Setsuna held the door for the long-legged Kyo Wallward to climb in, catching a glimpse of him sliding over to Konoka before she shut the door firmly, the black glass blocking them from sight. She looked up once to check that the second limo with the Wallward guards was ready to follow before she got into the passenger seat.
A young woman watched her fold herself into the car with a grin. “I’m amazed that you can fit that in here so easily,” Hazan Wallward said, tilting her head at how Setsuna had eased Yuunagi into the cramped cab space. “Have you ever caught it on doorways or anything?”
Setsuna ignored that, although she did smirk briefly in response. “We’re ready to go.”
“Alrighty!” Hazan turned on the ignition and pulled out of the gates, humming idly as they merged into the main road. She took a hand off the steering wheel to adjust her hat, and glanced sideways at Setsuna. “Hm, you look better.”
“What?” Setsuna asked. Honestly, she knew that she probably looked awful—from the stress of being reminded about all the things Setsuna knew that she couldn’t change.
“You had the nastiest cut on your wrist a few days ago,” Hazan explained, tapping below her thumb. “It’s completely gone now.”
“So it is,” Setsuna said shortly.
Hazan hummed in mild acquiescence. Changing the topic, she said, “Kyo told me that you and Konoka-sama have been friends since you were little.”
Setsuna closed her eyes, breathing lightly as she tried to sort out what kind of response to give to that statement. What did Kyo mean when he had told Hazan that? Carefully, she answered, “The Shinmeiryuu assigned me to her when we were young. Eishun-sama took me in before that. Yes, I’ve known her for some time.”
“You guys must have been cute as kids,” Hazan grinned as they pulled up to a stoplight. She took the time to roll the window down and light a cigarette, exhaling politely outside instead of within the car. “I’ve been with Kyo since we were little too. Ethan and I are the only people who could make him drop his nerd-boy act to actually relax, you know?” She tapped the ash off the end of her cigarette and stuck it back in her mouth as the light changed to green, accelerating accidentally with a rough jerk.
“A fighter should take care of her body,” Setsuna commented.
“Right back at you,” Hazan replied, her eyes settling on Setsuna’s face.
Refusing to be discomforted, Setsuna only shrugged and shifted in her seat, stretching out her legs. To her displeasure, she hadn’t grown much since high school, and although she didn’t need the physical height to help her in fights, the added intimidation bonus being tall would have given was missed. Mana still liked to tease her about it some days. “I’m sure the young sir acts differently around those he cares about.”
“Interesting—you don’t call him the “young master”? Everyone else does.”
In a tone that was angrier than she had intended, Setsuna said, “K—Ojou-sama is my only mistress.” Internally Setsuna winced, knowing that she had just given the teasing Hazan a perfect opening to throw in something dirty.
To her surprise, Hazan’s next words were serious and mildly imploring. “My cousin…he really isn’t a bad guy, you know?”
Setsuna put a hand on Yuunagi just below where the smooth sheath rested against her shoulder. “I never thought that he was.”
“No,” Hazan agreed. After a pause, she continued, “but you’re on Konoka-sama’s side, aren’t you?”
“The well-being of my Ojou-sama is my sworn duty.”
All Hazan did was to give Setsuna the same sad, knowing look that so many of Setsuna’s friends wore when they looked at her nowadays. Coming from a near stranger, a spike of hollow anger rose inside her until Setsuna caught herself using a quick meditation technique that her sensei had taught her. Calmly, Setsuna pulled out her sunglasses from a breast pocket and put them on, turning to look out the tinted windows.
She didn’t care if it was rude to leave Hazan hanging on the end of their conversation—even through her dark shades Setsuna didn’t trust that her expression wouldn’t confirm the implications in Hazan Wallward’s sympathetic gaze.
They could all speculate as much as they liked, but Setsuna wasn’t going to prove it to them.
There was too much at stake.
And Setsuna had too much to atone for.
***
October 31, 2009
“Not so fast, Kono-chan!” Setsuna protested as her friend dragged them deeper into the woods. Setsuna clutched at Yuunagi and scanned the forest shadows nervously. Konoka was holding onto one of her hands, so she would have to use a different draw to get Yuunagi out of its sheath…would that be fast enough for—
“OOOMPH!”
Konoka had spun around and glomped her, giggling as she kissed Setsuna’s cheek, who promptly flushed red. Knowingly, she teased, “Set-chan, you worry too much!” Beaming and with utter trusting conviction, Konoka said happily, “I’m perfectly safe with you.”
“Kono-chan…” Setsuna blushed, not knowing how to respond to that, although a warm ball of contentment settled in her stomach. She was glad that she had let—let? As if she could have refused!—
Konoka talk her into dressing up as a samurai again for Halloween. As Setsuna had hoped, Konoka had gleefully dressed up as the beautiful, matching princess, and spent the whole time at their class reunion Halloween party pressed against Setsuna’s side. The whole night was agonizingly glorious, and more than once Setsuna had to resist the urge to spin around and pull Konoka to her and just…
From the wicked looks she had gotten from Kazumi, Haruna and Asuna, Setsuna knew that she hadn’t been successful at hiding the impulse at all. But she didn’t care much anymore and just smiled sheepishly in reply to their giggles.
After holding their hug for a few more seconds Konoka broke away, smiling. “Come on, I want to show you something!”
Fondly, Setsuna sighed and followed her obediently. A few minutes later, they entered a clearing in the woods. Konoka tugged her along, but Setsuna stiffened, her senses screaming.
Something wasn’t right here.
***
“Is everything alright around the house?” Kyo asked as he waited for Konoka to begin eating before picking up his fork. “Do you need me to move anything again?”
“It’s fine,” Konoka replied as she tried to smoothly cut into her fish with the western style knife and fork. “We’ve finished setting up the furniture last week. Everyone seems to be getting used to the flow of things.”
“That’s good.” Kyo blinked. “May I help?”
It took Konoka a few moments to realize he was indicating her fish fillet, and she gratefully passed her plate over. “Thanks, Kyo. If you have some time tomorrow, could you…” she hesitated, wringing her hands under the tablecloth. “Could you show me some of the electronic books you have?”
“Ah, do you need them for your research?” Kyo grimaced. “I’m sorry, I’ll arrange for—”
“I don’t need them for research,” Konoka corrected him. She twisted the end of the cloth in her fingers. It was all so confusingly painful…Konoka made sure not to glance sideways. From the corner of her eye she could see Setsuna’s polished shoes and pinstripe gray pants. Putting that aside, Konoka tried to find the right words to convey her meaning. “I just…it would be nice if we could just spend some time together, Kyo.”
Her hapless husband looked mildly puzzled. “But we spend time together already?”
Not just as Kyo and Konoka, Konoka thought tiredly, laying her hands on her red silk lap.
Always as Wallward and Konoe. “Please?”
He passed her plate back over, the fish cut into equal sized pieces. “Of course,” he said anxiously, then winced when a buzzing sound interrupted them. “Excuse me…” He checked his Blackberry. Konoka sat back with a small sigh, poking listlessly at her food and patiently waiting for Kyo to finish checking his messages.
She leaned her cheek on one hand, looking sideways at her silent guardian. Setsuna was staring blankly off into space, pointedly not focusing anywhere where she might accidentally make eye-contact with Konoka. Some days, Konoka was elated where Mana and Setsuna’s guard rotation put Setsuna as close guard.
But other days, it just made a hard day harder. It hurt enormously when her Set-chan wouldn’t even look at her—and Konoka wanted to just touch her, a hand on the sleeve or back, just to remind herself…But she couldn’t.
It wouldn’t be fair to Set-chan.
So Konoka would just put on another smile and look away.
“Ah, Konoka, that was Grandmother…apparently, they’ve arranged for a family gathering tomorrow,” Kyo told her as he finally put his Blackberry back into his suit pocket. “They’re asking us to present our collected information on the Koyane Wards to both honoured families.”
“That doesn’t give us much time to organize all our data,” Konoka frowned. “And it’s so sudden…I wonder if something happened?”
“Maybe they got more information on the Wards,” Kyo suggested, sipping from his glass. “Konoemon-sama had mentioned to me that he was looking into the family records to see what the previous Ward Guardians had written about their duty.”
“He didn’t tell me that!” exclaimed Konoka, putting her fork down in surprise. “Grandpa told me that he had sent me all his books on the Koyane Wards!”
“He did,” Kyo explained. “He’s looking in the private journals of your ancestors, and those documents can’t leave the Kanto Magic Association.” He noted her expression and added, “Do you want to read them yourself?”
“Maybe sometime,” Konoka admitted. “I know that we don’t have much time right now, but maybe in a few days. Daddy and Grandpa never told me much about my heritage before my magic awakened, so I’m always curious about my ancestors.”
“I think they just wanted you to live a carefree childhood,” Kyo said. He twisted his ring containing the Wallward family crest absently around his finger, his brow lightly furrowed. “So you wouldn’t feel a pressure to live up to any expectations but your own,” he finished, smiling and raking his hair back out of his face again.
Konoka let her gaze drop onto her lap, glancing at her own ring. “I
am grateful,” she said softly. “Kyo—”
“Sir!” Setsuna spoke suddenly, her hand on her earpiece and her voice urgent. “Ojou-sama—one of the Koyane Ward stones is cracking!”
***
“Ne, Set-chan, did you know that there’s a legend about this clearing?”
“I didn’t, Kono-chan.” Setsuna set Yuunagi on the ground and closed her free hand over its hilt. Even though her action had brought them to a halt Konoka didn’t seem to mind, continuing to speak excitedly.
“Well, do you see the dragon there?”
Following Konoka’s pointing finger, Setsuna saw a stone dragon in the middle of the clearing through a gap in the circle of monoliths encircling the area. Teeth curled in a grin, the dragon coiled upon itself, its four paws clutching the corners of a gemstone mirror. If she wasn’t getting such a foreboding sensation, Setsuna would have wondered why no one had tried to steal it yet. But every bit of her was screaming to stay away.
“The mirror in its claws is supposed to be magical,” Konoka told her, squeezing Setsuna’s hand. “They say…” She blushed, and smiled sweetly at Setsuna before continuing shyly, “They say that if you look into it, you can see the image of your true love standing beside you. Isn’t that kind of interesting, Set-chan?”
“Interesting,” Setsuna replied absently as she tried to calm herself to figure out why she was so unsettled. It was a harder task than she expected, since the warmth of Konoka’s hand in hers was incredibly distracting.
“It’s just an urban legend, but wouldn’t it be fun to go look?”
“No!” Setsuna said in alarm. She blurted, “I don’t care about that.” Anxiously, she scanned the woods again—even now, there were still insurgents in the Kansai Magic Association, and Setsuna could never forget the near-disaster of their field trip to Kyoto. She wished that they had dragged Negi and Asuna along—the three of them together would have been enough against any enemy who might want to hurt Konoka again.
“You don’t care?” Konoka asked, her tone different from before.
“It’s not worth it,” Setsuna replied, knowing that she should shake her hand free of Konoka’s to be ready to draw her sword at any moment. Something here was seriously bothering her… To her surprise, Konoka released her hand and moved away, her shoulders slumped. “Konoka?” Setsuna yelped when she saw Konoka walking towards the circle of stones and lunged forward, grabbing her friend’s wrist. “Konoka! What are you doing?”
“You might not care,” Konoka said, her voice teary and angry at the same time. “But I do.” She pulled free and continued walking, stepping between two stones and continuing towards the dragon statue at the center.
“Kono-chan!” Setsuna cried, moving forward and coming to an abrupt halt at the edge of the circle. She twitched, sweating. “Kono-chan, stop!”
Konoka whirled around, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “I always stop! Whenever we hold hands or hug or touch each other! Well, Set-chan, what if I don’t want
to stop?”
“Huh?” Setsuna gaped, completely baffled at the sudden outburst.
“Set-chan, you’re so dense sometimes!” Konoka cried out, tears sliding down her cheeks. The sight of her tears made Setsuna inhale sharply, willing to do anything to take that sad expression away from her precious Konoka. Staring at her, Konoka shouted wetly,
“I don’t want us to be just friends anymore!”
***
Setsuna didn’t wait for Hazan to stop the limousine as they pulled up towards the Koyane Ward clearing—she threw open the door and jumped out, tumbling into a controlled roll and racing forward, Yuunagi unsheathed at her side. She could see the cause for the cracking ward ahead, and put on a burst of speed.
“
Hyakuretsuouka Zan!” Setsuna slashed Yuunagi into the midst of the dozen demons gathered around one of the monoliths, slicing through two of them before they could react. Setsuna flipped and spun around, but the demons had scattered.
Cat demons! Setsuna let out a yell and pursued the closest demon, dodging its roaring pounce and drove her sword into its chest as it leapt at her. Her momentum and power were stronger, and the shocked demon was flung backwards, howling as it fell and Setsuna’s blade came free with a bloody splash as she continued running ahead. She had surprised the next demon with her unfaltering charge and it sprang sideways to dodge her strike, warier as it began to circle Setsuna.
She sensed another one approaching from behind her and dove, letting the demon pass overhead and gutted it in the same move.
Where was—too late! Setsuna was knocked off her feet as the first cat-demon tackled her, its teeth striking at her throat with a snarl.
BLAM!
Grunting, Setsuna tossed the beast off of her, snatching up Yuunagi again. Her earpiece crackled, and Mana’s voice came on, the woman’s tone dry and full of humour.
“I expect overtime pay for coming in during my off-duty time.”
“Ojou-sama?” Setsuna demanded, lunging at another demon while bringing Yuunagi into a series of crescent strikes.
“Kyo has her and his researchers in a barrier,” Mana assured her, every other word punctuated with a loud gunshot. “She’s tending to the wounded.”
Flashes of magic further away told Setsuna that Kyo and his uninjured mages were entering the fight. Combined, they weren’t even close to Negi’s level when her former sensei had been a ten-year-old, so Setsuna didn’t have incredible faith in their abilities. She needed to end this as quickly as possible.
Nimbly she pivoted out of the way of her opponents attack and slashed out, cutting into the beast’s flank before pressing her offensive while the cat tried to retreat.
“
Raimeiken!” Setsuna shouted, driving her lightning-infused sword into the demon’s side. She jerked her blade out of the dead demon and cast a quick look around. She had killed four, and Mana had sniped five from her position in one of the tall trees overhead. The mages were finishing off one, which left two more unaccounted for—
“There!” Kyo bellowed, pointing across the field. The two remaining cat demons had snuck along the perimeter of the wards during the fight and were now galloping for the shelter of the woods.
If any escaped, the secret that the Koyane Wards were failing would be out for the whole demon world to know. Already, one of the stones was nearly cracked through, the presence of the demons speeding up its disintegration.
“Set-chan, stop them please!” Konoka cried out desperately.
***
Setsuna gaped at her friend, her eyes wide.
Konoka looked back at her, then silently turned around and continued walking.
“Wait!” Setsuna stammered, stumbling forward a half-step before stopping again. She couldn’t quite make herself cross that invisible line on the ground, even though she wanted to rush over to Konoka and sweep her up in her arms and hold her close until all this confusion went away. But something prevented her from moving… “Kono-chan! Stop, please?”
Konoka was nearly at the statue now, and for a moment Setsuna was terrified that Konoka had looked into the mirror. But she stopped and turned to look back at Setsuna, her eyes still teary.
“If you really want me to, Set-chan, come stop me yourself.”
Setsuna froze.
She didn’t believe in urban legends, but if the person you saw reflected beside you was your true love, then damnit, Setsuna wanted to be beside Konoka…
But every instinct in her was howling to grab Konoka and run, that it wasn’t safe here…
A sob broke from Konoka, and her brown-haired charge began to turn around.
With a single sharp movement Setsuna leapt past the stones, running towards Konoka. For an instant it felt like a web of magical strands caught like spider silk across her body, then it snapped away, letting Setsuna through.
And the dark clearing exploded with light.
***
At that cry, Setsuna gritted her teeth and put on a burst of speed, calling out her wings to propel her into the sky. She swooped towards the ward circle, knowing that her only chance of making it to them in time was to fly through the clearing and cut the demons down before they could vanish into the woods. Almost there…
Suddenly her wings crumpled, and Setsuna screamed as she hit a barrier that burned through her feathers and sizzled in her veins like bolts of lightning. Numbly, she felt herself falling, a second agonizing sensation running through her body when she hit the dirt in a mess of limp limbs.
GET UP! Her inner warrior shrieked, and Setsuna rolled to her feet, Yuunagi’s tip dragging shamefully against the ground for a few feet before she could force into her muscles the strength to lift her sword and run around the ward circle to reach the other side, panting with the strain. But the aftershock of whatever had hit her was too strong—Setsuna’s legs gave out and she hit the ground again, sending up a spray of earth and dead leaves before sliding to a halt.
Gunshots told her that Mana was still shooting down the escapees, and Setsuna prayed that the mercenary would get them both. She herself couldn’t move; every inch of her burned, as if her body was trying to tear itself into pieces. Her wings especially spasmed uncontrollably—if Setsuna couldn’t actually see that they were intact, she would have thought that the bones had snapped in a dozen places from the agony that every movement caused.
But none of that compared to the anguish flooding through her as she lay helplessly in the dirt and loam.
So I was
right after all…Setsuna mourned, gasping as a choking despair spread through her.
***
Magic erupted around them, runes flashing into being along the stones and in the ground. The dragon’s eyes flared, and flickers oozed into the surface of the mirror, reaching outwards…
“KONO-CHAN!” Setsuna dove, her wings exploding from her back. The effort was incredibly hard and painful for some reason, but none of that mattered. She caught Konoka around the waist and beat her wings hard, trying to get some lift.
A stray strand of magic crackled beside them, its whip-like tip barely missing them before it dissipated. Setsuna didn’t want to find out what kind of magic was being released the hard way, and she grunted, flapping with all her strength.
“What’s going on?” Konoka cried out, wrapping her arms around Setsuna’s neck and keeping still so that Setsuna could dodge the sparking magical shots.
“I don’t—” Setsuna began, then it happened.
A beam of magic fired from the dragon’s mouth, striking them squarely.
Or more precisely, impacting Konoka dead center.
“KONO-CHAN!”
The impact knocked Setsuna out of the air, turning the world into a dizzying mess of colours and whistling air and the feeling of Konoka’s arms tight around her, with her ojou-sama’s voice shouting in her ear, “I’m alright! I’m alright!” Setsuna didn’t know if it was true or a reassuring lie, but she spread her wings out, trying to catch enough wind to carry them out of range of the stone circle.
If Konoka was still alive, Setsuna will
make sure that they make it out alive!
“ARGH!” She screamed, drawing on the strength buried inside her, the strength that Setsuna had always been afraid and ashamed of. It was enough for her to beat her wings in their backwards fall, moving them slowly towards the outer edge of the ward.
Not enough! A hard grey surface rushed at them, and Setsuna curled around Konoka, pulling Konoka’s head against her chest protectively. They struck one of the giant stones hard enough for Setsuna to feel her ribs crunch just as a deafening crack sounded.
“SET-CHAN!” Konoka shrieked, clearly fearing that Setsuna had broken her back from the terrifying sound.
It was Setsuna’s turn to shout, “I’m alright!” before they both crashed into the dirt in a tangle of limbs and wings. Abruptly the rampant magic vanished, leaving the forest dark and silent once more.
Konoka let go of Setsuna’s neck just to grab her around the waist, feeling her for injuries before Setsuna caught her up in a tight hug.
Struggling, Konoka protested fiercely, “Set-chan, I need to make sure you’re alright!”
“You’re okay,” Setsuna whispered, crushing Konoka against her, ignoring the pain in her ribs that motion caused. “I saved you, you’re okay…”
Firmly, Konoka hugged her back, kissing her on the lips then burrowing her face into Setsuna’s neck. “You’ll always save me, Set-chan.”
All Setsuna could do was hold Konoka to her, feeling both of their hearts pounding. Before her, a jagged fissure snaked up the ward stone, the gouge splitting the carved runes on the ancient stone into pieces.
Setsuna stared at the crack, feeling her heart sink into her stomach.
***
“Eight. Nine.”
Two more demon carcasses were carried over to the pyre. Setsuna watched dully, not inclined to help even if she could actually rise and not stumble. The Wallward guards had simply hovered back during the fight, unsure what to do against demonic opponents, while Setsuna and Mana had charged into the battle. It only served to prove her fears that none of the Wallward guards could properly protect Konoka.
Any excuse to make you believe you’re needed, huh?
Another pair of guards dragged over a body, this time in pieces. Setsuna grimaced and glanced once at Konoka, her heart sinking at the gentle healer fighting to contain her horror at the scene. She looked down again.
She couldn’t bear it if Konoka turned that horrified gaze upon
her.
She would deserve it.
All of this was her fault.
“Ten.” Kyo counted aloud, his fists on his hips.
“Eleven,” Mana said from across the clearing, her rifle held in a relaxed grip.
“That’s all of them,” one of the guards said.
“Check again!” Kyo shouted, glaring.
“Kyo…” Konoka tried to say, turning from the researcher mage she had just healed, but he cut her off with a brisk gesture.
“There were twelve of them!” He yelled, pacing and tugging at his hair in agitation. “Check again!”
“Sir, we checked!” The smarter guards and researchers had begun to piece things together and were turning dark looks on Setsuna, their faces full of disbelief and disapproval. Setsuna sighed and lowered her head, accepting their anger. They were right, anyway.
Snarling in rage, Kyo whirled upon Setsuna. “You let one of them get away! How could you?”
“Don’t shout at her!” Konoka said angrily, moving towards Setsuna with her fans out.
Setsuna shook her head, wishing she could stand to face Kyo’s accusations but her knees were still trembling and her guts wouldn’t stay still. Kyo ignored Konoka and continued to rant, a tone of desperation escaping in his voice.
“You let one get away—and now all the demons will know! They’ll know about the failing wards, and while they know how to break them, we still have no idea how to fix them at all!”