[BitPR²] Mortal World V

[Kuroimaken]

Margrave gives the most reassuring smile he can, which on his ten-year-old face, sounds cuter more than anything. "Which I should. Rather, I have the opposite problem - my body does not age properly. I am currently fourty-two years old." Then, to answer Moriko's question. "I am sure Yamada-kun would appreciate your concern, but as it is he is in extraordinarily capable hands, and I don't say that lightly."

It quickly becomes apparent to Torahiko that Margrave wants to settle this first. He's not about to let the boy wriggle away from his mother in that fashion.

"In point of fact, I have already relayed that message to Tobioka-sensei."

It is at this point that 'lines' draw themselves seemingly out of thin air, writing a message. It says "Just like this." Moriko can see it too.

"As the foremost master of Ransoutengai, relaying a message in this fashion is child's play."

Pause for a tea slurp!

__________________________

The man doesn't stop smiling, even as the lady's posture grows slightly more... aggressive. "If I knew what you were talking about, I could probably speak in greater detail. As is, I can tell you that I provide solutions, not problems... not that a problem solved cannot bring two or three more in its wake.

Take the young gentleman over there, for instance. Does he know what's happening to his classmates right now? The ones that are supposed to be in the Sanctuary I mean."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Inside the sanctuary]

Margrave's sleight of hand mostly creates more questions in poor Moriko than it answers. Robin is less surprised by it. It's nifty, but small beans compared to what Tamaki showed her. It makes her realize something and she lifts up a hand to get a turn to speak. "Um. Margrave san, that's nice and all. But you could've just said you texted him." Which is what he did, the method is just unconventional. "You know. For the sake of those who aren't very familiar with things like this. So we won't get sidetracked."

Which is why she refrains from asking anything more about Margrave's condition. Someone looking like 10 when they're really 42? That must've been inconvenient in all sorts of ways and Robin is just itching to ask. But once more, she bites back on it, because this trip really isn't about sating her curiosity.

Moriko looks wide-eyed at Margrave's conjured letters, then at Robin. On some level, the younger woman is probably right, but neither Margrave nor her son have actually explained the situatio well enough for her to tell which things are sidetracks and which are not. She gives puzzled looks all around, trying to come up with a question that would get into the heart of matters. "I... see. This condition, is it the same Yamada-san has...?"

"No, okaasan." Torahiko decides this is as good place as any to start his story. "Yamada-san's condition is being tainted with essence of a Hollow. I have the same condition. That's part of why..."

Moriko's eyes light up as if she finally figured where the conversation is going. "Ah, so it's about you being a Fullbringer."

Torahiko's mouth is left hanging open mid sentence. Since when has his mom known about that? Did Torahiko tell her and forget? Just like that, Torahiko's train of thought is wrecked again.

"One of my son's friends explained that much to me" , Moriko explains. "That is why me and Gower-san there knew to come looking for you. I was worried you might have been injured by one of these... Hollows."

Moriko glances at Torahiko, then looks at Margrave. "... but I see my son is alive and well and if this was just about helping Yamada-san, there wouldn't have been a need for my son to disappear for better part of a month. So that's not all there is to it, is it?"

Robin pretends her tea got very interesting right this moment and drinks it without saying a word. Torahiko manages to shut his mouth and stares at the ground again. "Well, I did get attacked", Torahiko begins, "but I was saved, so I was fine" , he hurries to add, before his mom can get too worried. He sighs, straightens up and looks at his mom. "But afterwards, I felt indebted to my saviours. So I... sort of got myself enlisted. To fight the Hollows."

At this point, Torahiko realizes the value of Robin's point. He doesn't really need to dig into the details or explain special terminology. If mom already knows what Hollows are, that's enough to get the gist of the story.

"Long story short, we... my side lost. By accident, I sort of became the leader of those who survived. I've been staying around to look after them. The reason I'm here is because Margrave-san's people and the people who own this compound, the Kuzunoha, had a treaty of sorts with the Hollows. A treaty which my side was in violation of. So we can't leave untill that's sorted out. Helping out Yamada-san was... just something to do on the side, because he's my friend. And maybe to build some goodwill."

Moriko looks at her son with a grave expression as she listens to his story. After a while, Torahiko can't help but look away again. "... anyway, I'm sorry I didn't call when I still could. I got too caught up in all of this. I'm sorry."

Moriko keeps looking at her son for a while after he finishes, then turns to Margrave. "... my son has not even finished school. He has no business being part of any of this", she says. "Is there a strong reason why I can't just take him home, right now? Did he break a law? Are your people pressing some kind of charges on him?"

---

[Outside]

"That's something I can answer", Tamaki notes from the sidelines. "I don't know what's up with them. But I do know that if they wanted me to know or wanted help, they'd been 100% capable of contacting me. So me not knowing is their choice."

Tamaki stops aiming at the woman and lifts his gun up. "Speaking of choices, I made a choice - a little promise to myself, infact - to protect Kuzunoha. But based on your words, you're no longer one, so..." Tamaki shrugs. "Maybe you can manage on your own, Busybody-san."

He turns and begins walking away. The woman pays her no attention, instead keeping her eyes on the stranger. "Please. Two options: either you honestly don't know, in which case you are nigh-useless to me. Or you're just playing word games, because you didn't consider those things screw-ups, or some such crap."

She brushes a stray platinum blonde hair off her face and places a hand on her hip. "But hey. Let me humour you. So let's say Tamaki's friends not giving him a phone call is one of those screw-ups. So how much of that is your fault?"

[Kuroimaken]

[Inside the Sanctuary]

"I have mentioned this several times to Torahiko-kun, but he seems to not have registered it properly. He is not forbidden from leaving. They are." Margrave corrects. "And while we're making corrections, the group he found himself fighting alongside is technically guilty of war crimes. At least to such extent that we can make parallels, their original intent was a war of genocide. The ones he found himself leading were the ones who surrendered when the conflict was over."

The boy's face shows some consternation. It looks like he has no ready answers to provide for Torahiko, any more than he did when they first spoke.

"To the best of my understanding, Torahiko-kun is trying to find a way for them all to be allowed to leave. But there is no simple solution. We can't simply disarm them and send them home since, as spiritually empowered humans, they would be preferential targets for wild Hollows. It would be the same as killing them ourselves. To speak nothing of those who have found themselves wounded and maimed during the conflict. Reparations must be considered, as well as the official terms of their surrender.

And with the organization they used to belong to all but dismantled, it isn't going to be a uniform process either.

The only one keeping himself here is Torahiko-kun himself."

_____________

"Have you considered perhaps that they simply did not have the time to do so?" The man replies. Which... is actually true. "Your friends over there have been running themselves ragged from one emergency to the next. Some have had no time to properly rest in between, or dare I say take a shower. I've been trying to keep things from escalating on the background, but it seems my efforts have not been good enough. Comes with the limits of my ability to assist, I suppose." He meets the woman's icy glare still with a smile. "At least one of them in there is trying to figure out something incredibly complicated while also trying to face the fact he has neglected to inform his mother of his whereabouts for the better part of a month completely and it doesn't get much more awkward than that. For which, I should tell you again, I'm not responsible, but I think you probably should know."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Inside the Sanctuary]

Moriko looks like she made up her mind and stopped listening third of the way through. "I don't need the details now. If he isn't prohibited from leaving, then we are leaving."

Torahiko is aghast. "Mom! I can't leave them! They're my comraded in arms. They..."

"... are people you've known for a month, tops. Where as I am your mother", Moriko finishes his sentence.

At this point, Robin raises a hand again. "Um... sorry to interrupt but... if you are supposed to negotiate terms of surrender, and Torahiko is the leader of these people, accidentally or not, then he sort of has to stay..."

Torahiko, excited that someone seems to be on his side, beckons towards Robin. "What she said!"

But Robin is not finished. She looks at Margrave. "... but if you say he's free to leave, then that means you either don't acknowledge his leadership or don't want him to be part of that?"

Torahiko visibly deflates.

Moriko doesn't wait for Margrave's answer. "He's sixteen and been part of them for weeks. Why would anyone acknowledge him? We're leaving." She stands up.

Torahiko's face is blank and he stares into the distance for a moment. Is this the "perspective" he was supposed to gain? When his mom takes a step towards him, he rises up himself and summons his courage for one last stand. "The ones here are just one or two years older than me! It's unfair that they should be held responsible and kept here when I'm allowed to go home. I can't abandon them like that!"

Moriko stops before her son and looks him in the eye. "Abandon? Them? You left me worrying about you for two weeks." Torahiko sees his mom is tearing up. "Besides, we live across the town! First you didn't think to call me and now you can't think of a way to keep in touch with people who are a walking distance away?"

"Yeah", Robin chimes from the sidelines. "Wouldn't most negotiations take place with the, uh, offended party, anyway? Like Margrave-san here? Your comrades maybe cannot to leave, but I bet he can. So you could just keep discussing at your place."

Torahiko doesn't have a counter-argument left for that. "I... suppose I could pack my stuff... uh, or someone can bring them to our house later" he corrects himself under the pleading look from his mother. "Would that be possible, Margrave-san?"

---

[Outside]

If the man hoped to reach Tamaki by his words, he may already be late. The young man wasted no time walking back around the corner.

The woman stays put. "It takes all of a couple of seconds to contact someone with a modern cell phone. Normal people in emergency manage to contact those important to them all the time, nevermind those with paramilitary communications training like certain Anderson Charles." Something resembling a smile returns to the womans face and she puts her hands back behind her back. " 'Not having time' has become one of those little white lies people tell each other to cover up that they don't want to talk, or that the other party wasn't important enough to think of in the first place."

The woman looks up and then snaps her fingers as if she just remembered something. "Oh! Have you considered that since Tamaki didn't seem to recognize you and you admitted to not being a Kuzunoha, it's highly dubious of you to make any remarks whatsoever about what's going on with Tamaki's friends? Add the way you talk about acting 'on the background' and you've basically confessed to stalking their little group. Plus, you probably have an informant among the Kuzunoha who hasn't made it clear to them that he's working with, or for, you. Makes me think, you already knew why Tamaki isn't going in... so why not share? I'm interested in hearing that part myself. You may have gathered from the gun pointing at my back that Tamaki didn't feel like opening up about it to me. "

[Kuroimaken]

[Inside the Sanctuary]

Margrave sighs for a moment. "Of course it wouldn't be a problem, Torahiko-kun. And don't worry about Katsuo. Your friends are taking good care of him. I'm sure he'll come back to us stronger than ever.

I wouldn't know the exact details, but as it is there is talk of a surveillance solution. Give the survivors the chance to return to their homes and keep them under watch so that they don't assemble with militaristic intent again. This would allow them to keep their arms and to be defended, while ensuring that an assault like the one you became a part of never happens again. It is perhaps more than a little unusual, but then, these are unusual times.

Moriko-san, let me give you a couple of numbers you can reach me and the Kuzunoha at so we can keep in touch." Margrave scribbles some numbers quickly on a piece of paper. "For what it's worth, we are sorry not to have contacted you ourselves. Much grief could have been spared if we did." He bows apologetically.

__________________________

[Out on the street]

The man quietly walks past her in a way that betrays he could have literally gone through her, ghost style, if he wanted. "I am not under any obligation to inform you of my business, but I CAN tell you that your assessments are wrong. Tamaki really wasn't called because his friends have been frantically searching for solutions to a number of problems that have arisen one after the other. He wasn't forgotten or disregarded by them; their young minds were simply too overwhelmed at the time for them to rely on him." Which some might consider 'forgetting', but hey, semantics.

"If anything, his not calling them to check up tells me he feels he isn't a part of them. Which is patently false. But one can understand the confusion, yes?" He continues walking. "Between the two of you, certainly some therapy might do you some good. Sadly, my ability to provide you with any aid in that regard is limited. Perhaps young Tamaki just needs to blow off some steam, as it were."

[Frozen_Feet]

[Inside the Sanctuary]

Moriko takes the paper and bows in return, smiling faintly in a way suggesting that finally, things are going her way. "Thank you, Margrave-san. And apology accepted."

As long as someone shows them the way, she'll take her leave with a somewhat dejected Torahiko and relieved Robin in tow.

---

[Outside]

The claim will go untested, for the woman has no plans to stop him. "No, what he needs is less busybodies in his life" , she says as he glides past.

"Because he did try to call them!", she shouts after him over her shoulder. "And if you're right, they'll spot a missed call and just call him back! And if you're wrong..." She shrugs and starts walking in the opposite direction.

"Either way, your intervention is as useless as it's always been", she mutters to no-one in particular while sauntering towards her next destination. If she's right, she only has to wait now.

[Kuroimaken]

[The Kuzunoha compound]

They barely even finished their tea, but surely there's an attendant to escort them out.

______________

[Outside]

"Case in point, apparently. He doesn't exactly trust you to screen his companies, does he?" The man jabs.

"And since you apparently need a lesson in manners..."

He snaps his fingers, and the woman suddenly has bunny ears and a white, fluffy tail sticking out of her clothes.

[Frozen_Feet]

There's a fair bit of distance between them already when he does that. The woman slows down and pinches her new ear. She looks over her shoulder and shouts: "Making me cuter is supposed to teach me what now?!"

She doesn't seem all that interested in the answer, because she continues on her way before hearing it.

[Kuroimaken]

"Those are not fashion accessories."

That's the only answer she gets.

[Frozen_Feet]

To her, they might as well be. But he won't hear that from her, because she and her new bunny ears hopped out of earshot already. And maybe that is for the better - unless the man really wants to find out what would happen if she ceases to consider this as merely a harmless joke.


---

[Later; Haroda household]

The doorbell rings. Tamaki, who's only been home long enough to eat a quick snack, is mentally prepared for any of the various busybodies coming back to make his life annoying.

But this time, it's just Robin. He knows before even opening the door.

"Hi. You got left behind and I didn't see you waiting for us, so I thought to check here" she. She stands on her toes and tries to peer past Tamaki. "Is that... blondie still here?"

"No. Ditched her on the way" , he says impassively.

"Okay" Robin says and looks over her shoulder. "Just asking 'cause her bike is still there."

"Is that so" he says with token interest and glances past her to note that the Harley Davidson is still sitting across the yard. Then he returns his attention back to her. "So how did the meeting go?"

She shrugs. "Fine, I guess. Your buddy got reunited with his mother and then they went home. I accompanied them all the way to their doorstep before coming here. You know, I just wanted to ask..."

She stops for a moment, noticing a tired look in his eyes. She's absolutely bursting with questions triggered by things Margrave said, but maybe now is not the best of times. So instead:

"... would you like to catch coffee and just... chill? I mean, it's something like third time in day and a half, but all those other times have been about spirit stuff. So this one could just be about... normal stuff. "

He just looks at her with an unknowable expression. She feels herself blushing and hurriedly looks away. "Unless you just want a break from me? It's not a big deal, I can come back later..."

A faint smile finds its way on his face. "Normal stuff. Heh. Sure, why not. I'll just put my shoes back on."

---

[Later; Tachibana household]

Back in their apartment, Torahiko is lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He feels like he's back where he started, despite all his big words. His Quincy uniform was put aside for washing and he's in his normal clothes for the first time in... two weeks? Feels more like two years, for some reason. His keychain is lying beside him.

What is he supposed to do now? On one hand, getting out and breathing fresh air felt sort of liberating. He feels like he can think more freely now, as well. He's not sure if that's psychosomatic or if he's genuinely feeling the absence of the Kuzunoha compound.

On the other, he is just as unable to think a solution as he was earlier. Using the Cross to help Katsuo was probably his best idea, but now even that has escaped beyond his oversight. Maybe Margrave will call him and tell if it worked, but waiting feels arduous, like seconds are stretching into hours.

His (heavy and unmoving) train of thought is shaken when his mom knocks on the doorframe. "I almost forgot. You got mail during your absence. Here it is."

Torahiko crawls out of bed and walks to the door so his mom can hand it to him. The mail consists of a few mangas he'd ordered, a notice from school library telling him to return this or that, and... a letter? From China?

Curious, he puts the rest on his bed to examine the letter. He notices it's been opened. "Mo~om! Have you read my mail?"

"Of course I did! I was worried sick about where you were and thought it might contain a clue" , she responds.

Hard to argue with that. "Well did it contain one?" , he asks sheepishly, already regretting his tone two seconds ago.

"Hmmm, now that you mention it, I don't remember" , she admits. "I remember it got me even more worried, but before I could make head or tails about it, Tamaki-san called and said he knows where you are. I suppose it got forgotten."

"Makes sense" , Torahiko mutters as he pulls the message out of its torn envelope. The first thing he notices is that the handwriting is really bad, like some thug wrote it. It reads:

"Hey-o, Torahiko-boy. How's it hanging?

This is your host of few weeks back writing. Good Ol' Blackface asked me to check up on you. Says it's getting lonely without you and your pals around.

Did you learn anything about that cross-thing? We sure did! It'd be nice if you could get over here so we could compare notes. Anyways, I hope you're well. Remember to write back!

Yours truly,
You-know-who

PS: oh yeah, the white suits figured out what makes your pal Demetrio tick. They even made a girlfriend for him, but she sort of ran away. Send our greeting to Naito-guy, couldn't have done that without him and the wackos who put him together.
PPS: oh, and Lobo says that Alpha-1 chick has a body of her own now. He'd like to know if she's single and whether she could catch coffee at Friday night

Torahiko admits to himself that he has no idea who "you-know-who". Lobo doesn't sound familiar either. Alpha-1 sounds familiar, but Torahiko's not sure where he heard that name. But "Good Ol' Blackface" and Demetrio he can remember. And Naito...

Come to think of it, what did happen to Naito? Torahiko remember seeing him briefly in the fortress, before he left with that bandaged guy. But he didn't come back, did he? Did Torahiko see him passingly in the Kuzunoha compound? He's drawing blanks.

But, it seems there's something he could do. He looks up from the letter. "Okaasan, can I borrow the phone?"

Moriko appears in the doorframe and gives her son an appraising look. "Okay", she says after a while, "but this better not lead to you running away again."

"It won't, I promise" , he says. Though really, how good have his promises been as of late?

In any case, he gets the phone and tries to call Tamaki. He doesn't answer though, so Torahiko sends him e-mail asking for Naito's number. When he finally gets it, he writes mail for Naito too.

"Hey. I got a letter with parts dedicated to you. It's sort of weird, so I'm just copying it word-for-word at the end of the message. I hope you all are fine. Say hi for me to the rest."

After copying the badly-written letter and pressing send, Moriko calls her son for dinner and he is forced to let his mind off the spirit world for a few minutes. Hopefully Naito still has the best cellphone plan...