manages easily enough.

Hm, she could make these better. Open only to the person who put their shoes in and auto-clean and repair them. Then again–

---

WHY HAD NOBODY TOLD HER THAT NOTEBOOKS HAD BEEN DAMAGED?

She had made a poor education worse. Notes were sacred. There were students struggling because of her.

Shameful. Sloppy. Unacceptable.

She has no less than five different heat management curses working together on her devices as Nother pours in all the data she recalls into them, Paimon collates it with everything she's gathered (the request for access to the source material of every class affected was thankfully accepted) and she parses the whole thing into the best notes she can possibly create.

At Nother's suggestion, any changes that Kaika makes to the notes are made in cursed ink that becomes visible under artificial light. Otherwise, blank notebooks paid for by the JTF are quickly filled with the exact contents of the lost journals, courtesy of memories Nother inherited from the wild mimesises consumed in her creation.

She's a liter of coffee and ten classes in, but by god these people will have everything they need by the time classes restart.

---

–She's already gone above and beyond where it matters.

Mr Fredericks, who had been tasked with supervising Kaika's "detention," is currently making odd noises. His facial screen displays wide circles for eyes.

"Um…ah…okay, that task is finished?" The confused mechanical man sputters, as he looks at his clipboard. "This…they highlighted that you could use whatever means you saw fit to complete the list, but what? How?"

"Curses, naturally." Kaika replies dispassionately, a flick of her wrist having every locker open and close smooth as silk behind her.

"Umm…okay then…next is the walls and ceiling, then the fountain? I thought they were going overboard asking one student to do all of this by themselves. But if it's like this then we'll be done in one session…" Fredericks still looks baffled, but he's going with the flow, and seems happier now that he's realized that this won't take up his entire week.

"Very well." Kaika shoves her hand into the wall.

Like the sound of marbles rattling together, the sound of bullets falling to the floor echoes moments later.

---

"Hey, now! This is great!"

Ame, the MG wielding Sukeban in Kaika's class, is investigating her freshly replaced notebook. As it turns out, many of the notebooks that had flown to Kaika's aid and burned for it had come from her own class.

All around her, Kaika can see the small keychain flashlights that she and Nother had made and distributed along with the notes. The keychains were made to look like small, cute animals, to bring a little bit of cheer. While not everyone is taking advantage of the annotated notes yet, the keychains themselves are universally beloved.

Funny what you could make with a few lessons in building electronics and mystic code manufacture. Maybe she could open a small business with emotionally powered phone chargers?

Ame is absolutely taking advantage of the annotated notes, shining the light from her tiny turtle keychain on every inch of every page. "Hey, Kaika-san, you got any more of this ink? You've helped me a ton, but a little extra insurance at test time never hurts."

"No point, administration already said they'd have tests done under artificial light just in case. I still think it's stupid to have tests that aren't open book, but what can you do?" She sighs. Granted, she could make a cursed ink that only the Sukeban can see, but she doesn't want the girl to take the easy way out.

"Damn. There goes that plan. Thanks to you, I've been able to help some of my girls keep their grades up too, but a lot of us are still struggling. Won't be long before more of us lose dorm privileges." Ame lets out a sad sigh.

Kaika blinks, running that through her brain again just to make sure she's heard right, "...Wait, what? They just… kick you out into the streets if you don't do well enough? There's several of your friends already homeless?"

"What kind of honorless dogs do you take us for? I have several friends crashing on several other friends' couches. And we've got a hideout to fall back on in case anyone snitches. Just need to make it through a few more tests, and we'll be fine." Ame nods sagaciously.

"That's not what I meant. Of course you'd cover for them, but they're still without a place of their own." Kaika's hands shake, barely processing what her friend is saying, "This is– I have to– fuck it, it's free study time and I'm making you lot a daemonengine. So help me god, you'll all have a safe place to turn to by the end of today."

Her laptop literally flies out of her bag, Paimon already booting everything up. This may've been a good project for an Arcana but fuck making them wait for months on end. They're a bad actor away from getting thrown on the streets and she won't stand by it.

"Come here, I need to know colors and a coat of arms. We'll call it a mobile clubhouse."

Ame glances at Kaika's computer screen, then steps back as if struck. "Nope. Nuh uh. You don't need the heat, we don't need the heat. Calm down." Ame takes one look at the crazy in Kaika's eyes, and puts her foot down. "A tank is really, really cool, but if our rep is still bad, people are gonna take one look at it and think we're starting shit. If you wanna help us? Let's have a study meeting. We'll get our grades back to par for the free dorms, and we'll owe you big time."

"...Fine. But I'm still inspired. Would a small airship be less likely to get you assaulted? Come on, let me cook something up, even if it is just a mimesis that'll burrow into the ground or stick onto a wall and make you a cozy apartment inside."

"I'll let you fortify the hideout, then," Ame relents. "Just…deep breaths, okay? Please?"

"That'll do. You'll have free running water and electricity." Plus a genius loci who'd take good care of them.

---

A few hours later, Kaika finds herself standing in a forgotten back alley alongside Ame. In front of her is an old brick building that looks like it was once a two story cafe. There's moss on the walls, but enough care is being put into the place to give it a charming, fairy tale quality.

"Well then. Welcome to Roly Poly Gang HQ!" Ame looks at Kaika with a big grin. "It's old, but it's ours. I sent the rest of the gang a text about the study meeting. Hopefully they didn't invite too many others to join us. We could all use the help, but we don't have the space, and not all of the local gangs have their heads screwed on straight."

"How long until they're here? To know if I have time to spruce up the place." Kaika asks after letting out an appreciative hum at the place.

"I'd give 'em half an hour, but expect some late arrivals." Ame gives Kaika a raised eyebrow. "That enough time to get your muse to stop screaming?"

"Ayup. Tell me about this place's history while I get everything set up." She still has some of the paint she mixed with her blood for the ritual, so this should be easy.

"Barking up the wrong tree there," Ame says with a light chuckle, as she rests her back against the brickwork lazily. "My girls and I found the place when we were trying to lay low. Nobody seems to come down these alleyways anymore, and we've had the place to ourselves. I'm assuming it used to be a cafe bakery or something, but all the interesting stuff is long gone. Just big windows and a few chairs."

Kaika pulls up her sleeves, wiry muscle on display, "Right, let's get this bread."

She can't think of a better way to introduce Nother to her art.

---

"Hey, Ame? Our hideout was here, wasn't it? We didn't take a wrong turn on Baker's Street, or, I dunno, get lost in time and space?"

A gaggle of bewildered Sukeban stare at a fully restored cafe bakery. The lights are on inside, and the smell of baked goods and coffee wafts down the alley. There are tables and chairs. The moss is still there, but feels more like decorative ivy than signs of neglect. Fairy lights dance, and a feeling of warmth and homeliness pervades the space.

Ame is standing outside, resting her back against the brickwork as she smokes. "Nah, it's the right place. Our tutor just went a bit wild again. Come on inside, it's safe."

"Ayo. Welcome to your new home! I got everything set up for the study group." Kaika says from where a quartet of tables have been pushed together. There's a stack of custom notes for everyone, courtesy of the surplus from when Kaika went just a bit crazy with restoring what she'd wrecked, while her laptop is at the head of the table ready to play some of the BDs if needed.

Behind the counter, the wispy, glowing form of Nother is manning the old mechanical register with a huge smile on her face. "Hello, everyone! We made lots of yummy snacks! There's plenty of caffeine and sugar to help you concentrate, and more substantial foods if you're hungry! Would you like anything? No charge, it's your stuff now, after all~"

The group of Sukeban look around the room, before turning towards each other and chatting loudly.

"This is great, isn't it? Like, really, really great?"
"It's too great. There's no way this doesn't have strings attached. Something's fishy…"
"Wait, isn't this the chick that the JTF arrested a few nights ago? What's she doing out of the slammer already?"
"Oh, HELL no, this is a JTF sting!"
"Who cares? I'm hungry, and I have a test tomorrow, and the food is free!"

Ame taps her foot impatiently. "Ladies? Aren't we forgetting something?"

The gang stops talking immediately. One of the girls turns to face Kaika, and bows awkwardly. "Umm…thank you for your hard work? Thanks for teaching us?"

Ame nods. "Much better. Now, grab some grub and hit the books. We got shit to do."

"I'll teach you lot how the place works later, for now, differential equations." Kaika says, a snap of her fingers having the chairs scoot back to let the delinquents in.

Everyone takes a seat except for one SMG user, who beelines to Nother and the baked goods before joining the group.

As Ame had predicted, more people arrived over the course of the afternoon. The core 15 members of the Roly Poly gang each brought one or two unaffiliated girls as potential new recruits. At one point, a rival group attempted to crash the party and steal the cash register, only to be chased off in a hail of gunfire and a swarm of fairy lights.

Vicious little things, those. Burned only what they wanted to and could act like miniature razors.

The lesson wraps up around nightfall. Several of the girls bowed out early, satisfied with their preparation and eager to try the soft fluffy beds on the second story. By the time Kaika calls it a night and closes her laptop, it's just her, Ame, a couple of SMG users who ate too much cake, and a trio of girls from the library trying very hard to stay quiet and unnoticed.

"Thanks, Kaika-san. Things didn't go perfectly, but they sure as hell went better than they would have without you." Ame smiles fondly, idly patting Nother's head as she goes around collecting stray dishes.

"Happy to help." She says with a matching smile, watching the dishes fly off to the sink as they're tapped. Wonders of having a genius loci. This place will keep them safe and cozy no matter what comes, whether it is a heatwave or a tank.

"Now, as for you three." Kaika says, turning her glowing eyes on the library trio, "You spoke against damaging the books, so just make sure your boss doesn't get any more foolish ideas and we're even. We don't want an unpleasantness, hm?"

The three sukeban cower under Kaika's gaze. "No, ma'am! Crystal clear, ma'am!"

Ame sighs. "I wanna say to go easy on 'em, but desperation only excuses so much. That plan was high risk, low reward. You three need a new boss."

Ame puts her feet up on the cleared table, leans backwards in her chair, and pushes the rest of a cupcake into her mouth. "Yep. We owe you big time, Kaika-san. Is there anything you want?"

That's a good question. What does she want?

Make Nother grow, yes, but that isn't something they can help with quite yet. She has an inkling for the Magician Arcana but not enough to know what to ask for in terms of harvesting grounds and ritual sites. Just… living daily life and exploring Kivotos are the best ways to advance her work on the Fool's Journey.

Good food, she's already got that more than covered. They may be able to give her some recommendations for hole in the wall places, though, so something to keep in mind.

Millennium tech, she doesn't think they can help with that. Plus Chie is already working on getting her patched in with them.

Get in touch with Tsurugi, she already has two friends in the JTF so that's that handled. Besides, she doesn't think the delinquents want to get involved with that beast of a woman.

"Not right now but I have a big project coming up." She says after a minute of mulling things over, "I could use some recommendations for places where I can get the materials and make the magic happen once I know exactly what I need. Plus maybe a distraction to keep anyone from interfering when the big day comes."

"Sightseeing, gofer duty, and a distraction? Done. Not even a problem." Ame answers Kaika with a giant smile. "Hell, we can be distracting without firing a shot, or breaking a single rule."

"Hah, looking forward to it."

---

A pair of students are seated by the window as they enjoy a pot of tea. From their vantage point in one of the taller buildings on campus, the two can clearly see Kaika as she casually jumps the main gate on her way back to her dorm.

An angel in a white school uniform, with brown hair and large wings, watches the scene unfolding. Her expression is kept carefully neutral, but her eyes are sharp, taking in every detail. "I know that the dorms she's staying in don't have a curfew like the free ones do, but must she leave the campus for so long? What is she up to?"

Across from her, Hasumi sits with a plate loaded to the brim with sweets. She takes a long sip of tea before answering. "Please, Nagisa. Kaika-san wasn't remotely quiet about her goals today. And judging by how quiet today was in regards to gang activity, it's safe to assume that the study group went well."

Nagisa turns to face Hasumi, but keeps Kaika in her peripheral vision until she's sure that the loose cannon has entered her dorm building. "So you say. But you're correct about her not being quiet. Daemonengines, was it? Self driving tanks, handed out on a whim? You're telling me one thing, but the Sisterhood is telling me another. That we need to be cautious. That what our transfer student is doing is dangerous."

Hasumi remains unruffled. "While it's true that Kaika-san was at the center of an incident a few days ago, she has shown remorse for her actions and eagerness to repair the damage caused. Also, the training she has provided to our junior members has been invaluable during our exploration of the catacombs beneath the Grand Cathedral. Or is the safety of the venue no longer a priority to the Tea Party?"

A slight look of annoyance crosses Nagisa's face at the jab. "The priority of the Tea Party is that the Eden Treaty be signed, and peace maintained. The last thing we need is someone with more bravado than sense causing an incident that sparks a war."

Here, Hasumi takes a large bite out of an eclair, and chews it thoroughly before answering. "Understood. I'll ask her if she's willing to do commission work. If so, keeping her busy until the treaty is signed should be simple. There's no shortage of things that the campus needs help with, after all."

Nagisa raises an eyebrow as she gives Hasumi an appraising look. "Very well, then. I suppose that you really do have the situation well in hand." The implication was obvious. If Kaika caused another incident, the JTF would shoulder a portion of the blame.

To her credit, Hasumi doesn't flinch. "Indeed. You needn't worry yourself, Nagisa. Trinity General School is in good hands."

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 6: Earnest Feelings Demand Earnest Responses

"How about some retort pouch of curry~ pouch of chili~ pouch of MRE~"

It's morning once again in Kaika's higher end dorm room. The sounds and smells of cooking food waft from her tiny kitchenette, as she puts the finishing touches on a homemade bento.

"But you're rather picky~ Well~ I'll make you something else~ Don't need to show me how~ Since I'm the mad scientist, proclaimed by myself~"

It isn't a very traditional bento, but she's not a very traditional person so it fits! One of the levels is nothing but thick brown and red stew, thick cubes of beef floating merrily in a sea of diced potato and carrot discs. There's also half a dozen herbs, a couple of onions and an entire head of garlic all minced up and mixed into the morass. Four eggs poured at the end thicken it up into something like gravy and round off the goulash.

"Canto or Sichuan~ Jiangsu or Hunan~ No matter which you pick I'll get it done~"

The other is things to dip in. Fist sized dumplings stuffed with three cloves of baked garlic each which she'd cooked in the stew before setting aside, a neat stack of flatbread full of seeds, crushed nuts and even birch bark shreds (she'd had to forage for that one), an entire hunk of salted pork fat to go with the bread.

"Zhajiangmian and Xiaolongbao~ Wonton and Chashao~ Delivery or takeout won't beat my retort pouch~"

You dig up the weirdest things when you're deep in research. But hey, traditional Hungarian cuisine is great. Very healthy, very calorie rich, perfect for long research stints or dangerous fieldtrips. Especially when she suffuses the whole thing with curses, making it real soul food.

Soon, all of the food is finished, boxed up, and the boxes wrapped in cloth. Kaika sets her handiwork down on the table next to a second package. She licks a spoon clean as she admires her handiwork.

She huffs, satisfied. She hopes they like her gifts!

Just then, Kaika hears a knock at the door. Simultaneously, a pair of songs begin to play in Kaika's brain; a catchy pop tune, and a slightly harder electronic composition. Fortunately, the two songs blended together well. These were her friends' custom alerts, after all.

A flicker of ideation is all it takes for the door to open itself just in time for her to greet them, her apron still on. It is a cheap piece of trash emblazoned with a chubby eastern dragon roasting a whole pig and she loves it desperately. "Morning, you two!"

"Good morning, Kaika-senpai!" Kinben says with a beaming smile. In her hands is a metal thermos of comparable size to her forearm. Behind her, Hantei is carrying an insulated carafe of similar size.

"May we come in? We brought coffee!"

"Of course! Don't mind the mess, I just finished cooking." At least the whole apartment smells amazing now. Spicy and savory and with a rich undertone that gave away just how much lard she'd used in the roux, together with the wonderful scent of freshly baked bread with notes of roasted nuts.

An incorporeal Nother investigates the large fluid containers as Kinben and Hantei set them down on the table. The pair take a deep breath through their noses, and sigh in contentment. "Wow, Kaika-senpai! It smells like a nice restaurant in here! What's the occasion?"

"Trying to make a good impression on someone." She says with a coy smile, "You'll find out who by tomorrow."

Sure, she could just ask them to deliver it for her, but where was the fun in that? She already knew where and when to deliver this thanks to some snooping around with her children and a few choice curses.

Nother hops into the cube of ether clumps by the bed's feet, the blue clay flowing into a simulacra of her body in short order so she can retrieve the mugs and join everyone for morning coffee. As they sit down and the containers are opened, everyone is greeted by the smell of strong, freshly brewed black coffee in the thermos, and cool, sweet cream in the carafe.

"We all like our coffee with cream and sugar here, but in different amounts. This seemed like the best way for everyone to get what they wanted."

"Good thinking." Kaika says with a little clap that leaves her rubbing her hands in anticipation. "Well, if you can even call the energy sludge I chug coffee, anyways."

She likes the coffee flavor, but isn't a fan of bitterness, so she drowned it in so much sweetened condensed milk that it may as well be a dessert.

Nother tilts her head, curiously. "Really? I've never had coffee before. Is there more than one way to drink it? May I have some?"

"Go ahead. I baked into your matrix a bit of cursework to turn whatever you eat and drink into magic energy, so you won't make a mess once you let go of those ether clumps." Good thing she'd researched Ghost Liners while laying the groundwork for her sister, that little trick was unique to them.

"I suggest trying it straight first then adding cream to taste. I also have some chocolate around here if you want to try it mocha." She pauses, considering, before adding, "Just one cup, though, the JTF brew it strong."

"That we do," Hantei says, nodding sagaciously as she pours herself a mug. It's mostly coffee, with just enough cream to barely change the color. "Justice sleeps in shifts, after all. Tea is the more popular drink here at Trinity by far, so coffee days are typically needs over wants."

"Oh, right, speaking of the JTF." Kaika snaps her fingers, pointing at Hantei, "Do you know if Hasumi would like a daemonengine? I still got the designs lodged in my brain, and I figure you guys would appreciate a self-driving and self-maintaining APC or tank that can drive on walls."

Hantei sputters a little mid sip, and Kinben spills a little bit of coffee on her wrist as she pours it. The pair share a glance with one another, as Nother starts to stare at them.

"Umm…probably? Hasumi-senpai did want to talk to you about commission work. But since we're friends, we do have to warn you. Politics are happening." Kinben says.

"It was too much to hope that being an eccentric weirdo throwing around gifts indiscriminately would've kept me out of that, huh? Then, yeah, I'm just going to back the JTF and hope that lets me avoid the worst of it." Politics aren't as nice as allowing you to be neutral unless you're a power in and of yourself. So just pick the group you disagree with the least and hide behind them. "I'm not giving anyone anti-mimesis gear, because fuck having anyone able to truly hurt my kids or baby sister, but I can do some stuff to help along your mission control and gear."

The pair let out a sigh, clean their spills, and take a long sip of coffee. "Thank you, Kaika-senpai. But at the very least, we'd like to give you broad strokes of the situation before you commit to anything. You told us a little bit about what the Clock Tower was like, and we'd rather your trust in us be rewarded with respect. Does that seem reasonable?"

Nother relaxes significantly at that, and starts to pour herself a large mug of coffee.

"Aye. At least politics here are just about club budgeting and red tape, right? No making people have 'accidents'." Kaika asks to make sure. This is a brighter world, but once scalded twice shy.

"Not that we're aware of, or we'd be putting a stop to it with all the fury of an angry god," Hantei answers, her face twisting in anger directed at nobody in particular. "But Trinity and Gehenna are getting ready to sign a second Eden Treaty, and there's a lot of tension around that. Our schools have been at each other's throats for a long time."

"The Tea Party is desperate to see the Treaty signed, and is putting pressure on everyone. Us in particular, as we've had to fight Gehenna students many times, and several of our members have unsettled grudges." Kinben adds.

"Another thing for you in particular is the Sisterhood. They have a non intervention policy, so they haven't taken direct action. But as the group who takes care of the oldest, most secret texts, they know the most about mimesises next to you. And they're afraid of you." Hantei punctuates the warning with a long swing of coffee.

"And it isn't going to be as easy as holding a lecture on the differences between wild and artificial mimesises, because nothing can be simple when politics and prejudice are involved." Kaika grumbles lowly, chugging her own coffee to wash down the irritation. "Ah, whatever, I'll just kit out the JTF and they'll see for themselves artificial mimesises are fine."

Not harmless, mind you, but certainly not volatile. She has to remind herself that these people have no experience with curseworkers, they don't– okay, yes, they actually ought to know they're basically regarding her as an incompetent with the idea that her artificial mimesises would fly off the handle.

Worst part is that she can't really blame them for it because the wild mimesises of the ritual did give that impression. Even if the slighted artist in her wants nothing more than to march to the cathedral and wring out a masterpiece.

"People will see it as you choosing a side. But we'll have your back. Thank you, Kaika-senpai." Kinben relaxes. "I'm sorry that this turned into such a heavy conversation. Do you have any more questions before we continue our day?"

"What sort of unresolved grudges are we dealing with here?" She knows all too well how those can end up, best to get a clear idea.

"Well. First, the elephant in the room. The overwhelming majority of demons in Kivotos attend Gehenna Academy. It's not all demons, of course, but it's mostly demons. There are some students at Trinity who are racist, and we often get shouldered with that label. My response?" Hantei looks at her watch, and starts counting out loud.

"Three…two…one…Nother? Could you turn on the tv, please?"

Nother takes a long gulp of coffee, jitters in place for a moment, and runs to the television set.

"I should've said half a cup." Kaika laments quietly. Ah, well, it'll be a novel experience, dealing with a hyperactive little sister.

The television clicks on, and the screen shows nothing but fire. "This is the Kronos Journalism Academy, reporting to you live from downtown! Gehenna's Hot Springs Development Department has brought heavily modified construction equipment to the center of Market Street, and has started drilling! Valkyrie Police Academy is on site, but are unable to stop the notorious terrorists! We can only hope that the Prefect Team gets here in time!"

"I don't care about race. I just have pattern recognition. Hell, I SUPPORT the Eden Treaty. Working alongside the heroes in the Prefect Team is a dream come true. But this? This is the norm. This is what the Pandemonium Society gives club funding to." Hantei rants.

"Not everyone feels like that about the Prefect Team, though. They're like us, an enforcement group. If we ever go to war, those 'heroes' you look up to are who we'll be fighting." Kinben's voice is quiet.

"As long as the war doesn't go further than bruised egos and property damage, I don't terribly mind, honestly." If they go back to the bad old days Maestro showed her the bones of, well.

Let's just hope things don't go there, for everyone's sake.

---

Kaika whistles merrily as she strolls through the courtyard, pleased as punch that her deliveries had gone off without a hitch. It had been a bit of prepwork, setting up those anchor points and data curses to make sure everything got where it should, but the payoff is worth the trouble.

It doesn't take long to arrive at the HQ building for the Justice Task Force. The decor and the furnishings are ornate, but with the constant hustle and bustle of squads coming and going, nobody is taking the time to absorb the atmosphere.

As expected, Hasumi is sitting at a table, surrounded by stacks of paperwork. She holds herself in a dignified manner, but there are slight bags under her eyes. It's clear that she, too, has been drinking a good deal of the JTF coffee.

"Ah, welcome back, Kaika-san! How are you today?" The tired beauty opens the conversation.

"Better than you, it looks like. Do you want a magic pick me up?" Kaika offers, making a bit of light curl up around her finger purely for show.

"Thank you, yes please," Hasumi answers with some relief. She allows Kaika to work her magic, a neat little curse that turns stress and anxiety into energy, as she continues to speak. "Given how soon you arrived, I take it that Hantei and Kinben passed on my request?"

"Ayup. I need to pick a side before people start playing games and you're the best option." The magus says as she casually shoves her hand into a fold of space and pulls out a sketchbook, "Aight, so. Infra, vehicles, infantry. Which do you want to go over first?"

She gives the overly fancy, distressingly open room a long look. Christ, those massive windows. She isn't an Enforcer and she still feels her neck fucking prickle. "I'm going to assume infra because I can't imagine anyone with good battle instincts being at ease here."

Hasumi rubs her temples. "Very astute, Kaika-san. But given how often President Tsurugi forgoes the use of doors entirely… your time is precious and I'd rather not waste it."

Kaika blinks, then mutely raises her right hand. Her left conjures a wooden board just in time for her fist to burst through it. Threads of blue clay shoot out, catching the splinters before they can get too far and fixing the whole thing with a small ripple the moment her arm's out of the way.

"Not an issue, you have no idea how many sins ether clumps cover for." She says after her show is done, the prima materia flowing into a little ball that she tosses carelessly into imaginary number space.

Hasumi stares at the display before her in a manner not dissimilar to when she looks at a parfait, complete with drool. Seeming to catch herself, she shakes her head, ruffles her wing feathers, and clears her throat.

"Well then. In that case, yes please. Very much. How soon can you start?"

"Immediately. I will spend a few days familiarizing myself with the ideation ingrained in the building and figuring out matrix schemas." She says, ideas already bubbling up and being scratched into an empty page of her sketchbook (which she'd left floating while doing her demonstration) without even looking. They're just quick and dirty doodles to get the concepts down. "Hm, what sort of defenses would you like out of this? I can really strengthen something focused on misdirection if I make the ritual on the new moon. A literal fog of war combined with doors and windows leading to where the defenders want, I'm thinking. On top of walls and armored shutters popping up as needed, that's being included no matter what I do."

Hasumi considers Kaika's words carefully. "I like all of the ideas you have brought up, Kaika-san. Intellectually, I can understand a little bit of the opulence around us. Students should feel comfortable coming to us with their troubles, after all. But it has also been a source of many headaches. Having reactive defenses like you just described will give us the best of both worlds."

Hasumi stands up, and dusts herself off. "Would you like a tour of the building? We can go over the regular points of failure, and give you a better idea of the building's history as we go?"

"Of course!" She says with a bob of her head and a beaming grin, "I'm currently pondering how to make people inside the building feel safe despite it not looking fortified. Maybe make the genius loci give a passive data feed on the defenses? It would allow anyone in the JTF to trigger them on reflex if the mimesis doesn't react fast enough for some reason. Knowing you can make a half meter thick wall spring out of the ground in a fraction of a second is very reassuring."

The pair continue to walk and talk for over an hour. Over the course of that time, Kaika notices several areas that the JTF had overlooked. The detainment cells in particular are a point of concern.

"...You're saying that you want President Tsurugi to test the cells, Kaika-san?" Hasumi's face bears an expression of mild confusion.

"Where there's one there's more. Tsurugi can knock out a peer, but then what?" The magus says, spinning a hand on its wrist, "Don't worry, though, I have plans for the cells. The prisoner's physicality won't matter once I'm done with them."

From a nearby cell, a pair of Sukeban listen in. "Y'hear that? They're gonna throw the mad dog in the slammer! This is hilarious! Can you imagine the face she's gonna make? Like a confused puppy in the pound!"

"Quiet down, or they're gonna hear you!" The other hisses, "Don't you get it? If we play our cards right, we can escape when that freak of nature breaks out! We'll be back on the streets, stealing cake again in no time!"

"They don't realize that if they get loose, they'll be in range of Tsurugi, do they?" Kaika whispers with a giggle.

Hasumi sighs. "I guess I really am the only person who thought that the cells were fine…"

By the time the pair finish their tour, Kaika has an entire notebook full of ideas. After going over them with Hasumi, the overwhelming majority of said ideas got the go ahead, with an added request to have Hantei and Kinben along so they could learn how to maintain the more esoteric components.

As Kaika walks to her next class, refining her notes as she goes, Chie approaches her. Given her posture, and her glancing around nervously, she probably isn't using Self Hypnosis right now. "Hello, Kaika-senpai! Do you have some time after school today?"

"I have something immediately after school, but I can wrap it up in about an hour or two. Or tell Hasumi I'm starting tomorrow instead if it's urgent." Kaika says after a moment's thought.

On hearing Hasumi's name, Chie gets a little more jittery. She stops to consider her words very carefully, before continuing. "Well, I was hoping you could join me and some of our Millennium friends to see a movie. But if it's JTF work…"

A dematerialized yet still hyperactive Nother starts bouncing in place. "Wait, is Chie taking us to see Dinosaur Tornado?!? The previews on tv looked so cool! Can we go, sis? Please? Pretty please?"

"It isn't urgent work, I just need to take a few days working the building over before the new moon." Kaika says with a chuckle, weaving a little data packet for Paimon to compose into a text to Hasumi. She would already be inclined to going on account of needing to nurture her connections with Millennium, but with Nother so excited she has the perfect excuse. Nobody is going to curse her out for being a good big sister when it isn't compromising anything urgent. "I assume it's Dinosaur Tornado? Nother is going to be heartbroken if it isn't."

Chie winces slightly, and her smile becomes slightly strained, but she nods in affirmation. "Y-yes. It's an old movie, but it's a popular one to poke fun at, so it gets replayed every so often."

"Sure, I'm always down for some mindless fun." Kaika says with a smile, "Already told Hasumi that Nother decided to drag me to the movies."

---

The school day continues, and lunch time inevitably comes. Hasumi once again sits in the JTF building, going over the paperwork as she nibbles on apple slices. Yes, her self control was inevitably going to crack, leading to another late night parfait binge, but at the very least, she was trying.

The double doors slam open, and the sound of exhausted foot shuffling and zombie-like moans echo through the building. Several groups of underclassmen flee as the President of the JTF stumbles to a nearby couch, falls backwards onto it, and splays out with her head leaning over the back. The gurgling noise sounds like it's coming from a dying animal.

"Welcome back, President. Would you like some tea?" Hasumi gets up, not even slightly ruffled by the display before her. "Thank you as always for your hard work. It's never easy when we're spread so thin."

Tsurugi raises a hand to stop Hasumi, before reaching into her sleeves for a bottle of iced tea and a rice ball. "I'm fine. Rest."

Hasumi returns to her seat. "If you're sure, then very well. Please take it easy yourself. Later, I'm going to need you to sign a few papers. Kaika-san agreed eagerly to help with -"

Suddenly, a dull "thud" echoes through the room. Hasumi and Tsurugi both jump with a start, and look up just in time to see a piece of night sky close behind the gigantic bento it deposited on the table in front of Tsurugi.

A letter done up in expensive stationery flutters off from the top of the box, unfolding as it lands on the President's lap.

My deepest apologies for not having been able to give you the attention and respect a warrior such as you deserve. Even as little as I can remember paints a fresco of dazzling violence from the hands of a brilliant soul. Please accept this as a token of thanks for your role on our moonlit escapade and an invitation to join me on another, at your convenience.
-Kaika Fukajo, Magus of Spirit

Tsurugi reads the letter carefully. Then she reads it again a second time, confused. "...Eh?"

Apparently there's something tied to it being read, as the bento itself gently unfolds itself into four parts. The first, a duo of bottles full of an amber liquid and a drinking glass decorated with a relief of Tsurugi's shotguns firing. The next, full of dumplings, flatbread and salted pork fat of all things. Another, revealing itself as a bowl, utensils and a serving ladle. The last one the size of the previous three put together, a deep, deep pit of brown-red stew.

It's all steaming fresh (or in the case of the bottles, so cold they mist over), filling the air with the scent of spices and bread straight out of the oven.

Tsurugi looks at the feast in front of her, before turning to look at Hasumi. "Umm…what…do I do? The letter…" She holds out the letter to her friend, unsure how to put words to the questions in her mind.

Hasumi takes the offered letter, reads it, and sighs. "The answer is yes, Tsurugi-san. She's flirting AND picking a fight. Don't worry, it's safe to eat."

"Oh…okay…" Tsurugi's expression becomes somewhat anxious, and her voice becomes uncharacteristically meek and quiet. She takes a moment to think, before a shaking hand picks up a spoon and delivers a scoop of red stew to the enforcer's mouth.

It is like fireworks are going off on her tongue. An orchestra where she can effortlessly single out a dozen different ingredients even as they dance together into a greater whole. What's more, she can taste the earnestness of the cook. This Kaika wants to spend time with her, get to know her, get to fight her again. Curiosity, joy, awe, determination, interest, they all come across as clear as the star anise.

Tsurugi stops for a moment, thinking hard while blushing furiously. After about a minute of staring blankly forward, she slaps her cheeks, screams for a second, and starts shoveling food into her mouth like a starving beast.

"Tsurugi? Is something wrong?!" Hasumi's face bears an expression of deep concern. Tsurugi, however, waves her off.

"Earnest feelings…demand earnest responses," She wheezes out between bites.

After that, there are no further interruptions to the President's meal. The stew disappears. The dumplings vanish. The pork fat is savored, though it too disappears. Bit by bit, the meal is eaten, until the last drop of spruce beer is consumed.

"Ehehehe~"

Tsurugi stands up once again, fully rested and energized. Red energy seems to waft from her as she walks over to Hasumi's desk, looks at the patrol schedule, and crosses one of the sections out.

"KIYAAAAA!!!!!"

Hasumi sighs, as Tsurugi runs through a nearby wall. Calmly, she picks up her radio. "Squad nine, take a normal lunch, the President is taking your afternoon patrol."

---

The rest of the school day goes by in a blur. While Kaika technically missed a few classes, the fact that she was assisting the JTF meant that she got a special exemption for the time spent. The rest of her classes were simple affairs, with Nother's silent celebration providing Kaika plentiful entertainment.

It feels like no time at all before the trio are on a bus, headed to the Millennium district for a state of the art movie experience.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kaika-senpai, but we deliberately chose this movie so we could speak freely without being overheard," Chie admits, as she squishes Dachi gently in her hands. "It's bad. Famously so. Nother MIGHT like it, but I'd be ready to buy her a toy afterwards."

"Don't worry, I can make a small curse so she isn't disturbed by our conversation if she does like it." Kaika says with a shake of her head, "Good thinking, though. If we had just spent a bit of time chatting in a cafe someone may've suspected. But nobody will even look our way in the movie theater."

Chie, ever weak to praise, starts to giggle with a big goofy grin on her face. Nother is too excited about dinosaurs to care about movie reviews, and continues bouncing in her seat. It's times like these that Kaika is thankful that Nother is subjectively corporeal, as in her current state she's not drawing the attention that a visible and audible wild child would. Her bus fare is also free.

A few minutes and a small firefight at stop 13 later, the bus arrives at a very fancy, three story movie theater. Chie has their tickets ready in advance, so they get to skip the lines and go straight to the concession stand.

Kaika has plenty of money to go around, so for the first time in her life she gets one of those huge popcorn buckets she dreamed of as a little kid. She then gets herself thirty something red licorice coins because she's never outgrown her love for them. 10/10 texture and flavor.

Chie is slightly more modest with her purchases, buying herself a much smaller bag of popcorn. However, as the only other person who can see Nother making puppy dog eyes, Chie breaks and buys her a red licorice coin before Kaika can stop her. It looks like the sugar rush isn't stopping anytime soon.

At least the coffee should be fading soon enough, small mercies.

The trio lumber into their designated viewing room, Kaika spilling small amounts of popcorn as she walks. She can feel ideation flow as Nother weaves a small curse of her own, but she's too busy trying to find her seat to look at what mischief her sister is up to.

"Over here - wow. You look like you're here for the long haul." A somewhat scrawny girl with coke bottle glasses waves at the group, directing them to the seats next to her. She and her companion, a dainty girl with white hair wearing a slightly oversized jacket, are seated close to the back of the theater. For snacks, they have foregone popcorn entirely, choosing what appear to be Skittles and energy drinks.

Ah, yes. R&D trail mix.

Maybe she should introduce them to the magus energy potion? It was quadruple espresso with energy drink instead of water, some blood full of magic energy and as much preworkout mix as the sludge would accept. Then you add curses to turn the dozen health issues this would cause into more energy.

As Kaika looks at the cans of Monster MAX and ponders, a flash of white crosses her peripheral vision. The nature of Nother's cursework becomes apparent to Kaika as she notices a few of the spilled kernels vanish into Nother's maw, her incorporeal state no longer a hindrance to her snack time.

Ahh, her baby sister's first solo curse, so precious. She snaps a quick picture, Paimon making sure the camera caught the weave of ideation Nother was using.

Noticing Kaika's distraction, Chie takes the lead in the conversation. "Kaika-senpai, these are my friends, Aika and Natalie! They're hoping to get into the Engineering Department at Millennium!"

"Pleasure to meet you, and I wish you the best. What're you working on lately?" This would be a loaded question amongst magi, but in this world it is simply a way to engage the nerds.

Natalie adjusts her glasses and flashes Kaika a grin as the pair take their seats. "Well, Kaika-san, you are looking at the president of the amateur inventor's club!" Natalie preens. "Over the course of the year, we've made about a dozen small gadgets that have seen widespread use among the students of Millennium! That's right, you're looking at the proud inventors of the EMP Stylus, the incendiary ink eraser, and PencilBot, the desk robot pencil sharpener!"

Natalie begins to deflate after that. "Sadly, nothing we made really caught on OUTSIDE of the school. And when it comes to club funding, Millennium Science Academy is very much a meritocracy. Our club is getting the axe, so if we want to keep doing what we love, we need to make something to impress the Engineering Department."

The previews end, and Dinosaur Tornado begins. The chatter in the theater doesn't go down very much, and Kaika quickly finds use for the cursework she had come up with on the bus ride here. She glances at the screen on occasion; so far, the movie looks like it's just Jurassic Park with Kivotos citizens instead of normal humans, with a Pomeranian paleontologist named Bob Barker as the lead instead of Alan Grant.

"As for what we're making to do that with?" Natalie continues, with a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "A lot of Millennium Students are out of shape. Physical Education is an elective, and most of us have science to do. So, why not make an affordable exoskeletal frame? Nothing huge and expensive like a full weapons platform. Just a brace to help mechanically assist with lifting and moving large loads."

"So miniaturization is the name of the game here, while keeping it easily mass produced to be affordable. And of course, the biggest hurdle would be how to make it act in tune with the user, which I can help with." Kaika puts together after swallowing a fistful of popcorn.

"Got it in one, Kaika-san," Aika responds. "Ambitious though it may be, we've got a prototype of the frame ready. But it runs on a miniature computer that needs to be programmed to move alongside the wearer. It's a coding nightmare, but we don't want to get it wrong and end up like Piledriver Industries in Iron Girl Two."

"Hm, mass producing a curse… I'd have to make a mimesis whose sole purpose is to copy that particular weave. And of course, the curse would unravel if it goes unused for long enough, but if it can get a new one by getting an 'update' from the server the mimesis is hosted in… yes, this should be quite doable." Kaika says, working it over as she speaks before finishing up with a nod.

"No need to go that far, Kaika-san," Aika continues. "Just having you use one to make it work while we record the results would be ideal. Halo sciences are an inescapable part of life in Kivotos, but if our technology depends on them to function, then that limits how far that technology can go. For example, two of our classmates have underslung wand attachments to their guns that shoot pixelated fireballs on command. Is it impressive? Very much yes. Does it help further the scientific process for the Haloless? Not really, no."

Underslung wands of fireballs. Only you, Kivotos.

"Hah, fair nuff. I suppose it wouldn't do for your software to be something from a third party, either." The magus says with a shake of her head, "Sorry, I tend to get carried away when it comes to my work."

"So I take it you're interested, Kaika-san?" Natalie picks back up with a grin. "Our offer is this. You come visit Millennium for a day. You wear the prototype, make it work with a Mimesis, and do a full motion capture routine. This may or may not include taking a PE class at Millennium. Once we get all the data we need, the prototype is yours. Thoughts?"

"I'm going to need some light modifications on the prototype. Nothing much, just a camera visor and some finger actuators if it doesn't already have them." Kaika says with a bob of her head, "Beyond that, I'm all for it. I'll just have Paimon hop onto the computer and cook up a quick MMI curse."

Natalie holds out a hand, and Kaika grasps it in a firm shake. "Done and dusted. We'll be back in touch regarding the specific time, but it'll definitely be sometime early next week. Now if you'll excuse us, we'd like to leave before the second act starts."

The pair exchange contact info and gather up their things in a rush. As Aika picks up her can of Monster MAX, a brief look of confusion crosses her face. "That's funny, I could have sworn I had half a can left…oh well, it's not the first time I've lost track, and won't be the last."

Oh no.

Kaika turns to look at the seemingly empty seat next to her. As she feared, Nother is sitting in it with her pupils almost fully dilated.

She's going to have to get into a goddamn curse duel with her little sister just to sap her energy, fuck.

The pair of Millennium Students make their exit just in time for the tropical storm to hit the park, just like in the movie Kaika remembers. However, there doesn't seem to be a Dennis Nedry analog in this movie. Instead of the fences going down, the dinosaurs are getting sucked into the storm. Just like… Sharknado… DID THEY JUST MIX THE MOVIES?!?

She's keyed up enough that this forces a hysterical laugh out of her. Sure, fuck it, she'll just enjoy the hour of relative silence she has left before Nother explodes. Dumb fun is fun.

Chie winces a little bit, and brings out Dachi for snuggles as the two sisters watch Kivotos' infamous classic to its conclusion. The apatosaurus reaching out of the tornado to eat a mechanical Hammond expy despite being an obligate herbivore. The horribly forced romantic subplot between Barker and a sparrow meteorologist named Michelle Hawk. Every. Cringe. Moment.

The sparkle doesn't leave Nother's eyes for a second.

---

It's well past dark when Mr. Fredericks finally returns home. The life of an Academy faculty member is always full of strange surprises, but what little grip on reality the mechanical man may have had is unraveling a little more each day.

Mr Fredericks opens his front door with care and deliberation, steps into his cozy apartment, and closes the door behind him as he removes his shoes and suit jacket. However, as soon as the door closes behind him, Fredericks hears a loud THUMP coming from the direction of his small kitchen.

Shaking, the mechanical man reaches into the coat pocket hanging next to him, and pulls out a derringer. "Hello? Is anyone t-t-there?" He calls out, the stutter in his voice interacting oddly with his light autotune.

As he rounds the bend, he sees a large package on his countertop that wasn't there when he left this morning. He looks around the apartment, and sees that all of his windows remain locked, and none appear to be broken.

"W-w-what's going on?"

There's no answer, other than a paper taped to the package.

'Apologies for the distress.' Say the printed out letters, lacking any signatory.

Mr Fredericks looks at the letter. He looks at the box. He looks at the letter again. He picks up his phone, and hits three buttons.

"Hello? Valkyrie Police Academy? There's a p-p-package on my table. No return address, no s-signatory, doors and windows are locked. N-no, it doesn't make sense. Please send someone?"

---

AN: This sidestory happens around the time of this chapter

https://forum.questionablequesting....t-blue-archive-nasu.24634/page-2#post-7637313

 

[KillerQueen]

Chapter 7: Welcome to Slumpia Park!

"Ah, Shin! Welcome, welcome! I hope your journey here was a pleasant one!" Maestro's twin faces of unmoving wood are the same as they always are. However, his tone of voice is dripping with barely contained excitement.

Kaika and Maestro stand in front of the gate of an amusement park. On paper, this "Slumpia" has been shut down and abandoned for several years now. The state of the outer gate, and the signs on the archway, corroborate that story. However, as the sun dips below the horizon, and night's shadow falls across the park, a very different reality can be seen.

"I have been practicing here for months now, creating a self-contained ecosystem," Maestro explains, as faint blue wisps begin to rise up all around the park. The sight almost reminds Kaika of flowers opening their petals in the sun. However, the beauty on display here is of a different sort, as the wisps gently float into nearby machinery, and force it to activate in defiance of damage and neglect.

Soon, a feeling of melancholy festivity is radiating from Slumpia park. Half broken lights shine, carnival rides that should be far too rusted to work lurch in motion, and discordant electronic calliope music echoes forth. By the time the sun has finished setting, the entire park is filled with lights, sounds, and motion.

"It may not be my life's work, but I'm still very proud of it. In particular, the lessons that we shared together have allowed me to make a far more complete piece than I would have on my own. Would you like a tour? Oh, and did you remember to leave the letter for your friends before you came?"

"I would love it. And yep!" Kaika chirrups. It was nothing much, just a little note for them not to freak out about her being very late out. As far as they are concerned, she's investigating the rumors of petty theft near Slumpia. Which isn't even really a lie. To make extra sure, Nother volunteered to stay behind and hand deliver it.

The sound of creaking wood echoes as Maestro vibrates in place for a moment. "Splendid! Let us not waste a moment, then! We must prepare for an audience tonight!"

"Oho, an audience?" Kaika says with a smile and a curled eyebrow, hand on her chin. A flare of magic energy and she finally looks at home next to the wooden man. Her outfit is between a dress and a robe, ragged flaps of dark red fake flesh, broken up by swirls of pristine white fat and forking purple veins miming lightning. Her entire head is covered by an anatomically accurate heart, the thick arteries woven into a complex braid and wrapped around her neck like a scarf.

She can still see just fine thanks to a small curse, of course. Another ensures the outfit breathes just fine despite being essentially a form of rubber. A third blurs her halo. She could hide it entirely, but this way if they are under fire, she can trust they'll focus on her instead of on her brother.

Maestro sets a brisk walking pace as he leads Kaika through the gates into the park proper. In a very similar vein as to how he had handled the restoration of Kaika's library, Maestro had deliberately allowed elements of urban decay to remain throughout the park without sacrificing form or function. Abandoned mechanical mascots are filled with blue wisps and rise as Mimesises all around them, their glow highlighting the brightly colored graffiti in a dazzling blacklight show.

The ideation here is energizing, if saddening. Rambunctious joy, shot through with yearning. It's like a little kid who wants to play and is confused where all their friends went. Makes her maternal instincts act up, it does.

The walk to the first spot on the tour is surprisingly brief. "First, we have the lifeblood of the place. Regular visitation and the exchange of goods keep an amusement park alive. A 'ghost park' may have no need for money, but mirroring the activity is still a potent source of fuel."

As Maestro says this, he directs Kaika's attention to a round courtyard with cobblestone pavement, surrounded by empty gift shops. Various bear and bunny mascots keep the streets well swept, while what looks like a gigantic, glowing jack in a box sits in the center of the courtyard as if it were an overseer. Occasionally, a mascot approaches, and drops armfuls of random knick knacks into the box before returning to duty.

"The courtyard is close to the park entrance. Any strike teams coming to retrieve stolen property do not have to penetrate far into the park to find this place. The guardian mimesises are built in such a way that their offensive abilities are null, but their durability and reconstitution speed are extremely high. There will always be lost and stolen goods making their way here. In response, there will always be those looking to retrieve what was taken, in exchange for a reward."

"A thematic connection to smooth over any dissonance in ideation, clever. I will drop a recommendation for them to send combat junkies who could do with some stress relief here, their thrill should harmonize perfectly." Kaika says, her voice distorted into a buzzing crackle and shifted a couple octaves higher.

Maestro nods. "I thank you, Shin. I believe that there's an outstanding bounty posted at General Student Council HQ. You can direct them there to further remove yourself from suspicion."

The walking marionette leads Kaika towards a nearby set of train tracks. "And our lessons together have helped me to make several conceptual bridges here. If one were to look at the park as a whole, as though it were an organism?"

A ghostly howl echoes forth, as a possessed locomotive with the face of a cartoon rat trundles along the rails. The open seating behind the engine is taken up by more mechanical mascots, many of whom carry assorted tools and cleaning equipment. The train slows as it nears the pair, but never quite comes to a stop.

"The courtyard is comparable to a stomach, bringing in ideation. The railways are veins, bringing the animatronics - the cells - where they are most needed."

Maestro nonchalantly grabs a bar and jumps aboard the train as it slowly passes by. At the same time, several bears and rabbits leap off of the train and set to work immediately to clean and maintain seemingly random areas while deliberately ignoring others.

"Come along, Shin!" Maestro carries himself in a manner not dissimilar to a demented chocolatier as the train starts to pick up speed again.

Kaika doesn't think twice, jumping on the train with a happy whoop. The Magus and her mentor quickly scramble up the side of the train cars, and take their seats as the locomotive picks up speed. The cartoonish rodent face on the front of the train engine twists into a scream as the train whistles loudly, and the tour continues.

---

The next half hour or so is spent aboard the train, with Maestro explaining his logic and vision for each segment of the park as they pass through it. The mad artist also promises to introduce Kaika to each of the three greater guardians of the park, much larger and more potent than the smaller workers at their command.

For the most part, the amusement park rides seem to be common fare. There are plentiful merry go rounds and teacup spinners, and the ferris wheel dominates the skyline. While some rust and graffiti are spotted occasionally, it appears that a large number of mascots are very hard at work on the testing and maintenance of the rides.

As the train begins to slow down, Maestro stands from his seat on the train car and offers a deep bow to what appears to be a random light fixture. Kaika looks up to see what she assumes to be the greater guardian mimesis perched atop a street lamp, overseeing the work. Despite her towering stature, easily twice the height or more of a typical citizen, her style and body plan remind Kaika of some of her more adorable juniors. The cute top hat, frilly short dress, and a long staff with a crescent moon gives her the vibe of a particularly huggable magical girl. Her face is very much that of a corvid with a prominent beak, and her arms are feathered wings that seem to have no difficulty whatsoever holding her staff.

"Thank you, Kuro, for your hard work. May these rides once again delight and terrify the many students of Kivotos," Maestro says with a flourish. "Mayhaps tonight, even. We are expecting guests."

The magical bird nods at Maestro, a purple glow shining brightly in her eyes, as she turns her attention back to the rides. Kuro raises her staff into the air and twirls it with a flourish. As she does so, the more mangled pieces of old machinery are lifted into the air, hovering in place as worker Mimesises swarm about in a frenzy of repairs.

"I look forward to your performance, miss." Kaika says with a curtsy once she's done repressing the urge to hug the bird. "Break a leg, as they say."

The magical corvid girl remains focused on the task at hand. However, as a ghostly flock of the jet black birds surround Kuro, several break off to perch in front of Kaika. One bird returns the Magus's bow, as another places a flower in her hand.

As the birds leave to rejoin their growing flock, the train picks up speed once again, leaving Kuro to her work.

The train continues into a tunnel, leaving Kaika to her thoughts. One might guess that the lack of prominent roller coasters might have played a part in the park's fall from grace. A shame, really. The rides were only half of the park's charm. Upon exiting the tunnel, Slumpia Castle dominates the view. A venue for live entertainment, with a brick castle backdrop festooned with joyful lights and neon.

Here, more than anywhere else, the urban decay is maintained like a badge of honor, or a prominent scar. The graffiti is everywhere, and the lights spark frequently. Looking carefully, Kaika can see fireworks launchers hidden on the battlements like incredibly festive cannonry. There's no sign of any worker robots. However, there's scurrying movement in the shadows, and a pair of glowing eyes spying on the train as it passes by slowly.

Maestro bows again. "Thank you, Shiro. We are expecting guests tonight. Your fireworks will have an audience. And if they push deep enough into the park, so will your performance."

The skittering stops immediately. A head pokes out of the shadows, revealing a rat mascot about the size of a student. Her curled toed shoes, collar, and hat all point towards her role as a jester, and her short dress has a charming and starlike polka dot pattern. As Shiro's mechanical eyes meet Kaika's organic ones, the magus gets a very familiar impression. That of a fellow prankster let off the leash.

She gives the mimesis a thumbs up. That's all she needs, really.

The train goes through another tunnel, and the pair finally disembark at the train junction. Once again, the train merely slows slightly rather than stopping outright, permitting Kaika and Maestro to leap off the vehicle in a manner that no sane person back in Kaika's old life would advise. Maestro dusts himself off, turns around, and bows for a third time.

As Kaika turns around, the first thing she sees is the guardian. A truly massive animatronic cat, easily triple Maestro's height while seated, and with a belly large enough for Kuro to curl up inside of, looks down at the pair with a jovial smile on his face. The dapper train conductor, with tophat and monocle, remains seated as workers perform maintenance on his body. His surroundings, too, are under construction - a bright stage strategically placed so that anyone waiting for their train could be delighted by the fat cat's classical magic show.

"I have splendid news, Goz. We will be having visitors tonight." Maestro turns towards Kaika. "And now, for a proper introduction. Shin? Meet Goz. As the master of the railways, he currently holds the role of Slumpia Park's beating heart. He is a talented magician, and I hope he will be a good friend. Goz? Meet Shin. She is the Student that I have been sharing lessons with, and who gifted me with Adestria. I can say with confidence that, without her, we would be months behind on your repairs. As matters stand, if we are fortunate, you may be back on your feet this very night."

Goz closes his eyes, and tilts his head in respect towards Kaika.

She offers a deep curtsy, her dress pulsating like a living thing. The braid raises from behind her, giving a cheerful wave, "It is a delight to meet you, sir. You have a beautiful home and a fantastic stage."

---

With the tour complete, Maestro and Kaika sit across from one another in the ferris wheel. Kuro's flock is perched all over the ride, keeping close watch over the refurbished machine as it moves.

"From one artist to another, what do you think of my work here, Shin?" Maestro lounges in his seat, relaxing his body. His neck is turned in such a way that one head looks at Kaika, while the other gazes out the window at the flashing ghost light of Slumpia Park. "It may be but a step on my journey towards my Magnum Opus, but every step on a journey matters."

"It's a daring work, juggling so many aspects. From the stage and its systems to the backpieces to the three crown jewels. Each part builds on the others to create a greater whole." Kaika says, humming in thought, "It's an interesting perspective into who you are as an artist and seeker of the Sublime. Harmony, the beautiful symphony of the many becoming something greater, interconnected. It reminds me of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, each Sephirah an aspect of the divine light, regulating and aiding one another."

The puppet's body creaks as he chuckles slightly. "Ah, the Tree of Life. That it appears to be a repeating pattern gives weight to Black Suit's hypothesis of the Sublime. The prophets of the God Machine, Decagrammaton, are likewise patterned off of the Tree, you see. Albeit in a far more direct manner."

Maestro offers a finger for Kuro's familiar to perch upon, as he continues wistfully. "As for my personal style? I prefer to let the canvas speak. To take what is already there, and compliment it. Here, in this park, it is an ecosystem. But for my hypothesis of the Sublime? My attempt at the Root?"

The bird flies off of Maestro's finger, and perches on the back of Kaika's seat. The artist turns towards Kaika, giving her his undivided attention. "Through studying the ancient texts of Trinity, and other Academies, I am hoping to gain the understanding necessary to create a Divine Spirit. This project, my Communio Sanctorum, is my true Magnum Opus."

Ah, she misjudged. This was the first time she saw a major work of her brother, so she hadn't drawn the right conclusion with a single datapoint. Oh, well, no harm, no foul. More importantly, though, "Oho, you don't think small. A World Terminal… everyone in the Clocktower would call you insane, say it is impossible. Perhaps it is there, with the Age of Gods long gone, but the divine isn't as unreachable as many like to pretend."

Of course, the Clocktower looked down on eastern traditions, so they largely ignored the internal alchemy of the Spiral Mansion and the myriad Kami of Japan. Fools, the lot of them. Even if she isn't truly japanese, she took her name despite the bias for a reason.

Maestro nods. "Indeed. Kivotos is a city steeped in Mystery. Every step we take towards understanding, while fruitful, nevertheless leads to even more questions. As seekers of Truth, boredom as a concept is distant."

Moments pass in thoughtful silence, before Maestro speaks again. "Shin? May I be so bold as to make a request of you?"

The ferris wheel completes a rotation, and the cabinet begins the slow climb to the top once again. "I am on the verge of a breakthrough on Communio Sanctorum. As the majority of my focus will be on my Magnum Opus, I am entrusting the well-being of this park to a coworker by the name of Golconde."

"His Nature is that of a historian. He is extremely helpful for gathering intelligence and understanding the world around us. However, he lacks a hypothesis of his own, and thus rarely conducts experiments. This is why I trust him to be a benefit to this ecosystem. However… Golconde is a double sided painting. And the opposite side of his canvas is a man by the name of Francis, whom I DO NOT trust."

Maestro looks towards Kaika pleadingly. "In the unlikely event that the frame turns, will you watch after this place, Shin?"

"I will protect it like one of my own works." Which was to say, allow it to thrive by its own right, but step in if it was truly threatened. That didn't need saying, they understood each other as artists.

Maestro's body rattles slightly as the tension leaves it. "You have my deepest thanks. And please forgive my rudeness, I have been hogging the conversation for far too long. Do you have any questions? Would you like to speak about your own projects?"

"There's nothing to forgive, I will never object to hearing someone speak from their heart." She chuckles softly, shaking her head, "I would like to hear more about this Decagrammation and their prophets. I considered using the kabbalistic system for my magnum opus for a time, so I admit some curiosity at their execution."

"Ah, yes. Black Suit's hypothesis." Maestro lounges back, staring at the ceiling of the ferris wheel pod as a corvid familiar helps itself to a seat in Kaika's lap. "You see, prior to the founding of Millennium Science Academy, there were other cabals of truth seekers. One such group hypothesized that, if mathematics could prove the existence of God, then God could be replicated. To this end, a machine was created to perform the calculations."

"And they succeeded to some degree, I imagine. Did the machine find the four unutterable syllables or something to that effect?" She asks with a tilt of her head, before snorting, "Ah, this brings back memories. One of my fellow magi, while more than a touch manic with sleep deprivation, postulated that if one can alter the world through thaumaturgically-charged math and prove the existence of God with the same, one should be able to provide mathematical proof of God's nonexistence to make the Church's Miracles cease working."

Maestro groans slightly in response. "If math can simultaneously prove AND disprove a thing, then something stinks. Attempting to bend the Truth for the sake of one's own convenience only serves to obscure it further. I applaud your contemporaries' creativity, but bemoan how very self defeating the quest for the Root has become."

The puppet shakes his two heads before continuing. "As for what Truth the Machine God found, Black Suit has been infuriatingly cryptic on the matter. That it IS a Truth is beyond refute. Those programs that Decagrammaton touches and appoints as his Prophets have Halos. They take on the names of the Sephirot, and spread their God's glory by their own choice. But something isn't sitting right in my gut. This hypothesis needs further testing. Alternate routes need to be explored."

"As a great woman once said, 'anything that can't survive scrutiny, shouldn't'." Kaika says, nerve patterns buzzing softly, "A Truth untested is worthless."

"Wise words, indeed." Maestro nods in appreciation, as Kaika formulates her next question.

"Now, onto a touch of business. If I am to watch over this place should Francis appear, I need to know of him, his means and his methods." She settles on. She wants to take him up on the offer of talking about some of her recent works, but this takes priority.

Maestro sighs. "A necessary precaution. First of all, I meant what I said literally. Golconde is a painting of the back of a man's head. He has no issues speaking, or perceiving his surroundings, but to move himself and manipulate his surroundings, he relies on an associate by the name of Decalcomine. This individual appears to be a normal human, albeit headless."

"About on par for what I'd expect of one of your colleagues." Kaika says with a bob of her head, accepting it evenly. It isn't that much weirder than how the Einzbern patriarch had bound his soul to the family castle.

"Decalcomine is usually very good about keeping his partner facing the correct direction. But on the rare occasions that he's slipped up, Francis has proven to have a demeanor as hideous as his face. His interests are lashing out at the world around him, bringing destruction with words and observations alongside physical action." The doll explains.

The magus makes an unhappy noise in the back of her throat, the artery-braids dangling from her head lashing angrily. "I know the type."

Maestro nods towards one of the familiars. "As he still lacks a Halo, simply recognizing the difference between Golconde and Francis goes a long way towards curbing any damage he might do. And by agreeing to care for this place, you can be certain that the mimesises here will follow you instead of Francis in the event of a conflict of interest."

"The only question that remains is how much force I may use against him. Both before doing undue harm to Golconde and drawing the ire of your colleagues." Kaika says with a sigh. If she has to, she will put both of them down, she's a magus. She walks with death. But that doesn't mean it should be her first resort. Knowing the rules of engagement is important.

Maestro nods. "If Francis lacks direction, then simply driving him off would suffice. Decalcomine will eventually figure out which side is which. If Francis appears to be working towards a plan, stop it as you see fit. I will assist you as needed. If the situation is ever so bad that you must choose between Golconde and Kivotos, please choose Kivotos."

The puppet slumps into his seat. "Heh. Amusing. I suppose Gematria isn't so dissimilar from a coven of Magi after all. Perhaps this is why I was offered the privilege to be your tutor?"

"From everything you have told me of them, I will certainly treat them as such. Respectfully, even if that respect must come in the form of my most vicious curses." Kaika says as she leans back, gazing up at the ceiling, "I am simply happy to have found a brother among them."

Maestro looks thoughtful. "I am likewise happy to have met a kindred spirit. However, there may be one other person who is worthy of your trust. The hypothesis must be tested, of course, but if my suspicions prove correct, then I would be doing you a disservice by not introducing you."

"Oho. A certain stranger blown in from parts unknown, I gather?" It is nothing but a gut instinct, but as someone who deals in the intricacies of ideation, she knows their worth. All of humanity is connected to form Alaya, is it any wonder that sometimes things may slip through?

Maestro waves his hand. "Hers is a face that I am all but certain you will recognize. But we can discuss her later, as she's one of the guests we're expecting tonight. Was there anything else you wished to discuss before the show?"

"Oh, yes, I have a recent work. My first dabbling in genius loci, in fact." Kaika claps happily before rubbing her hands eagerly, launching into an excited explanation of what she did.

---

Nother hadn't been sure what she was expecting to happen when she hand delivered Kaika's letter to their friend in the JTF. Looking back, she's sure that she wasn't expecting Hasumi to look at the letter, look at her phone, and immediately mobilize for a rescue mission. Now, the glowing mimesis is sitting in a Crusader tank with Hantei, Kinben, and Hasumi, driving to Slumpia Park at the head of a small convoy.

"I'm happy sister has such good friends." She comments. Partly because that's the thought going through her head, partly because it'll keep theirs in the game. Souls shone so bright when their bonds pulled taut.

Kinben sighs, and smiles at Nother. "Kaika-senpai is a good person, and she cares a lot. I'm happy to be her friend, and I'm happy to lend support when she needs it."

From the loader's seat, Hantei chuckles a bit. "It's definitely never boring with her. I can't tell whether this is good luck or bad! On the one hand, Kaika-senpai's involvement this time is incidental, so keeping Nagisa out of our grills should be easy. On the other hand…"

"...our friend has stumbled into a Gematria plot," Hasumi finishes, baggy eyes locked on the road as she drives. "If anyone was looking forward to meeting SCHALE's sensei, then congratulations. Tonight is the night. After the reports that we received from Sensei's week in Abydos, and what Black Suit tried to do there, I'm not risking the safety of ANY of our students. The fact that it's someone I know just makes this… personal."

"Big sister has interesting luck, yep yep." The mimesis says, "What's Gematria, though? And why is a piece of clothing moonlighting as a villain?"

Hantei also looks at Hasumi. "Yeah, what's going on, Hasumi-senpai? Isn't that a conspiracy theory? We only ever hear the REAL crazies screaming about them."

Hasumi's eyes narrow and dart back and forth, taking in as much detail as the tiny viewport permits. "We may have to take those ravings more seriously going forward, Hantei. According to Sensei, a member of their cabal of 'truth seekers' had made a deal with Kaiser Group. Abydos already has problems, but apparently this 'Black Suit' individual thought he could trick one of their third years into dropping out and signing her rights away."

"Kivotos doesn't have magically binding contracts, right?" Nother asks worriedly. Her sister taught her about the perils of signing something she hasn't read, and she can probably identify a geas scroll on sight, but to think it may come up…

"If you had asked me a month ago, I could say 'no' with certainty. Now, I feel the need to verify with the Sisterhood first. Regardless, Black Suit wasn't aiming for recruitment. He wanted his lab rat to be a 'volunteer'."

The expressions in the tank turn dark, and the ideation turns sour.

"Are all of Gematria like that?" The mimesis asks despite knowing her answer already. She's been told by both big sis and Uncle Maestro.

"We have no idea. Our only data point is Black Suit," Hasumi confirms. "But from what we can tell, no one in Gematria acted on Hoshino-san's behalf against Black Suit. That tells me enough."

The voices in the tank fall silent as the gravity of the situation sinks in. Nother takes a moment to peek at their surroundings through the gunner's periscope. Theirs is but one of four Crusader tanks on the road, along with several units of First Years in armored vans. Nother's heart flutters at the sight of Tsurugi, who is running alongside the screening tanks.

The sharp sound of a police whistle cuts through the white noise of the running tank engine, and the vehicle soon comes to a stop. Moments later, a sharp voice is heard shouting into a megaphone.

"THIS IS THE VALKYRIE POLICE ACADEMY! YOU ARE LEAVING THE JURISDICTION OF TRINITY GENERAL SCHOOL, AND ENTERING PUBLIC SPACE! STATE YOUR INTENTIONS, OR YOU WILL BE ASSUMED TO BE HOSTILE!"

Hasumi sighs, and motions for Kinben to open the hatch. A few seconds of scrambling about later, and Hasumi is outside, while Nother's face is glued to the tiny driver's viewport. The street is completely blocked off by police vehicles, blue and red lights shining. Tsurugi is locked in a stare down with a blonde police officer with prominent canine features.

Before the situation can escalate further, Hasumi intervenes, smartphone in hand. "Greetings, Officer. I know what this looks like, but I assure you, this is SCHALE business, not a territory grab. I have the summons from Sensei right here. Time is of the essence, so please forgive us for not calling ahead."

One of the officers looks at Hasumi's phone, nods, and turns towards her canid coworker. "Officer Kanna? The summons are legitimate. Slumpia Park, high alert, Force Composition at the recipients' discretion."

Officer Kanna's eyes narrow, her gaze never leaving Tsurugi's for a second. The berserker's eyes are near manic, her maw near to drooling, inches away from the cop's face. Kanna, meanwhile, isn't flinching, and has her megaphone at the ready. "I see. And by 'your discretion,' you feel that the situation merits tactical weaponry?"

Tsurugi's breathing is uneven. Nevertheless, she manages to speak with a measure of clarity. "One of ours… is in danger. I haven't answered… her Feelings yet. STAND. ASIDE."

Hasumi nods. "As you can see, Tsurugi-san volunteered for this operation. As we are both registered assets for SCHALE, there was no cause to deny her. Now may we please continue to our destination?"

"...Fine," Officer Kanna relents with a sigh. She lifts her megaphone to her mouth, and shouts into it before Tsurugi can back away. "RIGHT THEN! WE'RE GIVING THIS CONVOY A POLICE ESCORT TO THEIR DESTINATION! EVERYONE, GET IN FORMATION AND LET'S MOVE!"

Tsurugi reels back from the sudden noise in her ears. She stumbles about dizzily for a moment as the police barricade is lifted and everyone takes their positions once again. By the time the tanks are moving again, the President of the JTF is well and truly riled up for the conflict ahead.

---

As the convoy arrives at its destination, Nother feels a massive spike of hostile ideation. The Crusader's hatch opens once again, and the young mimesis leaves the tank with the rest of its current occupants, leaving the vehicle to a dedicated crew for the coming operation. With an unobstructed view, Nother can see the wonder in Hantei's eyes and the disgust in Hasumi's as their gazes fall upon the figures awaiting them at the park gates.

"Hello, everyone! What a lovely evening it is! Are you looking forward to this gastronomical adventure as much as I am?"

The lovely voice comes from a demon girl with long silver hair, a single bat-like wing, and a thick black and red tail wagging happily. Her outfit is feminine and military-esque, with a beret and an open jacket over her shoulders, and a stylish skirt and pantyhose with heels. There is a long rifle resting on the fence next to her that radiates danger, and her aura of classiness is unruffled by the handcuffs around her wrists.

The figure next to her lets out a long suffering sigh. "Haruna, please be on your best behavior tonight. The only reason you're getting out of detention is that this is SCHALE work, and Sensei asked for you specifically."

As Nother turns to face the owner of the second voice, her eyes shoot open in wonder easily the match of Hantei's. This soul is just as dazzling as Tsurugi's, albeit in a different way. Where Tsurugi's soul is the explosion of a Bloody Handed One, this is the measured focus of a Spine of the World.

Her small frame is bedecked in a similarly militaristic style. Her long, fur trimmed coat is draped over her shoulders like a cape, with a red armband displaying her affiliation with Gehenna's Prefect Team proudly. Her uniform is embroidered with gold medals, and below her skirt, her legs are clad in thigh high stockings and thick soled knee high boots. She has two pairs of horns, a pair of large batlike wings, and a truly massive halo reminiscent of a circular saw.

Her gun is just as striking. That thing is too big to be called a machine gun. Too big, too long, too heavy, and seemingly lacking key components. A hollow lump of solid steel, glowing with a baleful purple light. But it is a machine gun nonetheless, easily longer than the girl is tall.

Hasumi gives the Prefect Team President a curt yet respectful nod, trying very hard not to let Haruna into her field of vision while Tsurugi seethes nearby. "Good evening, miss Sorasaki Hina. I assume you were on office duty at SCHALE tonight?"

Hina nods, the bags under her eyes easily the match of Hasumi's. "Indeed. Sensei is on her way back from an incident in Hyakkiyako, with a pair of new applicants. I was going to meet her at her office, before… this. What a pain…"

Hantei is practically vibrating with excitement at the sight of her hero in the flesh. Whispers run wild through the mass of first years, a mixture of awe and fear at the sight of Hina. Their reactions to Haruna, on the other hand, are far less divided.

"Hantei?" Kinben hisses, her eyes glued onto the handcuffed demon. "Isn't that the President of the Gourmet Research Society? One of the most notorious terrorist groups that Gehenna has ever vomited out?"

"Please, Kinben. Don't ruin this moment for me. I'm trying to focus on the positive here."

"Enjoying the good makes light work of bearing the bad." Nother chimes in once she can scrape together enough attention away from the Spine.

The pot of growing dissent doesn't have long to simmer before the sound of an approaching helicopter cuts through the night. Looking skyward, Nother sees a white Huey with the SCHALE logo stamped on the side. The JTF looks on in surprise, while Hina visibly relaxes. "Ah, perfect timing."

A landing space is quickly cleared, and the Huey touches down in short order. Three figures disembark, all wearing odd outfits for the current setting.

"Aruji-dono, Aruji-dono! Are we really going to an amusement park?" The first figure is that of a first year student from an unfamiliar Academy. From context clues, and the fact that the student in question is a kitsune pup literally bouncing with energy, Nother's guess is Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy. The loudly dressed ninja cosplayer radiates innocence and joy like a beacon, and her singular bushy fox tail wags violently. She carries an SMG with so many charms and decorations on it that one must wonder how it fires at all.

"Izuna-chan, wait! Just because it's an amusement park, doesn't mean we're here for the rides!" A voice that is somehow both nasal AND cute comes from the second figure. She's a second year student wearing an eastern style maid outfit, with plenty of embellishments and accessories, and a shotgun slung over her shoulder. She doesn't have any obviously inhuman features, but is likely from the same Academy as Izuna. She puts on a brave face, but her ideation is a bundle of nerves.

"It's okay, Shizuko. Izuna knows that this is a mission. And I know that we can count on her."

The third's soul is so bright she cannot see her body for a moment. A mirror which will shine in perpetuity, flickering and admiring the observer, only to twist ever so slightly, showing them how they can be even better. It glitters beautifully and is to be admired without question, for it admires the observer without question. But as all mirrors, its backing is metal, strong and hard and steadfast even when struck.

A Hero of Heroes.

The comparatively frail body housing this soul puts her hand atop the fox pup's head, and Izuna's expression melts into contentment even as determination lights up in her eyes. "Mhm! That's right! I'm Aruji-dono's loyal ninja, ready for any mission! No rollercoaster will frighten me!"

As the Sensei of SCHALE steps forward to talk to the gathered leadership, the murmurs of the gathered first years increase in volume. Whatever they had been imagining Sensei to look like, it apparently wasn't this. The fact that she is Sensei is undeniable, however. Between the reactions of the students who knew her, and the fading tension even as Haruna's cuffs are removed, Sensei was clearly a balancing influence on the disparate group.

Soon, the huddle breaks, and Hasumi and Sensei turn to face the gathered forces. "Alright, everyone. This is, first and foremost, a reconnaissance operation. The park is obviously haunted," Hasumi says, gesturing at a fairy light drifting by. "Kaika-san came here to investigate, and we haven't been able to reach her since. If anyone finds her, call it in, and evac. Otherwise, we'll be sweeping through the entire park."

Sensei grips her tablet tightly, and glances at something off in the distance inside of the park, as Hasumi continues the debriefing. Nother tunes most of it out, her attention better spent on the people around her. The mixture of glee and embarrassment as Hantei discovers she's part of Hina's group, and her subsequent tongue tied babbling. Haruna getting close to Shizuko, the terrorist asking about her cafe while the business owner tries futilely to move the conversation elsewhere. Tsurugi glancing at Sensei with conflicting feelings.

In no time at all, the briefing is over, andr everyone but Nother is taking their positions. The young Mimesis looks around in confusion for a moment, until she hears a light cough behind her. Turning around, she finds herself face to chest with Sensei.

"Hello! Nother, was it? It's nice to meet you!"

 

[KillerQueen]

Chapter 8: A Terror-iffic Time

As the assorted forces gather at Slumpia's gates, the ferris wheel creaks to a halt, ensuring that Kaika and Maestro can see all of the goings on from the highest vantage point.

"I will admit, I am surprised that Sensei is bringing this much force," Maestro hums. "Your friends were expected, of course. But full mobilization…Hina and Haruna…"

The puppet lets out a sigh, as the park gates open and students pour in like ants. "Black Suit must have left a poor impression, indeed."

"You didn't need to trick me and my friends into this, you know? I could've simply sent them a message about a fieldtrip to get some hands-on experience with mimesises." Kaika sighs, a subtle curse on the glass giving them a set of close up feeds to track the groups by as they split. The fact that the entire park is interconnected even allows her to add sound with a bit of fiddling on the concept of distance.

She will refine these curses later. They will come in handy if she ever has to take charge of Slumpia to the fullest extent.

Maestro hums in thought. "I had thought that the surprise was important. Both for yourself seeing this place for the first time, and for your friends to engage with the park with genuine emotion."

"I understand. The reveal is the most delicate part of the process. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to worry them like this, especially after my stunt with Nother." Kaika says with a shake of her head, her tone fully slipping out of verbal lockstep. "Ah, well, what is done is done. Still, next time do try to work something out with me. I go out of my way to avoid putting you in difficult situations and it is only fair you return the favor."

As Kaika observes the feeds, and the flow of students splits into three distinct branches. Her attention is drawn to several new faces in the crowd. One branch that is clearly meant to be a distraction is proving to be very distracting indeed. Not only is this "Haruna" person running shoulder to shoulder with the maid cafe owner, but a woman, whom from context clues Kaika can only assume is Tsurugi, is leading the JTF against the growing swarm of animatronics.

The animatronic rabbits and bears unfold into an arsenal of automatic weaponry, laying into the invaders with machine gun fire. In response, Tsurugi charges ahead, red eyes glowing bright as she draws fire away from her squad. Her twin shotguns fire rapidly, tearing through the animatronics like a wrecking ball. She should have had to stop and reload several times already, but the surrounding carnage appears to be feeding her, healing her injuries and keeping her guns loaded with phantom ammo.

"Oh my." Kaika breathes out, glad for how her mask covers her blushing face. She's seen footage of the Queen dismantling an entire castle and all its undead inhabitants (and gotten a short-lived crush from it), but the most terrifying woman in the Clocktower has nothing on the veritable orchestra of brutality taking place. She had an impression, from her hazy memories, but she's definitely feeling hot under the collar watching her go to town.

"Why do these things have guns?!?" Shizuko wails, her voice carried over to Kaika through the curse. "Isn't this supposed to be a kid's park?"

"It's perfectly reasonable, though?" Haruna answers, as she carefully observes the surrounding terrain. "Did you never play with white phosphorus as a child? Oh, the pranks we would play…"

Only you, Kivotos. Only you.

Tsurugi's aggressive fighting style keeps the pressure off of her squad, but the flow of animatronics isn't stopping, reinforcements leaping into the fray every time a train passes by. It isn't long before the JTF starts taking casualties, the less attentive first years falling down dizzy after taking one too many bullets. Seeing the way the winds of war are blowing, Haruna's eyes narrow, and a plan begins to form.

"Excuse me, ladies, but I have a reservation elsewhere tonight!" With that, Haruna grabs Shizuko, throws her over her shoulder, and starts running towards the front lines. Timing her leap to the sound of rumbling on the tracks, she jumps on Tsurugi's back, then catapults herself onto the approaching train before the animatronics can disembark. Dropping the mewling entrepreneur into the seat next to her, Haruna wastes no time aiming her rifle down the spine of the train. Power flows down the barrel as she strikes a pose, and as Haruna pulls the trigger, her silver bullet takes on a spectral quality, passing through and dealing massive damage to everything in a straight line.

All of the animatronics on the train fall like puppets with their strings cut, denying this front its reinforcements for a moment. However, Haruna is now on the train, waving playfully at the JTF as it carries her away from her erstwhile escort.

Tsurugi's shock at being used as a springboard is very short lived, quickly replaced by seething anger. "HAAARUUUNAAA!!!" Tsurugi's roar eclipses that of her guns, as animatronics are scattered and shattered around her.

"Go get'em, girl." Kaika chuckles softly, even as she takes note of this Haruna's special ability. It reminds her of the very first prototype for Freikugel. The thought of helping Tsurugi develop some countermeasures for it comes and goes, ultimately it is a technique meant for taking down groups. The berserker just needs to keep fighting and she'll recover just fine if she's hit.

Suddenly, Kaika hears a rattling noise somewhere below her, and the spectral ravens start to caw and flap their wings angrily. Surprised, Maestro looks out the window, before exclaiming in delight. "Oh! Sensei is here!"

As Kaika glances outside, and her eyes are drawn to the base of the ferris wheel, she sees a somewhat familiar figure. The thirty something year old woman with brown shoulder length hair, round glasses, and a patient, happy expression on a relatively cute face had been on television once before. Kaika had completely overlooked her at the time, as Hasumi had grabbed her attention and ran away with it.

But seeing Sensei in person is a completely different experience. For one, she isn't wearing the plain if functional business suit from before. She is currently wearing a full blown, long sleeved kimono, lavished with charms and accessories that looked handmade, by students. Kaika doesn't need her children's ideation sight to know they radiate affection like a space heater. In one hand, she holds a tablet. The other hand is currently being held by a bright eyed and excited Nother, pulling her straight toward Kaika's location with sparkles in her eyes.

"She's quite something." The magus says, feeling something shifting in her gut as goosebumps curl up her arms. Now that she's seeing her in the flesh, she doesn't need Sultore's chime to know this woman is important. "My, I don't envy Gematria one bit. There's few things magi fear more than a woman like her set against them."

She could be wrong, of course. She has only encountered one of the 'blessed' few and he was something of an anomaly. But, she trusts her instincts.

Although what someone like her is doing with that 'tablet' is completely beyond her. She knows a terminal when she sees one, the field trip to the Spirit Tomb taught her that much. It doesn't paint a comforting picture that both forces are in agreement.

Maestro lets out a sad sigh, before turning to the raven. "Kuro, could you be a dear and let her come aboard? She's going to climb the ferris wheel if we don't." The raven stops squawking and ruffles her feathers angrily, but the ferris wheel begins to turn slowly once again regardless.

Maestro then turns to Kaika. "Well, Shin? How would you like to handle this? I can see that you wish to operate under your pen name, but with little Nother seemingly infatuated with Sensei, that may prove challenging."

"It is ultimately in my sister's hands, I'm afraid." Kaika sighs, shaking her head softly, "Ah, well, I have a feeling Sensei will keep the secret if I ask her to."

So long as she convinced her that she was in no danger whatsoever, that is.

Soon, the door to the artists' cabin opens, allowing Nother and Sensei aboard. With a bow and a flourish, Maestro directs the pair to take his bench, moving to sit next to Kaika. "Greetings, Sensei! I'm glad that you could make it to my performance tonight! And on such short notice, too!"

"Uncle Maestro, Uncle Maestro! Everything here is so pretty! And…oh? Why are you dressed like that?" Nother doesn't outright expose Kaika, but in her excitement, she provided plenty of context clues. Nevertheless, the wooden puppet pats the young mimesis on the head affectionately.

"Thank you, Nother! Would you like to take a seat with us? And you, Sensei? Would you like some refreshments?"

"Thank you, but I'll pass," Sensei answers in a level tone, her eyes soaking in every detail around her as she takes her seat. "Maestro, was it? Your video message certainly left an impression." It is with a much warmer smile on her face as she turns to speak to Kaika. "And it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Anna Iolcos, but most people call me Sensei."

"A shame, I was recently gifted quite the vintage. Still, I will not blame you, not after Black Suit behaved as he did." Kaika says with a sigh, a gloved hand coming to roost over her chest as she offers a small bow. Her voice is an octave lower and a great deal smoother, a clever little curse making her sound a few years older, "A pleasure to meet you, Ms Argonaut, and well wishes to your merry crew. While you may have some ideas as to my true identity thanks to Nother forgetting secrecy in her excitement, please call me Shin while I wear this mask. Rest assured, I am in no danger nor in Gematria's clutches."

"I am happy to hear that, miss Shin," Sensei replies with a smile. "But I admit that this raises more questions than it answers."

The door to the cabin slides shut, and the ferris wheel creaks into motion once again. Kaika's cursework lights up the cabin with its screens again, allowing everyone inside a view of the action without having to stop the ferris wheel a second time.

"So. You're aware of what happened to Hoshino-chan. And you still trust this man?" Sensei's tone is questioning, and lacks harshness.

"Yes. We are brothers in art. We have our pride and integrity as artists, behaving as Black Suit did would do nothing but sully our work. The search for the Sublime is paramount, yes, but only a fool believes they can reach heaven atop a mountain of sin." Kaika explains, before tilting her head, "And, to dispense with the poetry for a moment, he was the first to warn me of Gematria's skullduggery. The group is not as united as you believe it to be, it is an alliance of convenience. Nothing more and nothing less."

Maestro bows to Kaika. "You praise me more than I deserve." He then turns to face everyone in the cabin. "Sensei, in the video I sent you, I said that I was neither your friend nor your enemy. I stand by this statement. A friend would have ignored professional courtesy, and intervened in their coworkers' schemes on their friends' behalf. This is not something I will do for you. However, I respect your work. I admire what you represent. And, as I work alongside Shin in my role as her Tutor, I catch a glimpse of your own path to the Sublime."

Sensei's eyes narrow. "I don't care about the Sublime. A teacher exists for the sake of their students. An adult's role is to take responsibility, and help guide the next generation towards a better tomorrow."

"And yet, such purity of purpose and strength of resolve may very well lead you right to it. The world has a sense of humor that way." Kaika chuckles, only for the lighthearted air about her to vanish like morning fog. The mask's lack of eyes did not stop her in the slightest from pinning the Hero of Heroes with the full intensity of a magus' determination, "Understand, the Sublime isn't monolithic. It isn't a singular secret that us seekers covet. To exist is to question, to live is to answer, but to truly understand? That is the transcendental truth we seek, the ineffable underpinnings of every question and answer that we are composed of. It is unique for each individual, because what is reality but what we make of it?"

Sensei looks surprised for a moment, and starts scribbling something onto her tablet with a stylus. Maestro, meanwhile, beams with pride. "A splendid hypothesis, Shin! May your search be fruitful! I eagerly await the day when we compare our respective findings!" The puppet jolts in place as realization strikes him. Maestro withdraws, deep in thought, and Sensei once again takes the reins of the conversation.

"I'm happy that you've found your dream, Shin. Dreams are precious things. But friends are just as precious. Are you really okay with what's happening here?"

Sensei gestures to the projection curses displaying the ongoing battle. While Hina's group is making steady progress towards the Heart, Tsurugi's group has completely stalled out at the courtyard. The tanks have mobilized, with two moving to support Tsurugi, and another two attempting to push deeper in to support Hasumi.

Fortunately, the Huey hasn't been needed to evacuate the casualties yet, but the chopper's engines are idling just in case a team gets pinned. Unfortunately, Hasumi's team is being held up at Shiro's Castle, and Kuro is en route to support Shiro.

"We do our best with the information that we have. Your friends think that they're here to rescue you." Steel enters Sensei's eyes for a moment. "Should you really be making them participate in an experiment like this? Is this how their trust is to be rewarded?"

"Frankly speaking? No, I am not pleased with how they were brought into this. The letter was meant to put them at ease, I did not know about my brother's manipulations until it was entirely too late." Kaika sighs wearily, "Nonetheless, I stand by my words. He acted less than honestly in pursuing his art and violated my trust in the process, but I am guilty of the same if under different circumstances. My friends gave me another chance and so I will extend the same courtesy to him."

"I see," Sensei says, humming in thought. "I can't say that I share your trust in Maestro, but you've explained your reasoning, and I'll abide by your decision." She sighs, and puts her stylus away.

"So, what's the plan going forward? How do we fix this?" Judging by her expression, Sensei has a few ideas of her own, but is letting 'Shin' take the lead.

"My only idea so far is to lie to my friends, which I'm not particularly eager to follow through. Say that the park turned out to be more than I could handle and you found me knocked out in this or that room." Kaika groans softly. "I did not answer their messages out of indecision, either, so I will furthermore need to come up with an excuse for why that was the case despite my phone's helper."

Maestro's joints creak as his head turns to face Kaika. "If I may make a suggestion? I have prepared a crate of presents as a 'thank you ' to our Audience tonight. If it aids in your deception, you may hide inside of the box, and be 'rescued' in that manner."

"That would be much appreciated. I can claim that the crate suppressed my children, explaining why they didn't call attention to me. Furthermore, Goz's talents would handily explain how I was stashed there before a message could go out." The magus says with a slow nod.

Sensei raises an eyebrow. "A crate of prizes? Should I take that to mean that this is a game, rather than a Test like Binah was?"

Maestro waves off her concern. "Of course it's a game, dear Sensei! We're at an Amusement Park! Believe me, when my Test is ready, you will be well informed of such."

Maestro then turns to face Kaika. "Shin? I apologize for the deception, and thank you for your participation tonight. If my words still hold value, let me say that Sensei is someone that you can trust."

Sensei sighs and smiles. "Well, it looks like you have this well in hand. I was ready to just run off with you in a princess carry and work out the rest later if I had to."

Kaika is struck silent, shaking slightly.

"PFTWHAHAHAHAHA!" The masked girl breaks into hideous belly laughter, crumpling down as she holds her stomach for dear life. She's still trembling in mirth as she straightens up, for all that her voice remains steady, "Christ alive, I can see why you were chosen. You're just like that Emiya menace, aren't you?"

The only reason that madman hadn't gotten his organs harvested to pay for his collateral damage debt was that he just kept on surviving Enforcer jobs nobody but the Queen had any business taking. His answer to any sort of problem was to run in and throw swords and himself at the danger until everyone was safe. It drove the faculty absolutely bonkers but they couldn't do anything because she could count on her hands with fingers to spare the noble scions who hadn't gotten saved by him at some point.

Sensei beams back at her precious student. "I have no idea who that is, but I'll choose to take that as a compliment!"

"Just hope you don't get as popular with the ladies as him." Granted, it didn't help that the man had two lovers, so most bachelorettes (and some bachelors) thought they had a chance.

The ferris wheel comes to a stop, allowing all present in the cabin to depart at their leisure. As Kaika and Maestro flee to enact their plan, Sensei glances back at the glass windows one last time before the cursed video feed cuts off. She opens radio communications, says a few brief words of encouragement, and makes her way back to the Huey with Nother.

---

Hasumi can hardly believe her eyes. The rat animatronic had seemed like little more than a nuisance at first glance, scurrying around the battlements and tossing rubber balls that exploded like grenades. Now, that same rat is balancing on a ball easily twice the size of a Crusader, bouncing around the courtyard like an unstoppable juggernaut. Her team has to stay on the move constantly, both to avoid getting crushed AND to evade the smaller grenade-balls that the rat continues to scatter everywhere.

"We have to hurry, Hasumi-senpai! There's something big coming, and I don't think we can take them both at once!" Kinben shouts, her SMG firing a staccato rhythm as the eagle eyed first year tries to formulate a strategy. Most of their squad had been taken out, with the casualties flung into various shrubberies and rubbish piles outside of the battlefield by the rubbery wrecking ball and the bouncing blasts. They were going to be fine, but only if these ghostly mechanical Terrors could be driven away.

"We need an opening! Is there anything we can use to bounce these things back?!" Hasumi allows a touch of desperation into her voice. Looking down the sight on her rifle, she can clearly see the rat giggling maniacally as it pulls out another gigantic ball the size of the one it's balancing on, seemingly out of nowhere.

Just as Shiro throws the sphere that would doom the remaining combatants, sakura petals blow on the wind. An old fashioned food cart with the Momoyodo logo on it seemingly falls from the sky, directly in the ball's path. Shiro barely has time to register what's happening before her own weapon flies back into her face, dazing her as she's knocked from her perch.

"Never fear, the cavalry's here!" Shizuko shouts, pride and bravado barely covering her nervousness as Haruna princess carries her, leaping into battle from a passing train. Haruna wastes no time depositing the cosplay maid to safety before leaping into action, running towards the thoroughly broken food cart while Izuna rushes Shiro to confirm the 'kill'.

Hasumi breathes a sigh of relief. On the way here, Izuna was almost a liability, with the poor range on her gun forcing her to run out of cover to engage the enemy. Seeing her trying to line up her shots through the backside of a fox figurine had done little to inspire confidence. Now, the young Yokai is proving her worth, leaping atop Shiro's ball and showering the downed rat with dynamite kunai until it flees the field entirely.

Haruna, meanwhile…is engrossed with catching the food from the destroyed cart before it could hit the pavement. Any semblance of dignity or class that the demon might have had fades away as Haruna stuffs her mouth and pockets with taiyaki. Hasumi fixes the terrorist with a level stare as she stands back up, wipes her mouth with a handkerchief, and proceeds to behave as though nothing just happened.

"Wait…did you just–" Shizuko exclaims in disbelief.

"Impressive for a pop up. The outside is crispy, but the insides aren't heated evenly. Seven out of ten, consideration granted for circumstances." Haruna looks skyward, as spectral ravens begin to swarm the area. "But the full review can wait. The next performer is here."

As the rest of the exhausted students' gazes follow Haruna's skyward, they see the night sky blotted out by a murder of crows. Kuro descends slowly, projecting an air of menace as she twirls her staff, and various shapes begin to levitate at her command. Tea cup spinners… Merry Go Round horses… the wreckage of old rides too broken to fix flew at the dark magical girl's command with flair and precision.

"How…what are we supposed to do now?" Kinben's spirits drop like a stone. There are too many birds, and too much wreckage that's too big to dodge. She is so tired…

Suddenly, a voice rings out over the comms. "Don't give up! You have everything you need to win this!"

The sound of Sensei's voice is like a ray of sunlight, lifting the spirits of everyone who hears it. Izuna's ears start to twitch excitedly, as she hops up and down in place and looks for the source of the voice. "Aruji-dono? Is that you? Can you see Izuna?"

Sensei chuckles warmly. "Yes, Izuna. There's a camera nearby. But it won't last much longer. Look closely. She's making a show of her control, but it's not perfect. She can be distracted. If you keep the pressure on her, she's going to start making mistakes. Can you do that, Izuna?"

The kitsune pup's face somehow lights up even brighter. "Yup! Your loyal ninja will never fail you, Aruji-dono! Thank you for trusting me! And for bringing me to the amusement park! I'm having so much fun!!"

Kuro recoils as if struck. The purity of emotion on display… When was the last time she had heard those words? How long has it been since a child was grateful to see her performance?

Kinben stares in awe, both at the sight of the large Mimesis flinching away from the small fox, and at the subtle shift in the forces at work. "Sensei's right… Now's our chance! Everyone, keep firing! Don't let her concentrate!"

Emboldened by Sensei's and Kinben's words, the remaining first years open fire at Kuro. Hasumi's and Haruna's rifles quickly join the growing chorus of gunfire as Izuna stands proudly atop Shiro's ball. Kuro shakes herself off and brandishes her staff, directing her masonry and flock to violence. However her movements are sloppy, and the initiative is lost.

At the sight of all of the wreckage of rides neglected and forgotten flying towards her, all Izuna can do is smile. Her hands are a blur of movement, and sakura petals surround her body as she completes her ninjutsu.

"IZUNA RYU NINPO!!"

In a puff of smoke, Izuna vanishes, leaving an adorable fox plushie behind. A teacup smashes into the ball, sending it flying and launching the training clone doll high into the sky. Izuna reappears a moment later, stumbling lightly before vanishing in another puff of smoke.

As Izuna continues to flit about like an adorably clumsy shadow, the collected forces never let up their fire. Soon the rumble of engines pierce the night, and a pair of Crusaders lend the roar of their cannons to the growing symphony of violence.

As her damage mounts, Kuro falls to her knees. In a puff of smoke, Izuna appears inches away from the Mimesises' beaked face, smiling and wagging her tail.

"This was a fun game of tag, nin-nin! I look forward to playing with you again!" There isn't a hint of deception in those eyes. Everyone else may remember tonight as a rescue mission fraught with peril. However, this fox will remember tonight as a party. A party celebrating her joining her Lord's inner circle, and meeting new friends from all over Kivotos.

Kuro's heart is in turmoil, ectoplasm leaking from her glass eyes. Trembling with exhaustion, she swings her staff one final time, hoping to get at least a single hit on Izuna. The fox pup vanishes one final time, leaving the spinning teacup aimed at her back free to careen straight into Kuro's face.

Cheers ring out among the gathered students as the spectral flock descend on Kuro, carrying the unconscious Mimesis to safety and drawing the battle to a close. Sweating, Hasumi grabs her radio. "Slumpia Castle secured. Status report?"

"H-hello? First year Koharu reporting from Tsurugi's group! We've finally exhausted the enemy's reinforcements! Moving on to the next objective!" The meek voice over the radio was almost drowned out by the sounds of cannon fire, and the howling laughter of Tsurugi. The sound brought Hasumi comfort. The battle had shifted fully into their favor.

The next voice over the radio spoke with the weight of the headsman's axe. "Sorasaki Hina reporting. We've found the Heart. This battle is over."

---

The leader of Gehenna's Prefect Team hadn't brought many troops with her. Acting on a hunch that Anna-sensei had when the gathered leadership had reviewed the park's guest map, Hina had opted for deep insertion reconnaissance. Now, she and Hantei were standing at the park's train junction, at the head of a mostly fresh JTF unit. Before them lies the seated form of the nearly finished Goz.

The gigantic, dapper cat rises. His cane creaks under his massive bulk, his incomplete legs not enough to impede his showman's spirit. Locking his knees and holding his cane in front of himself allows Goz to stand, ramrod straight.

Seated, Goz was three times the height of the tallest student present. Standing, he is a veritable giant. His rotund gut bounces jovially as his fur trimmed cape flutters in the wind. Despite his lack of mobility, the feline stage magician offers his tiny audience a wink and a grin.

A gigantic, glowing machine gun rises. Hina has been firing it all night, her sharp eyes and steady aim an aegis of violence protecting her borrowed forces. The demon looks to the judgment angel at her side, regarding Hantei with a nod and a smile. Hantei beams back at her hero, and with a touch she eagerly applies Reinforcement to the barrel of Hina's gun. The baleful purple glow of the Destroyer of Denouement shifts into a radiant silver.

Goz tips his hat and begins to laugh. The clang of metal striking metal echoes through the tunnels around them, as the train tracks shift to form tighter circles around the Heart. Confetti cannons on either side of Goz's stage explode, signaling the start of his act.

The firing squad's guns roar. Bullets, both of lead and silver-kissed force pelt into the oversized magician. Goz stands firm, reaching a hand out to grab a cartoonish old fuse bomb with legs, only for the weapon to be shot from his shaky hands.

The roar of trains racing along short laps at top speed is nearly deafening. However, the squad has little difficulty getting out of the way before a locomotive barrels through the battlefield. The train cars themselves are empty, the animatronic reinforcements exhausted by Tsurugi's group.

"Give up. You're clearly outmatched." Hina never stops firing for a moment. Whenever her gun's glow begins to fade, her eyes flash and her halo shines bright. The light flows into her weapon, recharging and enhancing it instantly. "We're rescuing Kaika-san. There is nothing you can do to stop us."

The giant cat looks down at the tiny demon in front of him with steely determination. What Hina was saying was a simple fact. In his incomplete state, Goz has no means of defeating the tiny students scurrying around his feet. However, the dapper cat has one more role to play. A magician always has one more trick up their sleeves.

The confetti cannons at Goz's sides fire once again. The train tracks shift back to their previous configuration, and power thrums throughout the park. All throughout Slumpia, the ground begins to glow brightly while darkness envelops all.

The surety of victory that the assembled combatants felt evaporates in an instant. Confusion grips the students' minds, with fear threatening to seize their hearts until Hina speaks. "Stay calm! Focus fire on his cane! If we can knock him down, we may still be able to stop this!"

Hina's orders are followed, only for the bullets to fly through empty air. All that remains of Goz are a pair of glowing yellow eyes and a bright, Cheshire grin. With a chuckle, those too fade away, and the party is surrounded by a tornado of playing cards.

"No…NO!!! COME BACK! GIVE KAIKA BACK!!!" Hantei breaks formation, running through the darkness to where she last saw Goz's eyes. A feeling of vertigo overcomes her, like she's falling down a deep pit even with her feet still planted firmly on the ground.

Then, just as abruptly as they came, the playing cards gently fly away. The light on the ground fades, and the darkness around them lifts. Hantei blinks. She's outside of the park entrance again. As she looks around, she sees that she's far from alone. Hina and the rest of her Squad… Hasumi's team…Tsurugi's group… Even Sensei is back outside, leaning against the fence with a dazed look on her face.

"Wait… what's that?" Kinben's voice cuts through the confused murmurs and muted shock, as she draws attention to a large, wooden crate in the middle of the road. The shimmering braids of white smoke coiling around it and the smoldering golden glyphs set deep into the wood dispel any notion of innocence before it can even form.

Hasumi is the first to get her bearings. "Alright! Everyone, gather up! We need a sitrep! Hina, you go make sure Sensei's okay! Hantei, Kinben? I want to know EVERYTHING about that crate before we open it! Everyone else, roll call! I want to make sure nobody was left in the park!"

While Hasumi technically has no authority to give Hina orders, the request is one that the Prefect Team Chairman doesn't hesitate to act upon. Kinben and Hantei likewise leap into action, while the JTF begin the slow process of counting heads and moving casualties.

A pink haired first year soon approaches Hasumi, with a crying Shizuko in tow. "Umm…Hasumi-senpai? Haruna's escaped…and I think she stole something from Shizuko-san…"

Hasumi barely has a moment to process the report before Hantei and Kinben burst into motion, throwing a tarp over the crate and running. "HIEROGLYPHICS! CLEAR THE AREA!"

Questions as to why hieroglyphics matter take a backseat to the logic of 'nobody outranks a bomb technician at a dead sprint'. A safe zone is cleared around the crate, and the apprentices confer with Nother. After showing her a picture of the symbols, she deems the crate 'safe'. The encoded spell was to trap something inside the box, not to punish the box's opener.

Thirty minutes later, the tarp is removed, and crowbars pry off the lid of the crate. Inside, a bound and bruised Kaika is resting gently, cushioned by a treasure trove of Slumpia mascot plushies. Great care was taken to ensure that her head rested on the pillowy gut of a Goz plush, while her zip tied hands ensured that a giant Kuro doll could find no escape from her grasp. Smaller toys acted both as a blanket, and as packing peanuts to prevent the sharp corners of retrieved Tech Notes and boxed Artifacts from harming the imprisoned Kaika.

Everyone sighs in deep relief. "Thank Kivotos. Mission accomplished. Let's go home, everyone."

Kaika and the rest of the injured students are airlifted back to Trinity in Sensei's Huey, with Hina, Shizuko, and Izuna in tow. The rest of the JTF pile back into the armored transports, eager to call it a night. Tsurugi looks over her shoulder, giving the park one last glance.

"Did you have that much fun, Tsurugi?" Hasumi asks her dear friend, with a smile.

Calmly, the President of the Justice Task Force turns to her Second in Command, with a level stare. "...We left the Crusaders in the Park."

The ensuing silence is deafening.

---

A lone spectral raven flies through the window into Kaika's dorm room. It lands on the table, and deposits an ornate iron key the size of a Bowie knife and a handwritten letter.

Shin.

After careful consideration, I have chosen to cut out the middle man. If I only trust one half of my colleague, then that colleague isn't the right person for the job. I entrust this piece to the next generation of Truth Seekers. May your dreams and friendships blossom on your Path to the Sublime.

Maestro.

The dawn's light comes, and the specter is so very far from home. The raven finds a comfortable perch, and slowly fades away.

 

[Nihilo]

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."

 

[Nihilo]

Chapter 10: Bond Story - Sleight of Hand

[MOMOTALK]

>Kaika Fukajo: Final PSA. As has been announced throughout the last two weeks, the JTF HQ will be closed down for renovations for the next 16 hours. There will be mimesis work crews on-site, do not be alarmed. Pardon the inconvenience and please refer to Vice-President Hasumi's own PSA for information on the interim office and hotlines.

>Kaika Fukajo: Thank you for relying on Strength&Junglework Construction.

>Anna Sensei: Huh? Hello?

>Anna Sensei: Kaika-san?

>Paimon: An error occurred. Apologies.

>Kaika Fukajo: That was supposed to be only sent to Trinity students. Sorry for the disturbance, Iolcos-sensei.

>Kaika Fukajo: Paimon, food bribe protocol, please.

>Paimon: Skatakata Shakes, Plata St 30, free bicorn swirl shakes for the next three hours.

>Anna Sensei: It's fine, really, I'm not

>Anna Sensei: Oh wow, that IS a good deal!

---

It's noon at Justice Task Force HQ. The building is cordoned off, with a squad of first years patrolling the perimeter. A handful of students with SMGs and nun's habits oversee the work force with joyless eyes.

A hundred and eight barrel chests hum as one, the melody felt more than heard as the skinless giants toil, every thumb-like head covered by yellow hardhats with a green stripe entirely stolen from Yakuza.

"Cold: The air and water flowing." Three fingered hands sprout bone chisel heads, digging into the seams of the wooden flooring and prying them loose in a single motion.

"Hard: The land we call our own." Flimsy walls are carved into, wiring and plumbing disassembled, hollow space filled by tightly packed blue clay.

"Push, to keep the dark from coming." Wood, glass and metal fly through the air, tossed by workers and caught without fail by their many-armed brothers. They snap the material down to size and slip it on the baskets strapped to their backs.

For centuries, work songs have guided hard labor, allowing hundreds of backs to lift as one. For as long as humanity learned to make sound, music has been a tool of inspiration and manipulation. For controlling simple creatures such as these, there's little better.

Kaika is grinning like a loon in all her hard-hatted, tank-topped glory, standing over one of the mountains of ether clump bricks like a conquering queen. El Melloi's RTS games have nothing on this, Paimon and Sultore working together to give her the full sprawl of the worksite in a tactile hologram. A wave of her fingers and the Hais scurry off to follow her every command.

Such dutiful children. She's sure the JTF will love the surprise she's worked out for them.

"HALT! THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!" Kaika is pulled from her mental reverie by the sounds of a small commotion growing near the worksite. A quick glance only doesn't turn into an outright segfault thanks to her mental discipline.

Anna Iolcos, the Sensei of SCHALE, is standing in the courtyard just outside of the work area. Today, her hair is done up in a tight bun, and she's dressed in an almost immaculately white pantsuit. At her side is a large, refrigerated rolling case. Her hands are raised skywards as one of the Sisterhood observers has a gun aimed at her, while a group of JTF students have guns trained on both of them.

"Hah, guess she got curious. Paimon, tell Nother she's in charge until I sort this out." Her floating phone chirps an agreement and that's that. There's a certain temptation to wrap herself in a notice-me-not effect, but she'd rather not chance jolts when there's a gun trained on the good Sensei.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the notorious Ιωλκός-sensei. To what do we owe the pleasure?" She asks with a genial smile, only jumping to land between the teacher and the twitchy Sister once the latter has whirled around. The Sisterhood ought to do more joint exercises with the JTF, that's piss poor discipline right there.

The JTF member whose gun was pointed at the Sister turns to the rest of her squad. "See? I told you she's Sensei! Stop pointing your guns at her, she's Haloless!" The rest of the squad glance at each other before turning all of their guns at the Sister.

The look on the Sister's face is one of genuine bewilderment. "Wait, why am I the bad guy here!? This strange adult got too close to the mimesises! Does nobody care what happens if these things slip the leash? I'm just trying to protect our school!"

"I care, which is why I programmed them with no less than five failsafes and why I sent you people the manual. Not my fault you apparently tossed it into the same bin as the research papers and hazard primers I keep sending you." Kaika says coolly. She doesn't fully slip into her corpse facade, but that just means her professional offense is in full display, "Seriously, these things are safer than Millenium 'bots, they have fuzzy logic and are immune to hacking."

Well, granted, another magus knowledgeable about ideation could make them go rogue. But, they would need to separate them from the network and spend a while peeling back all her security. The Hais may be mass-produced and closer to her fire and forget mimesises than anything else, but she's never going to compromise safety. Especially when Halo abilities are so unpredictable.

"Please, calm down, everyone!" Sensei pleads. "Everyone here is just trying to do the right thing."

Sensei opens the container at her side, revealing a motherlode of bicorn swirl shakes. "Here, I brought these over to help the work crew cool off on a hot day. It doesn't look like they need it, though. Would all of you like any? There's nothing quite like drinking a milkshake with friends."

"They'll still appreciate it. They aren't people smart, but that doesn't stop a dog from enjoying a treat, now does it?" Kaika chuckles, her pink tank top giving a fantastic view of how her circuits light up as she conjures a simple plastic table for Sensei to start loading with the shakes.

Sensei's eyes light up in wonder as she gives Kaika a genuine round of applause. "Bravo, Kaika-san! You are a lady of many talents!"

"Any two-bit magi could've done that." She waves off bashfully, but the bad mood the Sisterhood had put her in is vanished all the same.

Sensei wastes little time taking Kaika up on the implied offer, loading up the table with milkshake after milkshake. The JTF members on site trickle in slowly at first, before arriving in a torrent for sweet ice cream treats. Even the Sisters begrudgingly partake of the peace offering. Grumbles about how 'safer than Millennium bots is damnation by faint praise' are met with a hand to the back of the head by a more senior Sister.

One of the multi-armed Hais lumbers in, lowering itself enough for its comparatively tiny mother to jump up to its knee. That gave her just enough elevation to squish its cheeks and plant a kiss on its forehead. Her voice is underlined by a soft buzz as she speaks, interfacing with the mimesis' simple mind far better than mere words would. "Such a good child, did my sister send you in?"

A low, happy rumble is her answer.

"I see. Give me a moment, then." With that, she hops up to its shoulder, circuit-lined hands on the baskets. They crawl like ferrofluid under her touch, what was once woven wicker becoming gleaming bronze. It faintly resembles a flamethrower. One with a massive funnel and four sprayers connected to the tank. "There you are, dear. Start loading the shakes, the curses will do the rest."

Once she hops off, it wastes no time posing, muscular frame flexing to show off its mother's gift. She chuckles and claps, all too pleased to see her child being so exuberant. It isn't any surprise, she made the Hais to be social things, all the better to work as a cohesive unit.

"I'm sure you're eager to play with your new toy. Go on, load it up and share the fun with your brothers." She says, the monster happily using its two free arms to load dozens of shakes into the tank, the sound of bubbling and chugging soon echoing from it.

Soon enough, it is off, raining a shimmering blue fog that Kaika's children soak like dry sponges. It is a simple enough mechanism, to burn up food into something spiritual entities can enjoy.

"I understand why the Sisterhood is so wary of mimesises, after having dealt only with wild ones, but can't they see that my children are sweethearts?" Kaika asks Sensei with a sigh as she trots over to the table, finally taking a shake of her own. It tastes like they made a devil's food cake with red velvet and turned that into a drink. Not bad at all.

Sensei fiddles with her tablet, placing a rush delivery order for more shakes before answering. "I know it's frustrating, Kaika-san, but give them some time. If you keep doing helpful things like this, you're going to build good will very quickly."

"Haah. I can only hope. On a related note, would you like to attend my latest kid's birth tonight? The Sisterhood has forced the JTF to allow some delegates into the ritual chamber. I don't really trust them to not get spooked and interfere, so a respected third party being around would go a long way." The magus says, gesturing idly with a fan she hadn't been holding a second ago. "Of course, since it is at midnight, it's probably going to play merry hell with your sleep schedule. I can stick you with a curse to make up for it– just a simple thing condensing your sleep by a factor of two. Not healthy to use repeatedly, but god knows its developer is basically the patron saint of the Department of Curses."

Sensei laughs the laugh of the long suffering. "Thank you, Kaika-san, but I'm afraid that I have a full schedule tonight. There's work that needs my physical presence all across Kivotos. And after that's done, it's back to the office to do paperwork." She offers Kaika a smile. "If there's a light show attached, I'll probably be able to see it from my office window, if that's any consolation?"

"That bad, huh? I'll handle myself, then. My children have ways to keep the peace. Plus, I trust the JTF." The magus says with a bob of her head. After the hell of favor gathering she went through, she isn't going to push more work on someone so busy. "I'd offer to take a commission for something that'll let you zip around Kivotos faster, but my own plate is pretty piled up. Check in sometime after the full moon. As for lightshow… the opposite of it, in the most literal sense. Trinity should be lit up enough for you to see."

Sensei smiles warmly at Kaika. "Thank you! I'll keep that in mind!" Suddenly, Sensei's tablet makes a chirping sound. She looks at it, then at her watch, and her face pales. "Uh oh. Sorry, Kaika-san, but I have to go now. I'm here to teach a class! Don't worry, I've already paid the delivery person!"

"Take care out there. And if you see Hanako, tell her that she can come pick up her book anytime." The magus says openly just for the value of the Sisters in earshot squawking. The JTF (probably) already knows it's just a romance novel with some extra spice courtesy of Kinben having spotted it and her explaining, but the Sisterhood is insular enough they don't hear that kind of gossip. She's also pretty sure that given another month of on and off friendly chats, she's going to get the woman to crack open the real treasure trove.

Trinity's library is great and so is Chie, but Hanako's knack for restricted literature goes beyond smut; she can tell that much. Mostly because the big tiddied troll has learned that teasing her with forbidden knowledge gets more of a reaction than her doing jumping jacks.

The reactions of those around Kaika are almost the exact opposite of what she had expected. The Sisters continue drinking their milkshakes calmly, while the JTF do the spit takes. "No, Anna-Sensei, Hanako may NOT have her confiscated books back! Just the ones she loaned to Kaika!"

"Oh, chin up, after I'm done here Hanako won't be able to steal away with her books again." Kaika snorts. For 161cm of bodice ripper philosopher with bright pink hair, she can sneak around like nobody's business… then again, the JTF was pretty much giving her daily stealth training.

Sensei laughs jovially as she runs. As the sound of chattering students fades into the distance, she can't help but notice that the tense atmosphere from before is a bit lighter.

---

[MOMOTALK]

>Anna-Sensei: I see what you meant by an un-lightshow. That moonbow was beautiful!

>Anna-Sensei: I take it that the ritual went well?

>Kaika Fukajo: Thank you! And other than my youngest getting shot for flirting with a nun, yes, it went off without a hitch.

>Kaika Fukajo: He's such a little shit, I love him. Although I could've gone without the glares afterwards. Or the comments about me needing to control him.

>Kaika Fukajo: Ah, well, at least it didn't end up being a huge argument.

>Kaika Fukajo: Swing by the JTF HQ sometime, by the by, Schrift says he wants to give you something for your help.

>Kaika Fukajo: He's impressed with how big an impact you made in barely twenty minutes.

>Anna-Sensei: Will do.

>Anna-Sensei: And I'm happy for you. Winning hearts takes time, but this was a good first step.

---

[MOMOTALK]

>Kaika Fukajo: Good news, I figured out a good method to cut down on your commute around Kivotos.

>Kaika Fukajo: Bad news, I'm going to need to spend a while testing to make sure it is safe, then just as long setting it up. Also not sure where I'd get the right ideation for this.

>Kaika Fukajo: Although that tablet of yours may be able to speed setup a hell of a lot. Depends on if it(? I know it's a terminal, but not if it has a mind) decides to help me out.

>Anna-Sensei: Good news, while I'm not certain what you mean by 'terminal,' I do have a little helper! Her name is Arona, and she's very cute!

>Anna-Sensei: Bad news, she's a shy little sleepyhead who's conveniently never around when I try to introduce her to anyone.

>Anna-Sensei: People started acting like I was crazy, so I gave up trying…

>Kaika Fukajo: I'd ask why you haven't taken pictures of her, but I'm going to assume she can act like an AI and given she's shy…

>Kaika Fukajo: Anyways, don't get too consternated, these kinds of forces like to keep things on the down low. Don't try to force the issue with an analog camera. Just do what feels right and you'll be fine.

---

It's early morning on the campus grounds of Millennium Science Academy. The air is crisp and clean, with just the slightest hint of ozone on the wind. The buildings are futuristic skyscrapers and glass domes. The ground below Kaika's feet is a careful balance between immaculately clean walkways and carefully cultivated and contained patches of lawn.

If Trinity General School was a religious school through the idealized lens of Kivotos, then Millennium Science Academy was the fantastical city of the future seen through that very same lens.

"Alright, Kaika-san, I'm going to need you to make a sharp left, and vault over that shrubbery while doing a hand-stand!"

Unfortunately, Kaika can't soak in the atmosphere at a slow, meandering pace. Instead, she is jogging around the campus, wearing a somewhat heavy metal exoskeleton.

The device itself is neither bulky nor heavily armored. At its core, it is a collection of limb braces and spine support, held together by wires and artificial muscle. The braces are well cushioned to prevent chafing. Kaika's requested modifications are present, in the form of gloves of interlocking metal plates and a futuristic looking visor with heads up display and camera.

Once everything is properly programmed, the muscles will support the majority of the device's weight, making the whole affair feel as light as a feather. In the meantime, Paimon is acting in place of this programming, resulting in a sensation not unlike swimming as the mimesis applies pressure and records data.

A pair of Millennium students follow Kaika on segways, glancing at their tablets and calling for ever stranger acts of athletics. It's not the weirdest thing she's done in the name of research, especially back when she had to stoop to testing experimental mystic codes. So she carries through with aplomb.

Funnily enough, Kaika actually has to restrain herself. With the exoskeleton being pure tech, Paimon needs to work extra hard propping it up with her possession. That means less focus for coordinating with her motions. It would be far worse if she were having Paimon do anything other than these two things and she'll definitely want to turn the whole ensemble into a mystic code. Thankfully, she has mystic materials beyond her wildest dreams for disturbingly cheap, so making this whole thing able to host both of the eye twins is going to be easy. By the time she's done with this thing, it is going to be objectively better than Spiritual Invocation in most respects.

"Hmm. We're doing well so far, but I FEEL like we're missing something," Natalie hums. "Aika, what do you think?"

"I think I'm a nervous wreck," Aika responds, segway wobbling as she checks and double checks her work. "The Millennium Science Festival is over, and Seminar has already axed the club. We've only got enough money to do this once."

Natalie nods sagaciously. "I understand. When the problem is somewhere between the chair and the monitor, there's only one proper response."

Kaika glances at Natalie. "Take a five minute break then explain what you're trying to do to a figurine?"

Natalie and Aika glance at each other. "Run another diagnostic," The pair answer in tandem as though Kaika hadn't spoken at all.

…At least they aren't data-croppers, she supposes.

"Are you sure about that? Your friend's answer sounded very good. I'm partial to getting away from the computer and asking for a second opinion myself…"

The segway pair do a startled double take at the unexpected voice. "Sumire-san?!? When did you get here?"

Kaika takes a quick glance in the direction of the voice to see a slim, well-toned second year wearing a long ponytail, yoga pants, sneakers, and a sports bra under an open Millennium jacket. She's easily keeping pace with the group at a light jog, and is currently looking at Natalie's tablet with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm. You have the normal range of human motion mapped out just fine, but what about falls? If safety is your main concern, you should be ready for common accidents, right?"

The pair of young inventors pale as a look of realization crosses their faces. "Thank you, Sumire-san…"

"Alright, time to fall down some conjured stairs, then." Kaika says, slowing down so she can open up a gap (she still needs to figure out how to give them ribbons) to imaginary space and dump out some ether clump bricks. After having spent weeks building up enough for the JTF HQ, she's taken to turning surplus magic energy at the end of the day into the stuff and stashing it away. Much faster and cheaper to dump it out from the Sea than make it on the spot, unless she's conjuring something small.

Sumire tilts her head in confusion. "Why conjure stairs when we can use what's on hand? The Engineering Department's maintenance bays should have everything we need."

Aika comes to a sudden stop. "NOPE! We're not showing the Engineering Department an unfinished prototype. Go ahead with the conjuring–"

Realization dawns in Sumire's eyes. "Wait, you're the former Amateur Inventor's Club, aren't you? Are you trying to put together a portfolio to join the Engineering Department?"

The pair of young inventors deflate. "Yes…"

Sumire nods with a big smile on her face. "That's wonderful news! Kotori-chan ADORES PencilBot. She was so sad when your club was removed from the listings. Your interest in joining the Engineering Department is going to brighten her day right up! Come on, let's go get you introduced to each other."

Sumire quickly gathers up the confused party, and practically drags them to the hangar. The segways are left abandoned on the grass for tiny gardening robots to poke at in annoyance.

---

Simply walking into the hangar and opening one's eyes is sufficient to see the favor in which Millennium Science Academy's Engineering Department is held. The facility is massive, with two, possibly three stories of floors and catwalks. The machines under construction range wildly, from behemoth mechanical monstrosities to coffee machines with one too many gadgets attached.

While several students are busily working, three in particular stand out. The first is a third year with long purple hair. She's dressed in a fairly standard uniform with a lab coat, pleated skirt and leggings. Her halo looks as though it has cybernetic wings attached to it, though such things are rarely as solid as they appear. The surrounding students appear to defer to her.

The second is a girl with doglike ears and a tail, dressed in a tank top, short shorts, fishnet stockings, and boots under a hooded jacket. Her wavy black hair is done up in a loose ponytail, and she has a pair of goggles around her forehead. Her tail is wagging happily as she talks to–

…No way. Iolcos-sensei is here. She's wearing a business suit with a pencil skirt under a lab coat today, but it's DEFINITELY Sensei.

Twice is a coincidence. It has to be.

But in case it isn't, she enhances her hearing with Reinforcement, just to get an idea of what's going on there without sticking out her neck.

Sumire, Natalie, and Aika continue on to speak to the purple haired girl. Kaika pays them little mind, trusting Paimon to inform her of anything major coming up.

"Thank you, Hibiki-chan! Your work is amazing as always!" Iolcos-sensei is looking inside of a box with a joyous expression on her face.

Hibiki's blush goes nuclear, and her tail wags even harder. "Ehehehe… Thank you, Sensei… It makes me very happy that you appreciate my hobby so much…"

Just her getting a commission. Maybe an accessory? It'd make sense for an engineer to dabble in something like silversmithing and Sensei seems to be a bit of a clotheshorse.

"Hibiki-san! Kaika-san! Anna-Sensei! Come join the huddle!" Sumire calls out. She and a quickly growing group of students are gathered at the purple haired girl's desk. "Utaha-Senpai wants these club applications approved ASAP!"

"Aye aye. And good day to you, Sensei." The magus says with a nod as the teacher comes closer, letting her Reinforcement fade with a sigh of relief. She has enough mental discipline to filter out all the noise of the engineering department, but that doesn't make it particularly pleasant.

"And a good day to you too, Kaika-san! It's a surprise to see you here at Millennium!" Sensei's voice carries genuine good cheer as she joins the growing huddle.

"Wait… Just like that? Rush approval? What's going on?" Aika's expression is one of sheer bafflement. "Don't we need to build a portfolio? Isn't there a waiting period while Seminar updates their records?"

"That's for applying as a Meister. Joining the club as a Lehrling is much easier. You'll have a stricter schedule as assistants, and the Meisters' commissions would take priority over passion projects. But you will get time for those projects, along with the full backing of the Engineering Department while you build your portfolio." Utaha says in an even tone.

The president of the Engineering Department continues to speak as her pen dances across the papers in front of her. "To put it simply, Aika-san, we've wanted you two in our Club ever since you made PencilBot. We would have approached you ourselves, but you appeared to be having more fun as independents. The sudden dismantling of your club made us regret this decision immensely."

Natalie and Aika share a look. "I didn't know that was an option. It's not perfect, but it's still a good deal…"

"We were so scared… We thought that you wouldn't want to keep tinkering anymore…" A first year student with a messy blonde bob cut, black glasses, and a heavy fur trimmed coat says with tears in her eyes. She's holding a small, smooth robot with simple grasping appendages and an LCD screen displaying a big smiley face.

"There there, Kotori-chan. They're here now, so it's a happy ending, right?" Hibiki pats her junior on the head, and speaks in a soothing tone.

"Yes… the pencil is so fascinating, isn't it? It all started with the ancient stylus…"

Utaha turns to Kaika immediately with a patient smile on her face. "We'll have the cushions set up for your fall recordings in just a moment, Kaika-san. Please enjoy some coffee and pizza while you wait."

The President of the Engineering Department quickly moves Kaika and Sensei to another part of the hangar. Kotori continues to regale the rest of the gathered students with the history of the pencil entire, while Sumire desperately searches for an escape of her own.

---

"So, what brings you here today, Sensei?" Kaika asks conversationally as she grabs a slice of meat lover's. Anti-grease curses are helpful like that.

Sensei smiles happily as she reaches into the box she received from Hibiki. "Well, I came to check on the Game Development Department, and help to finalize some paperwork regarding a new student. Apart from that, I regularly commission Hibiki-chan for new clothes!"

Sensei proceeds to pull several articles of clothing from the box, and lay them carefully across the table. First is a Millennium logo jacket, which Sensei opts to replace her current lab coat with after a brief moment of thought. Then comes a heavy jacket and uniform in the Gehenna style, complete with a fancy hat. Then comes a chinese dress with the Shanhaijing Senior Secondary School logo over the heart (which only doesn't make Kaika hungry because she's in the middle of eating some pizza).

"I see I will have to include an outfit hotswap feature in your commission." Kaika says with a dry chuckle, idly tapping a metal-encased finger on the cheongsam to watch the ideation ripple. Now that she isn't moving around, Paimon can give her some visuals, although Sultore would be better at it, "It should be easy enough, given you're matching each Academy. Do get in touch if you want any of these enchanted, the ideation baked into them would make for a fantastic foundation for any sort of defensive or supportive enchantment. The world may be on your side, but enough bullets will do in anyone."

Sensei smiles brightly at Kaika. "Thank you! I don't want your personal projects to be delayed on my account, but if you have the free time, I'll happily reimburse you for your work!"

"Don't sweat it, my main project is on a schedule since I need certain lunar phases for the big rituals, so I have a deadline but I expect I'll often have everything ready a week or more in advance." Of course, The Magician is proving troublesome. She has a very tempting idea, but it is risky. Oh, well, she still has nearly two weeks. Plenty of time to decide. "You won't hear me say no to payment. Especially if it isn't always just money… then again, from everything I have seen and been told, I get the impression you wouldn't consider helping me and my craft something I have to pay for."

Sensei nods. "If I find something you need, you'll be the first to know." She pours herself a cup of coffee before continuing. "Speaking of which, I'm surprised to see you at Millennium! Do you visit other Academies often?"

"I'd warn against being taken advantage of, but you'd never see as such when it comes to students, would you?" Kaika says with a fondly exasperated chuckle, shaking her head, "As for visiting other Academies… yes and no. I have been around the Shanhaijing and Hyakkiyako districts since I can't live without eastern food, but never their campuses. This is actually my first time in another Academy's campus."

Sensei takes a deep swig of coffee, and sighs in satisfaction. "Haah… the Black Tortoise Promenade makes some amazing food, don't they?

"Yyyep. And the Banchan Boulevard is just decadent, especially after spending a year and change in London." Kaika agrees happily, snapping her fingers in lieu of clapping. No amount of spellwork is going to save her if she makes her pizza slice explode in front of her.

"If you're in Hyakkiyako, the Momoyodo cafe is a lovely place to visit. Personally, I've been craving gyros and mint tea, but I haven't found an excuse to visit Odyssey Maritime Academy yet." Iolcos says as she relaxes into the cushions, setting down her coffee for a moment to try the pizza.

"I'll give it a go. I'm more for izakayas myself, but variety is the spice of life. Speaking of, you have to go to Yosuzume's sometime." The purple haired girl says, gesturing enthusiastically with her free hand. British pubs had nothing on a real hole in the wall izakaya.

"By the way, Kaika-san, why are you wearing that exoskeleton? I'd imagine the pizza grease isn't doing the finger joints any favors." The teacher asks, giving the metal a worried look, already digging around for a handkerchief.

"Oh, don't worry, students will be students no matter how many trappings of nobility they try to put on. Pizza was popular in the Clocktower so everyone had an anti-grease spell of their own." The magus chuckles with a reassuring wave of her hand, before wincing as a memory comes back, "You don't want to see what the librarians would do to anyone who damages the books."

"As for why I'm wearing this, I'm doing a little trade with the RnD girls. Paimon and I help give them the data they need to develop a body prediction program, I get to keep the damn thing. Lets me see and touch ideation, if I shove some of my kids in it." Kaika explains, tapping her visor lightly. She doesn't mention that Spiritual Invocation remains her ace in the hole on account of the sheer power it gives her for as long as it lasts. A magus she remains.

Sensei's eyes light up in childlike interest. "Ooh, you can use stuff like this for your craft too, Kaika-san?"

Before Sensei can say anything more, an unfamiliar voice echoes through the hangar. "Wait, Sensei spent HOW much?!?"

Sensei's expression pales. The sound of scrambling feet echoes through the hangar as everyone scatters. "Uh oh. Yuuka-chan is here."

"Why does Seminar's Treasurer have a stake on SCHALE's business expenses?" At least Kaika assumes they're filed as business expenses, Iolcos is essentially a diplomat. Only an idiot claims a diplomat's clothes for a meeting should be paid out of pocket.

"Because she was there for SCHALE's founding," Sensei answers. "She also helps look after my personal expenses. I had to go Free to Play on Club Smoochie!" Sensei's eyes dart around the room, searching for an escape route.

Before Kaika can ask what business a student has going over their teachers' personal finances, the sound of scrambled running comes to a sudden halt. "BECAUSE YOU WERE SKIPPING MEALS TO PAY FOR IT!!!"

"...Promise me you will have three square meals a day every day that aren't convenience store fare and I'll help you out of here." Kaika says after a moment. She's sorely tempted to let Iolcos have it, but this should be more productive. The poor woman needs all the energy and nutrition she can get just to deal with Kivotos, nevermind whatever the collective unconscious wants from her.

The sound of footsteps resumes with slow deliberation. Sensei quickly gathers her clothes in the box as she haggles in a whisper. "Three meals, one of quality. I can try for three of quality, but there's not enough hours in a day for me to PROMISE it. Acceptable?"

"On the condition that the others be at least convenience store bentos. No instant noodles or meal substitution bars." Kaika whispers back, extending a hand for a shake after the teacher is done stuffing her clothes back in the box.

Sensei takes the offered hand in a firm shake. "Deal. What did you have in mind?"

"Aha! There you are, Sensei!" The sound of running resumes, this time quickly growing louder. The Treasurer's sharp hearing has helped her zero in on her target.

"I am glad you asked." Kaika says with a too-toothy smile, pastel sports bra and yoga pants doing nothing to hide her circuits as they flare up, nor the matching patterns of light crawling across her exoskeleton. That's Sensei's only warning before the magus (gently) yanks the woman to her feet as she gets up herself. Inhuman strength on Kaika's part or not, the teacher feels distressingly light as she scoops her up into a bridal carry, nevermind all the protruding bones she's getting acquainted with right now. Sensei's arms reflexively wrap around Kaika's neck as she makes an adorable "eep" sound in surprise. Her box of clothes is smashed between her own body and Kaika's, cushioning her somewhat against the hard metal.

"Hold on tight!" The magus chirrups. Light hop, springboard off the table, onto the railing. She barely even notices her fellow purplette rounding the corner, the edges of the world fading away as her heart starts thundering in her ears.

The race is on.

"SENSEI! Get back down here and explain these receipts!!! Cosplay outfits? Milkshakes by the dozen? Do you have ANY idea what this looks like?!?"

"You'll never catch us alive!" Kaika cackles. Clangclangclang go her feet on the railing.

"It's business expenses, I promise!!!" Sensei pleads, before turning to her savior, "Keep running! I'll explain in detail when she calms down!"

Music to the magus' ears.

Ozone fills the air. Hair stands on end.

"Here."

Ideation wells up, power shapes it, reality buckles.

"We."

Steel flies and burrows into the window frame. Curses are primed.

"Go."

Lightning strikes.

All she can see is blue. All she can feel is speed.

It ends all too soon, plasma sheath unfurling into fading ribbons of lightning.

They're elsewhere. A gamer's den. It'll do.

Shove sensei into locker, ignore yelp(s?), apply notice-me-not.

Now, time to make sure everyone is too busy to look for Iolcos.

---

[MOMOTALK]

>Anna-Sensei: Okay! I've made it back to SCHALE!

>Anna-Sensei: It took a while to untangle myself from Yuzu-chan, but everyone's safe and sound. I've sent Yuuka-chan an email as promised.

>Anna-Sensei: How did it go on your end, Kaika-san?

>Kaika Fukajo: It was great!

>Kaika Fukajo: I ended up racing with a couple girls from Cleaning and Clearing! They were really fun!

>Kaika Fukajo: [Speedbumps.jpg]

>Kaika Fukajo: I think I made some friends today. I should visit other campuses more often.

>Anna-Sensei: That's wonderful! Poor Neru, though, it looks like Asuna is suffocating her.

>Anna-Sensei: Let me know if you get in any trouble over this. I'll take responsibility.

>Kaika Fukajo: Will do. Although the Millennium girls seem pretty happy, since I took care not to damage anything and I gave that exoskeleton one hell of an advertisement campaign.