Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in—
“Luna-chan didn’t have to do any of this.”
Setsuna closed her eyes and prayed for peace.
“That’s because she’s not a mass murderer.”
Tsukuyomi sighed unhappily. “Senpai,” she whined, “that’s not very nice. I haven’t murdered anyone in years.” She paused, and when she started talking again, Setsuna heard her smile. “Besides, I like to take my time with my kills. Mass death isn’t much fun.”
Setsuna couldn’t help it. She opened her eyes and looked at Tsukuyomi. She knew better than this, and worse, she
knew she knew better than this, but… “You just said you haven’t murdered anyone in years.”
“That’s because I haven’t.”
“But you have killed people recently.” As if she really needed to ask that.
Tsukuyomi grinned. “
Yes.”
“I’m surprised Fate allowed that,” Setsuna said with forced lightness. Shouldn’t the headmaster be calling them in soon? What was the point of making an appointment if he wasn’t going to bother keeping it? “Didn’t he want to avoid unnecessary casualties?”
Her new charge shrugged, looking less than concerned with what her late boss would or would not have wanted. “
I think they were very necessary.”
Of course she did. Setsuna drew in a short breath and let it out, trying to remind herself that she had no reason to be disturbed by Tsukuyomi. Whatever the other girl had done, it was in the past. Before her brief mockery of a trial that ended in a sentence that probably didn’t even begin to cover for everything she’d done while she was working under Fate. Now, she barely had the power to compete with some of the more skilled kendo students. And if she was crazy enough to try fighting Setsuna—which Setsuna couldn’t dismiss as a possibility—it wouldn’t be a match at all.
It wouldn’t be like last time.
No, it wouldn’t be. That went without saying. For starters, if they both fought at full strength again, there would be no Kurt Gödel showing up to interfere, and Tsukuyomi would die, solving a great deal of Setsuna’s current problems.
Setsuna closed her eyes again and told herself not to think like that. She could hate Tsukuyomi. She could wish that the girl had been sent anywhere else to serve out her sentence. She could even hate the headmaster for deciding that she was the best choice for Tsukuyomi’s guard if she really wanted to.
But she absolutely could not start longing for Tsukuyomi’s death. Whatever had or hadn’t happened… It was her duty to look after Tsukuyomi now. She didn’t get the option of killing her anymore. She had her duty, and she couldn’t let anything get in the way of that. She
wouldn’t let anything get in the way.
She could hear Tsukuyomi breathing just a few feet away from her. The blonde’s stare made her felt like fire to her skin and made her shiver at the same time.
That’s easier said than done.
It would just take some getting used to, that was all, Setsuna tried to convince herself. Since she was a child, she’d only been responsible for Konoka, and that—that was still all she wanted. Keeping an eye on someone she hated instead of someone she lo—
cared for would be different.
The sound of the door opening reached her ears and Setsuna’s eyes snapped open. Shizuna walked out of the office with a stack of folders in her arms. When she saw them, she smiled.
“Sorry about making you wait—my appointment took longer than expected. You can both go in now.”
Setsuna nodded and tried not to look too relieved. She stepped aside, waiting for Shizuna to pass. Behind her, Tsukuyomi did the same, though her movements had the annoying effect of putting her even closer to Setsuna. The half-demon rolled her shoulders uncomfortably and turned around.
“You go in first.”
Tsukuyomi had the gall to look surprised. “Huh? Why?”
“I don’t want you walking behind me.”
Now her damned smile was back. “You don’t trust me Setsuna-senpai? I’ve been at your back the entire time we’ve been waiting and haven’t done a single thing wrong.”
Put that way, it did sound a bit ridiculous, but Setsuna didn’t budge. “You weren’t moving then.” Just the idea of Tsukuyomi walking behind her was enough to increase her paranoia. It came from too many weeks of being stalked without knowing it.
Tsukuyomi pouted but didn’t object further. She strode into the office quickly, leaving Setsuna to follow. Surprisingly, there was someone else besides the headmaster still in the room.
“Oh! Hi, Gunslinger-onee-san!
To Mana’s credit, she only raised an eyebrow before nodding a greeting. “Tsukuyomi. Setsuna.”
Setsuna frowned. “What are you doing here Tatsumiya? I thought I was the only one assigned to Tsukuyomi.” Hope flared briefly in her chest. Had the headmaster changed his mind? Was Mana going to be in charge of Tsukuyomi instead?
It died when Mana opened her mouth. “You still are. The headmaster just thought it would be reasonable to make sure that I had no objections to sharing a room with her.” She shrugged. “And I don’t. I can take care of myself, and I don’t really spend much time in our room.”
Setsuna winced and Tsukuyomi’s head shot up from the chair she’d chosen for her seat. Her eyes were bright and intense, reminding Setsuna disturbingly of the way her irises used to turn gold just before their fights. “No? Why not?”
Mana smiled enigmatically. “Now why would I tell you that?”
From behind his desk, the headmaster cleared his throat. Setsuna and Mana immediately looked at him. Tsukuyomi preferred to keep her eyes fixed on Setsuna.
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to have this over with quickly. Conversation can wait until later.” Konoemon shuffled several very important-looking papers on his desk and swept his gaze over his three silent guests.
“Good. Now, Tsukuyomi-kun...” He tapped his fingers against his desk and sighed. “Well. First of all, all the necessary documents needed to enroll you as a student have been signed. Since you couldn’t provide us with a family name, you will be attending under the alias Kuzunoha Tsukuyomi, niece of our kendo instructor Kuzunoha Tōko.” He eyed the blonde. “I would strongly suggest that you don’t point out the relation.”
That’s one of the few ways she won’t
cause trouble, Setsuna thought. Tsukuyomi was not a social person. She interacted with the people involved in her work, but she’d barely flinched when she heard that out of all Fate’s partners, only one would be joining her at Mahora. She wouldn’t seek some stranger out and brag about who her fake aunt was.
“Next, it has been decided that rather than replace your current seal with something less restrictive, the Ouroboros Seal will remain in place.”
Tsukuyomi sulked as her hand twitched convulsively up to her abdomen. “Does it really have to? I know how to behave myself.”
Setsuna fought back the impulse to roll her eyes. Yes, Tsukuyomi probably did know how to behave herself. That didn’t mean she could. If her earlier words about necessary casualties were anything to go by, even Fate hadn’t been able to keep her restrained. The Ouroboros Seal was a good idea.
It was one of the most restrictive seals that could be placed on someone. Most just blocked off magic from the mage’s control, or, in the case of ki users, prevented ki from being able to exit the body. Those were the ones most typically used on criminals.
The Ouroboros Seal’s use was almost completely limited to the Magical World, and was only used when transporting prisoners through areas that were highly concentrated with magic. Most seals couldn’t have made it through the Gateport.
But the Ouroboros Seal survived on the victim’s own magic and ki. Outside magical interference had very little, if any, effect on it, and any inner interference would die before it gained power. As long as no one intentionally released the seal, it would keep working until Tsukuyomi died.
Of course, it wasn’t without its dangers, which was why it was used so sparingly. Prisons were not always the most hygienic of places, and there had been cases where the criminal’s bodies had given out because they’d been unable to use the most mundane of their magic—the type that kept mages alive for longer and in better shape than most mundanes.
Quite a few had frozen to death because those responsible for them were used to more resilient prisoners.
But Mahora was not designed as a prison. All the Ouroboros Seal meant here was that Tsukuyomi was completely and utterly powerless—no stronger than a mundane.
“Tsukuyomi-kun, this is not something that can be argued.” Setsuna shook herself from her very calming thoughts just in time to see the headmaster glare at Tsukuyomi.
“You are being
punished. As far as everyone involved is concerned, Mahora is to be your prison until you reach the age of majority, at which time things will be reevaluated. This is not meant for your enjoyment in any way. Expecting otherwise will do nothing to improve your imprisonment.”
Tsukuyomi sighed dramatically and collapsed into the back of her chair. Her eyes were dull and unhappy. Apparently taking that as a sign to move on to the more general terms of her incarceration, Konoemon continued.
“As you already know, you will be sharing a room with Setsuna-kun.”
She looks far too happy about that. “Setsuna-kun, I don’t want you to let her out of your sight.”
“Yes sir.” It was expected, Setsuna told herself sternly. It was the exact same thing he had asked when he told her to watch over Konoka. The
only difference was how much she liked the person involved.
She steadfastly ignored the little voice in her head that was busy illustrating just how much of a difference that was.
----------------
Well, she couldn’t say it was unexpected.
Tsukuyomi hummed to herself and sat down on the floor of the closet-turned-dressing room. She dropped the school uniform she was supposed to be trying on next to her.
Most of the restrictions were things she was looking forward to: rooming with Setsuna, constantly being by her side, staying away from people who didn’t know who she really was… All expected, all fun. Wonderful, even.
But the Seal was something of a problem. She’d thought that once she reached Mahora, the Ouroboros Seal would be removed and replaced with something that granted her limited access to her magic—something she could break, given enough time. But no, the headmaster just had to be stubborn.
Tsukuyomi sighed and looked around the empty closet.
Killing anything without her ki would be a challenge. Not the fun kind, either—this was more like when Fate had ordered her to keep an eye on Setsuna without approaching her in any way.
Humans were out of the question. Too difficult and too—
Obvious?
Tsukuyomi blinked as the thought occurred to her. Since when did that matter?
A few seconds later, she got it.
She could kill one of the students, but then she would get in trouble, and the sort of trouble she got in would most likely involve separation from Setsuna, and she didn’t want that. She liked Setsuna, and the thought of being apart from her made her breath catch for some reason.
So. No killing.
…
No, no, no, no, that would never work.
Maybe she could kill in moderation.
No, that wouldn’t work either. Without human victims, she could only kill small animals that wandered into Mahora. That wasn’t anywhere near enough blood.
Wait.
Killing was something she enjoyed. As long as there was blood and violence, she could be happy anywhere. She
thrived on it.
But she could survive without it until she figured out a way to get around the Ouroboros Seal. Setsuna was here. Setsuna had
orders to stay by her side. She wouldn’t leave.
The strange relieved feeling that Setsuna being alive gave her came back for a second, and her heart pounded in a way that made it hard to breathe. Tsukuyomi shrugged the feeling off quickly—it made her uncomfortable.
She would have to be completely dependent on Setsuna. Maybe for a long time. She didn’t have anyone else, and finding out how to get rid of a Seal that was supposed to be unbeatable without outside help wouldn’t be easy. But not easy was not the same as impossible.
Tsukuyomi took a deep breath and nodded. Doable then. And it was
only until she got rid of the Seal. After that, she could have as much fun as she wanted.