alright, here's part of Chapter 3, still need to hammer out the next few scenes before adding more.
Chapter 3
Growing Misconceptions
The cool night air was refreshing to Keitaro after the hot day. Climbing down the steps after Haruka, Keitaro couldn't help but feel a bit vulnerable. After all, for the few hours since their summoning, the Wolkenritter had stuck close to Keitaro. But for this meeting with his Aunt, Keitaro felt that the Knights would make things a little... difficult. Not to mention how Haruka seemed to be on edge whenever they were around. Considering their need to be as close to him as possible, Keitaro helped the Knights set themselves up in the room next to the one he was staying, having been given the Landlord's Room for now since his Grandmother wasn't using it. The rooms were luckily spacious enough to allow the four Knights to stay together with no discomfort, though he planned on helping them get some necessities later. He couldn't just keep lending them his clothes after all.
The way to Haruka's Tea House wasn't very far, the trip down the steps was made in a companionable silence as both Urashimas let their minds wander. There were so many questions Keitaro had... but at the same time, so many things that he was hesitant about explaining in their entirety. Still, it felt wrong to hide anything from his Aunt, especially since she went out of her way to help him out. Gripping the bag he brought with him firmly, Keitaro let the weight of it comfort him.
The Tea House Haruka owned was well kept, built in a similar style to the Hinata-sou. Sliding the wooden door open, Haruka motioned Keitaro inside, turning the lights on and setting a kettle to boil as Keitaro made himself comfortable at one of the tables. By the time Haruka returned with two cups of tea, Keitaro had come to a decision.
"Aunt Haruka..." Keitaro started, only to be cut off by a quick strike to the head with a rolled up newspaper. "OW!"
Lighting a cigarette, Haruka shook her head and put the newspaper down on the table, within easy reach. "Don't call me Aunt. I introduced you as my nephew to cut down on the explanations to the girls, but I'm saying this now. I don't like being called Aunt." That said, she blew out a bit of smoke before raising her tea for a sip. "Now... you were saying?"
Rubbing his head where the newspaper hit, Keitaro chuckled weakly for a moment. "Right... Um... Haruka-san... if you explain to me what you can of how you crashed through the window and how it fixed itself... and what that odd gun was, I'll tell you everything involving my friends and I."
Haruka mulled it over a bit in her mind. "Sounds fair enough. Even if its been a while since we last saw each other, you've always been a good kid that kept your promises. If you promise to tell me the truth and not leave anything out, I can do the same." Receiving a nod in response, Haruka took a moment to pull a triangular pendant out from beneath her sweater. "Alright then... before I tell you about me, I gotta tell you about the TSAB... the Time-Space Administration Bureau." Standing up from her chair, Haruka took a heavy drag from her cigarette, before putting it out completely on the ashtray, letting the smoke out in a long, relaxing sigh. "It's a military force that patrols a large section of inter-dimensional space, centering a majority of their operations on a world called Mid-Childa. Not only does it protect its area of influence from outside forces, but they also monitor and enforce the use of Magic, making sure that its use doesn't affect normal citizens negatively."
Pulling her pendant off, she gently placed it on the palm of her hand, making sure Keitaro was watching closely. "Mages from Mid-Childa use Devices like this one to do most of their magic, but there are a few who don't need them. My Device is named Spartan, he is classified as a Storage Device. His AI is not advanced, but he is useful as a melee to long ranged weapon." Grinning, she gave a playful wink, before looking directly at the triangular pendant. "Spartan, Set Up!"
[Yes, Master]
Before Keitaro could react, Haruka's form was engulfed in a bright green light that filled the room, causing Keitaro to wince and shield his eyes from the sudden illumination. When the light finally died down, Haruka's normal clothes were gone, replaced once again by the dark green suit and trench coat outfit he first encountered her in. In her hand, a dagger with a 6 inch long silver blade was held carefully, the cross guard of the dagger revealing the triangular pendant that was in her hand before.
It took Keitaro a moment to take it all in, before saying the first thing that came to mind. While not the most intelligent of observations, "So this means you're some kind of Magical Girl?" was honestly the only thing he could process out of it all. Luckily, a swift smack of a rolled up newspaper got Keitaro's internal processor up and running to normal capacity again.
"As I was saying..." Haruka said as she put the newspaper on the table again. "Devices like this are more or less common for Mages to use in Mid-Childa, so you'll be seeing a lot of different ones if you keep walking down the path you're on right now. As to the rest of your questions of how I crashed through the window and how it got fixed... there's a lot of different kinds of magic out there. Stuff like that is fairly basic." Sitting down once again, Haruka crossed her arms and looked at Keitaro expectantly. "That's about it, really."
"That's a lot to take in." Keitaro shook his head as he finished his cup of tea. "I mean... Mages from Outer Space, talking magical devices... I mean, just the other day I was kicked out of my house, I didn't think I stepped into the Twilight Zone." Leaning back on the chair, Keitaro set the cup down and carefully removed his glasses, rubbing at his temples firmly to work at the growing migraine. "If it wasn't for the fact that I saw it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. But now...?"
Chuckling a bit at Keitaro's expression, Haruka idly twirled her Dagger-like Device as her uniform glowed a familiar bright green, before fading away, leaving Haruka back in her normal clothes, Spartan taking on its pendant form once more in her hand. "Believe it. Trust me, it was a big surprise for me as well when Granny introduced me to this world. Course, when it happened to me, I was about Shinobu's age or so, so I've been doing this for a good while."
Tensing a bit at the mention of Granny, Keitaro looked at Haruka oddly. "You mean Granny is a part of this too?"
Haruka nodded as she put Spartan around her neck again. "Yup. I mentioned the Time-Space Administration Bureau before, right? Granny's a high ranking officer there. After making admiral, she stationed herself here on Earth to deal with a few things on the home front. That's when me and a few friends got introduced to magic, though its existence is still supposed to be a well guarded secret."
Keitaro frowned and looked down at the table surface, losing himself in thought. The information about the Bureau was rather straightforward, a military force built around the monitoring and enforcing of worlds where Mid-Childa's magic was spread, insuring that it would wasn't used for personal gain. It was also created as a force to defend against dangerous threats, such as unknown magical forces or Mages that have run amok amongst other things. Reaching down for his bag, Keitaro carefully pulled out the object that had so quickly changed his life in the past few hours. "I guess it's my turn..."
[linebreak]
"I don't like this." Vita muttered as she picked at the white teddy bear print pajamas she wore, the sleeves and legs rolled up so they wouldn't be a bother to the red haired Knight.
Arching a brow, Signum took a moment to study Vita's form, before giving a shrug. "The pajamas look fine. If they are uncomfortable, you can ask if Shinobu-san has any others for you to borrow."
Turning a glare towards her leader, Vita shook her head. "Not the clothes, I mean leaving Master alone with that woman! He says she is family, but how can we trust him to a mage who attacked us?" Stomping her foot to drive her point home only succeeded in causing the rolled up legging to loosen, the cloth pooling about her foot.
Seeing this, Shamal moved over to Vita with a sigh, kneeling down to fix the offending cloth with a click of her tongue. "We are all worried, Vita, but Master... no.. Keitaro-dono asked us to trust him. It may not have been an order, but Keitaro-dono's word is absolute. If he is in need of aid, I can bring him directly to us if necessary, or we all can simply fly down there. Either way, Keitaro-dono is in easy reach of us."
Vita's glare lost some of its intensity as she nodded, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I guess... if that crazy Aunt tries anything, Graf Eisen and I will smash her to bits!" The threat wasn't as potent as it could have been since Shamal patted Vita on the head once she finished rolling up her pajama leg.
"Let us hope that doesn't happen." Shamal responded with a soft smile. "Now then, let's put out the bedding and wait for Keitaro-dono, hmm?"
"This one is a bit of an odd one." Zafira said from his spot in the corner. Lacking hands to help out, since he promised not to take his humanoid form around the Inn just in case any of the residents dropped in.
Turning to the Guardian Shield Beast, Signum tilted her head slightly at Zafira's comment. "What do you mean, Zafira?"
"He lacks a wish, and he doesn't want us to fill the pages. He has no knowledge of Magic and seems far too soft and clumsy to be a warrior of any kind. He also treats us... differently. I doubt we've ever ran across a Master like this one." Getting up from his spot on the corner, Zafira walked over to Vita and easily leapt up onto her shoulder, letting his legs hang off of her as he made himself comfortable.
Crossing her arms, Signum nodded with the points made by her fellow Knight. "You are correct. He seems to lack the mental and physical prowess our previous masters held... though he does have a rather powerful force of will and charisma to him that the others did not. Though the order to not fill the pages is disconcerting... I believe our Master has greater plans for us."
The last line drew the other Knights' attention as they turned to face Signum. "What do you mean Signum?" asked Shamal, the woman reaching over to scratch behind Zafira's ear.
"... it is a feeling I have. Keitaro-dono seems to focus on us more than himself. Perhaps he wishes to acclimate us to our surroundings a bit more before enacting his plan. Whatever the case, as Knights, it is our duty to do as the King of the Night Sky commands." Moving to the closet that held the futons, Signum began to pull them out. "Enough talk. We should prepare for rest. We never know what the morrow may bring."
[linebreak]
"... The Book of Darkness... Gotta tell ya Keitaro, when you step in it, you step in it deep." Haruka lit another new cigarette to steady her nerves, a majority of her pack already snuffed out in the ashtray after listening to Keitaro recount what happened to him. "I mean... I've heard the stories, seen some of the reports... but I never expected to see it face to face."
Nodding, Keitaro ran his hand along the Book's Spine, for some reason finding the act calming... like petting a cat almost. 'Only... this Cat can grant wishes by eating people...' Shaking his head to clear away the thought, Keitaro gave Haruka a serious look. "Haruka-san... since neither the Book or my Knights pose any danger, will anything happen to them?"
Leaning back against her chair, Haruka mulled over the situation a bit, before shaking her head. "If it were anyone else, I'd take the Book away from you and put your Knights into the TSAB's custody... but... since it's you, I'll talk to Granny instead. She's still my Commanding Officer, so depending on what she says..." Haruka let the sentence hang in the air as she shrugged.
Sighing in acceptance, Keitaro nodded. "Just... tell her that they are my responsibility when you talk to her. Whatever punishment they go through, I at least want some time to prepare them for it. I mean... they're not responsible for what they did since they are only following orders. I... I guess that's all I wanted to say." Getting up, Keitaro picked up his bag, holding the Book to his side as he bowed to Haruka. "It's getting late... I'm going to check on them before heading to bed..."
Haruka nodded before letting out a sigh as she saw Keitaro out the door. "I'll do my best Keitaro. You rest well, whatever Granny's decision, it'll come soon as I call her. I'll let you know tomorrow what happens."
With a nod and a wave, Keitaro left the Tea House, the trek back to the Dormitory feeling far longer than it should, though climbing up the long mountain of steps likely didn't help matters. Considering how late it was getting, telling the Knights about the meeting didn't feel right to him. So, instead of checking in on them, he went straight to his room, using Telepathy to let them know he arrived.
'Anyone still awake?' he asked, trying to keep his mental 'voice' as soft as possible.
'Welcome back, Master.' responded Signum. Smiling softly to himself, Keitaro marveled at how she was always the first one to respond to him.
'It's late, Signum. Please tell me at least everyone else is asleep.'
'Only Vita and Zafira. Shamal and I have been keeping watch while you were speaking with your Aunt.'
Pulling out the spare futon in the Landlord's Room, Keitaro chuckled at the Knights' sense of duty. If he ever got anything from his brief moments with them, it would be a need to emulate that part of them. 'Well, go to sleep. We may have a rather busy day tomorrow, and I'd rather everyone be well rested for it.'
Receiving a simple agreement from both, Keitaro sighed as he pulled himself into the Futon, laying the Book right beside his pillow, his glasses on top of it. With a long yawn and stretch, Keitaro fell into a deep sleep, putting aside his worries til the next day.
[linebreak]
Keitaro slept fitfully that night, plagued by a dream of millions of Chibi-Zafiras stampeding across the streets of Tokyo, Keitaro born on their backs as they took him towards a gigantic Book of Darkness, it's pages open to the stampede. For every Zafira that ran into the book, a letter would form on the pages, joining together to make words til a full sentence was made. Everytime a sentence was complete, a new line would start, repeating the phrase over and over again.
"Chances for Tokyo University, Zero Percent"
The stampede was vanishing before him, until soon he was almost at the eager pages. Shaking his head in fear, Keitaro tried to crawl away from the book, but the carpet of Chibi-Zafiras were far too fast. "No... NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried, doing his best to make a mad leap away from the condemning pages...
... Only to hit his head against something soft that made a rather feminine cry when he hit it. Slowly bringing himself to reality, Keitaro noticed that whatever was under him wasn't his bed or a pillow, but a rather flustered looking Shamal.
"M... Master?!"
It took Keitaro a few moments to transition from the odd dream to reality... but the moment he did, he realized quite a few things.
a.) He wasn't at home
b.) His head was pressed against Shamal's chest.
c.) He was definitely NOT being swallowed by a gigantic version of the Book
d.) Nor was he riding on a stampeding group of Chibi-Zafiras.
e.) A feminine gasp came from somewhere behind him.
Slowly turning around, Keitaro paled as he saw Narusegawa's face peeking down from a hole in the ceiling, the girl's face a bright red as she placed a hand over her mouth. Looking from Naru to the Knight beneath him, Keitaro realized just where his face had been and turned bright red himself.
Moving her eyes from Keitaro to Naru, Shamal blushed slightly, unsure of what to do in such a situation. "... um..."
The sudden sound broke Naru out of her trance, causing her to look away. "D.. Don't mind me! Sorry for disturbing you!" She said quickly before slamming a cover of some kind over the hole.
Swallowing, Keitaro rolled off of Shamal, bowing his head to Shamal repeatedly as he began to sputter apologies. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Please believe me Shamal, I was half asleep when that happened, I didn't mean to-"
Flustered from the experience, Shamal shook her head and began to bow her head to Keitaro, shaking it to try and ward off his apologies. "N.. No need to apologize Mas.. er.. Keitaro-dono! It was simply an accident, I do not blame you! It was my fault for being caught unaware, so please stop apologizing Keitaro-dono!"
Hesitantly, Keitaro glanced up from his bowed position, letting out a soft sigh of relief when Shamal merely gave him an encouraging smile. "Y.. you sure...?" Receiving a nod in response, Keitaro let out a long sigh of relief, slowly pulling himself up. Taking a moment to roll up his futon, Keitaro cleared his throat before speaking, his face still bright red from his close contact with the Knight. "So... did you need something Shamal?"
If he had been looking, Keitaro would have seen that Shamal had her back to her Master, a hand on her cheek as she tried to bring herself back under control, her own face quite flushed from the experience still. "Oh! Um... Shinobu-san has finished breakfast. I came to see if you were awake and wanted to eat with everyone, Keitaro-dono."
"Oh... well lemme get changed first. Maybe I'll take a bath before breakfast while I'm at it... if I remember correctly, this place has a nice Hot Spring." Putting his futon out of the way, Keitaro took a moment to think, before sighing. "That's right.. .I didn't really plan things out too well. Um.. Shamal? Any chance you could see if there are any spare towels and things so I can take a bath?"
Turning to face Keitaro, Shamal gave her Master a bright smile before bowing. "Of course, Keitaro-dono. I'll have everything ready for you when you finally come down." Either she was eager to please or eager to leave before the situation became more awkward, he wasn't sure, but either way Shamal turned and quickly left the room, leaving Keitaro to shrug and grab his toothbrush.
"Now then, where was the bathroom again...?"
[linebreak]
While Keitaro was searching for the facilities, a rather flustered Naru was trying her best to make sense of the situation she just witnessed. Usually, her response to something that indecent would have been a flying Naru Punch to the face to protect any of the girls in the house. But this time... it was a girl she didn't know. While that normally wouldn't have stopped her, the word that the blonde woman uttered had caused her to falter.
'I mean, how am I supposed to act if they have... THAT... kind of relationship?'
The only reason Narusegawa had bothered to look into the room in the first place was because their new Manager sounded like he was crying out in his sleep. She couldn't quite make out what he had been saying, but the tone was enough to worry her slightly. Pulling the board away, the first thing she saw was Keitaro literally tackling one of the girls he was supposed to be looking after.
Any anger she might have felt melted away to embarrassed confusion when she heard Shamal call him 'Master' of course.
Sadly, Naru wasn't as innocent as she wished she was. Not due to anything she did herself, but mostly due to the well of information her best friend Kistune was. No matter how hard she tried not to listen, Kitsune (with the right mood and proper alcohol level) would get it in her head that Naru really needed to know the ins, outs and in-betweens of sex.
Of course, she might have heard wrong, but the fact that Keitaro seemed so comfortable on Shamal's chest was making it hard for Naru to discount the possibility. Which was why she found herself standing in front of Kitsune's room, pacing back and forth as she tried to figure out whether or not she should seek advice from Hinata House's resident drunkard.
Finally gathering enough courage to finally bring herself to knkock on Kitsune's door, an amused voice called out from one side.
"Wow Naru, that took you all of fifteen minutes to do. Whatever it is that's bothering you must really be important."
Feeling as if her heart were about to leap out her throat, Naru spun around so fast she nearly made herself dizzy. Leaning against the wall was a smirking Kitsune, fresh from the bath is the damp hair and basket under her arm was any indication.
Eyes wide in shock, Naru took a few glances from her friend to her friend's door, as if trying to understand some mind boggling conundrum. "Y... You're AWAKE? Before NOON?!" Sadly, Naru couldn't hide her tone of disbelief, a fact that made Kitsune rather put out.
"Hey! I can wake up before noon! I just usually choose not to. Now, are ya gonna stand in front of my door insultin me first thing in the mornin or did ya need help with somethin?"
Blushing fiercely in embarrassment, Naru stood to one side and sighed. "S.. sorry Kitsune... it's just, something happened and... I need to talk to someone or else I'll never make sense of any of it."
Shaking her head with a chuckle, Kitsune opened the door and motioned her blushing friend inside. "Alright, but lets sit down, I'm guessin this has somethin to do with our new friends somehow. What happened, catch them doin the deed?"
Naru's silence slowly made Kitsune rethink her thoughts of the new Mage in the house. Barely 24 hours and he was christening his new room with his Servants? Now THAT was interesting. Letting out a low whistle of admiration, Kitsune grinned eagerly. "Tell me EVERYTHING"
[linebreak]
Shamal was already waiting for him outside of the bathroom with a basket in her hands.
The fact that there were three baskets full of clothes in the changing room didn't really register to Keitaro, since he only saw that his own towel and basket of bathing tools was already set out for him. There was a slight nagging sensation in the back of his mind that he was missing something, but sadly he had pushed it aside in his eagerness to get into the bath for the first time since returning to Hinata-sou.
Which was why when he heard the voices of his other two female Knights greeting him upon entering the bath area, he was understandably shocked. The only thing knocking him out of his shock was the sudden cry of "PERVERT!", the sheer force of the cry causing him to stumble backwards in fear. Only the sudden clash of metal on metal drew his attenton, else he would ave clenched his eyes shut and waited for whatever was to happen.
Before him, Keitaro was treated to a surreal scene... Motoko Aoyama had a katana out and looked as if she were trying to force her way towards him to cut him to ribbons, the only thing stopping her was Signum, her sword Laevateinn blocking the blade and pushign the swordswoman back.
