Sunset shivered in the cool spring air as she walked towards library island. After a couple of months in Evangeline’s tropical vila, the more temperate climate of Japan was a little too chilly for her tastes.
“At least it’s warming up,” she muttered. “Summer’s just around the corner. Sun. Heat. Guys and girls in skimpy, revealing clothing.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “As if 3-A had any reservations about showing skin, anyway.”
Her first destination after Evangeline begrudgingly released her had been an obvious choice. Though only two days had passed in Japan, she felt a longing for friendly companionship that she hadn’t felt since she’d grown used to being separate from her brother. Ugh, is this what friendship does to you? Makes you all sad and mopey if you don’t see them all the time? No wonder I avoided it like the plague. Despite her internal grumbling, however, Sunset couldn’t keep a small smile from her face as she approached the library doors and saw one of her friends about to enter. “Honya!” she called.
Nodoka turned, her eyes going wide when she saw Sunset. “Nichi-chan!” She ran over, almost tripping over her own feet in her haste. “Where have you been! Eva-chan said you’d come down with something and had to come back early, but you weren’t in our room or the infirmary and we got so worried and-”
Sunset chuckled and held up a hand to ward off Nodoka’s constant stream of worrying. “I’m fine, Honya. Really. I wasn’t even really sick. Evangeline had something she needed to show me urgently and I was staying at her place.”
Nodoka let out a great sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. Negi-sensei told me about what happened with the white-haired boy and Konoka-chan and how Eva-chan saved everyone, but I thought maybe that they’d gotten you with something that Konoka-chan didn’t catch.”
Nah, just got stabbed in the chest by a vampire and almost got consumed by my own mana. No biggie. Looking for a way to change the topic, Sunset noticed the cans of juice in Nodoka’s arms. “Drink run for the Club?”
Nodoka nodded and they both turned to enter the library. “Haruna-chan’s been on a research binge. She’s trying to figure out what sort of gas ‘knocked us out’ back in Kyoto.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Gas leak? That’s the cover they’re going with?”
Nodoka shrugged in reply. “The petrification spell did release a lot of smoke, and there isn’t really anything else that would have been convincing.” She bit her lip nervously. “Not that she’s really convinced. The white-haired boy got to her first, and she saw him before he got her. And she isn’t really finding anything that would produce that much smoke and just knock us out for a while. And with her being the only Library Expedition member from our class who doesn’t know about…”
Sunset nodded. “She’s getting suspicious. Damn it. Haruna’s not one to let things go once she latches on to them. We might need to end up telling her sooner rather than later, if only so we can control what she does with the information.”
Nodoka puffed out her cheeks, pouting slightly. “Mou. You’re going to win the pot at this rate. With Mana-chan, Ku Fei-chan, and Kaede-chan finding out, and now Haruna-chan, the whole class will know about magic before too long.” They rounded the corner into the library proper. “Yue! They didn’t have any tomato milk, so- ah! N-Negi-sensei!”
“Hm?” Looking into the library, Sunset found Asuna and Negi gathered with Haruna and Yue around a large map that they’d rolled out over one of the tables. She walked forward to examine it, ignoring the awkward greetings between Nodoka and Negi. “What’s this?” she asked aloud.
“A map of Library Island,” Yue explained. “Negi-sensei’s father was researching it a while back.” She checked to make sure that Haruna was distracted by Nodoka and Negi before lowering her voice. “Which only helps confirm the theory that the whole place was created by mages.”
Sunset nodded, studying the map and frowning at various scribbles and doodles that decorated it in places. “This will be useful,” she muttered. “There are some hidden passages in here that even I haven’t discovered yet. Look! It even has an alternate path to the room that held the Book of Melchizedek, and a few others that lead to the chamber beneath. I wonder if-”
“I can smell it!”
Sunset looked up to see Haruna pointing dramatically at Asuna, a manic grin on her face. “That faint, bittersweet smell of love, coming from that way!”
“There’s no such thing as ‘the smell of love!’” Asuna shouted back.
Sunset smirked. Map can wait. Time for some teasing. “Are you sure, Asuna? Your face is looking pretty red right about now. Just what, or who, were you thinking about?”
Asuna’s eyes darted quickly to Negi before snapping back to Sunset. “N-no-one!” she shouted, pointing accusingly at Haruna. “Anyone would be a little red-faced after an accusation like that!”
Yue raised a hand. “I wouldn’t.”
Sunset nodded. “Nor I. And I’m pretty sure Haruna would be fine too. That’s three out of five against you.”
Asuna grit her teeth and turned on the spot. “Whatever,” she mumbled, stomping out of the library. “I don’t have to take this.”
“A-Asuna-san! Wait!”
Sunset frowned, regretting her teasing a bit as she watched Asuna and Negi leave. That was strange. She seemed really frustrated for some reason. Could it be… no. No way we were on the mark. She shook her head. Well, whatever it was, I hope she gets over it soon. Last thing we need is that wild monkey at full temper. “So Haruna, does this mean we’re going to be doing some more dungeon delving soon?”
“Hard to say,” Haruna replied, reluctantly turning her attention back to less romantic matters. “Most of these new passages are further down than we’re allowed to go, and the rest would only be good shortcuts if we could guarantee that they were empty of traps.” She pointed at one such path over which someone had drawn a skeleton being electrocuted and another that had “CERTAIN DEATH” written over it. “And something tells me they aren’t.”
“So if we wanted to get anything from this,” Yue summed up, “we’d have to explore after-hours and hope not to get caught.”
“Or just let you do it,” Haruna added, “since you don’t care about the rules anyway.”
It was a testament to how often and how flagrantly Sunset violated those rules that no-one offered any objections.
“Still, probably not a good idea,” Sunset said. “Most of those tunnels are marked with danger signs too. I wouldn’t want to go in there without some sort of backup.”
“Well then,” Haruna said with a grin, “looks like we’ve got another late-night, deep-dive exploration to plan!”
*****
Sunset’s next stop was another that she’d been looking forward to. She arrived at the Kendo Club’s dojo amidst the sound of colliding bamboo. Removing her shoes and stepping inside, she found Setsuna locked in obviously one-sided combat with what looked like a male high-school senior. Despite the older student’s height, strength, and reach advantages, Setsuna was able to easily bring the fight to a swift and decisive conclusion while still taking note of Sunset’s presence. She bowed to her opponent before making her way over. “Impressive match,” Sunset complimented.
“Thank you,” Setsuna replied, not even winded. “Did you need to speak with me?”
Sunset nodded, here eyes darting to the room at large before focusing on Setsuna again. “Privately, if we could.”
They both donned their shoes and Setsuna led her around the back of the dojo to a small storage shed filled with broken bamboo swords and racks for the club’s pads and blades. She closed the door once they were both inside, a small window near the top providing a little light.
“Cozy,” Sunset said, leaning back against one of the walls. “You sure Konoka won’t be jealous of me for stealing away to this secluded little spot?” She chuckled at Setsuna’s embarrassed sputterings before shaking her head. “Seriously though, we’re alone, right? No chance of anyone listening through a wall?”
Setsuna took a deep breath, fighting down her blush. “No. Only our club uses this shed, and the other members know better than to eavesdrop on my private conversations.”
“Because they’d be kicked out of the club?”
“Because I would challenge them to a match.”
Sunset blinked, surprised at the smirk that crossed Setsuna’s face. “Well what do you know,” she said approvingly. “There is a personality under that stoic soldier mask.”
Setsuna shrugged. “There is a certain decorum expected of one who protects Ojou-sama. I’m allowed to relax a little in my limited private time.”
“I’m sure Konoka would appreciate it if you relaxed a little more in your time with her, too.”
Setsuna frowned and looked away, crossing her arms. “That… I know. But I can’t-”
“Oh don’t even get started,” Sunset snapped. “You really think Konoka cares one bit about what’s propper and what’s not? About your stations or tradition or any of that?”
Setsuna bit her lip. “I… I know she doesn’t. But… it’s not so easy for me to just throw it all away. I have given the matter some consideration, but…”
Sunset glared at Setsuna as the girl trailed off, hesitant and confused. What the heck is her problem? You’d think two months would be long enough for her to figure out how to… oh. Sunset mentally facepalmed. Right. Two months for you. Two days for everyone else. She sighed. “Look, just… try to figure it out soon, okay? I’m sure that Konoka is happy that you were her guardian angel that night or whatever, but she’ll be even more happy to have a friend supporting her. Especially since she knows all about magic now. She’s getting flung head-first into something she’s never anticipated before and she’ll need every friendly hand she can get to help her along the way.”
Setsuna’s eyes went wide. “I… hadn’t thought of that.”
And I’m pulling it out of my ass, Sunset thought. Nodoka or Asuna, maybe, but Konoka’s scarily competent. She’ll be fine either way. But if it’ll get you to shut up and drop this whole drama theatre… “Anyway, that’s not what I came here to talk to you about.”
Setsuna shook her head slightly, putting away her thoughts on Konoka for the moment. “Alright. What did you want to talk about then?”
“Simply put…” Sunset held up her hand and focused just enough ki into it for her to be sure Setsuna would be able to sense it, “...this.”
Setsuna’s eyes went wide. “That’s…” They narrowed. “Evangeline. So that’s what happened on the mountain that night.”
“You felt that, huh?”
“Sunset, everyone at headquarters felt it. Even the ones who can use neither magic nor ki felt a tension in the air. If Evangeline hadn’t returned immediately and assured us that she was handling it, everyone would have assumed we were under attack again.” She shook her head. “But that still doesn’t make sense. Teaching you how to unlock your ki shouldn’t have yielded such a dramatic result.”
“It would if I had a lot of ki to unlock.” She sighed at Setsuna’s inquisitive look. “Do you have time? This might take a while.”
Setsuna’s eyes turned towards the door. “I should probably go and check on Ojou-sama.” Her eyes went back to Sunset and she winced at the girl’s unamused glower. “B-but you’re right. She is safe as long as she is at Mahora. I suppose I can take some time.”
Sunset snorted and rolled her eyes. Well, it’s improvement at least.
She held nothing back, explaining her Equestrian origins, the portal beneath Library Island, and the connection between her native magic and ki. She further explained where she’d been the last two days and how Evangeline had trained her to keep her ki under control. Setsuna listened with great attention throughout, interrupting only occasionally to get some point of clarification or another.
“This is an interesting conundrum,” Setsuna said once Sunset finished her tale. "For most, the struggle is to manifest enough power in the first place. Struggling to limit your power is a unique problem."
"Tell me about it," Sunset muttered. "That's why I came to you. Evangeline is going to teach me magic and general combat, but I need someone to teach me more about ki control."
"Why me, though?" Setsuna asked. "Why not Ku Fei-san or Kaede-san?"
"First, because ninjaing isn't my style and Ku Fei is an idiot."
"Ninjaing?"
"Second, because the class would get suspicious if I suddenly started hanging out with either of them. They've both been cold towards me since my show at the World Tree Plaza. But you're Konoka's friend, and we were in the same group during the trip. If I'm seen to be friendly with you, it'll lessen the chance of everyone else thinking I'm available for friendshiping compared to if I'm seen with Kaede or Ku Fei."
Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "I think between your friendship with Izumi-san and your impromptu tutoring of her group during the trip, that ship has long since sailed."
"Don't worry," Sunset said, waving her off. "I've got a plan to deal with that. My general reputation will be in the toilet by the end of the week."
“Dare I ask?”
“It’s a two-step process,” Sunset explained, ignoring Setsuna’s eye-roll. “First, I get myself invited to the Class Rep’s house. She’s got that whole western sophistication thing going on, and European high society is a pretty good match for Equestria’s; I’m sure that I can drop enough hints about tea and whatever to get her to take an interest.”
“‘Tea and whatever,’ is it?”
Sunset shrugged. “Hey, I said I was part of the upper crust back home, not that I enjoyed spending time with those pompous idiots. I can fake it well enough until I actually get to her place.” She grinned malevolently. “That’s where phase two comes in: trashing the place.”
Setsuna sighed. “So you’ll be graduating from verbal abuse to vandalism.”
“Oh, I won’t do any permanent damage,” Sunset said, waving her off. “Just a ton of little things. You know, throwing pillows half-way across the room because they’re in the way of sitting down, putting my feet up on the furniture, flipping through a book before putting it down in a way that bends the spine. You know, the sort of stuff that will send Ayaka into an absolute fit and ensure that she informs everyone in class of what a horrible, horrible person I am.”
“And you don’t think that it would be easier to just allow the class to befriend you?” Setsuna sighed at the scowl Sunset shot her way. “Of course. Give me a few days to put together a training regimen for you. I’ll have to work things around Kakurazaka-san’s schedule.”
“Asuna?” Sunset tilted her head inquisitively to the side. “You’re training Asuna too?”
Setsuna nodded. “She asked me to train her in kendo.”
“Huh.” Sunset shrugged. “Well, good for her, I guess.” She pushed herself off of the wall and opened the door of the shed. “I’ll let you get back to kicking your club’s collective asses.” She hesitated and looked back. “Seriously though, try to get closer to Konoka. I don’t think there’s anything that would make her happier than to have you standing beside her rather than behind her in the shadows.”
Setsuna blushed and looked down. “I… I will consider it.”
Sunset huffed but turned to go. Good enough for now. But I swear if she drags her feet on this… She stopped and shook her head rapidly. Gah! Why in Tartarus do I care so much? I’m seriously getting soft here! She stomped off towards the school’s main building, a scowl building on her face. At least I have no reason to play nice at this next meeting. I can’t believe Evangeline insisted on this.
*****
"Takamichi. I need to talk to you. Alone."
The teacher's office was mostly empty, so Sunset only had to ignore a small handful of disapproving looks as she focused on Takamichi's look of mild surprise.
"Nichibotsu-chan," Professor Akashi sighed, "couldn't you show at least a little respect for us teachers?"
Sunset shrugged. "Waste of time."
"It's fine, Akashi-kun." Takamichi stood and smiled gently at Sunset. "Shall we take this to an empty classroom?"
Sunset gave a brief nod and turned to march down the hall, not bothering to see if Takamichi was following her. She stormed into the first classroom she saw and leaned back against the teacher's desk, tapping her foot impatiently.
Takamichi Takahata followed a few seconds later and closed the door behind him. Tall, grey haired, and subtly well-built, Takamichi was the definition of "handsome maturity." His grey suit and glasses gave him an intellectual air, and his worn face and kind eyes gave him the appearance of wisdom. He had a charming, casual personality and always made one-on-one time for his students. Everyone respected him, and more than a few students - Asuna included - had a crush on him.
Sunset couldn't stand him.
In truth, she'd had very few interactions with the former teacher of her class. But each interaction had grated on her in an unpleasantly familiar way. It hadn't been until a few days before Negi arrived that she'd realized who he reminded her of.
And he keeps secrets. One more similarity to add to the list. "Teach me to balance ki and magic."
Sunset had to begrudgingly respect that he wasn't taken aback. "I see," he replied, maintaining his pleasant smile. "I would have thought that you would have asked McDowell-chan and Sakurazaki-chan."
Sunset grit her teeth. So he knows everything. Figures. Another similarity. "I did. They're going to teach me separately. But neither of them can use both. You can. I don't need another teacher for spells or fighting techniques; I need someone who can help me use both of them together."
Takamichi was silent for a moment as he considered her demand. As if he didn’t already have an answer ready, Sunset mentally sneared. Making me wait for an answer is just a stupid power play and a front to make him seem oh so wise and contemplative. “Very well,” he eventually said. “We can start next week.”
“Good.” Sunset pushed off the desk and made to walk past him, but paused. “Oh, and one more thing.”
“Oh? What else did you-”
Sunset turned. Flared her ki. Struck out with her fist.
Wind roared. The class’ windows shattered outwards. Sunset felt her ears pop from the pressure.
Takamichi didn’t even flinch as Sunset’s fist stopped half an inch from his nose, his face never loosing its bemused smile.
“Hm. That’s a little more power than I expected.”
Sunset ground her teeth together, dampening her ki even as she kept her fist in his face. Well, that proves it. “Coward.”
Takamichi raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
Sunset lowered her fist. “Your glasses aren’t cracked.”
Takamichi blinked, finally caught off guard as he stared at Sunset through his perfectly intact spectacles. “My…”
“You used your ki,” Sunset continued. “Not enough to protect yourself if I hit, because you knew I wouldn’t follow through. Just enough to protect your glasses from shattering. With how much power I was just throwing around, you must have used more than a little to pull that off. And the precision wasn’t just impressive, it was instinctive. You knew exactly how much power to put in and exactly where to channel it. You read my attack, saw it coming a mile away. And while I wasn’t trying that hard to conceal it, I definitely wasn’t bothering to make it obvious.” Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “You aren’t just powerful or well-trained; you’re seasoned.”
Takamichi was silent another moment, “Nichibotsu-cha-”
“Enough!” Furious indignation filled Sunset as she shouted at Takamichi. “Enough with the cutesy ‘chan’ honorific! I’ll take it from my friends. I’ll take it from the other professors.” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “But I will NOT take it from you! You know what I am, and I know what you are. So let’s cut the crap and talk to each other like the soldiers we are.”
Another moment of silence. Takamichi stared down at Sunset, his smile gone, his face unreadable. Sunset glared right back, refusing to back down. Finally, Takamichi closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again, they lacked the casual warmth that he’d always shown his students. His whole face looked more worn, more aged. A slight frown replaced his constant smile. “I was never a soldier, Nichibotsu.”
“Semantics,” Sunset dismissed. “A mercenary is a soldier for hire and a rebel is a soldier fighting for a new order. Whatever you were, you were a warrior.” She gave him an appraising look. “Are a warrior.”
Takamichi shook his head. He turned and walked to the shattered window, staring out over the campus. “Those days are behind me,” he said. “I’m just a humble teacher.”
“Yeah, and that’s what pisses me off about you.”
Takamichi looked over his shoulder at Sunset and raised an eyebrow. “I got the impression that you always hated me.”
“And I figured out why a few months ago.” Sunset began counting off on her fingers. “You’re intelligent enough to lecture on a graduate or doctorate level, and yet you waste your time and talents on kids. You put on a venere of wisdom without ever dispensing any. You’re extremely conventionally attractive, and yet you either ignore all romantic feelings directed at you or are genuinely oblivious. You put up a front of kindness and open-heartedness, but you never actually let anyone get close to you. You see conflicts and battles all around you, but instead of pitching in to help, you let others fight instead, probably so they can ‘grow on their own’ or some such crap.” She finished off pointing an accusing finger at him. “And unless I significantly underestimate this world, you’re one of the most powerful people alive.”
Takamichi’s eyes went wide. “Why would you think-”
“You casually protected your glasses from a blow that should have reduced them to powder. You were unconcerned staring down someone who obviously has enough raw power to turn this school into a crater. And you’re close friends with Springfield, which I can only imagine comes from some connection to the enigmatic ‘Thousand Master’ I’ve heard about.” Sunset smirked and crossed her arms. “I may not have ever been in Abalone, but I know how to piece clues together.”
“I… see.” Takamichi turned to face Sunset directly, leaning back to sit on the empty windowsill. “And all of these traits are negative?”
They are when they all remind me of my last insufferable teacher. “You just happen to check off every box on the ‘things I hate about people’ list. Congratulations.”
“Nichi-”
“Of course they’re negative!” Sunset finally took her eyes from Takamichi and began pacing. “You’re intelligent! And influential! And powerful. Extremely powerful! And I’ve been in this world long enough to know that it’s going to hell in a handbasket. Disease-ridden Africa. Communist China. A tyrannical and war-torn Middle-East. The world’s greatest superpower is tearing itself apart with internal politics. And that’s just the obvious surface stuff. Drugs. Mass shootings. An honest-to-Tenko international underground sex- and slave-trade!” She stopped and turned, pointing an accusatory finger at Takamichi. “Are you going to stand there and tell me that you couldn’t fix ANY of that singlehandedly?!”
It was Takamichi’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Using magic on so large a scale and so publicly would have serious repercussions, both for me and for the magical community at large.”
“And there’s another thing I can’t stand about this world!” Sunset began pacing again. “Magic is secret? Seriously? What, did all of the mages of the world just get together one day and decide, ‘gee, I just don’t want to hold any real responsibility for my non-magical sisters and brothers’ and go underground until the world forgot about them? Do mages just look at a school held hostage by a madman with a gun and think, ‘oh, I could solve this problem with a few simple spells, but I don’t want magic to be exposed, so I’ll just sit here and watch those kids get murdered?’ Is that the sort of messed up world of mages and muggles that you support?!”
“What would you have me do, Nichibotsu,” Takamichi asked, almost demanded. “Would you have me singlehandedly solve the world’s problems, reveal magic to everyone, and fight off anyone who disagreed with me?”
“THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’D HAVE YOU DO!”
Takamichi took a step back, surprised at the vehemence with which Sunset threw her words at him. “That’s EXACTLY what you SHOULD do! Might and power are given to the righteous so that they can shape the world for the better! So that they can root out evil wherever it lurks and burn it to ashes with the mighty fires of retribution! Power given to someone who’s just going to sit on their throne on the sidelines and watch the world slowly destroy itself is pearls cast before swine, and the being who holds such power without using it is less than scum! SO WHY ARE YOU WASTING YOUR TIME HERE?!?!?!”
Takamichi stood in shock, staring at Sunset as her chest heaved, her panting breaths slowly returning to a normal pace. There was a hurt in his eyes, well-concealed, but Sunset had grown up reading the face of a being who had had millenia to master hiding her emotions. They stared at each other for a minute. Takamichi looked away.
Just like she did. Sunset snorted and turned, stomping over to the door. “I’ll let you know when Setsuna and Evangeline have me scheduled to work with them. We’ll work out a training schedule from there.
“Nichi-”
She slammed the door shut behind her.