"Kaki, wait up!" Jirou called out, dashing to catch up to his Warden Commander. "Jirou, speed up!" She called back, waving at him as she rounded the corner. Jirou let out a frustrated breath and picked up the pace, doing his best to catch up with her. He rounded the corner after her and let out an exasperated breath this time as he noticed Kaki was climbing a stone-step path, three steps at a time. No one was around, so she was doing quick, flashy air spells to propel her upwards. "Two can play at that," Jirou muttered to himself, and put some power into a big, flashy air spell to propel himself to Kaki's level, just one stair above. Kaki nearly tripped over herself in surprivse, and her head snapped over to look at Jirou. "When and where did you learn that?" She asked him, sounding both pleasantly surprised and very confused. "About a week ago, and you," Jirou answered, speeding away from her up the rest of the stone steps. He heard Kaki following behind him, and she was soon at his level. Jirou had gotten into fairly good shape since he started meandering about with the Squad, but Kaki was in far better shape than he would ever be. She woke up at six every morning to meditate and go on runs. Not to mention training with Ed, training her magic on her own, the occasional training with Jirou, dancing, and taking out lawbreakers, she would likely always be more fit than him. That didn't mean he wasn't going to do his best to chase after her as she dashed passed him. "Whats your plan anyway?" He called out to her, adjusting his glasses on his nose. They had almost fallen off on that last spell. "There's a park nearby!" Kaki called back. 'All this trouble for a park?' Jirou wondered to himself. The Yukimura estate was huge, complete with its own gardens. If Kaki wanted to go to a park, why didn't she just go to the gardens? Then again, Kaki was just as unpredictable and volatile and the Fire she carried. He shouldn't be surprised with her. Kaki rounded another corner, and Jirou rounded it after her, only the bump right into Kaki and fall backwards, pushing his Warden commander forward. Kaki began to topple over, seeming to try to avoid moving directly forward, and Jirou tried to catch her, to stabilize his own backwards movement. Unfortunately, though Kaki had far more endurance than him, he had far more strength than her, and they both toppled backwards into a heap of Yukimura's. Jirou's glasses flew off when he landed, though he managed to catch himself enough to land on his behind and one of his hands, the other trying to catch his glasses, to no avail. Kaki fell in front of him, just narrowly avoiding landing on one of Jirou's legs by leaning the opposite direction, landing on her left side while Jirou landed on his right. "I'm so sorry!" Kaki said, and Jirou thought he was talking to him until he heard another voice coming from in front of them. Ah. Kaki had run into someone. "It's okay," he heard the response, and Jirou could of swore the voice was familiar. Kaki stood up quickly, brushing herself off and offering a hand to the girl she had knocked over. "No, really, allow me to make it up to you somehow," Kaki said, sounding more embarrassed than he had ever heard her sound. Not like that was hard - Kaki was never embarrassed. "I promise it's okay," came the girls voice again, and Jirou really could've swore she was familiar. He reached behind him to grab hold of his glasses and put them back on his face before standing up behind Kaki. "Honestly Kaki you're heavier than you look," Jirou told her, dusting himself off behind her. "Jirou!" He heard his name from the familiar voice and looked over Kaki's shoulder to see a familiar face. A round face with upturned eyes, behind round, dark framed glasses. Her hair was still long, down to the small of her back, she still had her bangs straight, everything was just the same. "A-A-Atsuko!" Jirou blinked open his eyes slowly as the sound of ringing filled his apartment. He rubbed his eyes, still groggy, wondering what it was that woke him up. Jirou shot up when he realized the phone was ringing. He scrambled out of bed and hurried out of the bedroom, tripping over his own feet and nearly falling into the phone. He could barely see straight since he didn't have his glasses, but he managed to pick up the phone nevertheless, just on time. "H-hello, Jirou here!" He answered, though he wasn't aware he wasn't speaking english until he heard the voice on the other line. "Really, Jirou, did you just wake up? We've had this conversation - English," it was Kaki's voice, scolding him, as per usual. "Oh, uh, yes Kaki!" Jirou answered, having to think about what he would say this time. He heard Kaki laugh a little on the other end. "So serious," she commented. "You scolded me!" Jirou responded, trying not to sound too accusatory. Kaki just laughed again. "I suppose I did," she answered after calming her laughter. "So, what's up?" Jirou asked after a moment of silence. She called him after all. "Half just wanted to chat, half business I guess?" She answered, "I was thinking of taking a trip back home, and wondered if you wanted to come. It would be for a few weeks, maybe closer to months. Besides, we have to go back anyway. That.... reunion or whatever." Jirou took a moment to think. He could use a break, and a trip back home would be just what he needed. Besides, he was dying to see Atsuko again. Since the mess with Emma and Arthur, Jirou knew he would have to tell her. He would have to tell her everything. He had been working on what he was going to say, but he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to say it. It would be a hard conversation, since he wasn't sure how Atsuko would react. He was planning to show her what he could do - it was the easiest way to guarantee she would believe him, though it was also the easiest way to guarantee she would cower from him in fear. "Jirou?" He heard from the other end, and he realized that he had been quiet for far too long and Kaki was wondering why he was quiet. "Sorry," Jirou answered. "You can just say no," Kaki said, and he could almost hear her shrugging. "No, no! I want to come," Jirou responded quickly, "I want to see everyone again." "I figured you would," Kaki answered, sounding glad at his approval. "It's a good time to go on a break too," Jirou commented. "I'm sure they'll all be fine here on there own." "It's gonna be quite the gathering," Kaki said, "all the Yukimura's at one estate." "All the Yukimura's are already at one estate," Jirou commented. Kaki laughed a little. "I mean, sort of. Don't forget - my parents, our uncle, grandparents, great grandma. Lucky for us there can only be five of us youngest, so we don't have like twenty cousins," she counted, sounding thoughtful about her family. "Right," Jirou answered, "but great grandma already lives with Kazeki and Umiko," Jirou pondered, "so grandma and grandpa, and your parents. And me, and you, and Ed of course, we haven't been there lately. And Shin...." Jirou trailed off, his brothers name caught in his throat. "Yeah, I think your brother will be there, or try to be. Assuming he and Kaen can get along. But Kaen can't touch Shinichi now, and I'm certain your brother will be on his best behaviour. He does have an.... image to uphold, lets say," Kaki finished Jirou's thought for him. Jirou wasn't sure exactly what to say - things had been.... different, between them lately. Jirou remembered being stuck to Shinichi like glue, but those days were long gone. Ever since Jirou left home, they started falling apart. Part of Jirou wishes he could just go back to that, but he knew that those times were worse. He lived under his brothers shadow, and was never able to grow on his own. Jirou loved his brother, but they were better apart from one another. "Oh I don't know. Last time I was there, Kaen issued a banishment. Unless we move the gathering...." Jirou said, letting out a small sigh. "Leave that to me," Kaki said, "I'm sure with enough pressure, the family will move it." "I hope so," Jirou commented, "I mean I... I kind of want to see my brother but I... I'm not sure if I want too as well." "That's fair," Kaki said, "you and your brother are going to have a bit of a rocky relationship for a while." "Yeah," Jirou agreed, letting out another sigh. He wasn't sure how he and Shinichi were going to get over this, but maybe one day they would. "But! Enough of that," Kaki quickly changed the subject. She always knew when Jirou was upset, so he wasn't exactly surprised. "What have you been doing lately?" She asked. Right. Half chat, half business, Jirou remembered her saying. Kaki was a chatty person, so of course she wanted to talk. "Oh, you know. Tracking down some friends, beating up some baddies," Jirou answered, with a shrug. "Tracking down some friends?" Kaki pondered, sounding curious. "Oh, right, I never told you," Jirou remembered, a little confused at first. But he hadn't talked to Kaki in at least a month, and in their line of work, lots could happen in a month. "You remember Emma, right?" Jirou asked. "Yeah - the water mage, right?" Kaki confirmed. Jirou told her all about his friends whenever he could, and he knew Kaki would remember no matter who he asked about. "Yeah. Well, Emma has a husband, Arthur. He's.... well he's human. Just a regular guy. He recently found out about Emma's... gifts," Jirou started. "Didn't take it too well?" Kaki guessed. "Unfortunately," Jirou answered, "he kinda freaked out, and stormed out on her. Well turns out, he got kidnapped by summer fae, then replaced by another summer fae. Now we're trying to find him, but have no clue where to look," he explained, "I feel so sad for Emma." "That's not good at all," Kaki answered, "I'll see what I can dig up on it. Arthur Ashford, right?" "Yeah," Jirou answered, "thanks Kaki." "No prob," she answered, "I can't guarantee much, but I'll try." "It's better than what we have to go by now. The summer fae who stole him are... well..." Jirou started, then remembered his mentor was a friend of Summer. "You took care of them?" Kaki finished, not sounding as upset as Jirou imagined. "Yeah," Jirou admitted a little sheepishly. "I get it," Kaki said, "Don't worry Jirou - your path is yours, not mine. I am a little disappointed you chose winter over summer, but it's not like I can do anything about it." "Hey now," Jirou retorted immediately. "I never chose anyone. The decision was kinda made for me, remember? Being friends with Antares and all that." Kaki laughed at him a little after that. "I know. But in our world you have to choose sides eventually - forcibly or not," Kaki told him. "I see that now," Jirou answered, "it wouldn't be easy to stay neutral forever." There was a small pause in their conversation. There was something Jirou wanted to talk about, and Kaki could tell, so she waited for him to come out with it. But Jirou wasn't exactly sure how to put what he wanted to say into words. He figured he may as well just come out with it. He needed advice after all. "You know," he started, "everything about Arthur, it got me thinking." "About?" Kaki pressed. Of course she knew where the conversation was going, but she wasn't going to say it. She would let him explain. "Atsuko," Jirou managed to get out. "She's just as close to me as Arthur was to Emma and... I would hate for something to happen to her because of me. I mean, she's faraway, and probably always will be, but still...." "You feel you should tell her," Kaki finished for him, pondering his words. "Yeah," Jirou agreed, "on top of all that, watching Emma and Arthur fall apart because she couldn't... she was always lying to him. She couldn't tell him the truth. And now that Shinichi's gone away, Atsuko.... she's started asking questions. Things I can't exactly answer. I don't want to be lying to her over this." Kaki was quiet for a moment, and Jirou was certain he was going to get a lecture. "I understand," was what she ended up saying. "R-really?" Jirou wasn't sure if he understood her right. "Sure. You're worried about the wellbeing of your Best friend," Kaki said. There was another moment of silence, and Jirou was even more sure he was going to get a lecture. But what Kaki said next surprised him. "Have you ever heard the story of how I introduced Maya Henderson to magic?" She asked. Jirou was taken aback by the question - Kaki almost never spoke freely about Maya Henderson. He usually had to pry information out of Ed if he wanted to hear about Maya Henderson. "N-no, of course not," Jirou finally answered. Kaki giggled a little at him. "I was fourteen years old," she started, "Maya and I were inseparable. One day, on her way home, she was cornered by a few older students, they were bothering her. I wasn't far off, of course, when I happened upon the scene. Just like that I ran up and threw up a shield of fire between her and her assailants. Scared the hell out of them. I figured after that, it would be it. Maya would never look at me the same again. She would certainly be terrified. But I looked at her, ready for the worst. You know what she said?" "What?" Jirou asked, anxious to hear the resolution. "There were stars in her eyes. She looked at me and just said 'that was so cool!'," Kaki finished, and Jirou could hear the sadness and the smile in her voice. "I guess, what I'm trying to get at here is that you're not going to be sure how she'll react. So, I do think you should tell her." "Wow," Jirou breathed, surprised that she was telling him all this. "Kaki... thanks," he then said, "you always know what to say." Kaki laughed a little bit. "I don't see how," Kaki answered, "but you're welcome I suppose." "So when are we heading out?" Jirou asked, changing the subject once more. "A few days," Kaki said, "enough time for you to pack." "Oh boy," Jirou answered, rubbing at his forehead. "I'll have to start right away." "Yes," Kaki said, sounding firm, "Ed and I will be over in about two days to get everything in order. We'll be leaving from Saskatoon - the same way we got you here, remember?" She asked. "Right," Jirou remembered. Kaki couldn't ride on planes, she had far too much power for that. She did all of her travelling through the Nevernever, but she didn't like travelling into countries illegally. So she bought plane tickets, went through security, and went through the Nevernever to the airport of the country she was travelling to. Then, she went through customs there. It was really clever, thinking about it. "Well then," Jirou said, "I'll see you in two days," he said. "Yeah. See you soon, Jirou," Kaki answered, and Jirou heard the smile on her face again. Jirou hung up the phone, and let out a long sigh, sinking to the floor, thumping his head on the wall. "Really," he said, speaking again in Japanese. "I wonder how Kaen will take to Kaki's words.... I wonder if Shinichi...." he let out a deep sigh, feeling his brow furrow in trouble. He stood up eventually, going to retrieve his glasses and changed into some proper clothes. Next he pulled out a suitcase, and laid it out on his bed. He would start packing now, and do it over the next few days, then when Kaki got here he would be ready to go. Jirou tossed a few things in his suitcase, and decided that was enough for now. Jirou rubbed at his forehead, his conversation with Kaki going through his mind. What to say to Atsuko? He would have to show her, no doubt about that. But how? 'Could always look into her eyes,' Jirou thought. 'No way,' he followed it with, 'don't want to scare her half to death. You don't know what she'll see.' Jirou took a seat on his bed, and fell backwards. He was in for a long few weeks, and he was certain he would be missing his friends the whole time. 'Still,' he thought, 'I can't wait. To see Atsuko.' "Good morning Jirou!" Jirou looked up from his spot at the table to see Kaki Yukimura had thrown open the door and was greeting him from the front. Above him, the light nearly exploded as it went out from his cousin's magical energy. Jirou let out a sigh, and heard every other light in the apartment fizzle out. 'Honestly, I just replaced them,' he thought. He should have known better than to have lights in his house. Jirou diverted his attention from his power problem towards his cousin. In one hand she carried a small suitcase, the other was raised over her head in a wave. "Morning," Jirou replied, still half asleep. He hadn't had enough caffeine yet. Kaki lowered her arm, and gave a snap of her fingers, and every candle in the apartment - of which there were almost a hundred - lit up. Jirou finished up his breakfast and returned his dishes to the kitchen, giving them a quick clean considering he wasn't sure when he would be back. Jirou turned back towards the door, and saw that Ed had come up behind Kaki and was carrying the rest of the luggage. "Hey kid," he greeted. "Yo," Jirou answered with a wave. "What are ya, try'na be cool or something?" Ed teased, giving him a raise of the eyebrow. Jirou responded with a frown, which only caused Ed to grin more. "Nice to see ya, kid," Ed then said, giving Jirou a quick hair ruffle. Jirou straightened out his already messy hair before giving Ed a smile. "Good to see you too," he said. "Ready to go?" Kaki asked, wandering up beside Ed. "Just about," Jirou answered, going to the bedroom to grab his suitcase from the bed. He dropped it by the other two, and made a quick check around the apartment. He was going to be gone for a while, and wanted to make sure nothing in his apartment would fall apart while he was gone. He came back to Kaki when he was done and gave a nod. "Alright!" She said, sounding rather excited, "off we go!" There was already a cab waiting outside for them when they all clambered down the three flights of apartment steps to the ground floor, luggage in hand. Ed put it all away, and Jirou and Kaki claimed the seats farthest back in the vehicle, away from all he electrical parts. Still, as they drove to the airport, the cab driver complained that this radio had static, and his GPS seemed a little glitchy. Honestly, it wasn't much of a surprise, with someone like Kaki Yukimura in a van that advanced. They did make it to the airport without any major incident at least, though checking luggage and getting through security took enormous effort on Kaki's part. She spent the whole time focusing on keeping her power in check, and was silent the whole time, staring straight ahead. She also seemed very uncomfortable, and she was, considering she had only plain clothes on, and her gray cloak a silver swords were buried in her luggage. Kaki would never be caught dead without those things, and yet here she was, forced to conceal them. It made her feel almost naked, and she couldn't wait to get back into her cloak. They managed to get through security with no issues, and once they were far enough away, Jirou heard someone swear as Kaki relaxed, and accidentally let out a little bit of magical energy. 'Honestly, some people are too powerful,' Jirou thought with a sigh, rubbing his forehead. Kaki led the three off, and activated a magic item she had prepared ahead of time. It was a portable veil, of sorts, and it convinced the world around them that whatever was in the veil was just somebody else's problem. It was one of Kaki's old favourites, and it got her out of a lot of binds, including opening a portal to the Nevernever in the middle of the day in a busy airport. Still, she went to a small corner of he airport where no one was watching, and turned to her companions. "I have a route through the Ways mapped out," she said, "it's one I've taken a few times, so the timing is pretty good too. We still might make it to the Tokyo airport before our flight articles, though. We have a layover in Vancouver, so we'll stop there first and get some food and such," she explained. "Ready?" She then asked, and waited for Jirou and Ed to nod before she opened the portal. "Remember," she said before stepping through, "we don't have our usual weapons. Magic is the only advantage we have. Don't pull too much from the Nevernever. Ed can't do much in here without his weapons. I can't imagine we'll run into much, if anything - we are leaving in places of transit, after all - but we still have to be careful." "I resent that statement, Kaki," Ed said before Jirou could even nod. Kaki rolled her eyes a bit at him. "Okay, Ed goes first then," she joked, though Ed quickly took point, giving Kaki a grin before marching through the portal. Kaki did a quick face palm and followed him. "Honestly this is how he's always hurt," she muttered under her breath, and Jirou held back a small laugh. Kaki held back for a moment, and made a space for Jirou to walk in between her and Ed. Jirou knew she was doing it because the middle was the safest spot, and he almost didn't take it out of pure stubbornness. He quickly realized that was probably a bad idea, since if Kaki had to fling magic around some pretty powerful things might show up in response. So, he begrudgingly stepped passed Kaki and heard her follow behind him. They had entered into what looked like summer lands - a long, dirt path stretched in front of them, and there were huge, thick trees on either side of the path. It was nice and warm out too, so Jirou shed his coat and wrapped it around his waist, leaving just his gray sweater underneath. Kaki quickly did the same, and Jirou heard her swear something about her cloak, which was enchanted to withstand any weather. Much like him, Kaki Yukimura hated the cold, but growing up in Canada made her less able to withstand heat too, meanwhile in the balmy hometown of Jirou's, Tokyo, he could never get enough of the heat. Jirou jumped a bit when he heard a bird call, and saw some unnaturally sized birds flying out from the trees. They didn't seem to notice the group, though, and continued onward. The journey to Vancouver ended up being uneventful. It was an easy journey along the same summer path, until Kaki eventually passed Jirou and stopped the group, preparing to pull open another portal that lead to the Vancouver airport. She made sure to activate her SEP enchanted items before opening it up, and lead the three into the airport, closing the portal behind her. To the people around them, it must have looked very odd for three people to materialize out of nowhere when Kaki did turn the item off, but people were far too busy getting to their next flights to notice. Kaki did a quick check towards the board where all the flights were listed. "We made good time," Kaki commented, "only another half an hour till our flight is actually supposed to arrive. So we can hang around here for a while until it's actually supposed to land," she finished, going towards where they were actually supposed to be. Jirou followed after her, and happily took a seat when they reached the gate. They hung around until they saw the crowd of people coming out to the gate and Kaki stood to follow them. Jirou followed her, and Ed stayed behind Jirou. As per usual, getting through international security was a hassle for the younger Yukimura, as he was still a week or so away from his joint Canadian citizenship being approved, but they made it through all right. It would be a lot easier once they got into Japan. The next stop was a Timmies, as Kaki had been far too long without coffee, and Jirou was glad for the stop as his stomach had started to growl. After sitting with her coffee, Kaki looked towards the board again. "Now we get to hang out here for a few hours," Kaki said, taking a sip from her coffee. Jirou let out a long sigh and reached to his bag to pull out a book he was working on. There was so much great sci-fi in English, but it was hard for Jirou to read. It did make his English better, though. Kaki and Ed descended into idle chatter, and Jirou just lost himself in his book for a while, drowning out the sounds of the two talking. Eventually, Jirou had to pull out his dictionary, to look up a few things, and eventually diverted into asking Kaki for help. The three sat at the table for at least two hours before Kaki finally stood up to head to their next destination. "Alright," she said, her head scanning about to find a secluded corner to open her next portal. She activated her enchanted item before opening it up. This one also lead to summer lands, but it seemed the path was sandy, and Jirou could hear rushing water around them. Kaki stepped through, and Jirou took his middle spot behind her, Ed following up in the rear. These lands were forested too, but a little less thick than the ones that had got them here. They changed over time, and wide oceans stretched out before them eventually. Jirou heard Ed sigh, sounding exasperated. Meanwhile Kaki took a deep breath, Jirou too. "I miss the ocean," Jirou said, not quite realizing he had said it out loud. "You should come to Vancouver more often," Kaki suggested, but Jirou shook his head. "It's not the same," he said, "I would just miss the warm Japanese oceans more." Kaki gave a shrug. "I guess it must've been a bit of a culture shock," she commented. "A bit?" Jirou answered with some sarcasm, raising his eyebrow. "First of all, there are no mountains in Saskatchewan. It's all flatland! What an odd place. Not to mention how dry it is with no water around. And there's no water around! Saskatoon, despite being the biggest, is still so small." Kaki listened with a smile. "But you like it there," she said. "I mean, yes," Jirou answered, "all my friends are there." Kaki nodded, a warm, understanding look on her face. She looked forward again. It looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn't, just continued walking forward. The journey was quiet again, until about an hour later whenKaki stopped abruptly. "We need to make a stop," she said, activating her item once more before opening up a portal, Jirou and Ed following her through. "Then...." she muttered to herself, beginning to walk again. Jirou looked towards Ed, who simply shrugged. He had enough faith in Kaki to assume she knew what she was doing. They had opened up to farmlands - though Jirou wasn't exactly sure where. He just knew they were farmlands, though they didn't look like the farms he knew from back home or the farms he grew familiar with from Saskatoon. Deep, rolling green hills instead of flat wheat lands or rice farms, and several sheep wandering across them. Jirou figured they must be somewhere in Europe, and he had heard of farms like this there before. Kaki walked for another maybe ten minutes, before she pointed, and rather loudly proclaimed, "there it is!" She hurried forward a little, and Jirou and Ed dashed after her. Kaki had pointed to a small shack, almost, likely for holding farm equipment, and she opened up another portal to the world between worlds. Jirou vaguely remembered taking this path with Kaki before, and he did remember her having to stop once or twice in the actual real world, though it seemed they came out in different places. Or maybe he just wasn't paying attention. He was notoriously bad at that. Travel was dull, even with Ed and Kaki, so he had a bad habit of tuning it all out. They opened up into summerlands once more, though Jirou couldn't say he was very surprised. These lands were a little like the ones they left, with rolling hills and deep, green grass. It was different in the sense that it didn't feel quite right - it was definitely not the real world. Kaki stepped through, and they feel back into their marching orders. Jirou looked over his shoulder to see the portal closing behind them, and he felt something small in his chest. He couldn't wait to get home. The rest of the journey was - very fortunately - uneventful. They made a few more stops in the real world and travelled back and forth. Stopped at a cafe in one of the small towns they happened to be close to for food and a chance to sit. They made it to the Tokyo airport an hour before they were supposed to arrive, so of course, there was more sitting around and waiting. But the second they landed in Tokyo, Jirou felt happiness within him - he was home. Though he knew that over time when the novelty wore off, he would be sick with loneliness from being away from his friends, the Spook Squad. For now, though, he was happy to be home. Getting through customs was an adventure, but Jirou had to admit, it felt nice when the customs officer welcomed him home. 'Home,' thought Jirou, looking up through the windows to the towers of downtown Tokyo. "Jirou," he heard Kaki call him, "we need to get our luggage," that part she said in Japanese. Kaki had a strict rule with Jirou - while they were in Canada, they spoke English. She almost never spoke to him in their native tongue there, unless Jirou was upset or not receptive to her. But the second they landed here, she changed back. It filled Jirou with a sort of joy. "Yeah!" He called back, hurrying over to his guardians. While he was busy staring out the window, they had made it through and were starting towards the luggage carousel. Jirou caught up with no problem, as a matter of fact, he quickly passed Kaki and Ed, anxious to be out of the airport and into the city. "He's very happy when he's here," Kaki said to Ed when Jirou was out of earshot. "It makes me feel bad sometimes, having taken him away from all this. Still... he wasn't this happy when he used to live here either. He's a little complicated I guess." "He's human, of course he is," Ed answered. Kaki looked over and gave Ed a smile. "You always get so sentimental in this country," he joked at her, giving her a small push. "I can't help it! Coming here brings back a lot of memories," she answered, her smile turning into a small frown after Ed had made fun of her. He just laughed at her a little bit, and didn't say much more as they had caught up to Jirou at this point, who was watching the carousel with a type of fascination, looking carefully for their luggage. Kaki stopped to stand beside her cousin, and Ed stopped to stand beside Kaki. Eventually their luggage came around, and Kaki relaxed immediately upon being reunited with her swords and cloak hiding in her large bag. Jirou grabbed his own bag that was shortly after Kaki's, and Ed's was last, and at last Jirou could march into Tokyo once more. It felt nice, the sun on his face, and the feeling of moisture in the air. The three took the train and the bus back to the Yukimura Estate, and walked the rest, which wasn't too far away. All in all, it took about forty five minutes. The Yukimura Estate was a huge piece of land - though each family tended to have their own house on the property. Since Kaki's family had moved away, their piece of housing had been added to the guesthouse, which was by far the largest and also included the family dojo, and was where Kaen was currently staying. There was also Kazeki and Umiko's house, his two younger cousins, which was smaller than the guesthouse, but large enough that the two siblings had their own rooms, as well as Jirou's great grandmother who lived there. Jirou's family's was easily the smallest and most humble, enough so that Jirou and his brother shared a room their whole life. 'Used to,' thought Jirou, 'used to share a room,' he finished. "Jirou, we're going to go on to the guest house," Kaki said, giving Jirou a wave, "you'd better go see your parents. Meet in the dojo bright and early for training, okay?" She took Ed's hand and the two hurried towards the guesthouse, leaving Jirou to go to his parents on his own. Jirou turned towards the smallest house on the Yukimura Estate, took in a deep breath and walked towards it, almost mustering some courage on his way there. Jirou paused before opening the door, taking a moment to recompose himself before walking in. "I'm home," he called out, pulling his suitcase in behind him before closing to door. His mother was the first to round the corner. "Welcome home," she said to him, a warm smile on her face. Jirou's mother was short, shorter than Kaki, standing at a humble five foot one. She was very obviously a woman from Tokyo, with darker skin, and dark eyes. Jirou looked almost nothing like her, as he looked more traditionally Yukimura. The Yukimura's had originally come from the upper island of Hokkaido, and moved to Tokyo shortly after the warring states period. So some of them looked like they belonged in Tokyo, while some, like Jirou and his father, looked like they belonged in Hokkaido. Jirou's mother stepped forward to give her son a hug, and Jirou graciously returned it. He missed his mother dearly while he was away, so being back with her now made him feel warm somehow. The hug lasted almost a minute before his mother gave him a squeeze then pulled away, keeping her hands on his shoulders. "How've you been? How are your friends? What have you been up to lately?" She asked him in quick succession. "Good, good, and a lot," Jirou answered, used to his mothers excited chirping. "You'll have to tell us everything over supper," his mother said, moving over to invite her son into the house. Jirou kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly to the side and pulled up his suitcase over the step and followed after it. "I'll put my stuff away," Jirou said, rolling his suitcase behind him going to the staircase that lead up to his bedroom. He carefully maneuvered the stairs, suitcase in front of him, until he reached the top and rolled the rest of the way to his bedroom, the one he had shared with Shinichi for so many years. Jirou took in a deep breath before he pushed the door open. Everything was exactly how he and his brother had left it, despite being a little neater. Both beds were made, both desks were tidy, both nightstands organized. Jirou felt something in his chest, though he wasn't sure he had a word for it. Nostalgia, maybe? It was vaguely painful whatever it was. The feeling that nothin would ever be the same again, that he and his brother would never share this room again, stay up late talking again, get in fights, laugh at one another... Jirou let out a long breath, bringing his suitcase to a halt at the foot of his bed. He toppled on to it, rolling on to his back and gazing out the window just above his bed. He briefly looked towards his brothers empty bed, and made a sad face before returning his gaze to the window. Jirou wasn't sure he ever had been in this room without his brother in it, at the very least not for very long. Jirou pushed himself out of bed and decided to go visit with his mother for a while. On his way out, he passed Shinichi's desk. It had been tidied, but on top there were two letters. One from Edinburgh, likely from the White Council, informing him his master had stopped him from becoming a wizard, and the second one Jirou recognized as his own terrible writing. It was the last letter he had sent Shinichi before he became the Jade Court Wizard. Jirou almost felt touched by this, but he told himself that it probably meant nothing anyway. Shinichi only cared for him so much. Jirou spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with his mother and helping her with supper. They ended up having Kaki and Ed over for supper and Jirou and his guardians shared their war stories with his parents, who seemed horrified at points, but also glad that Jirou had such wonderful friends to look out for him. He told them about the last time he saw his brother, and that they still kept in touch despite everything. He told them about Arthur, but left out his plans to tell Atsuko. That he would keep to himself for a while, at least until he actually managed to tell her everything. Jirou stayed laughing and talking with his parents far past his bedtime, but he couldn't help but to gaze at Shinichi's empty seat every time he had a chance. Marching up the stairs to his room after supper made him feel the same way as earlier - usually he and Shinichi would barrel up the stairs together to go chat or go play for years. Now it was just him. Jirou had a hard time falling asleep that night. Partly, an odd type of jet lag. It was midday in Canada while it was night in Japan, after all, so Jirou's circadian rhythm wasn't quite used to the day night cycle of his home. Not just that, but he would roll to see his brothers empty bed, and feel the emptiness within him every time he did. 'This isn't fair - I'm supposed to be upset with Shinichi,' Jirou remembered thinking sometime on the night. Not to say that he wasn't. Maybe that was part of the empty feeling as well - things would never go back to the way things were, and Jirou was still angry at Shinichi for everything he had ever done. Things would never go back to the way things were, and Jirou almost didn't want them to. Due to his sleepy face upon arriving at training with Kaki that morning, she decided the let him off easy. They did one bought, then Kaki declared the had to go have some fun. After all, she had seen him all night gazing at his brothers seat, and she saw how his mood dropped upon arriving at the Yukimura Estate. She wouldn't let that stand. So, she suggested that afternoon they go out for a bit. And so, that was how Jirou ended up sitting on a swing next to Atsuko and Kaki, in the park that Kaki so wanted to go to. He swung back and forth slowly, keeping his feet on the ground to talk to his platonic partner. "When did you get in?" Atsuko asked, with a bright smile in Jirou's direction. "Just yesterday," he answered, "I was planning on coming to visit you right away actually." "Really? You didn't tell me you were coming!" Atsuko said, almost scolding. "Well Kaki kinda sprung it on me and I wanted to surprise you," Jirou answered, rubbing the back of his head a little bit. Atsuko laughed a little bit. "Well, I was definitely surprised to quite literally run into you," she said, with another laugh. Jirou laughed with her, thinking of days long ago when he, Atsuko and Shinichi would sit and eat lunch together, laughing the whole time. "Oh, by the way," Jirou said eventually, moving back a bit so Kaki and Atsuko could see each other. "I suppose I should make introductions," he continued. "Kaki, this is Himura Atsuko, my best friend. Atsuko, this is Yukimura Kaki, my oldest cousin. She's been taking care of me back in Canada," he said, pointing to each in turn. Atsuko jumped up out of the swing upon hearing Kaki's name. "Master Yukimura!" She declared, with wide eyes and an amazed look on her face. "Jirou's told me so much about you!" Kaki held out here hands and waved them a little, in a calming gesture. "Whoa now, I have enough people calling me Master," she said, with a side eye at Jirou, who always used the most respectful suffixes when speaking of or to his Warden Commander. "Kaki is fine," she continued. "You're sure that's okay?" Atsuko asked a little shyly. Kaki gave a reassuring now and smile. "And if it's okay, can I call you Atsuko?" She asked. Atsuko just nodded at that, a big smile on her face. 'Honestly it took me almost a year to start using her first name...' Jirou thought, though he wasn't surprised Kaki had hit it off with Atsuko. She was a very... chatty sort. "Look, I still feel really bad for running into you," Kaki said, "I should have been more careful." "No, it's quite alright. No one got hurt, and no ones glasses broke," Atsuko said, tapping her own round frame glasses that sat on her face. "Well not that Jirou's can," Kaki said, just what Jirou was thinking, but out loud. Jirou made a face - the only reason why his glasses couldn't break was because they were enchanted glasses. Atsuko gave a curious head tilt, and Kaki realized what she had said. She was so used to being around strictly magical creatures, or at least pure mortals who knew of magic. She wasn't used to censoring her speech, leaving the magic out of it. "Oh, I mean, Jirou's glasses just don't break! You know, despite how clumsy he is," Kaki joked, giving Jirou a good natured grin. "I resent that statement," Jirou grumbled, giving Kaki a frown and a look. Kaki just laughed a little bit, and Atsuko soon joined in. "Anyway, what I was getting at, how about you come over to the Yukimura estate for supper? I'm sure you'd love visiting with Jirou, and I can help Aunt Mizuko..." Kaki trailed off. Atsuko and Jirou both looked a little surprised at the offer. Though Jirou supposed, when it came to people who had the most authority over the Yukimura Estate, Kaen was first and Kaki was second. The Yukimura's often gave the most respect to the Wardens of the generation, and considering there were currently only two, they had the most respect. It was very old fashioned, but at this point it wasn't really a conscious decision anyway. People just listened to Kaki and Kaen. "Sure!" Atsuko eventually agreed with a smile on her face, her same kind smile. Jirou's face just few bigger with shock. He wanted to say something but he wasn't sure what. And so that was how Jirou ended up walking home alongside Atsuko Himura, following behind his Warden Commander. "We're home!" Jirou announced, pulling off his shoes and beginning to set them aside. He head his mother around the corner muttering to herself about noise, and she appeared at the doorstep. "Kaki! Himura!" She greeted, "I figured I'd heard more than one person. Jirou, lets go make some tea," she said to her son, motioning towards the kitchen. Jirou nodded, and followed after his mother to the kitchen. "Atsuko," Kaki started, quietly, just as Jirou moved out of earshot. "What?" Atsuko asked, turning her head to look at Kaki, halfway taking off her second shoe. "I have ulterior motives for having you over," Kaki admitted, "see, Jirou hasn't been doing well lately. I'm sure you'll see what I mean soon enough. I figure keeping you close to him will make him feel better, keep his mind off things." Atsuko looked a little confused, like she wasn't sure what Kaki was saying or why she was saying it. "Don't tell Jirou what I just said, please." Atsuko just blinked, still looking confused, but Kaki had finished taking off her shoes, so she pushed past Atsuko into the house. Atsuko watched after Jirou's cousin, a look of wonder and concern on her face. Kaki really did care for Jirou. Jirou carefully poured tea that he and his mother had made, three cups, one for him, Atsuko and his older cousin. In the back of his mind, Jirou wondered where Ed was, but he was sure he was off doing something Ed like and didn't worry too much about it. Jirou put the tea, cups, sugar and milk on a tray, and carried it to the living room where his cousin and Atsuko were now sitting. He set the tray on the table and handed out cups, taking a seat beside his platonic partner, on the couch across from Kaki. Atsuko seemed to be looking around, a somewhat concerned confusion on her face. "Jirou, I don't understand," she questioned, eventually turning her gaze to Jirou. "You're home, so is Shinichi coming too?" She asked. Jirou was slightly taken aback by the question - he looked almost hurt. Kaki reacted similarly - taken aback, but less hurt and more concern. Her gaze rested on Jirou, but flicked momentarily to Atsuko, her gaze seeming to say, 'this is what I warned you about.' "That's..." Jirou trailed off, taking his gaze away from Atsuko, purposefully looking away. "Big bro won't be coming back. Not for a long time," he muttered. This caused Atsuko to give a look of concern too. "What? Why?" Asked Atsuko, moving a bit closer to Jirou. "Is he okay?" "He's fine, he's fine," Jirou reassured. "But he can't come back here anymore. It's... a long story. I'll tell you soon, I promise." Jirou noticed Kaki giving him an eyebrow raise at that. "Oh... okay," Atsuko agreed, backing off a little bit. She still looked curious, and concerned, but she seemed happy with Jirou's answer for now. "So, what have you been up to lately?" Atsuko asked, "Lots," Jirou answered, turning back to his friend, "my application for joint citizenship went through, just on time too. Two more weeks it would have gotten hairy." "Two more weeks?" Atsuko wondered, "I mean, you're birthday is in two weeks..." "In Canada, legal adulthood is eighteen," Kaki pipped up from the couch. "Since he was a minor when he came in, and I sponsored him to come, we bypassed a lot of citizenship rules. Had he turned eighteen in that time, the rules are a bit different." "Oh, I see!" Atsuko answered with a nod. "So then, according to Canada, you're almost all grown up!" Kaki stifled some laughter, and Jirou looked a bit embarrassed. "Well I have been living on my own for a while..." Jirou noted, looking thoughtful. "But, aren't you living with Kaki?" Atsuko wondered, looking confused again. "Well..." Kaki began, "Sort of," Jirou finished for her. "Technically, yes." "But I travel a lot for work," Kaki finished for Jirou this time. "Jirou ends up on his own a lot." "It's not too bad," Jirou added when he saw Atsuko's worried look. "I have lots of friends that help me." "I'm glad," Atsuko said, sounding relieved. "Well," Kaki said suddenly, putting down her now empty teacup. "I'm going to go help Aunty with supper," she announced before wandering towards the kitchen. Jirou watched after her before turning back to Atsuko. "How have things been here?" He asked her trying to keep attention away from himself. She gave a shrug. "I finish high school this week," she said, "I applied for a lot of different colleges... I'm starting going to the Tokyo University of the Arts. My parents aren't exactly... let's say pleased, but I want to continue studying music." "I'm glad you are," Jirou said, a wide grin on his face, "you're very good at the violin and and cello. I'm sure you'll love it there." "I am too," Atsuko agreed, "and thank Jirou!" "You'll have to play for me again sometime," Jirou said, "you could do a duet with Kaki!" He added. "Really? She plays instruments?" Atsuko questioned. "Yeah," Jirou answered. He looked away, resting his face in his hands and his elbows on his knees. "I've never heard her play before, but she keeps a violin at the apartment. According to Ed, she's wonderful. But I've never been able to convince her to play for me." "Maybe she's shy," Atsuko suggested, "it took me forever to get the courage to play in front of even you, let alone a crowd." "I suppose," Jirou agreed. There was still so much he didn't understand about Kaki Yukimura. "Still," he changed the subject, "its great you got into that university." "Yes. I'm very excited," she said. "Did you do well last term?" Jirou asked. He figured she would have her marks by now. "Yes, I did fairly well," Atsuko answered, "how about you?" She asked. Right. She thought he would be attending school in Canada. "Well, uh, semesters are different back in Canada so...." he started, unsure how to finish. Realistically, Jirou hadn't gone to school since he left Japan. Kiya had taught him some miscellaneous things, but he didn't technically have a proper education. When he left, he said he had gone to study abroad, which wasn't technically a lie, but it wasn't mortal education he was studying. It was magic and the White Council. "Oh, right," Atsuko remembered. "Well, have you read any good books lately?" "A lot, actually," Jirou answered easily. "There's so much sci-fi in English! Isaac Asimov, Stanislaw Lem.... I've been reading a lot of English to improve my English. I'm still not the best at it, but I have improved." Atsuko gave a small giggle. "You never were very good at language were you," she commented, still laughing a little bit. "Absolutely not," Jirou agreed, "but Kaki has been making sure I speak English there. Not to mention, my friends help." "You have to tell me more about them. I mean you mention them in passing in your letters, but I'm curious," Atsuko pressed, moving her own face to her hands and leaning closer to Jirou. "Well, lets see. There's Kiya," Jirou started. "Sorry, Aunt Kiya?" Atsuko wondered. Without thinking, Jirou had used the affectionate suffix he was used to addressing Kiya with - that was, Aunt. "Yeah, uh, that's kinda what I call her," Jirou answered, looking a little embarrassed. "She's been helping me a lot... taking care of me and stuff. She's teaching me a lot of life lessons. Like how to do taxes and stuff, and lots about Canadian culture. She's First Nations - the aboriginal people of Canada, so she knows a lot." "Fascinating," Atsuko answered, "she sounds so nice! I would love to meet her." "I'll have to introduce you sometime," Jirou said, "Kiya and all of my other friends. There's also Antares, I call him Tare, he's an archer." "Big bro Tare? Another nickname I take it?" Atsuko gave a small chuckle. "Yeah," Jirou admitted, "I kinda have nicknames for all of them," he paused for a small, embarrassed chuckle. "Tare is great though, he's a bit... well, cold. But in a good sort of way. Then there's Emma, she's lovely. She's a brand new mom, with twins. She takes care of me a lot too. Then there's Gaspar, he's from the southern states. He's a pretty cool guy, he's been teaching me to drive. Lord knows Ed and Kaki wouldn't be able to... Lucas too, he's really nice. He kind of... well he worships a Greek god named Prometheus. So he sort of I guess has a cult dedicated to Prometheus? He keeps saying 'they're an up and coming religion!' Then there's Bijoux, she's very quiet. One thing about her is she kind of treats me like a kid... I'm not a fan of that. But she's nice most of the time. Of course, Alphonse. He's very, very extravagant. He's an artist, a sculptor, we get along fairly well. Then of course there's Roderick. He likes making armour and stuff. Actually he made me some nice chainmaille. It's really cool." "You have such interesting friends," Atsuko commented, "I would love to meet them." "I hope you'll be able to," Jirou answered, "I'm sure they would all be overjoyed to meet you." "I'm happy I got to meet Kaki, though, despite her.... eccentricity, let's say," Atsuko said. Jirou gave a small laugh. "That's a word for it," he agreed. "Hopefully you'll be able to meet Ed too, wherever he's gone off to." "You mentioned him in your letters too," Atsuko said thoughtfully, "he's the..." "Jerk," Jirou finished for her and they both took a moment to laugh. "Kaki's husband," Jirou said more seriously. "He's kind of... well, a jerk, but he's actually a really nice guy. Really, he's always there when I need him." "Husband?" Atsuko wondered, "Kaki's last name is still Yukimura, right?" "Well, technically no," Jirou explained, "her last name is Danvers. She changed her middle name to Yukimura - that's a common thing in Canada, middle names. She still calls herself Kaki Yukimura because we're such a well known family." "Ohhh, I get it," Atsuko answered, "I remember you telling me you didn't like Ed at first," she then recalled, looking a bit curious. "Hated him," Jirou agreed, "he was just a bit jerk, that's all I understood of him anyway. He soon proved that he wasn't all that though," he continued. "Ed's a mortician," he started to explain, remembering the day he grew his massive respect for Ed Danvers. "Kaki sent me on an errand to the morgue one day, something she needed to get to Ed but couldn't deliver herself. She had more work to do. I didn't really want to go, but for Kaki... well. She's very hard to say no to, especially considering her well... lets just say the Yukimura Family has a great respect for her. So I was sent off to the morgue. When I eventually did find it, I discovered Ed was working. To see someone who you dislike that much in such a vulnerable, professional state is... it's very uncomfortable. I didn't want to interrupt, so I hung back. Eventually a crying woman came by, likely Ed was working on someone she had lost. I expected him to be cold, or say something cynical. But he didn't. He just offered her comfort. I waited until Ed returned to his office before I actually tried to deliver what I was supposed to, but by that time I was so emotionally drained from it all, I started to cry to. You know me, it's easy to get me like that. Instead of making fun of me, Ed just handed me a tissue and gave me a pat on the head. I realized that I had the wrong impression of Ed this whole time, and if Kaki had fallen in love with him, of course there was a reason." "Wow," Atsuko breathed, leaning back on the couch once more. "That's quite the story." "Take everything that guy says with a grain of salt. He's probably just trying to be funny," Jirou explained. "You lead such an interesting life now," Atsuko commented, "I'm a little jealous." "Oh more than you know," Jirou muttered a little, though loud enough that he knew Atsuko would hear him. "You keep saying mysterious things like that," Atsuko pointed out. "All in due time," Jirou answered simply. "That's even more mysterious," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jirou," he heard his name from the kitchen, his mothers voice, "come help us for a moment." "Okay," Jirou called back, and stood up. "Sorry, be right back," he apologized to Atsuko, grabbing the dishes on the coffee table and hurrying into the kitchen. Atsuko watched after him, with a burning curiosity of what he was being so mysterious about. Atsuko and Jirou didn't have much more time to chat until supper. Jirou ended up in and out of the kitchen, though eventually Ed made an appearance, and he hit it off with Atsuko. Her English was fair enough that the two could have a fairly nice conversation, and Ed made fun of her mercilessly, as Jirou expected. Atsuko seemed to think he was funny, so there was that at least. Supper was filled with laughing, the occasional awkward 'don't worry about it,' when things got too close to magical discussion, though they managed to keep things mostly mundane. Jirou realized he was a little sad when he was waving goodbye to Atsuko outside the front gate of the Yukimura Estate. "Um," he started, just before she began to walk away, "you start school next week right?" "Yeah," Atsuko answered, turning to face Jirou. "Then, lets make the most of the time you have off and I'm here," he said, "so, can we hang out tomorrow too?" Atsuko's face turned bright, and she nodded, looking happy. "Yeah!" She agreed. "Then, see you tomorrow, at the park we went to today, one o'clock?" Jirou asked. Atsuko nodded again. "See you tomorrow," she agreed, before turning and walking towards her house, which wasn't too far from the Yukimura Estate. Jirou watched after her for a little while, wondering exactly how he planned to tell her about the whole magic thing. Maybe he would start on that tomorrow. He had exactly a week before Atsuko started school, so he'd better hurry up about it. Jirou was just about to turn around, when he heard a familiar and annoying voice behind him. "So... who's the girl," it was Ed, who had appeared behind Jirou, also watching Atsuko leave. Jirou jumped, looking back towards his guardian. "Ed! You surprised me!" Jirou answered, barely managing to make the transition to English for Ed. Ed just gave Jirou his usual devil-may-care grin. "Didn't answer my question," Ed pointed out, "your girlfriend is very cute." "Not my girlfriend," Jirou answered, "well I mean she... its hard to explain." "What? Didja get friend zoned or something?" Ed asked. "No! Well yes! I mean! Hard to explain!" Jirou's cheeks began to fluster, and he could feel them getting hot as he turned red. "Who are you to be giving relationship advice anyway? Haven't you not had that many girlfriends?" "Let's not get caught up in the details," Ed answered, waving his hand a little. "Look, kid, you gotta tell her how you feel, man, or it's never going to work out." "Not like that!" Jirou retorted quickly. "Besides... hold on," he paused for a moment, "wasn't it Kaki who asked you out?" He remembered. "Like I said, details, who needs 'em," Ed answered with a shrug. Jirou let out a small, annoyed sounding sigh and moved his glasses to grip at his small nose bridge. "If I told you she was my partner would that make you shut up," Jirou asked, eventually moving his hand away from his face to look at Ed. He chose his words carefully - Atsuko Himura wasn't his girlfriend, but that didn't mean she wasn't the most important person to Jirou. "Knew it," Ed answered, and gave Jirou a small pat on the shoulder before wandering back towards the guesthouse. Jirou let out a long, exasperated sigh. He often forgot what kind of person Ed could be. He wandered back towards his family's part of the Estate, knowing he would have to be up early tomorrow to train with Kaki. Then of course, he would go see Atsuko. Training with Kaki was long, as they made up for the lost time yesterday. Kaki started to drill him on air evocation since he had demonstrated it to her yesterday, and after that they went to their usual training regiment. It was a long morning, but they managed to finish around ten o'clock. Jirou hung around the Estate until about eleven thirty, then he walked back to the park he had gone to with Kaki yesterday. Kaki had always liked that park for some reason, even when she had come here when she was young. It was a bonus that it was so close to the Yukimura estate. He remembered the last time she came to Japan before she became a Warden, when she was fifteen. They had come to this park, Jirou, his brother, and Kaki. He remembered the memory fondly, a small smile appearing on his face. Jirou raised his face towards the sky, looking at the bright blue of the Tokyo sky with the reminiscent smile still on his face. The heat felt nice, he honestly missed it in the chill of Saskatoon. Though he noticed while he was here, he felt a tug in his chest for his home back in Saskatoon. Home. Was Japan not his home? Of course it was. But... so was Saskatoon. Jirou let out a sigh. Things were getting very complicated. Jirou hadn't noticed he had already made it to the park until he was sitting on one of the wooden swings, moving his feet back and forth to swing himself slowly. He took in a deep breath and looked back up towards the sky again. He was going to tell Atsuko everything. He had to. "Jirou," he heard his name from his right hand side, and his head shot down to see who was talking to him. "Atsuko," Jirou greeted, quickly standing to his feet. Atsuko gave a small chuckle, and she sat on the swing right beside the one Jirou had been sitting on. He took his seat again, and gave Atsuko a smile. "How are you doing?" Atsuko asked, beginning to swing slowly and low. "Oh you know. Up early. Kaki grilled me for training. Two whole hours," he explained, looking suddenly exhausted. "Training?" Atsuko asked, looking curious. "Oh Kaki's... well there's a reason I call her 'Master', let's put it that way," he explained carefully. "You're being mysterious again," Atsuko told him, her face turning a little frowny. "Yeah," Jirou laughed, "I... I have a lot of explaining to do." Atsuko blinked, looking now vaguely confused. Jirou pulled his glasses off his face, and pushed his hair out of the way. He had put his shoulder length black hair in a ponytail today instead of his usual topknot, and he realized it felt kind of weird. Jirou looked towards Atsuko, his face turning serious. "You've really never wondered why my glasses don't break?" Jirou asked, though it was a slightly rhetorical question. Atsuko wasn't sure what to say to that, though she didn't have to, as Jirou somewhat accidentally made eye contact with her. What Jirou saw was definitely not as harsh as what Atsuko saw. Jirou saw - or rather felt - an incredible amount of emotion. He couldn't make much sense of it, it felt like he was feeling everything at once. He was in a room full of people, and from every one of them he felt something different. It was like a classroom, or a waiting room. Chairs filled with people, six lines of fifteen chairs filled with people. "Stop," Jirou felt himself saying, feeling himself back away from the room. "Stop!" He repeated, covering his ears with his hands, shaking his head a little bit, squeezing his eyes shut. The feeling died away almost instantly after he had repeated it, all except for one feeling. Jirou opened his eyes to see just one person sitting in the room. It was him. The Jirou in the vision didn't notice the Jirou who was envisioning, and the Jirou who was watching noticed something - this Jirou had short hair, and rounder cheeks. It was him, but five years ago. The feeling he got off himself was a type of sadness, but not quite. It was... it was the feeling that he wanted friends. Was this really him? He had a hard time seeing himself like this, but clearly it was how Atsuko had seen him. The younger version of himself finally noticed the older version, and gave a smile, before he faded away too. Jirou felt one more feeling, but it wasn't from anyone else in the room. It was his own feeling - no, Atsukos feeling. Loneliness. Atsuko felt so lonely. An encompassing loneliness, that was so hard for Jirou to explain. He felt that despite how many times he tried to be friends with others, he always ended up alone. It was very uncomfortable, as they weren't his feelings to feel, but he couldn't stop them. Oh poor Atsuko, thought Jirou, and he felt so bad suddenly for leaving her. What Atsuko saw was terrifying to her. She wasn't expecting it, and it was very sudden. She was thrown into a desert waste. There was a heavy and hot sun in the sky, and Atsuko could see a short ways off - about thirty feet - Jirou was sitting on the ground. He was curled up, his arm around his knees, and he was balanced on his toes. His other arm was reached in front of him, and he was drawing in the sand with his hand. Except... except his wasn't using his fingers. It seemed an invisible force from his hand was moving the sand. On Jirou's left there was a row of statues, made of old iron. Atsuko recognized the first two - the first one was Kaki Yukimura who she had met yesterday, except this statue showed Kaki with a flowing cloak around her shoulders, and on her right hip there rested a Spanish rapier, and on the right there rested a katana and a wakizashi. Behind Kaki was a statue of Shinichi, a wide grin on his face. Behind Shinichi there were ten other statues, which Atsuko didn't recognize, but she did notice they all wore different types of samurai armour, through the ages. The sun in the sky cast a shadow on Jirou, caused by the statues to his left. As time wore on, the sun off to the far left moved across the sky, and the shadow around Jirou slowly began to fade. As the shadows began to fade, Jirou slowly grew more comfortable. He stretched out, he relaxed, he sat back, started to lazily draw in the sand. Atsuko noticed that on Jirou's right, more statues were forming, made of white stone. Atsuko recognized none of them, but the first one was an elderly looking man, looked to be in his sixties. He had a kind smile on his face, and was watching carefully after Jirou. 'Nika' Atsuko heard the name in her mind. Beside him, a girl who stood at about five feet with two braids that went to her mid back. She looked almost like she came from Hokkaido, but not quite. Her face was round, and she was very petite. 'Kiya,' another name. Beside Kiya came up another statue, a six foot two man wearing full plate armour. He was very well built, and had a wide frame. She couldn't see much of him considering the armour, but the name still rung in her mind. 'Lokir.' Beside him came another statue, another man, roughly six feet, with an undercut and the rest of his hair pushed back. He wore round frame glasses, and had a long, angular face. 'Alphonse,' the name came again. Then another statue came up. Another man, with windswept hair. His face looked almost cold, even though he was a statue. He held a bow in one hand, and Atsuko noticed an eyepatch. 'Antares.' Another statue materialized, another young man, a wide grin on his face. He wore a sweater, and Atsuko couldn't help but to notice a torch in his hand. 'Lucas.' The statue closest to Jirou, the one of Nika, eventually crumbled away, and was blown away by a wind. Where he stood, another statue materialized, of a young woman, who held two babies in her arms. Her face looked kind, and she held her babies fiercely. 'Emma.' That was where the vision for Atsuko finished, and when she did come back to the real world, Jirou had her in his arm, shaking her awake with the other. "Atsuko! Atsuko!" He called out to her, and Atsuko blinked herself out of her daze. She took a look up at Jirou and looked back into his eyes, and scrambled up, letting outa surprised sound as the vision entered her mind again. "You're an empath!" "What are you?!" Jirou and Atsuko said at the same time, looking at each other with surprise. "I'm a what?" Atsuko wondered, blinking and moving her head to the size. "Jirou I'm so confused." "You're an empath," Jirou repeated, "people who can sense the emotion of others. I could feel it in you soul." "My soul?" Atsuko wondered, looking more confused than ever. "Yes your- right I haven't explained," Jirou realized, looking embarrassed, "getting a little ahead of myself." Jirou stood himself back up and offered a hand to Atsuko, who took it and helped herself up too. He sat himself back on the swing, and turned to Atsuko. "Atsuko," Jirou began, growing serious. "Two years ago, I left home, right? I told you I was studying abroad. I didn't technically lie, but I'm not going to school as you know it. I dropped out of school. I haven't been to school since I moved away. I went away to study with Kaki, I became her apprentice. After all, she is the Great Warden Yukimura. "You know me as Jirou Yukimura, of course, but my full title is Wizard Yukimura, junior. Wizard of the White Council, Deputy Warden to Warden Kaki Yukimura," Jirou explained. "Wizard?" Atsuko wondered, though she seemed a bit more receptive and a bit less confused. "Yes, Wizard. It's... its exactly what it sounds like. I cast all sorts of magic. It's a... generational thing. Yukimura's have done it for centuries. And I know, it sounds crazy," Jirou continued, waving his hands a little bit. "But... about what just happened. It's called a soulgaze," Jirou continued, "it's a thing that Wizards like me can do. We can look into the eyes of others and see their souls. But they can also see ours. So, I just saw your innermost self, and you just saw the innermost me," Jirou continued. Atsuko blinked. She didn't look as confused anymore, not she just looked like he was telling her a fairy tale. "It's how I discovered you were an empath - in the innermost part of your soul, I felt the emotions of so many people." "Jirou I..." Atsuko started, not sure what to even say to him. "This is... what you're saying is...." "Crazy," Jirou finished for her. "I know, I know. I... I wanted to tell you, though, whether you believe me or not." "I believe you," Atsuko decided. "With... what just happened, there's just this part of me that knows you're telling me the truth." Jirou looked slightly taken aback. He didn't think it would be that easy at all. "I... honestly I didn't think it would be that easy," Jirou admitted. Atsuko couldn't help but to laugh a little at him. "I trust you," she answered easily. Atsuko paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. Jirou allowed her to think, knowing she wanted to say something. "So," she began eventually, "you left to study magic. What kind of magic?" "All kinds," Jirou answered. "Magic is split into two categories. Ritual magic and channelling magic. Ritual magic is my forte - I'm good at Thaumaturgy. Ritual magic uses magic circles and things like that. It tends to be a lot more powerful than the other type of magic, but it also takes a long time to prepare and use. Within ritual magic there are certain categories - conjuration, divination, crafting, wards, a few others but those are the important ones. My speciality is divination, particularly tracking spells." "That's so like you," Atsuko said, a smile appearing on her face. "It sounds like something you'd enjoy." "Yeah, I've gotten fairly good at Thaumaturgy," Jirou replied. "The other kind is Kaki's specialty," he began again, "and... and Shinichi's." "Your brother too?" Atsuko wondered. "Yes," Jirou confirmed. "The Yukimura line is... well let's say cursed. But more on that in a bit. Channelling or evocation magic is Thaumaturgy's 'opposite'. It's quick and dirty, but less powerful. In evocation there are also subcategories, that mirror the elements. Fire is Kaki's speciality." "Of course!" Atsuko realized. "Ka-Ki. Fire spirit." Jirou nodded at her perceptiveness. "Let me guess - your speciality is earth. Ji-Rou. Earth son. I always thought it was strange how you spelled your name." "You're right there," Jirou confirmed. "I'm earth, Shinichi is spirit. Then there's Kazeki and Umiko, our younger cousins, wind and water respectively." "That's interesting there's one of each of you," Atsuko realized. "Yeah. Remember what I said about the Yukimura Line being 'cursed'? That's the curse - once every few generations, five Yukimura's are born with magical ability. No more, and no less. When the last of that magical generation dies out, a new five are born. My cousin's, brother and I are the current generation of magical Yukimura's," Jirou explained. "That doesn't sound like much of a curse," Atsuko said, "there must be a catch." "There is," Jirou answered, "the Yukimura Line also has a... tendency for future vision. And I know, that doesn't sound like a curse either. But have you ever heard of the seer Cassandra?" "Cassandra?" Atsuko wondered, looking thoughtful. "I don't think I have." "She was Greek," Jirou started, "cursed by Apollo. Cassandra was able to see the future, but when she tried to explain her visions to people, no one believed her. There are those with the ability of Cassandra. It's called Cassandra's Tears." "So, that's the curse of the Yukimura's?" Atsuko guessed. Jirou gave a nod. "I haven't experienced it yet," he explained. "But I know it's coming." "That sounds scary," Atsuko commented, a frown now appearing on her face. Jirou gave a shrug. "There isn't anything I can do about it," he replied, looking ahead now. "I just have to accept it like my ancestors did." "Oh!" Atsuko exclaimed rather suddenly, clapping her hands together. "That explains all the statues!" "Statues?" Jirou wondered, tilting his head quizzically. "Yes, statues," Atsuko began to explain, "when we did the soulgaze, I saw a row of statues. The first two were Shinichi and Kaki, then there were about ten more in varying states of samurai armour. I heard that Yukimura's were a line of Samurai, so those must have been your magical ancestors, right?" "Probably," Jirou agreed. "I've never seen my own soul, but that sounds about right." Atsuko grew quiet again, looking ready to ask more. "I do have... an uncomfortable question," Atsuko started. "What... what happened to Shinichi?" Jirou was expecting the question, but there was still hurt in his chest when he thought about it. "That's... a very long story. If you have time to hear it," Jirou started. Atsuko nodded, a determined look on her face. "Okay. Well, I have a bit of preamble to do first. Like I said, long story. Yesterday, I told you about my friends. Well they're not just my friends - they're my colleagues too. We work together for the police, solving... mysterious crimes. You know, someone is killed, sucked dry of blood, murders happening only on the full moon, disappearances that are unexplained... that kind of stuff. When strange things happen, our police contact - and Kiya's boyfriend - Adam King is informed of it, and he gets us to deal with it. Well, one day, we were out and about when an attempt was made on my life... happens a lot, hilariously enough." Jirou paused when he saw Atsuko's worried face. He waved his hand a little bit. "My friend keep me safe, though. Still, we had to get behind whoever it was trying to kill me. So we went back to my apartment to see what was going on. When we got there, the door was open. Now this is strange for my apartment. I don't know if you've ever felt it - wait, you're an empath, you probably have," Jirou realized. "Have you ever felt strangely while walking into the Yukimura Estate?" Jirou asked. Atsuko looked thoughtful for a moment. "Strangely?" She wondered. "You know... now that you mention it, I have. It's like... I feel the souls of many Yukimura's who have come before." "Not surprising. The Yukimura's have lived there for what... six hundred years? That powerful feeling is called a threshold. They build up around houses, places of worship, graveyards, things like that. It's the magical energy of the souls that reside there protecting the place from dark spirits. Things like vampires, if you've ever read some English lore, have to be invited in to overcome that threshold of energy. Thresholds can be made stronger by a few factors - the first, how many people reside there and how close these people are. Places like the Yukimura Estate have a very strong threshold in that sense. Nine people live there, and they're all family with one another. My apartment back home on the other hand, not so much. Just I live there, so the threshold is rather lacking. But where it lacks in that regard, in makes up for in another way. That is, generation. The more generations of a family that live in a place, the stronger the threshold. As such, the Yukimura Estate has even more threshold to it. As for my apartment, Kaki used to live there. So that's two Yukimura's in the same house. So it doesn't have too bad of a threshold on it. Now, going back to someone in my apartment. The higher the threshold on the place, the bigger the Ward you can put on it. So my place has a pretty decent ward, even more of a problem to overcome. The fact that someone was in my apartment was terrifying. There are only two people who can do that - Kaki and Shinichi. So I approached carefully, and inside there was a man in Samurai armour. Turns out it was my great, great, great, great so on and so forth grandfather. An old Yukimura named Kaen. His brother was the one trying to kill me, and evil sorcerer who had caused a time warp. We helped him out, and Kaen came back to the Estate to live with us. I'll introduced you sometime soon. "Now we have to get into a few more things. First off, Kaki Yukimura. I mentioned I was her Deputy. Well before that, I was her apprentice. There's something important about the family I haven't mentioned yet - Shinichi was the prodigy. He was always the best at magic, and I was always a few steps behind him. So when Kaki picked me as he apprentice... well I think it hurt him a little bit. It was his first real taste of failure, as he had never lost before. So when Kaen came to live at the Estate, Shinichi jumped on the opportunity to be his apprentice. See, the White Council, which I talked about earlier, is exactly what it sounds like - a Council of Wizards, with their own police force called the Wardens. The Yukimura Line have been members of the Wardens of the White Council for generations, so of course Shinichi and I wanted to members as soon as possible. Well the last time I came by for a few months... I was granted a position on the White Council, and was Deputized under Kaki Yukimura, who was promoted to Warden Commander. As a result, I currently hold the third highest position of power in my family, after Kaki - second - and Kaen, first. Shinichi was number three - number two until Kaen came by - until I surpassed him. He was so upset he applied to be a member too... But Kaen said no. Shinichi was granted the position, but he wasn't given it because of Kaen. Shinichi grew angry, and.... Atsuko there are seven laws that dictate wizards that we can't break, or we die, and that's just it. That's what the Wardens do, we hunt lawbreakers. Shinichi almost broke the first law, Never Take a Life. He almost killed Kaen. Now he's... now he's on the run from the Wardens. He's working in China as the Jade Court Wizard." "Jirou..." Atsuko trailed off. "Jirou it's not your fault." Jirou looked over at Atsuko, looking rather sad. "It is though," he argued, "if I hadn't... if I hadn't accepted the position, I would still be here with you and Shinichi." "But..." Atsuko said quietly. "But you seem so much happier now... since you've gone to Canada." "Really?" Jirou seemed a bit shocked, looking at Atsuko with wide eyes. "Yes, actually," Atsuko answered easily. "No matter how lonely I am here, your happiness means a lot more to me." Jirou wasn't sure how to respond, but he answered by smiling. "Thank you," he answered eventually. "I do have another question," Atsuko changed the subject again. "Have... have you killed anyone?" Jirou looked taken aback, then looked away. "Yes," he admitted eventually. "Not... not many people. Two people for sure but... they were bad people. One of them killed my friend. I was so angry I..." Jirou trailed off. "I'm sorry," Atsuko interrupted. "I didn't mean to pry... I just. Sorry." "It's okay," Jirou responded. "I've done some... really terrible things." Atsuko grew quiet again, looking away from Jirou and at her feet. "One more question," she then said, "why is it your glasses don't break?" Jirou looked ready to answer, then began to laugh at her question. "They're enchanted," he answered, "they're magical, so they can't break." Atsuko laughed at him this time, and they shared a small moment. She believed him. All was well. "I have an odd request," Jirou said, pausing Atsuko on her way into her house. He had walked her home after their time at the park, but he wanted to ask her one more thing. "What is it?" Atsuko asked. "Tomorrow morning, can you come by the Yukimura Estate?" Jirou asked. Atsuko looked curious, but nodded in agreement. "Okay. We usually start around 8:30 so... tomorrow morning, eight o'clock?" Jirou suggested. Atsuko nodded again, a smile on her face. "Well, see you tomorrow," she waved before heading inside her own home. "See you," Jirou waved back before turning to head back to the Yukimura estate. Jirou's walk home wasn't long enough as he mulled over the conversation he had with Atsuko. When he did arrive back, he decided to head to the dojo instead of his own home. It would be nicer to mull over conversation with practice rather than laying in his bedroom. He walked back to the guesthouse, and he could've sworn he heard music on his way in. As he got closer and closer to the dojo, the music seemed to grow louder and louder. He could've sworn he recognized the piece, but he wasn't sure where from. It was classical, it sounded almost aggressive, heavy on violin and flute. As Jirou grew closer he knew there was no doubt about it. The music was coming from the dojo. So he carefully approached, quietly peering into the dojo to see the source of the music. The source was a small analog sound player, which was playing a vinyl. Inside the dojo was his Warden commander, wearing different attire than usual. For one, no swords and no cloak. For another, Kaki usually wore skirts and loose shirts. Now she wore workout attire, and her hair was carefully tied back and flying about. Flying about because she seemed to be... dancing? Definitely dancing. Ballet dancing, of all types. Jirou watched her move carefully with the music her steps as aggressive as the music she danced with. As the music went on, Jirou finally recognized the piece. It was 'Hungarian Dance in G Minor'. Atsuko had played it with her band once, Jirou remembered. And now Kaki was leaping to the music Atsuko had played for him. It was strange seeing her like this, considering he had such a strong image of her that seeing her dance definitely ruined that image he had. "Oh, hey kid," Jirou turned when he heard a voice behind him, jumping a little. It was Ed, who had wandered up behind him. "Ed," Jirou greeted, "I wasn't expecting Kaki to be here." "Yeah she has a recital when we get back. Apparently she's doing a solo piece. Not this one, but she wanted to practice a little bit," Ed explained. "I had no idea," Jirou answered, turning back to watch Kaki. "There's still a lot you don't know about Kaki isn't there," Ed commented. "I knew she used to dance," Jirou said thoughtfully, "but I didn't know she kept up with it." "Yeah she's been doing it for years," Ed explained. The song changed, and became a slower song, and Kaki's dance changed too, slow to match the songs pace. Now it was very strange watching Jirou's usually rather impulsive master dancing carefully to the music. She swayed back and forth carefully, up on her toes and arms positioned like she was a true ballerina. Jirou wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Kaki dance - he knew she could ballroom dance at least. After all, as well as being his mentor for magic she taught him magical etiquette - the way to dance to keep up with faeries, how to speak Latin for the White Council, how to properly make deals and bargains (not that he ever listened to those lessons, but he wasn't becoming quite the dancer). But when Kaki was teaching him ballroom dance it was much different than this. It seemed almost business like, not the graceful ballet she was doing now. Kaki stoped suddenly, and Jirou realized her eyes had landed on him and Ed. She dropped from her toes and lowered her arms, giving them both a nod and a smile. Jirou responded with a wave, and Kaki went to turn off the music that was playing. "What's up," Kaki asked, wandering over to the two, "I thought you were with Atsuko." "I was," Jirou answered, "just got back. Figured I'd do some training." "Long conversation?" Kaki guessed. Jirou just answered by nodding. "Does this mean I don't have to be tight lipped anymore?" She then asked, sounding almost excited. "Yes, yes it does," Jirou responded, moving past her into the dojo, heading for the rack of staffs in the corner. "Yes!" Kaki exclaimed, doing an excited jump. "I don't get what you're so excited about," Jirou commented, reaching for a staff on the rack. "Look, having conversations with mortals is really hard," Kaki explained, now following after Jirou and grabbing a staff shortly after him. Ed had shrugged and wandered in as well, grabbing a staff for himself as well. "What, is this going to be two against one?" Jirou asked, bracing himself with his staff at the ready. "How bout this," Ed began a suggestion, "you and Kaki against me. We go until you two win, then Ill trade off with Kaki." "Sounds fun," Kaki agreed, twirling the staff in her hands. Jirou nodded in agreement, and he and Kaki stood beside one another, facing Ed. He adjusted himself to be on Kaki's right, considering her left handedness, and waited patiently for someone to make the first move. It was Ed first, going straight for Jirou, who quickly raised his staff to block the oncoming attack. Kaki took the opportunity to go for him, but Ed knocked her away easily. "So," Kaki said suddenly, now beside Jirou. "How'd the talk go?" She asked, before going for Ed again, leaping forward and ready to strike. Ed batted her away and went for Jirou and Kaki simultaneously, and Jirou barely got his staff up to block. "Is this really the time?" Jirou asked, looking almost surprised at Kaki. They both pushed against Ed and managed to shove him away. Jirou was surprised - he thought it would be easier than this with Kaki fighting with him. Then again, Kaki was built for magic, and Ed was built for weapons. "Of course," Kaki said before doing a spin and going for Ed again. Ed caught her staff with his and twisted, wrenching it from her grasp an using the opportunity to knock her over. "Kaki's out," Ed announced before going for Jirou. Jirou defended for this one easily, but Ed just kept attacking until he managed the same trick he pulled on Kaki, flicking Jirou's staff out of his hands and knocking him over. "I win," Ed announced with a grin, twirling his staff in his hands. "If Kaki wasn't so distracted," Jirou grumbled, flashing his master a look. "Oh no we can't win against Ed," Kaki protested, "he's not going easy on us." "Easy on us?" Jirou wondered. "Well yeah. What you thought he's been attacking full force this whole time?" Kaki asked. "You mean Ed's been going easy on me and I still can't beat him?" Jirou almost whined. "Come on, come on," Ed taunted, motioning with a free hand to Jirou and Kaki. They both stood, and got back to a ready position, waiting for Ed again. "You haven't answered my question," Kaki pointed out before leaping away from ones of Ed's attacks. "It was fine," Jirou answered, doing a roll to dodge then going in for an attack on Ed, being easily parried away. "Fine?" Kaki asked, "come on you have to give more than that," she paused to duck, and almost managed to land a hit on Ed, but he quickly put his staff in the way. "How did she react?" She continued. "Well, she kind of fainted," Jirou explained, dodging one of Ed's attacks this time. "Fainted?!" Kaki exclaimed, made louder by her being nearly poked in the side. "I mean, the soulgaze was a bit too much..." Jirou continued, moving to the side to parry Ed's attack. Ed quickly moved the staff under Jirou's feet since he was caught off balanced and managed to trip him. "You soulgazed the poor girl?" It was Ed commenting this time, pausing after knocking Jirou over. Kaki took the opportunity to attempt to strike him, though Ed jumped away from her. "Yeah well how else was I going to get her to believe the whole wizard thing," Jirou pointed out, just before Kaki landed next to him from a strike from Ed. "Fair point," Kaki agreed, standing and offering a hand to help Jirou up. Jirou accepted it, and they both stood at the ready once more. "Kaki I have an idea," Jirou said, in Japanese, knowing Ed couldn't understand. "Ha, great tactical idea," Kaki commented, also going to Japanese. "Oh great," Ed grumbled, getting ready for an attack. "He won't expect me from the left and you from the right," Jirou started, "so let's trade places and go from the unexpected sides. Also, he expects you to attack low and me high. So I'll go for his knees, you go for his head." "Nice thinking, Ji," Kaki commented, doing a quick twirl. "Now," Jirou exclaimed, jumping forward to Ed's left side and diving downwards to his knees. Ed lowered his staff to defend, and made a small, surprised noise when he was hit upside the head by Kaki Yukimura, who had jumped up like Jirou told her. Jirou used the opportunity to pull the staff behind Ed's knees and make them buckle a little bit. Kaki used this to push him over. "Well done," Ed commented from the ground, looking up at the two with his usual grin. "Alright kid, you and me against Kaki." Jirou stood carefully beside Ed, a shadow under his tall figure, twirling his staff carefully in his hands, gazing at Kaki. He was ready for her. And he was surprised how much he had improved. "Um," Atsuko said quietly to the doorbell on the end post of the gate to the grand Yukimura Estate. "I'm here to see Jirou." "Ah yes!" Answered a voice on the other end that sounded like Jirou's mother, "he said you'd be coming." The gate buzzed, and Atsuko let herself in, following the stone path through the stone garden. She heard the sound of bamboo behind her, and she felt suddenly at peace. The Yukimura Gardens - a mixture of grass gardens and zen gardens - were always incredibly well kept, and very, very traditional. It was Atsukos impression the entire Yukimura Family was very traditional, but the Zen gardens were her favourite part of their traditions. "Atsuko!" She turned her head to the sound of her name, and saw Jirou waving her over. Atsuko pointed towards his house on the Estate and Jirou shook his head, pointing towards the guest house. Atsuko gave a shrug, and wandered over to him. "Trust me," Jirou said, leading her away to the house. Atsuko wasn't sure how many times she had been in here - she had been in the dojo, of course, but not many times. She did recognize that was where Jirou was leading her, though. He lead her through the dojo to a back door and opened it up to the outside once more. It looked like a training area, but it was outside in a grass garden, and Atsuko noticed a huge circle carved into the ground, with strange etchings around it. She wasn't sure what it meant, exactly, but her mind thought back to the conversation she had with Jirou yesterday. The next things she noticed was Kaki Yukimura, but she didn't look like the Kaki she had meant two days ago. She looked like the Kaki she had seen in Jirou's soulgaze, but in colour - the cloak she wore was gray, and as in the vision she had three swords strapped at her waist - a Katana and a Wakizashi, a matching pair, with beautiful red sheathes, and a surprisingly plain Spanish rapier, in its own brown sheathe. Her hair was tied back, and her hands rested carefully on her hips. "Alright, Ji, ready?" Asked Kaki, motioning towards the circle. Jirou gave a nod towards Kaki. "Jirou, what...?" Atsuko wondered, looking just as confused as she sounded. "Right," Jirou started, turning back to Atsuko. "I wanted you to come here to see a training session." "Training session?" Atsuko asked. "Yeah," Jirou clarified, "remember I told you I was Kaki's apprentice for a while? She taught me a lot of magic, and we still have some training sessions now to keep us both in top shape." "Atsuko," Kaki started from behind Jirou, "see that circle in the grass? You have to promise me no matter what you won't ever cross that circle, okay?" Kaki's serious tone of voice brought a look of concern to Atsuko's face. "Why?" She asked. "In order to protect ourselves from each other," Jirou began, "we redirect all magic aimed at each other into the Nevernever with this magic circle. The thing about circles, if someone crosses them, it ruins the magic. And since you're not a magical creature, you can cross circles no problem." "Ohhh," Atsuko nodded in understanding. "The Nevernever?" She then asked. "The world between world, the place in places, the location beyond the veil, the Ways," Kaki explained this time, rather cryptically. "It's where most magical creatures live. Faeries, Kami, all types of things. Wizards like us use the Ways to travel and for things like this. Get Jirou to show you sometime." Atsuko still looked a bit confused, but accepted the answer for now. Jirou stepped into the circle, and Kaki stepped in across from him. They sat on either side, and Kaki pulled out her rapier, laying it in front of her and Jirou did the same with his staff. The two began chanting, in what sounded like Chinese, but not modern mandarin, an older dialect. The circle in the grass began to glow, and glowed stronger after every chant. Eventually they both stopped, stood, and Jirou bowed deeply before kicking off his sandals and getting himself in a ready position. It looked almost like a karate stance, with his bare feet buried deeply in the grass. Kaki stood at the ready too, but her position was very different. Less rooted in the earth, and more light on her feet. Her first two fingers were pointed out on both hands, though one was close to her rapier. Jirou was twirling his staff, watching Kaki carefully. "I'll warn you Jirou," muttered Kaki, just loud enough that Atsuko could hear. Despite the muttering, Kaki had a certain clarity in her voice. "I'm not going easy on you anymore either. You've mastered four elements. That's about when I jumped in power too." Jirou left out a sigh, and his shoulders dropped a little. "You've been goin easy on me too?" He realized, looking dejected. Kaki took the opportunity to strike, thrusting forward and pointed her two fingers at Jirou, shouting something in Chinese. Jirou responded by putting up a wall of earth, also shouting in Chinese. It blocked the ball of fire that Kaki had shot towards him, but just barely, crumbling apart after that. Jirou felt a small burning inside his chest as Kaki pointed at him again, another Chinese shout coming from her. He quickly rolled out of the way as an explosion showed from where his chest once was. Jirou took the opportunity to kick a piece of the earth towards Kaki, empowering it with magic, also shouting in Chinese. Kaki reached for her wakizashi, quick enough to slice it in half before it reached her. Kaki sheathed her wakizashi and pulled out her rapier, slashing it towards Jirou, a slash of flame coming from it. Jirou redirected the magic this time, or tried to at least, though he didn't have quite enough power for that, and he ended up getting a little burned. The circle which had been carved into the earth for the last few hundred years did protect Kaki and Jirou from each other's magic - mostly. It still let the smallest bit of magic through, to encourage the users to at least try to get out of the way. "Jirou," he heard his name, however quietly, and he noticed Atsuko was standing just at the edge of the circle, hands together over her chest. She was watching with concern, and Jirou suddenly felt himself a little more confident. Jirou pulled off his glasses and swiped them towards Kaki, letting out a shout and a large chunk of earth went flying towards Kaki. This time it was her who couldn't get out of the way, but she managed to put her arms in front of her centre mass, and she took the hit with those. She shook off the dirt using magic, a created a spike with the dirt, sending it flying towards her Deputy. She really wasn't messing around this time. Jirou dodged out of the way but felt a small sting when the spike grazed his arm, and left him with a small cut. "You really have been going easy on me," Jirou realized, before using Kaki's own trick against her, going to combust her from the inside. "You've never drawn blood before." Kaki used the magical energy building up inside her and forced it back out towards Jirou, causing a small explosion where he used to be. "You thought it would be that easy?" Kaki said, though she let out a small cough afterwards. Jirou had got her a little bit, but she had given up her ability to defend to attack him instead. Kaki took in a deep breath, summoned up as much power as she could now muster, and sent one last attack, a huge ball of fire flying towards Jirou. This one he was unable to block, and he went flying back, breaking through the bounds of the circle. "Ouch, ouch ouch," he muttered, smelling a small burning and realizing Kaki had fried a bit of his hair. "Nice going, Kaki, you broke the circle," Jirou chastised, but Kaki just grinned in return. "We were going to break it anyway," she pointed out. Jirou looked towards Atsuko when he realized that Kaki was staring at something, and that something happened to be his partner. Atsuko was staring at him wide eyed, looking concerned, terrified, and full of wonder, all at the same time. "You... really... weren't kidding about the whole... wizard thing," Atsuko realized, looking the same way she sounded. "I wasn't," Jirou answered easily, "I really am a Wizard, Kaki really is my Warden commander, I really do solve supernatural crimes." "And put yourself in danger," Atsuko commented, looking concerned for Jirou. "And you're all alone. And you're doing all these crazy things I..." she trailed off, looking down. Kaki had wandered off for a moment, allowing Jirou and Atsuko to talk. Jirou jumped to his feet, hurrying over to Atsuko. She looked like she might cry, and Jirou wasn't sure what else to do beside wrap his arms around her and pull her into a hug. Jirou wasn't affectionate very often, he never got himself involved in love or romance. Still, Atsuko was his partner of sorts, his platonic partner, and he did see himself spending the rest of his life with her, just not in the same way. So there were occasions where Jirou did get affectionate, and this was one of those occasions. "I'm sorry to worry you," Jirou tried to comfort her, "please remember I chose this path for myself. I knew what it entailed. I knew it would be dangerous. It was all worth it, every bit of it." Atsuko grew quiet for a moment, though she appeared to relax under his arms after he had hugged her. "Why did you want me to come this morning?" Atsuko wondered. "More proof," Jirou explained, "or at least, to normalize this whole thing a little bit." "Kaki is much stronger than you," Atsuko pointed out. "You can say that again," Jirou grumbled, pulling away a little bit. "I can't believe she and Ed have been going easy on me this whole time." "Ed?" Atsuko wondered. "Yeah. He and I do hand to hand combat training together. Kaki and I do magical training together. I thought I was finally catching up to them, but I guess I'm not," Jirou explained, then he let out a long, rejected sigh. "Oh, you are," the voice was Kaki's, who had returned from her short walk to burst in on the conversation. Jirou's face turned red when he realized his hands were still on Atsukos shoulders, and he quickly pulled away, standing straight up. "Four elements, Ji, you're doing exceptionally," Kaki continued, "I learned my fourth element let's see... You know I believe it was earth now that I think about it. Yes. Spirit was last. Anyway. It was after... That... adventure. Sorry that ones redacted. It had to do with Ninurta, let's put it that way." "Ninurta!?" Jirou exclaimed, getting into a suddenly tense position. "Ninurta?" Atsuko asked, wondering where all the tension was coming from. "Redacted?" She then asked. "I gave Jirou the log books of all of my adventures, for reference. Just in case he needs notes on something to fight," Kaki explained. "Back when I did what he does now. Solving supernatural crimes in Saskatoon. Ah, those were the days. Back with the Spook Squad-" "Kaki," Jirou interrupted when his commander started getting off topic. "Right, right, Fauxland. That guy. Anyway, some of my adventures in my log books are... redacted and vague, for reasons relating to the seventh law of magic - ever seek knowledge or power from beyond the outer gates. I did some fighting with some things from beyond the gates, like Fauxland - who we just called Ninurta - and since I didn't want Jirou to stumble across that stuff, I redacted it from the log book. I was involved with the incident, and since he's trapped for a while, they're okay with me knowing. Jirou, on the other hand..." "That seems counterintuitive," Atsuko commented, "what if Jirou has to fight something like it?" "I know it's weird," Kaki said with a shrug. "It's the way the things from beyond the outer gates work. The more people know about them, the more powerful they become," Jirou explained, "it's like that with most Gods, really, just the ones from the outer gates..." ".... it's better if no one believes in them," Kaki finished after Jirou trailed off. Atsuko seemed satisfied with the answer, though she did look a little troubled. Kaki motioned with her head towards the circle, saying, "one more round," to Jirou. She figured he had enough rest time to get enough mental energy to power a circle and do another bout. Jirou nodded and followed her to the edge of the circle, beginning the chanting with her once more. Jirou and Kaki did four more bouts to do an odd five, and Jirou lost all of them. He swore he came close to winning one at one point, though it wasn't surprising he couldn't win. Jirou was still no match for Kaki Yukimura. After the fifth round, Jirou become to physically exhausted to continue, so the two decided that was quite enough, and Kaki retired to the dojo to do some mid morning meditation. Usually Jirou would join her for that too, but today Atsuko was here, so instead he let Kaki be and wandered off with his best friend. They eventually decided on a short walk through the Yukimura Estates zen gardens. "You're really, really a wizard," Atsuko repeated, and Jirou felt he would hear that a lot for the next little while. "Really, really," Jirou answered. "And you really do magic, and you really solve supernatural crimes," Atsuko said, another repetition. "Really, really," Jirou repeated this time, shifting his hands in his pockets. "What about your friends?" Atsuko wondered, "are they all wizards too?" "No, I'm the only full wizard," Jirou started, "there are other magic users, but they aren't Wizards. Wizards are only Wizards when they're recognized by the White Council. The last time I was here for a few months, I was tested, and they accepted me as Wizard, and deputized me under Kaki. Among magic users, there's also sorcerers - who have the same power set as Wizards but who either haven't been or refuse to be recognized by the Council. Shinichi is now technically a sorcerer, since the Council will never recognize him after what he's done," Jirou made a small face, a kind of sad one. He did miss his brothers most days. "Then there are focused practitioners. Their magic is more focused, and they only use one element. Like my friend Alphonse, who's an earth practitioner, or Emma, who uses just water and Bijoux, who uses spirt magic." "Just three others? What about all of your other friends?" Atsuko asked. "Well... let's see. There's Lucas, who's a... how do I put this. He's the hand of a God named Prometheus. In Greek myth, he's the one who brought fire to humans. Basically, Prometheus gave him the gift of healing, and Lucas basically can't die. Then there's Kiya, who's a descendent of the First Nations trickster God, Coyote. She's got all kinds of Holy powers related to him, it's pretty neat actually. Antares is.... he's a faerie creature, winter aligned. See fae are split into two Courts - summer and winter. Winter are vicious, if they don't like you they tell you, that kind of thing. Summer seems nice, on the outside anyway, but they're just as tricky as winter fae, if not worse. So my friend Antares is a member of the winter court of faeries, which technically makes me a friend of Winter, much to Kaki's dismay." "Why does that upset her?" Atsuko wondered. "Kaki's a friend of Summer, has been forever. So me being a friend of winter is kind of... we'll she's not fond of it," Jirou explained. "Summer and Winter don't get along, at all. Winter exists to protect the world. Summer exists to protect the world from winter. It leads them to a lot of fighting, and they always need to outdo one another." "Just like the changing of the season," Atsuko laughed a little after she spoke, though Jirou wasn't sure what she found so funny. He supposed it had something to do with how petty it sounded to her, considering she wasn't submerged in the work like he was. "Yeah," he commented, "but back to my friends. Finally there's Gaspar. He's a lizard man, cursed by an old voodoo queen. He wears an amulet, and when he takes it off he turns into a lizard. It's really cool," Jirou explained. "That sounds very cool," Atsuko agreed. "What about Nika?" She asked suddenly, and Jirou stopped in his tracks, touching his chest as he felt a strong rush of sadness. Atsuko stopped shortly after, looking back towards Jirou, tilting her head a little. "How did you...?" Jirou wondered, looking at Atsuko with an almost disturbed look. "The soulgaze," she explained, "I saw a statue of an old man and heard his name. 'Nika.'" "Nika is..." Jirou trailed off. "He was a holy man. He believed in all the spirits of the universe. Plus he was tough. He could really take a hit. He was kind, when I needed him he was there, and he really stepped in to keep me and the others safe. In the end that's what.... Nika is dead. He died last year, when he stepped in front of a massive energy blast to save the rest of us. He managed to divert all the energy into his Demesne, his own portion of the world between worlds." Jirou started walking again, though slowly. "I blamed an evil sorcerer, rabbi Yafe for his demise. I grew so angry, I swore vengeance upon him. I got it, but.... it wasn't a pretty way for anyone to die. I was so wrapped up in guilt and sorrow after it all. Kaen and Kaki told me I did the right thing. Shinichi, too, and it was because of my actions against the Rabbi I became a wizard to begin with. Still...." he looked down, and felt his shoulders rise in tension. He looked back towards Atsuko, and she looked unsure what to say. It looked almost like horror, but not quite, with a small amount of sadness there. Jirou let out a sigh, and looked forward again continuing his walk. "Antares always told me it gets easier," Jirou continued when Atsuko didn't speak. She still followed him, and listened of course, but she was at a loss for words. "If I'm being honest, I wasn't sure I believed him at first. I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially after what happened with the rabbi. But.... when Shinichi came to visit, it happened again. Someone was coming to kill him and... I just lost it. I wouldn't let them hurt my brother. Without even thinking I killed someone else, and the worst part was Antares was right. The second time was... so much easier. It sounds kind of horrible, thinking about it." "Though, from what you've said," Atsuko finally piped up, "you're only fighting bad people, right? And it sounds like the world you live in need it from you so... so don't worry too much." Jirou looked back at Atsuko once more when she spoke. "Thank you," he said eventually. "Sorry," he then said, looking away again, "I shouldn't be talking about something so grim." "It's okay," Atsuko answered, "you have to get it out to someone. Besides, it's my fault for asking." "No, you deserve to know whatever you want," Jirou answered, "I've been keeping things from you so long... You deserve to know." Atsuko was quiet again - Jirou was right again. He had been keeping this from her for a long time, and now that she knew everything... it felt like it wasn't quite the same Jirou she used to know. It was, but it very much wasn't. The two walked in circles around the Yukimura garden, until they wound back up in the training yards. "How long have you even been doing this?" Atsuko asked, gazing at the circle embedded in the ground. "Well... I've known about magic my whole life," Jirou answered, "great grandmother used to tell us all about magic, and the Samurai Yukimura's. we didn't believe her, of course. It's a crazy story - magic can't be real, that's what we all thought anyway. Well, surprise! I found out it was real when I was eleven - Shinichi discovered his own abilities when he was ten, very common for Yukimura's. He neglected to tell me, though, and I found out on accident, and he explained everything. That grandmother was right. He was spirit, and I must be earth. That brought its own issues, though. See I was already eleven - according to legend, Yukimura's unlock their abilities by or before ten. How could I be earth? I was already too old." "But you were," Atsuko pressed on. "But I was," Jirou continued, "I was twelve, and I was angry at Shinichi. I can't remember why. But I remember I was shouting. And I remember thinking I could just throw a plant at him if he felt like being difficult. And I threw a plant at him, but not with my hands. I used energy to move the earth within the plant, and Shinichi and I freaked out. I had done it! I was earth. We kept on after that, practicing, going to help people in the city, the usual. But I didn't really get into things until I became Kaki's apprentice. Magic is my job now, which I of course always intended." "Suddenly those tired mornings make a lot more sense..." Atsuko said thoughtfully, giving Jirou a side glance with a raised eyebrow. He just gave an embarrassed smile, and he adjusted his glasses a little. "But your job? Wait, you make money?" "Of course," Jirou answered, "when my friends and I got signed on with the police, they started us on a salary. I get paid by the police, also they got my workers visa in order, which was really nice." "That's amazing," Atsuko commented, her face and voice matched in amazement. Jirou looked embarrassed once more. "Not as amazing as I'll be with a gray cloak and silver sword," Jirou said, balling up his fist in front of him. "She said I was so close... that soon I would be able to wield that blade..." Atsuko tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, right," Jirou started, remembering Atsuko still needed a lot of explanation. See, Kaki's a Warden Commander. The Warden corps are the White councils combined military and police unit. We hunt the breakers of the seven laws. Yukimura's have been member of the Warden Corps for generations, since the beginning of the curse. There are two things that mark a Warden - a gray cloak, like Kaki was wearing earlier, and a silver sword... which Kaki has two of. A Wardens sword is enchanted, it can cut through enchantments and well... people, makes it easier to do the job. Since the Yukimura's have been wardens for generations, they've passed down their daisho for generations. Each Katana held by a Yukimura - well I guess in Kaki's case, a Wakizashi - has been enchanted. However, you can only wield these swords when you're deemed worthy, by a Yukimura of higher standing. So, Kaki has that right over me, and a while back she told me I'm almost ready to wield them. They've been sitting on display since I left home. I can't wait to become a Warden. It's all I ever wanted." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked towards Atsuko, who gave him a determined look. "You can do it," she told him, looking as determined as he felt. "Right," Jirou remembered, "you can feel that, can't you?" "Yes," Atsuko answered. "Whether I want to or not, I do." "I don't understand," Jirou wondered, "when you told me you liked me, you had to know what my answer would be." "It's not that powerful," Atsuko explained, "I could tell you were confused, and weren't sure what to do. But.... I could also feel something really strong beneath all that, something neither of us could explain. So yes, I sort of knew that you didn't exactly feel the same way. But I also knew you still thought of me differently. Telling you how I felt about you was more for my own good in the end. I didn't want to be quiet anymore." "Were you happy with my answer? Being what we are now," Jirou asked. "Of course," Atsuko answered easily, "of course I would be very happy if you did love me the way I wanted. But I can't change that about you - I guess that's one of the reasons I love you so much. And I am happy that you do love me too, even if it's different, even if it's just as friends, or something in between. I'm just happy to be by your side." "I'm glad," Jirou answered, before letting out a laugh. "Hey, aren't I supposed to tell you I love you?" He joked. "Sorry," Atsuko laughed, "I guess I kind of stole words from your mouth. I do that sometimes." "That's alright," Jirou said, waving his hand a little. "I suddenly understand so much more about you. I guess a soulgaze does that, though." "What do you mean?" Atsuko wondered. "I always wondered why you chose to speak to me all those years ago. What drove you to be my friend. But I understand now. You saw me, and saw a lonely boy who needed someone. You were just kind enough to be that someone," Jirou explained. "With what I can do... I always saw it as a gift. Sure it can be overwhelming at times, but there are cases when people like you happen. I know I have to do something in those cases. Since I know, and no one else does, who else is going to help if not me," Atsuko answered. "I guess that's one of the reasons I love you so much," Jirou said, copying her sentiment from earlier. Atsuko let out a small giggle. "Jirou, I'm glad. I'm glad you told me everything," she answered eventually. Jirou realized upon saying his name, he felt a strange pull then he realized how close Atsuko Himura was to knowing his Name. He figured for her especially, it wouldn't be hard, especially after seeing his soul. He almost had a handle on her Name already, anyway. "I'm glad I did too," he answered. "I'm so glad I did too."
