Mahou Shonen Just Say No Chapter Seven

<-----First Chapter

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"Kano!" Horace exclaimed the moment he burst into Kanoshi's apartment upon his return to Tokyo.  He and Fukushima had, after exhibiting the true spirit of gay/lesbian solidarity, parted ways immediately upon arrival to the city.  She had to search for Ribbon Red, and Horace had to check in on the magical boy he'd left behind with only two weeks of minor practice against level one and two monsters, small fry that weren't capable of much property damage and were only really taken on by magica who had nothing better to do.

"Horace?" Kanoshi asked, looking up from the stove.  He'd been working on cooking himself dinner, though it was a bit late.  He'd gotten caught up in his games again and lost track of the time, but decided to make a real dinner despite that fact, since he had the energy for it that way.  He was shocked to see that Horace had returned, and doubly shocked to see him in such an unkempt state.  Even after tying his hair again, receiving healing and stamina from FMV, and transforming out of his magical form, it was obvious he'd been working hard these past six weeks.  Kanoshi never thought Horace would dare to let himself be seen in such a way.

"Yes, that's me," He nodded, leaning against the door behind himself once he'd closed it, sighing as he saw that Kanoshi seemed okay, "I never meant to leave you here by yourself all this time.  I heard about the level five monster, I trust that nothing else strange happened in my absence?"

"Well," Kanoshi thought back as he stirred his vegetables in the frypan, "The day that you left, I got attacked on the subway by a magical boy called Lionhardt, but I guarded against him pretty well until Smokescreen showed up to help me," He turned, and gave Horace a sweet smile, "You know Smokescreen!  He was helping me move out!"

"Yuuri Ruka is Smokescreen?" Horace asked, then gave a shrug as he wandered further into the house, "Huh, who knew.  I guess that's why he finally decided to stop being a mysterious loner, his friend became a magical boy."

"Yeah!" Kanoshi nodded in confirmation, "There's Ribbon Red, too, and some others!  They're all pretty cool.  Red's not anywhere near as bad as I thought she was when I first heard about her... She's just a yakuza kid with strong convictions.  I want to be able to protect her, like all of the other magica in this city."

Horace chuckled, then dropped to sit down at Kanoshi's kotatsu, stretching out over the tabletop of it, "You don't need to worry about Red at all.  She's been a lone wolf for so long, just becoming willing to work with other Tokyo magica at all means she'll be fine.  We met way back, before I even investigated her murders.  She was fighting some monsters in Italy since she was in the area anyway on a 'business deal'."

"You could have told me that before I got terrified of her!" Kanoshi protested, then looked at Horace, "...You really are exhausted, huh?  Let me give you some of this stir-fry, and you can tell me all about the level eight monster."

"...Thank you," Horace nodded, taking a few deep breaths.  He hadn't eaten at all while battling that monster.  Orb-wise, he was fine, because Oh One's magica who were too far away or just unable to participate still beat the little ones, but he was starving from a human perspective.  The magic was going to keep him alive, no matter what, but that didn't mean he wasn't in severe discomfort right now.  He'd had good timing to arrive back in the city, as Kanoshi served him a bowl of veggies, chicken, and rice just moments later.  He ate a good half of it before he spoke again, "I hope you never have to fight a level eight endurance class."

"So what were all of this one's specs?" Kanoshi asked.  He was still learning what Monster Specs were in the first place, but he could only learn quicker if he made sure to hear about them as often as possible.

"Level Eight, Endurance Class, Slime Type," Horace answered, glad to finally have the pains in his stomach answered, though he slowed down so that it wouldn't shock his system too much.  Kanoshi's cooking was pretty good, even if Horace in all of his pickiness was avoiding all of the carrots and any piece of chicken which looked like it even had a tiny chance at having texture issues, "We could only attack from a distance, getting in close enough to use melee weapons was... Not a good idea," He sighed, "A low-ranking magica from Kyoto tried, after us higher levels engaged it.  He never stood a chance.  Close combat with that beast, and it would just consume you."

Kanoshi stayed silent for a few moments before he spoke again, "How many magica died?"

"Just the one, but that's only because we had good communication and figured out the situation right away.  We figured out that it was impossible to get close to without being killed, since it was a gigantic sludge type, but that it moved slow enough that we could handle it at a distance," Horace explained, now leaning on one hand with his eyes cast at the table below, "Besides, that magica rushed in without stopping to listen to what we had to say.  None of us up here in the top 100 would ever do something so stupid as jump in to such a huge fight without asking if any of its weaknesses and strengths were determined yet."

"I'm glad there weren't more," Kanoshi gave a slow nod as he chewed his own food, "It still took a huge toll on a bunch of you though, right?  That's pretty horrifying, if you think about it.  I know the curve is pretty sharp between each level after four, and if an eight is that much stronger than a seven..."

"That's nothing you need to worry your pretty head over, Kano," Horace forced a smile as he said this, though it wasn't as difficult as he expected it to be.  He had Kanoshi's presence to thank for that, he decided.  This man just emanated kindness everywhere he went, "This is the only eight to appear in over a year of magica and monsters existing.  If those are this rare, the higher levels must be once-in-a-lifetime events."

Kanoshi took a deep breath to calm his nerves about the situation, taking in Horace's words, and realized he was more worried about the safety and well-being of his fellow magica in the case such a strong creature appeared than he was for his own.  It wasn't that he was confident in his abilities to defend and heal himself since the day he kept up with Lionhardt, though that could have been a factor too.  It was simply that he was rank four.

 Only three magica existed with more raw power than him, at least, only three who were aligned with good.  Oh One did say that the overall lowest ranking magica was actually on par with Horace when it came to power levels, but she was just so awful as a person that she reached the bottom in no time at all.  That was all that any of the distributors would tell Kanoshi about the worst of the worst.  Even so, Kanoshi worried for others because even at rank four, he was unsure and afraid.  If he was, then wouldn't everyone else be even more?

"So..." Horace started again, "Lionhardt... I thought he would have given up on you by the time I had to leave.  I'm very sorry, I never should have left you undefended with no warning like that.  I didn't know Smokescreen was even in the city, and Lullabye's unreliable."

"Wang-kun, you mean?" Kanoshi asked, tilting his head, "He didn't seem unreliable to me, just committed to a goal.  I don't think any of us could rely on any magica to know and come to our aid at the drop of a hat.  I was lucky Smokescreen's one of SC's magica, so that he had a line of contact with Oh One and could know that Lionhardt came to Japan."

"That concerns me a little bit," Oh One noted, and the two magica just turned to see it, confused at its appearance.  It hadn't been there a moment ago, "Oh, sorry to startle you!  I ported in a few moments ago, and I didn't want to interrupt.  Anyway, Lionhardt arrived in the country very suddenly, and was gone just the same way.  He must be getting help from a magica with some sort of travel magic, probably teleportation.  Usually, Lionhardt has just been a nuisance I need to watch out for with new magica, but if he's working with somebody, then he's more of a real threat."

"He isn't very strong at all, though," Horace frowned, "How could he be a real threat to us, even if somebody's helping him?"

"Well, if every single new magica gets snuffed out, then that's terrible.  The rankings will stagnate and everyone will get lazy, and as time goes on if no new magica get to live very long, and existing ones fall to various reasons... then we're doomed.  Distributors, Magica, this entire world even.  While the rest of us distributors have moral compasses and want to rank well, Lionhardt's owner... Skorgles would love to get a monopoly on the monsters of this world, leaving the rest of us to starve.  It doesn't care about humans."

Kanoshi and Horace just sat in silence for a few moments, until the former spoke again, quiet and timid, "That's awful.  So... Skorgles is the owner of the worst magica that exist?"

"Just as my posse and I hold the majority of the top ten spots, Skorgles holds the majority of the entire bottom thirty.  And with that, the strongest magical girl, Goddess," Oh One explained, rubbing its face against the kotatsu, "Horace is still the strongest of the magical boys, though.  Anyway, let's talk about something happier!  Isn't it cool that this new Tokyo Magica team everyone's buzzing about is all my posse?  Well, and one of Blade's, I guess."

"I can only hope," Horace began, "That this apparent team is not opposed to the idea that I might participate as well.  It could be that they've only rallied around Kano."

"Hm," Oh One nodded, leaning forward, "That may be the case with Smokescreen, but he was also the one to involve Ribbon Red.  Lullabye has never been opposed to working with others, but was of the belief nobody would want to.  And Infernal is new to the area.  He and his roommate recently moved into the city, but he did also know Kanoshi Kyosuke through the internet before arriving here.  We'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

-----------

Kaiba Rokujo was not a happy person.

So with that out of the way, she checked all the boxes for the type of person to become a magical girl.  As it was, she was a good one.  Rank fifteen as Fukushima, the Tsunami Magical Girl.  Her weapon was a zanbatou even larger than the one shecarried with her and used on a regular basis, and her magic was to command any water within her frame of vision.  The sword for busting pipes, that made her a threat to reckon with.  

Kaiba Rokujo

She was able to use this ability to contribute to the level 8 sludge monster in Kyoto which some had taken to calling the 'Kyoto Engulfer' despite her weapon being one without any range.  She was proud of her part in that fight, but after resting up, it was just another memory to add to the collection.  It meant nothing real to her or anybody else.  What held more meaning for Kaiba was hearing that name.  Pretty Fighter Ribbon Red.

In Tokyo, having rested in a cheap motel that balked at the weapon she wore, Kaiba decided to capitalize on her distributor's unique ability.  She texted Desire Train, and it appeared before her soon after.  She spoke to it immediately, "So you had a teleportation charge ready?  That's convenient.  Anyway, I know she's in this city.  Where exactly is Pretty Fighter Ribbon Red?"

Most distributors could tell the location of any of their own magica, or targeted humans, from within a certain radius.  Desire Train's power was to extend that ability to any magica or human within the same city or town.  Only useful in metropolitan areas, but useful nonetheless.  As for teleportation charges, Kaiba had been told that distributors could teleport anywhere, but had a cooldown to teleport again consisting of twice the time it would have taken them, on average, to catch a plane there.

It was a universe-specific restriction, given that plenty of universes did not have airplanes.

"Ribbon Red?" Desire Train asked, tilting its head to the side, "Why do you want to know about her?  She belongs to Blade.  That is not worth bothering with.  Blade always gets the weirdest magica."

"I think I might know who she is.  As a human, I mean," Kaiba explained, leaning forward, "And if that kid really became a magical girl, damn, she needs a good talking to."

"Fine," Desire Train did not sound happy, but indulged her, "Red is asleep on a roof.  The roof of a love hotel.  I can only assume she just murdered one of its patrons."

Kaiba couldn't help but let a soft chuckle escape her lips as she leaned back on the motel bed, "That just confirms even more, that she's who I think she is.  Go on then, take me to her."

"Fine," Desire Train swished its tail then stepped out onto the fire escape.  Kaiba transformed for the added mobility, then followed as it jumped across the town to find the rooftop which Red rested on.  It didn't take long to reach her, to find her there, but Kaiba wouldn't wake her, remembering a simpler time, so long ago.  It was more than ten years now, that girl was just a fussy child who hated naptime and loved learning to fight.

Everything had changed though, and now Kaiba knew for certain that Sayaka absolutely would have become a magical girl.  She transformed back, knowing that Sayaka would prefer to recognize her in this way than as a magica.  When day broke, and Sayaka woke up, she just sat up and stared for quite a while before she spoke, "Kaiba-nee.  What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you, Shorty-san!" Kaiba laughed, kicking her legs in front of her where she sat with a goodnatured smile across her face, "Isn't that much obvious?  I wouldn't have just stumbled across the roof where you happened to be sleeping.  A love hotel, though?  There's plenty of perfectly good beds to sleep on inside, so why choose the roof?"

Sayaka glared at her, "They wouldn't sell a room to a kid, dummy.  And if I snuck in, I'd just get woken up by whoever next rented the room.  And for that matter, I wouldn't call beds which exist for the purpose of fornication to be perfectly good beds," She tossed her hair back and groaned, "Anyway, it isn't like I'll die out here, so I'm fine."

"And why's that?" Kaiba smirked as she stood up, stepping closer to Sayaka.  She didn't even wait for an answer before she leaned down and pulled the buttons on her practical younger sister's shirt apart, "Could it be this marking?"

"How did you know that I- And where my mark is!?"  Sayaka snapped, holding her arms close to herself as she pulled away from Kaiba, "It isn't any of your business anyway!"

Kaiba just stared at her for a while before answering, "I'm your only Onee-san in the Yamaguchi-gumi, Shorty-san.  It most certainly is my business.  I heard your magical name and knew it had to be you," She held out her hand, "As for the mark, it appears somewhere significant in some way, even if you don't realize it.  Yours appeared one of the only locations you didn't yet have tattoos.  Mine appeared on the palm of the hand which I lost all my fingertips on."

Sayaka continued to simply stare for a few moments before giving a response, "I should have known, Kaiba-nee.  It doesn't shock me at all..." She frowned, "It's for different reasons though, right?  You were depressed because of Korekara.  I... I just wanted to be of more use to the Yamaguchi-gumi."

"I hear you've been killing," Kaiba noted.

"Yeah, here I go killing again," Sayaka gave a bitter chuckle, "I can't hold myself back, you know?  I could barely stop myself when I was human.  How... How and why would I ever restrain myself from ridding the world of its filth now that I have full reign to do so?"

Kaiba gave a slow nod, pulling out her sword and holding it up horizontally, squinting at how the sun reflected off its blade, "If you did anything else, I would be forced to assume some impostor had taken your place."

"You know me so well, Kaiba-nee," Sayaka laughed, then stepped closer to her, "I know a really good sweets shop around here, you know.  Want to chat over some baked mochi?"

"I don't," Kaiba shook her head, "Because I have somewhere else to take you instead.  You've been having trouble finding a place to stay, haven't you?  It's really showing.  Magic can only keep your hygiene and appearance so good," She gestured for Sayaka to follow her, "And even though you never joined my gang, I could never leave one of my girls behind.  Come on."

Sayaka hesitated, but this was Kaiba.  Sympathy was something she avoided, pity and handouts.  From her own people, though... An important part of being in the yakuza was relying on and trusting the others, something which had taken Kaiba so long to learn that she couldn't possibly hope to wield a katana or any of its variations, stuck with an oversized and imprecise weapon instead.  Sayaka had only faltered one time, maybe twice if she counted that.  Refusing Kaiba now could be another mistake on her record, though.  Imperfection... was unacceptable.

"Fine," She mumbled as she followed Kaiba, not knowing where she was being led.  She knew this city quite well by now, but had no idea what Kaiba could know about and want to take her to.  It was only a block away that she recognized the objective.  An old storage unit facility, mostly cleared out to be an empty lot with a few remaining crates.  Known to anybody who knew anybody in the backstreets of Tokyo as the home base of Kotomi Tanako.  Sayaka screwed up her face, "You know Tanako-san?"

"Kotomi-chan is a friend of mine!" Kaiba grinned, turning back around, "We kept in contact even after No Boys broke up, you know.  She was a member, but I guess you wouldn't know since you never joined.  She graduated two years before you arrived at the school..." He smile fell, "She was a third year when the class of 2015 disappeared.  That was a rough year for us in No Boys, probably the first bit of our dissolution."

Sayaka turned back away and flipped her hair, "I don't think Tanako-san wants to help me."

Just as she said this, Kotomi was wandering out from behind one of the crates, stretching.  She adjusted her mask, then paused and looked over to see the two who'd arrived at her lot.  She waved, then wandered over, "Kaiba-chan!  What brings you to Tokyo?"

"Kotomi-chan!" Kaiba exclaimed in response, then grabbed and hugged her.  Kaiba was awful tall for a Japanese woman, and Sayaka was awful short for any human being.  Kotomi was somewhere in the middle, "I found out that my cute little crime-syndicate imouto's been sleeping outside all the time.  I know you live here, so I was thinking..."

Kotomi pulled away from the hug, then looked over to Sayaka, "Hey, I know you!  You're the one the Yamaguchi-gumi sent to uphold the alliance around here, yeah?  I do some transporting for the mob sometimes, so I've heard stories.  Is it true that you love candy and hate lolicons?"

Sayaka stayed silent for a bit before she gave her wary response, "...Yes."

"Why didn't you think Kotomi-chan would help you?" Kaiba asked of Sayaka, looking to her again with the expectation of an answer reflected in her eyes.

"I heard things about you too, Tanako-san.  That you're strict about what you'll transport... And when.  I don't think you want anything to do with somebody as reckless as me," Sayaka explained, "I also heard you're just into petty crime, not the big stuff.  Usually people like that aren't fond of me.  Though," She paused, now just talking to herself, "I guess Rukkun is an exception."

Kotomi looked her over for a few moments with a serious expression, then just broke down laughing, "Rukkun, eh?  Well, only Rukkun I ever knew is probably the same one you've met.  Violent magical boy who works at a grocery store in Shibuya... If the two of you get along, and you know Kaiba-chan to boot, then I don't care what sort of big crimes you're involved in, you're okay in my book.  As long as that recklessness doesn't put me in danger.  Plus, you're what, twelve?  Can't have you sleeping outside, come on."

"I'm sixteen," Sayaka mumbled, but followed when Kotomi gestured for her to walk across the lot.  Kotomi led her to her van, parked next to one of the remaining storage units.  She pulled open the back of the van, then the crate as well, and dragged out a mattress.

"I've got a few of these stocked up, I sleep in my van and you can too.  I've built a shower in one of the units, too.  It runs off rainwater, and actually gets hot water.  It's pretty ideal.  I'm glad to share it.  Go shower right now," Kotomi pointed to the unit in question, "No offense, but you stink.  It's obvious you haven't had a real bath in weeks."

Sayaka made a face in her direction, but relented and went to bathe.  It was actually two units, the inner one with tile flooring, to keep the steam from getting everywhere.  Sayaka left her clothing in the first unit, then stepped into the second one.

Once she figured out how Kotomi's Macgyver of a shower functioned, it was actually nice, the first bit of relaxation she'd gotten in months.  Weeks was an understatement, but she supposed that her magic had helped the actual length of time keep from showing so much.  Another perk of this existence.  Did Kotomi know about her, about Kaiba?  She knew about Yuuri, so Sayaka could only imagine that she did and just didn't care.

It was nice to see that there were some humans who didn't buy into the scares of magic, even if those humans were a part of society's underbelly.  Sayaka realized that she wasn't even clear on what exactly Kotomi did.  Transporter was an ambiguous term which could apply to any number of jobs, though it was usually on a smaller scale than smuggler.  And Sayaka too had no idea what sort of terms Kotomi had in her 'strictness' regarding her jobs.

Somehow, she doubted that even living with Kotomi, she would find out.Once she'd finished showering, she stepped back out into the vestibule unit, only to find that her dirty clothes had been switched out for new ones.  They were her style, so she assumed she had Kaiba to thank, and changed into them.  There were even a new pair of shoes.  Once dressed again, and with her hair pulled into pigtails once more, Sayaka wandered back out into the lot.

Kaiba and Kotomi were sitting next to a camp stove out on the concrete in folding chairs, with a third one sitting open and empty.  Sayaka approached, then took the seat, leaning toward the stove to see what was being made.  Eggs and sausages.  She looked to Kotomi, "Western style breakfast?"

"You did just wake up, didn't you?" Kotomi questioned, glaring, "And I don't care how traditional you are, right?  With me, there's never gonna be such a thing as rice and fermented soybeans for breakfast."

Sayaka gave a slow blink, then nodded, "Sausage is better than natto, I agree.  Usually I make chocolate chip pancakes, with whipped cream, to go with them though.  The Americans have perfected the idea of starting the day off with some fleeting joy."

Kaiba just laughed, covering her mouth with her hands even though she wore a mask which already hid it.  Kotomi couldn't help but join in on her laughter, and make a comment of her own, "You really are fond of sweets, eh?  If you weren't so active, you'd probably get fat eating like that."

Sayaka shrugged, glancing away, "I don't care about that.  I think that even if I just lived a normal life, I'd still eat sweets all the time," She patted her own cheeks, "But I guess if I put on any more weight than this little chub, I would look even younger, so maybe it's for the better..."

Kotomi chuckled at her a little more, then handed her breakfast, then one to Kaiba and one for herself.  After eating, she gathered up the leftovers and stood up.  Kaiba blinked, then wondered, "Giving all that food to them?"

Kotomi nodded, eyes bright as she wandered towards one of the other storage units.  She opened it up, and it was empty.  She gestured for the other two to step in with her, closed the unit, then opened the adjacent one in the same sort of set-up she'd used for the bath.  Rather than a shower behind this one, however, there were a bunch of makeshift structures, and as Kotomi set the leftovers down, a number of cats came out of the structures.  Normal strays.

Well, except for one.

"Blade?" Sayaka questioned, not even thinking before she spoke in her shock.

"Hello!" It laughed, looking to all the other cats who rushed to the leftovers, "Funny seeing you here.  Sorry I didn't mention that I was back in Tokyo, but I wanted to take advantage of this Kotomi Tanako's playground first... Just because I don't eat food like normal cats doesn't mean I don't like climbing structures and scratching posts and comfy places to sleep!"

Sayaka looked to Kotomi for her opinion on the distributor's presence, and she just shrugged before saying, "I love all cats, even if their favorite hobbies are ruining lives."

"Lives are already ruined by the time we get to them, you know," Blade shook its head, but knew that Kotomi's statement was in good humor.  It turned to Sayaka, then, "So, Sayaka!  It's good to be back.  I had to check in with Tyler, but you know how he is.  I can only take so much of him at a time.  You're definitely my most favorite!"

"That's nice," Sayaka mumbled, crouching down to pet its slimy head with a vacant expression, "So my backpack's going to be heavier again.  Great."

"Would you prefer I sat on your shoulder instead?" Blade asked.

"I'd prefer you walked by your own damn self," Sayaka rolled her eyes, mumbling, "But I guess it can't be helped with you, huh?  Fine.  I've made friends with some magica in Oh One's posse, though, so you better not be a pain to them."

Blade blinked, "Why would I bother its magica?  My rivalry is only with Oh One, and it is a friendly one!"

"Because I never know what to expect with you," Sayaka rolled her shoulders as she stood back up, "So how is Tyler?"

"Well..." Blade trailed off.

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"Oh, Blade!  So good to see you again!" Tyler Hale laughed, sitting in his home in the Hollywood Hills with his forty-seven sticks of vegan jerky when his distributor jumped in through the window of his room.  He smirked and put down his snack and grabbed a piece of paper from his desk.  This room was an absolute mess,  He waved the paper around, "Look at this thing!  A letter of commendation!  I got it in the mail and I've been so excited to show you."

"Commendation?  How did you deserve that??" Blade questioned, looking around the room.  It wasn't fond of cleanliness by any means, but even it thought this was ridiculous, so it started to at least try removing the trash by eating it.  Anything other than orbs that a distributor ate basically just got deposited into a pocket dimension.

Tyler gave Blade a sideways look with an annoyed sigh, "You could at least pretend to be proud of me!  Obviously it's because I'm your highest ranking magica, even if you like Red more.  It's because she's been doing all that murder lately."

"Don't talk like that," Blade wrinkled its nose, "It isn't like you've been on your best behavior yourself, or you'd be more than one rank above her.  Play nice with the other magica!"

Tyler rolled his eyes, transforming so he could mess around with his weapon, twirling the shiv between his fingers, "Why should I play nice when I'm so much better than all of them?  I should be higher than I am, I only attack bad people... And I don't kill them!  I just beat them up!"

"You beat up innocents," Blade noted, "Not having all the same beliefs as you doesn't make them bad people.  They aren't hurting anyone, so to the cosmic forces, it looks like you just want to do torturing.  It's bad.  You gotta stop."

"I can't help it!" Tyler whined, stabbing his weapon into the desk in front of himself, "When I see somebody eating a hamburger, I just gotta stab 'em.  It's not like there's any real consequences for my actions, so I may as well!"

Blade sighed and shook its head, "You never change.  Well, enjoy your poorly written letter of commendation.  I'm going back to Red.  At least she appreciates my advice."

Next Chapter->

Akuma No Imouto Chapter Seven

<-Previous Chapter

<-----First Chapter

Your name is Nagito Masaomi, and you’ve just collected the secret of a being which considers itself so broken that it can no longer be considered alive.

“So, now that we’re done with that little interlude,” Sayaka speaks as soon as time resumes, noting the item that Ryo now holds, “You wanna grab mine too?  Or is that worth nothing to you since you won’t be remembering it?”

“I’ll remember it,” You speak, your voice strained as you finally admit it, “I’ll remember what I see.  I always do.  It never disappears, I remember everything…  That’s not supposed to happen, I know, but I do remember.  That’s why I had a breakdown the first time you took me along, Ryo, it wasn’t because I was exhausted.  It was because of what Gwyn’s secret was… Because I wasn’t prepared to see what I did…”

“Howl is worried for Nagi-san’s well-bei-” Ryouma starts to translate from Howl, but stops when she notices the shock on Ryo’s face.

“...Nagi-nii,” Ryo mumbles, turning to look at you, wide-eyed, “You mean to tell me… I’ve been letting you see these things, and you haven’t just forgotten them immediately?  I’ve been exposing you to things which are hurting you?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” You shrug, and she scowls as she grabs you by the collar of your shirt.

“And you continued agreeing to come with me!?  You were literally just hurting yourself for no reason!  Just because I like having someone with me doesn’t mean I need it!” She shouts in your face, and you just ragdoll as she shakes you.  You’re feeling pretty guilty right now; she only ever gets this hostile when it’s about the well-being of somebody she cares about.  You never meant to worry her.

“It’s fine!  Let’s call it exposure therapy!  I only really freaked out that first time, right?” You protest, and as soon as you’ve deflected, a look of realization comes over her face and she drops you, stumbling away and staring at her own hands.

“If… If you’re remembering, then does that mean…” She bites down on her lip, “Then it’s no wonder that Neptune…”

“Hey,” Sayaka speaks up again, arms crossed in front of herself, “If that’s the case, then come on already.  Enter my mind, find out if you can trust me, whatever you gotta do.  If one of you’s gonna be able to remember it, then you’ve got a way to actually know the secrets, not just harvest them.  So…” She rolls her eyes, then picks up the drink Howl had just been given and finishes off what’s left in it herself.  Time freezes in place once more as she falls to the ground, and Ryo moves her hands away from her face and looks over at Sayaka.

“Y-You don’t have to come, you know-” Ryo starts, but you put a hand on her shoulder and give a reassuring smile.

“I do,” You nod, and she just stays still while you continue, “Yamaguchi-san wants us to remember her secret, so I will.  It doesn’t matter how anything in those worlds impacts me, because nobody else will remember it.  I can be pathetic, and scared, and as long as I know what I might see, I can recover.  It was just that first one, with Gwyn.  I thought I knew the worst I could see, and it was worse than that.  I’ll be okay this time.”

“Neptune…” Ryo mumbles, looking down at the floor, “She probably thought the same thing, before the one secret that sent her into another breakdown.  The first one, I did think was just exhaustion, like with you.  I couldn’t fathom why she would compromise the operation like that… She destroyed the secret we’d just collected, you know,” She sighs, holding her hands in close to herself, “If only I’d been able to see what was going on inside her head, it would have been better.  I could have told her to stay behind… I knew that she’d had some trouble, since the spell allows for memory of ‘what went wrong’ for the purpose of solving the problem without recalling the actual events, but I just assumed those were her usual clumsy mistakes.”

“That’s in the past now, Ryo,” You tell her, voice soft, “You really don’t have to worry about me.  I am a mess, I know it, I’m a walking disaster.  I’m not improving, I’m not getting better anytime soon.  However… I am coping.  And I’ve learned to deal with the things I see here.  If you don’t want me to come along anymore in the future, well, I won’t.  We have to get this done, though.  So pull yourself together.  Be selfish for once, and stop caring about me.”

“...Okay,” She nods, taking a deep breath before stepping towards Sayaka with new resolve, “Let’s go, then.”

---

Your name is Sayaka Yamaguchi.

No, that’s not right, you aren’t Sayaka.  You’re Nagi.  You’re Nagito Masaomi.  However, you’re seeing through Sayaka’s eyes, and the strangest thing about it is that you can see color, but when you’re watching her past from her perspective, you can’t.  The view is close to the ground, and she’s short, but not that short.  So this is another secret from childhood.  There are so many of those, it seems.  You wonder if it may have something to do with maturity.  Reaching out to others for help, or at least venting about problems, it’s commonplace once you start growing up.  To children, they’re the only one who has ever experienced such a thing, and nobody would even know what they were talking about if they told.

You can’t do anything, can’t control any movements, but you can feel it all.  It’s honestly as if you were just transplanted in on top of Sayaka’s own memory of what happened.  This is another different variety of secret collecting than usual, and you’re not sure if you like it.  You’ve gotten used to seeing people’s deepest thoughts laid bare, but that was from a third person perspective.  You’ve never been put in a position where you’ve been expected to experience something that somebody has kept hidden for so long.

You can only hope for the best, but you’re pretty sure at this point that you’re in for a rough time.

In her hand is a piece of paper, a letter.  The parchment is a bright white, and it’s sealed with red wax.  She knows exactly where she’s going, and she’s confident.  You can even tell every nuance of how she’s feeling, you’re truly inside her head.  She’s on her way to a store, to deliver this piece of paper as a warning.  Of course, the mafia sends children to do things like that because they’re harder to find and less likely to be violently attacked over whatever unfortunate news they’re bringing.

In this case, the store hasn’t been paying its protection money, but this is the first lapse in payment in the past decade.  Perhaps it’s under new management who weren’t made aware of the fact that the yakuza received a small stipend in exchange for being on call should any other criminal forces threaten the place, for example.  There’s no reason to go busting skulls just yet.  That’s really just rude when it comes down to it.

She reaches the building in no time at all, and holds out the letter when the owner happens to be the one who opens the door.  She can tell by the nametag, it’s convenient that this store uses them.  She holds eye contact with him, staring with those gray eyes, and he visibly squirms under her gaze as he takes the letter.  He reads it, and a heavy frown sits on his face before he sighs and returns the paper to Sayaka’s hands, but not without scrawling a response on the back.  She checks it.  It’s short, but it’s an apology and a promise that their money will be in the mail by next week.  She’s satisfied with this for now, and turns around, tucking the letter into her pocket.

As she walks, she plays with her fingers and watches her surrroundings.  She’s on guard when a man suddenly steps out towards her, his face obscured with a hat.  She looks up at him though, legs ready to run, arms ready to fight if she feels she can take him, a fact which she’s yet unsure of.  He holds his hands up as if he’s surrendering, and speaks, still hiding his face, “Hey, kid.  You’re going back to the old lady Yamaguchi’s, right?  You’re going the wrong way back from here, and it’s going to rain soon.”

“I’m going the way I came,” She responds, but he has planted a few doubts in her mind as she takes another look around.  Did she see that store while on her way here?  Was she actually in a different place than she thought?  She puts the idea out of her head and refutes his other statement, “What does it matter that it will rain soon?”

“It matters that it will rain soon,” The man answers, finally lifting his head and showing his face.  You disconnect from Sayaka for a moment when she sees his face, when you see his face.  It’s familiar.  It’s a face that’s in your memory, and it jars you, but with Sayaka’s emotions and thoughts still fighting to keep control over you, you can’t actually place it, and you find yourself returning to Sayaka’s perspective from the minor blip, “Because if you keep travelling in the wrong direction, you could catch cold.”

“That’s a myth,” Sayaka tilts her head to the side, “You don’t catch a cold by being cold.  It’s just that being cold and wet can make you feel bad and mess up your immune system a little bit.”

“You’re a smart kid, for somebody who got so lost,” The man chuckles, shaking his head as he leans toward her, “Well, I should have expected that from a Yamaguchi, right?  Still, I can’t just leave you to wander aimlessly in poor weather.  I’ve got a car, though, so how about I give you a ride back?”

“Well,” Sayaka tilts her head to the side, thinking over the offer, then looks up to see just how cloudy the sky really is.  That might be more than rain; could be a thunderstorm.  She’s not really keen on getting soaked, and besides… This guy knows her connections.  It can’t be that dangerous, if that’s the case.  He won’t risk bringing the wrath of the yakuza down by bringing harm to their only imouto.  That’s what she thinks, anyway.

You’re not sure why, exactly, but you feel like going along with this man is the absolute worst thing that Sayaka could decide to do.  However, this is just a memory, so there’s nothing to be done when she sighs, then nods and steps towards him, “Fine, but if you’re lying to me, you know that you’re going to suffer for it, right?”

“Why would I lie?” He questions, holding out a hand to her.  She ignores his hand and crosses her arms, at which he sighs and returns his hands to his pockets, “Well, come on then.  My car’s just around the corner here.  I don’t know what those Yamaguchis have taught you, child, but being so reluctant to trust someone with good intentions can end just as badly as blindly trusting someone with bad intentions.”

“Look…” Sayaka mumbles, digging her toes into the road as she follows him, “Just because everything points towards you telling the truth, doesn’t mean that I know your intentions,” She does know how to tell if somebody’s lying, though, and this man doesn’t seem to be, “What’s your name, Ojisan?”

“Geeze, am I really so old to be called Ojisan?” He questions with a heavy groan.

“I would never call a stranger Oniisan.  My only brothers are those in the Yamaguchi-gumi,” She answers, narrowing her eyes, “You are old enough to be called Ojisan anyway, though.”

Kiyoteru Tanaka

“Well, okay,” He sighs, then gives his name, “The name’s Kiyoteru Tanaka,” He reaches his car, then puts a hand on the roof of it, “You old enough to ride in the front seat yet?”

“I don’t know,” Sayaka shakes her head, “Someone else always calls shotgun.  I’ve never been in a vehicle with only one other person before.”

“Well, let’s assume that you can, as long as you wear a seatbelt,” Kiyoteru chuckles, then goes to open the passenger-side door for Sayaka.  She stares at him for a minute, still trying to discover ill intent, then shrugs and gets into the car, putting the seatbelt on as Kiyoteru closes the door and goes around the other side, getting into the driver’s seat.  He starts up a friendly conversation as he begins to drive, “So, what were you delivering just now?  Mob business?”

“Yeah,” Sayaka answers, pulling the note from her pocket, “New owner, didn’t know.  Says he’ll get us the money next week.  You live in the area?”

“Mhm,” He nods, “I’m a business owner too.  I always get my protection money in right on time, but that’s part of why I wanted to talk to you when I realized you were that Yamaguchi kid, before I thought it’d be better to get you out of the rain first.  I’m planning to go out of town soon, but I don’t trust any of my employees to get you the money while I’m away.  Should I give you next month’s ahead of time?”

“I don’t know too much about that,” Sayaka shrugs, “I’m still learning, so it isn’t like I know all about every unique situation.  I learn by example.  You’ll have to talk to somebody else about that, and then I’ll be able to answer if anyone else asks the same question.”

“I see… That’s funny.  I heard that the little girl the Yamauguchis took in was said to be a red woman,” He taps the steering wheel, “You have to know the legend.”

“I do,” Sayaka answers, kicking her feet, “And I am a red woman, but I’m not a Tomura.  There is a difference, you know.  I lack the ability to feel a true version of guilt, and I’m compelled to cause harm.  I don’t need to kill, though, breaking bones is enough.  That’s why I’m going to be an enforcer.  A Tomura would be able to learn new skills at a fraction of the time it takes normal people on top of that.  Tomuras are born killers; they can learn enough skills to kill efficiently, especially as soldiers.  Other red women are born assassins.  We have the mental and emotional fortitude to do it, but we have to learn the skills, so it’s better for us to learn to kill one person at a time.”

“Huh, I never heard that part of the story.  Cool,” Kiyoteru smirks, giving her a warm look, “So that means that you haven’t learned those skills yet?”

“I’m working on it,” Sayaka shrugs, leaning back in the seat, “But it’ll be another year, probably, till I’m actually strong enough to be involved in enforcement on a regular basis.  I’m learning to handle a sword, self defense, stealth, all at once.  I’ll probably hit a point where I really get my momentum up and do well, but until then, I’m better than you’d expect a kid to be, but not… amazing.  That’s why they taught me how to find out if people are lying before any of that.”

“I see, I see,” Kiyoteru nods again as he keeps driving, and goes right past the Yamaguchi house, “But you know, when they taught you how to tell if someone’s lying, didn’t they also tell you how to conceal a lie?”

“You passed my house, turn around,” Sayaka mumbles, curling her fingers against the seat of the car, “Nobody can conceal a lie, not completely.  There’s a lot of ways to try to hide it, but there’s always some sort of tell.”

“That’s not true.  Very skilled humans can manage it, that Obayun of yours must be able to tell a good lie when he puts his mind to it,” Kiyoteru clicks his tongue, continuing in the wrong direction, “But I suppose to do it without too much effort would take something like a demon.  It’s easy to assume that a normal person doesn’t know how to sneak a lie past someone who knows what to look for…” He grins, “Easy, but not necessarily correct.”

You don’t know why, but when Sayaka’s panic washes over you, you’re hit by another wave of your own.  Have you encountered this man before?  Kiyoteru Tanaka… Your own memories are so hard to pick out, when your mind is fully made of Sayaka’s memory.  You may need to wait until you return to the real world to figure it out.  She lifts her hands from the seat and goes to undo her seatbelt, only to find the buckle’s stuck.  She can’t reach Kiyoteru either, to try and throw off his driving, so she just looks up at him, wide-eyed, silent in her shock.

“Sorry, Sayaka-hime,” Kiyoteru laughs over the steering wheel, “But you provided much too big a challenge for me not to give it a shot.  I really thought it’d be tougher to get you in here, but I guess you are still just a six year old, even with the mob on your side,” He looks over at her, still appearing to be calm and just… amused by the situation, “Six is quite a bit below my strike range usually, but see, I just joined this new group online, and they wanted to give me some kidnapped kid to raise up as a ‘pet’.  I said, y’know, that’s no fun.  Let me get some kid who’s already got some conviction and see if I can get rid of it.”

“How dumb can you be?  I give it a month at most before they find you and kill you,” Sayaka hisses, leaning towards him, her shock turning to anger, “Wow.  I can only hope all lolicons are as idiotic as you are!”

“I’m not too worried about getting killed,” Kiyoteru shakes his head, a smirk breaking across his face again, “You can say that, but you know, you’re the one who was dumb enough to get caught by an idiot lolicon, right?  Besides.  A month is more than enough time.  I once broke an eleven year old boy in just one day.”

“You’re bragging about that!?” She questions, wrinkling her nose and recoiling back into the seat, “Ugh.  I can’t believe I managed to end up with somebody like you… You’re right, I mean, I was an idiot to get caught by a lolicon.  A self-serving narcissistic lolicon and shotacon who’s proud to cause misery…”

“Hey, I’m the best kind of pedo around,” He laughs again, turning to look straight ahead down the road, “I’ll teach you everything you gotta know in a world like this, yeah?  And it’s not like I’m pretending or anything.  I won’t say I’m doing this cause I love you, or that it’s normal for guys my age to like little kids.  I’m totally open about how I’m in the wrong, so just take what you can outta the experience, okay?”

“Not okay.  I won’t gain anything from this,” Sayaka crosses her arms and pointedly looks away from him, pouting.

“Eh, suit yourself,” Kiyoteru shrugs as he turns onto the highway, “If you want to talk again, it’s on you.  You should be able to reach far enough from your seat to get the radio running, too, if you’d rather that.”

Sayaka stews in silence for a while longer, but does end up turning the radio to a generic pop station eventually.  She doesn’t bother with a news station, because she knows that her ‘family’ won’t contact the news about her disappearance.  Taking the burden of finding her on themselves would give them more options to both get the information and enact punishment.  She expects to face repercussions herself, for going along with him, and is ready for whatever those might be.  For all she knows, given how much this is bound to inconvenience the others, this could even be an offense worth losing a fingertip for.

She’s seen it happen plenty of times before, and honestly, everyone seems to settle on a final result that it really isn’t that bad.  It hurts quite a bit for a moment, but then it settles out to a dull ache, which is better than the tattooing process anyway, and the artist has said that with the little bit she’s gotten done so far on her wrist, she’s one of the calmest children yet when it comes to that.  The real purpose of losing a fingertip isn’t to cause pain, but to serve as a reminder that just being in the mob isn’t enough.  She’s useless alone, and needs the group; and she will even more without a fingertip, as it will slightly inhibit her ability to accurately weild a sword.

Kaiba, the only other woman working on the street side of things rather than the backside of the operation, has lost the fingertips on her entire left hand and can’t even wield a sword with any precision anymore, causing her to opt for an oversized zanbatou instead which didn’t require accuracy.  The drive to Kiyoteru’s home is a long one, and the roads change towards the end from highways to bumpy, dirt passages which have barely been tamped down, never even considered for paving.  His car doesn’t seem as if it can handle this road, but seeing as it’s driving on them, that’s evidently not the case, even if just barely.

The house seems fairly run down, but does have a garage; a manual garage.  Kiyoteru gets out of the car, opens the door, drives the car in, then closes it and puts a padlock on it before opening the passenger side door, unfolding a pocket knife, and cutting Sayaka’s seatbelt away.  She makes a grab for the knife, but Kiyoteru’s reflexes and prediction of her likelihood to do such a thing allow him to move it away from her and fold it back up, setting it on a shelf which is far too tall for her to reach.  He gestures for her to follow him.  She doesn’t move, but when he reaches out to pull her by her arm, she swats his hand away and stands on her own.  In swatting him away she is able to note that though she has no idea what his strength may be in active use, she is able to have an impact on him when he’s passive.

He leads her into his home, which is nicer on the inside than it seemed on the outside.  He has a kitchen with only a kotatsu for an eating surface, which must be a bit unpleasant in the summertime.  Maybe he just stands and eats at the counter when it’s too warm, or maybe it’s generally chillier out here in the middle of nowhere.  He gestures towards a few doors, “That’s my room, and that one’s yours, and there’s the bathroom.  See, I’m even giving you your own room.”

“I take it you won’t be letting me use it much,” Sayaka mumbles, staring straight ahead with a dead, cold look in her eyes.

“Quite the contrary, my room’s a bit of a disaster area, so you won’t be allowed in.  I’m interesting in bath play with you anyhow.  Likewise you won’t be able to kill me in my sleep,” He explains, walking over to the kitchen, “Speaking of, I’ve taken care to make sure you can’t get any of my knives.  Childproof locks on all the cabinets.  Take a look in the fridge and let me know what you’d like for dinner.  I’ll gladly accomodate your preferences.”

“My preference is to not be here,” She answers, but does walk over to the fridge, take a look through the ingredients, then turn to stare up at Kiyoteru, “Tanaka-ojisan, make me hamburg steak.”

“Heh.  It didn’t take you long to see I had the stuff to make that,” He nods and starts pulling ingredients out, “Do you like red meat, Sayaka-hime?”

“Yeah,” She nods, “Kaiba-neesan is going to teach me how to hunt when I’m older.  I’m very excited for that.”

“You really are convinced that this is just a blip on the radar…” Kiyoteru mumbles, closing the fridge as he begins cooking, “It’s as if you don’t understand the weight of the situation.  Yes, they’ll come find you.  Yes, they’ll kill me.  That’s all true, but do you really think that when I’m done with you, you’ll be just as capable as ever?  For all you know, you’ll be so useless they won’t even want you anymore.”

“I’m made of tougher stuff than that,” She sits down at the kotatsu, crossing her arms, “There’s people still in the obayun’s good graces who are more useless than I could ever be.”

“You can be confident, but you are the one who was dumb enough to get caught by me,” He gives a nonchalant shrug while he cooks, “So if I were you, I wouldn’t be so sure that you’re tough enough.  How could you ever know how you can handle something if you haven’t yet endured it?”

“I…” Sayaka tries to come up with a response, but just drops her arms to her sides, unsure what to say to that.

“So you’ve figured it out?” Kiyoteru smirks, “You can’t possibly brace yourself for something you’ve never had any experience with before.  At your age, this is an entirely different world, that you’ve never even seen into at all.  That cluelessness…” He sighs, “Isn’t something I’m very keen on, to be honest.  There’s a reason my strike range is older, but as much as it seems like a chore, I’m sure I will enjoy teaching you.”

“Why don’t you just send me back and get somebody you’d prefer?” She questions, leaning on the table and setting her chin in her hands.

“Because I’m curious, and I know it’ll be temporary anyhow,” He shrugs once more, “After all.  That family of yours will most certainly kill me and retrieve you… Right?”

“Yes,” She nods, “I don’t understand, though.  Why are you so unbothered by the fact that you’re gonna die?”

“It means nothing to me,” He chuckles, then finishes up cooking and sets a plate in front of her, then sits down across the table with his own, “Dying isn’t something which frightens me at all.”

“How can you know how you’ll handle something you’ve never had any experience with before?” She mirrors his words from earlier, staring straight through him.

“Who says I haven’t?”

----

Two weeks.

Two weeks pass, and through Sayaka’s eyes, you see it all, you feel it all, and it doesn’t feel like he’s doing these things to her, it feels like it’s happening to you, and you’re dissociating.  You’re trying, anyway.  You don’t want to be experiencing these things which she experienced so long ago, but there’s no escape, not until you get ahold of the item which represents this secret.  He puts a hand on her shoulder, and she doesn’t respond.

“Sayaka-hime,” He starts, his voice soft, “I wonder how well I’ve done with you.  If I gave you the opportunity to kill me now… Would you?”

She doesn’t respond.

“Well, what if I gave you the chance to run away?” He ponders, leaning towards her, “I guess I could have two more weeks with you, if you’re right about when they’re coming to find you, but I… would rather know the answer to this question, I believe,” He reaches into his pocket and hands her a key, “This is the key to the back door.  There’s an axe on the back porch.  Could you go… Chop some firewood?”

She takes the key, unlocks the back door, and steps outside.  She retrieves the axe and turns it over in her hands, then wanders off in the direction of the wood pile, grabbing a log and setting it on a stump to split.  It’s obvious Kiyoteru’s done this plenty of times before from the scoring on the stump and the proximity of his woodpile to it.  She’s not chopping wood as a show of faith in him, though.  She isn’t as broken as he thinks.  She’s just trying to get a feel for how the tool swings.  She could run, she could just run without doing anything else, but she doesn’t want to.  It’s been far too long since she last caused someone any harm.

When she’s confident in her ability to move the axe, she holds it at her side.  It drags on the ground because she’s so short, and she makes her way back to the door.  She opens it, and brings the axe inside.  Kiyoteru’s pulled a chair over to face the door, and he’s staring at her as soon as she steps into the house.  She walks up to him, and he doesn’t move as she lifts the axe and brings it down on him.

As soon as she’s sure that he’s dead, she wipes her forehead, and a grin splits her face, “Were you expecting that, Tanaka-ojisan…? I don’t care if you were.  I’m really grateful you gave me this chance,” She laughs, then swings the axe up to carry it across her shoulders and turns around, back outside.  She walks down the roads until she reaches a paved one, then just keeps walking until a van pulls up beside her.  She looks up as the window rolls down and a familiar face looks out at her, “Kaiba-nee?”

“Sayaka-chan!” She gasps in relief, leaning out of the window, then screws up her face in confusion, “What’s with the axe?”

“I’ll explain on the drive back,” She shrugs, climbing into the passenger seat since Kaiba was looking for her alone, “So, you’re back in the area for summer?”

“Yeah, sure would have been nice to get back and not need to go searching for you immediately, but that’s how things are,” Kaiba groans, peeling away at a pace a van should not be able to go, “When you disappeared, we questioned the owner of the store you went to, who said you got into a black Nissan, so we then had to figure out who owned it, then where his other property is.  So then they sent me to get you.  Now tell me about the bloody axe.”

Sayaka’s holding it in her lap, staring, “Well, I killed Kiyoteru Tanaka.”

“Good for you, kid,” Kaiba nods, “Good for you.”

-----

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