Since the fight was done, we moved to the living room, with Mei suggesting that she prepare some tea, leaving us alone.
-"So, how should I treat you, Young Head of House Schariac?"
-"I believe it would be better if you just treat me as Eno, and I'll treat you as Mei's father. Let's not mix other things if it's not necessary."
-"Hmm…"-He looked me up and down.-"Sure, that's indeed the best approach. I just hope that you won't harm Mei."
-"I won't."-I promised him.
-"Good."-He nodded.-"But I won't agree to anything between you and my Mei."
I just looked toward the kitchen, where Mei was carrying a prepared tea.
-"Sorry for making you wait, Eno."-She placed the cups before us and poured tea for everyone.
-"Thank you."
-"Mhmm. How's your brow?"-She looked at the thin red line over my eyebrow.
-"Nothing worth worrying about. My body heals quickly."
-"Ehem."-The old father cleared his throat, feeling ignored by Mei.-"Mei, you don't need to care about that guy. Bleeding is something he should be familiar with."
-"Dad, that's impolite."
-"Boy, why are you here today anyway?"-He changed the subject quickly.
-"I just returned from a job, so I wanted to invite Mei to relax."
-"Job? Aren't you too young to be working part-time?"-Mei furrowed her brow.
-"Why do you always focus on my age?"-I looked at her with a displeased expression.
-"Well…"-She avoided my gaze.-"Dad, can I go?"
-"Sure, but return before ten."
-"Thank you."-She smiled and went to her room to change clothes.
-"Boy… No. Eno, I truly hope you won't disappoint her."
-"I don't have a habit of disappointing people."
The vacation soon ended, and school started again. Mei became president of the kendo club and made me her deputy, which increased our time together even further. It has been almost a year since I came to this city, and while some things didn't change at all, some finally did. Sadly, my height still fell into the first category, so while Mei grew to almost 1.7m, I remained my pitiful 1.5m.
While I prayed for a fast growth spurt, I noticed that my job had started to get busier lately, with more and more Honkai beasts and zombies appearing around the city. At first, I didn't think much of it, but one evening my whole approach to the situation changed.
A sudden Honkai reaction caused me to cut my evening with Mei short, as I was forced to go there personally, since everyone else from my team was busy. When I arrived, I found only three Zombies there, and after dealing with them in three swift strikes, I prepared to return when I heard a series of hurried footsteps.
A moment later, a white-haired girl rushed from behind a corner, ready to fight, only to find the enemy lying dead. She looked around, noticed me standing in a corner, and she called out to me.
-"Hey, kid! Did you do it?"
-"You are a kid! But yes, I killed those zombies."-I got annoyed at the girl's inability to speak properly.-"Who are you? Identify yourself."
-"Eh? What? Identify yourself?"
-"Are you acting dumb?"-I tilted my head.-"What organization do you belong to? What's your squad and rank? What mission?"
-"Eeeeee…."-She scratched her head.-"I'm me, killing Honkai by myself."
-"Sigh. At least tell me your name, Miss 'me'."
-"Oh, sorry. I'm Kiana, Kiana Kaslana."
-"Kaslana?"-I raised my eyebrow.-"But I've never heard your name. Mind telling me who your parents are?"
-"My dad is called Siegfried."
-"So it's you."-I recognized her as the 'lost kitten' Otto mentioned.-"I'm Eno, Enoch Schariac, an A-Rank Schicksal Warrior of Immortal Blades from Headquarters."
-"EHHH??! You are an A-Rank?! You kid?!!"-Kiana almost fell on her butt after hearing my introduction.
I felt my eye twitch, but I ignored it.
-"I am. As Kaslana, I assume you are a Trainee Valkyrie, so in my capacity as an A-Rank Warrior, I order you to tell me your actions during the last month or two, and any discoveries about the situation in the city."
-"Sure."-She nodded and told me about her travels around; most of her story was unnecessary, but something attracted my attention.-"So I found that some buildings started to install strange, AC-like devices on them. When I slept near one, I would feel energized the next morning."
-"Wait."-I interrupted her.-"Take me to such a device near here."
-"This way."-She grabbed my arm and dragged me a few streets before we arrived at something that, to an uninformed person, would look like an AC.-"Here."
I observed it and instantly felt a Honkai Energy emanating from it. It was slight, about 5-6HW, but that was only if one had brief contact with it. With prolonged exposure, transforming an average person into a zombie was not an issue. Summoning a few swords, I dismantled the outer shell, revealing a futuristic mechanism inside, something I could recognize to my shock and fury.
-"Those bastards!"
-"Eh, you know what it is?"-She asked, trying to poke it with her finger.
-"Bomb. A small Honkai fission bomb. Judging by size and Honkai radiation, it should be between 200-250HW in strength, enough to summon ten or so Honkai beasts instantly, not to mention flattening the nearby building."
-"What!?"
-"This changes things. Miss Kiana, I hope you can temporarily join my squad and help me deal with this danger."
-"Yes, Captain."-She saluted me.
-"Then for now I'll take you back to my home. I hope you can try to remember all the locations of such ACs and report them to me tomorrow."
-"I'll try."-She deflated slightly.
And that's how I abducted a lost kitten home, handing her to Bronya to care for. With the existence of bombs coming to light, I thought that the situation couldn't get worse, but I was proven wrong almost instantly.
When I came to school the next morning, the whole atmosphere was different; there were no fake smiles or empty pleasantries, only disdain and schadenfreude. Without me needing to ask, I quickly learned what was going on. Mei's father was arrested and quickly convicted for financial crimes. It was total bullshit. Let alone me, most of the people around should be able to understand that by looking at a few facts, but no one did; they just threw curses and insults at Mei.
When I entered the classroom, Mei was already seated, her eyes covered by her hair due to her head being lowered. On her desk, some offensive words were scribbled, and I could see some fresh, wet spots among them. Without carrying for surrounding looks, I walked forward and embraced Mei, burying her head in my arms. She didn't struggle or move, just grabbed my hand and started to cry.
As she was venting her emotions, I moved and picked her up in a princess carry, taking her away from that classroom toward the quiet part of the school. There, I sat down with her on my knees, letting her lean on me, which was a little awkward due to the height difference. I held her like that, letting her vent everything she bottled up in herself.
-"Eno."-She muttered softly.
-"Hmm?"
-"Thank you."
-"I didn't do anything special."
-"No, you did the most special thing you could."-She leaned her head on my shoulder, watching my face with her still red eyes.-"You were right. I tried too much to be Lady Raiden, and now that the bubble burst, there is no one who cares about just Mei."
-"Hey, don't just forget me like that."-I joked.
-"I never will."-She smiled.
-"Hey, do you want to do something exciting?"-I narrowed my eyes to hide a mischievous glint.
-"Like?"-Mei raised her eyebrow.
-"Skipping school?"-I winked.
-"Sure, I never tried it before."
-"Then hold tight."-I stood up and summoned a sword.
Then, a cute, girlish yelp echoed around the school as a swift streak flew high into the sky. I controlled the sword to fly into the clouds, enjoying the tight embrace of Mei as we traversed through the clouds. Soon, we left behind the gray, rainy clouds and arrived above, overlooking a sea of white wool and cotton. Mei also noticed the scene around us, weakening the embrace slightly to look around.
-"Beautiful."-She said in amazement.
-"I know. This scene makes me remember why I started to learn sword."
-"Can you tell me?"-She asked me about my past, something she never did before.
-"It's nothing interesting. I don't know my parents, and for as long as I can remember, Master took care of me. When I was three years old, Master took me to see the world more. Traveling through most of Europe and Asia, I saw many people and places, seeing both good and evil for the first time. After a year of travel, Master asked me: for what do I swing my sword each morning?"
-"For all that's good?"-She tried to guess my answer.
-"No."-I shook my head.-"I answered: 'So that I never have to be marred by the ugly world underneath, to keep my truth pure and untainted by the judgment of mortals, for my self to not be changed by the world, but to change the world according to myself.' "
-"Quite a quote for a four-year-old."-Mei smiled.
-"You are held by someone who finished a Physics PhD while being nine."-I rolled my eyes.-"But every time I think of the dark skies hanging above, I remember the whole white ocean even higher above it. No matter what color the world tries to paint you, if you can rise above it, then you'll remain pure white."
Mei looked at me, face in a daze, losing herself in my smile. But unbeknownst to me, deep in her unconsciousness, something stirred, making her remember a memory that belonged to an unfamiliar 'her'. The sky was covered with the same dark clouds, lightning raging between the high-rises. Despite her worry, she tried to calm down her friends and lead them to safety, but alone, she couldn't do anything.
Then that figure appeared, the 'pure-white', who helped her once again. He treated her as an equal, not like a burden or a vase, gave her the opportunity to prove herself, and took her out of that city, changing her previously mundane life. Despite the memory being short and fragmented, Mei overlapped that pure-white figure onto the current me, and while many things didn't match, deep inside she knew that those figures were one and the same.
-"Mei?"-I called out to her, seeing her tear up again.
-"Eno."-She mumbled back.-"It's always you who changes my world."
-"Hmm?"-I tilted my head, not catching her meaning.
-"Can you teach me?"
-"Teach you?"
-"Yes. Flying on the sword."
-"Sure, but you have no foundation in Honkai control, so it might be hard for you."
-"I still want to try."
I nodded and helped her stand on my sword, expanding it slightly so that both of us could stand more comfortably. First, I had her feel how I controlled it, slowly giving her control over parts of the flight, until she was the one controlling the sword. It took her the whole day; only when the sun set behind the horizon and the bright moon shone above our heads did she manage to fly on her own.
Like an immortal fairy, she danced among the clouds, the gloom from the morning nowhere to be seen. But we knew that it was time to return to the earth; some things couldn't be run away from. As I was to take her back, she hugged my face to her chest, kissing the top of my head.
-"Eno, can I stay in your home for some time. I don't want to return to that empty house."
-"Sure, but aren't you afraid that I won't let you go after?"
-"No. In truth, I hope you won't."
So I took Mei to my house, and when we entered, we were greeted by everyone else.
-"Welcome back, Lord, Miss Raiden."-Maria spoke from the kitchen.-"I believe you must be hungry. Give me a moment, and I'll warm something for you."
-"Please and thank you."
Aside from newly arrived Kiana, everyone else knew Mei, and they were quite familiar, so after a moment of worry due to the whole framing matter, she returned to her usual self, joining Maria in the kitchen. Mei and Maria met for the first time shortly after we moved here, and the two of them bonded rather quickly as young misses of great families. Maria also became Mei's cooking teacher; the two of them would often make my bento together.
To be honest, I couldn't understand how those girls' friendships worked, but remembering advice from Otto, 'never try to understand women; men are too stupid for that', I decided to heed it before I regretted it. Our household was already chaotic enough, with my position in it varying greatly depending on the matter at hand.
As my thoughts started to wander, Kiana came down into the living room and was instantly attracted to Mei, as if some gene activated in her. I watched in amusement as Mei got more and more troubled by the overly enthusiastic Paramecium. In the end, it was Bronya who saved her, putting Kiana in her place with a few well-executed verbal jabs.
A few minutes later, we all sat down for an evening meal, talking about the bombs in the city during it. Maria and Angelia swept most of the city today, finding at least thirty bombs hidden in various places, disarming them as they went. Kiana and Bronya had even more luck, collecting fifty bombs before they returned. With such an amount of Honkai bombs, the whole city could be destroyed, but one question remained: why?
Tomorrow they will continue their search, trying to find more traces that might explain the hidden causes of this situation. With the enemy in the dark, we didn't try to act during the night, so everyone went to rest instead. As I was to go to sleep, the doors to my room opened, and a figure slipped in.
-"Mei?"
-"Mhmm."-She walked to the side of my bed and sat down.-"Eno, can I stay with you?"
-"You…"-I looked at her with disbelief.-"You truly don't treat me as a man."
Her face reddened, but she didn't leave.
-"Sigh, sure. Just you wait…"-I lay down, annoyed at my low age.
Mei also lay down, entering my quilt and hugging me from behind.
-"I'll wait for you."-She whispered in my ear.
In the end, I didn't manage to get any real sleep. Mei, on the other hand, slept like the dead, hugging me the whole time like a body pillow. The next morning, I sent her to school, after which I joined everyone else in trying to secure all the bombs before a tragedy occurred. But what we didn't know was that the tragedy was already starting, and soon, the world would change once again.