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Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 22 - Prologue of Disturbance (II) - Chapter 6.2




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"Pixie, we have an emergency situation. Could you tell us who came to see Shiina-chan?"

"I cannot • answer • without • Masters • permission." Answered Pixie's refusal to Honoka's request.

Pixie woke up inside this shell, reading Honoka's thoughts. The spiritual informational form of the life of Honoka, which was infused in Pixie, was given by her, that is, it could be said she was her spiritual mother. But anyway, she did not have any feeling or desire to follow Honoka's orders. The owner of Pixie, and those to whom she wants to entirely dedicate herself, was Tatsuya alone and unchanged.

"Pixie." Instead of Honoka, who could not think of anything else to convince, she began talking to Shizuku with Pixie. "Your Master is absent from the school board because of an important matter."

"This is true."

"If we now contact Tatsuya-kun, we can prevent this important matter."

"This is a reasonable conclusion."

"I'll do it if you do not admit it's an emergency."

"Interfere • Master • not • allowed."

"Then tell us. Even if I have to interfere with Tatsuya-kun for this, I want to find out what happened to Shiina-chan."

Pixie was silent. Behavioral principles "cannot disclose sensitive information without Tatsuya's permission" and "cannot interfere with Tatsuya" conflicted with each other. If Pixie was a simple machine, it would be hanging from a contradictory task in which it is impossible to prioritize. But Pixie's electronic brain functioned under the control of a spiritual information entity called the Parasite. "She" set her own priorities.

"Yes."

This caused surprise and joy of those present. However, they all quickly calmed down and focused their attention on what Pixie would say next.

"The visitor • named • himself • the envoy • of the Mitsuya • family."

"But we heard that the Mitsuya family does not know about this."

In response to Erika's objection, Pixie turned her head with a mechanical movement, pointing to the side of the large display.

"Please • check out • the video."

The display shows the recording from the school video surveillance camera. This proved that it required breaking into the school systems, but nobody worried about that now. Since the minds of those present were filled with only the one problem.

"This woman • was called • the envoy • of the • Mitsuya family."

The image showed two people. A woman who is about 20-25 years old and a man who is about 30 years old. Contrary to age, it seemed that the man is respectful of a woman.

"She... I think I've already seen that face somewhere..." Izumi mused thoughtfully.

"These two are military." Erika said, only a few seconds of watching the behavior of these people.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Third laboratory seems to be constantly visited by the military?" Asked Mikihiko, looking at Kasumi.

"Yes, it is, but..."

"I think there are no people among the members of the Mitsuya family who are in the service of the self-defense forces." Izumi refuted Mikihiko's guess.

"This means that the military deceived Mitsuya?"

"It seems... the suspicion of Leo about kidnapping may turn out to be true."

"Miki! Do not say such dangerous words, like 'kidnapping'!" Erika chided, raising her voice. Mikihiko, noticing that Saburou's complexion was even paler than before, hastened to apologize.

"But still. When the schoolgirl is taken away by the military, is it not unusual?"

When Leo again pointed to the truth, Erika and Mikihiko clenched their teeth.

"...If it turns out that these two are her acquaintances from the Third Laboratory, then there is a high probability that our concern is unnecessary."

"But we were told that the Mitsuya family does not know about this?"

Said Mikihiko, this time refuting Erika.

"...I think we first need to wait for confirmation that Shiina-chan did not really return home."

"Right." Shizuku supported the opinion of Honoka.

"Exactly. Saburou." Saburou's head hung in despondency, when he heard his name from Erika, sat up sharply, straightened his shoulders and raised his head. "Go home for now."

Saburou did not reply with a nod to Erika's direction.

"But ... my father said to stay here .."

"Yes, that's right... So, you have nothing to do but wait for a call from your father?"

Erika bit her lip in an irritated way.

"In any case, if it turns out that the First High student has been abducted, then for us it will not be someone else's business. We cannot just ignore that."

"That's right." Leo agreed with Mikihiko.

In truth, unlike the chief of the disciplinary committee of Mikihiko, Leo should not have to worry about other students, but no one here made a stupid remark about this.

"Shizuku. Is it really good not to get Tatsuya-san and others involved...? After all, Shiina-chan disappeared while working in the school council..."

"Yes, I think it would be better to contact Miyuki." Understanding Honoka's thin hint, Shizuku agreed.

"You do not want to interfere with the president's business?" Izumi expressed her concern. As expected, after reading the atmosphere, she did not call her "Miyuki onee-sama."

"You can just send the same message?"

"I'll write to Miyuki." Honoka picked up Shizuku's idea and went to the terminal.

 

When Miyuki received a message from Honoka, she was in a well-known beauty salon.

The meeting with Mayumi was scheduled for 17:00. There was still a lot of time left, and she decided to do the hair styling. It was a high class institution for important people who demanded security, which operated on the principle of "entrance by invitation only." The price was high, corresponding to the skill of the workers, but this was compensated by the low number of clients, so a sudden reservation before the visit was not a problem. At the same time they decided to entrust the salon and hair dressing to Minami.

Because of this client-oriented nature of this institution, there was a place for bodyguards. Tatsuya sat directly behind Miyuki and read the book. The book is not paper, but electronic.

It was not an article related to his work at FLT, it was not documents related to his work on the Yotsuba family, but just some useless reading-book for killing time. In other words, Tatsuya was not doing anything right now.

On Miyuki's terminal, the incoming message sounded. The signal was different from usual - it was a sound tuned to urgent messages from a group of close friends.

"Tatsuya-sama, I'm sorry." Miyuki, who was unable to verify the message, decided to ask Tatsuya to help.

"What?" Tatsuya answered, tearing himself away from reading.

"Could you take a look at my terminal?"

"A message?"

"Yes. It seems that it is something urgent."

Tatsuya was not so unfeeling that it was easy to read Miyuki's personal messages, but since she herself asked, he could not refuse her. He took out of her purse Miyuki's mobile terminal and clicked on the icon of the e-mail application.

"It's from Honoka. She writes that Shiina was kidnapped from school."

"Shiina-chan?"

"Please do not move your head." The hairdresser, startled by surprise, strictly warned Miyuki. He was good at pretending that he did not hear their conversation. Tatsuya was not against reading aloud the contents of the message, because he trusted in this man's job the ability to keep his mouth shut.

"Shiina disappeared right after she was visited by a couple of visitors, a man and a woman who seemed to be military. There is a high probability that she followed these two."

"It's not a kidnapping?"

Restrained, Miyuki asked, trying not to move her head.

"Maybe she was forced to go with them, but at least it's not like kidnapping with violent methods."

Miyuki was aware of the strengthening of the First High security system, which was held after the lesson learned from the incident with the invasion of terrorists in the year before last. It is almost impossible to kidnap a student who is under the strict supervision of that system, in no way was it inferior in its reliability to that of the central government.

"...Should we go back to school?"

"Even if we return, we cannot do anything. Moreover, if it turns out that this is really kidnapping, then the police should deal with this."

If this unlikely event, like the abduction of Miyuki happened then Tatsuya naturally would not say that.

"So, let's leave it to the police?"

"At this stage it is still not possible to say exactly what this abduction is, so it will be problematic if one learns about it. However, Shiina refers to the direct line of kinship of the Mitsuya family. And the Mitsuya family have their connections in the police, and Erika seems to be motivated to help too."

"Erika?"

"Yes. I do not know why, but it seems that Leo and Mikihiko are also involved in this matter."

"And they really can this situation be?"

Miyuki worried about whether they themselves would not do anything, but Tatsuya did not show at all that he saw the problem.

"We also have our own affairs."

"...That's right."

Tatsuya was telling the truth. Even if it were not he who said it, Miyuki would also agree. Only Miyuki could not do anything about her anxiety about what his friends would think about Tatsuya.

 

In the Mitsuya family house, the head of the family Gen and the eldest son of Motoharu had a private conversation.

"My father seems to have taken Shiina."

"...It's clear."

Hearing about the message from Saburou, in which it was said that Shiina was gone, Gen and Motoharu immediately realized what

"cooperation" Tsukasa was talking about. The answer received after this from First High was the image with the visitors which confirmed that it was Tooyama Tsukasa.

"Saburou-kun did not seem to notice Tsukasa-san. Because he never met her."

"Really?"

Gen's answer was a surprise for Motoharu. Despite the fact that Shiina was quite familiar with Tsukasa, it was difficult to believe that Saburou, who was always together with Shiina never met Tsukasa.

"Tsukasa-san really carefully chooses people she reveals herself to.

Because of the circumstances of her official duty, which is carried on the shoulders of the Tooyama family, they believe that it is better to have as few people as possible knowing their personalities."

"But she met with Shiina quite often, yet never showed herself to Saburou-kun..."

"Perhaps she is such a person because of her work, like walking on a tightrope. No, not only Tsukasa-san. The entire Tooyama family has long been involved in such secret activities."

"...The magic of the Tenth Lab - it seemed like they were barriers against physical and magical attack?

Gen shook his head at his son's question.

"Initially, yes. But because of the peculiarities of the form of activated magic, the Tooyama family got the role of being something more than simple shields. The Tooyama family was included in the intelligence department of the national self-defense forces in the form of a counterintelligence unit."

"That is, their whole family cooperates with the army? I believe that we, the Mitsuya family, are also contributing to helping the army, helping to collect information throughout the East Asian region."

Gen shook his head again.

"This is not cooperation. The Tooyama family has become a full-fledged part of the intelligence department and has a secret influence on it."

Gen was silent. Motoharu held his breath, waiting for the continuation of his father's speech.

"...The Tooyama family does not have such unlimited power as the Yotsuba family. If we talk about magical power, the Juumonji family of the same Tenth laboratory are stronger than them. They also do not have political power like the Saegusa family. They do not have fame, but they do not have a bad reputation either. Being in the shadows, they will protect the interests of the faction to which they belong by any means."

Gen gave a deep sigh.

"If the goals they pursue are in the interests of the country, in the interests of magicians and in the interests of 28 houses, then I would say that their behavior is quite tolerable. However, they can also secretly plan hostility between 28 houses for their own interests. This is more annoying than a simple threat to understand, like the Yotsuba family."

"...So, this time there is a chance?"

"...What do you mean?"

Motoharu's question was unexpected for Gen.

"The promise that Shiina will not threaten anything... If Tsukasa-san is aiming at Shiba Tatsuya-dono, this will be a confrontation between the Tooyama and Yotsuba families, this may be a chance to get rid of the potential threat to the Tooyama family."

"I cannot say that there is no such probability, but... we ourselves cannot do anything. Even if it comes to confrontation between the families of Tooyama and Yotsuba, we ourselves will have no choice but to remain observers."

"Is this the best option, that we will only look, hoping that the desired result will be achieved?"

"It's just consolation. But it's better with him than without him."

In any case, until it ends in some form, Shiina will not return. Gen grinned at how easily he accepted this fact.

 

The big sedan car that drove Shiina was not only spacious, but also comfortable. Not as comfortable as a limousine, but was on an acceptable level.

Departing from the First High parking lot, a large sedan arrived in Karuizawa without using a road train (transportation of cars like a ferry, but on land). In this era, not using this advantage during long trips was a strange choice.

The car drove up to the old Western-style mansion, which left an impression of itself "really in our time there are still such buildings?".

The atmosphere around this house was as if it were a scene from some horror film. Shiina went out of the car with a light tremor all over her body.

"Shiina-chan, is it not cool outside? Do not be shy, let's go inside."

It was already the middle of April. In Karuizawa it was not so cold. But there was no point in standing outside, so Shiina took advantage of Tsukasa's invitation and went inside.

"Uwaa...!"

Shiina's involuntary burst of surprise. Externally looking like an old Western-style mansion, inside it was a classic setting, exuding an atmosphere of luxury.

"Shiina-chan's room is right here. Use it at your discretion."

The room she was lead to by Tsukasa was as luxurious as the vestibule, furnished in the best aristocratic preferences. A huge bed with a canopy attracted special attention to Shiina. And a dressing table with gold trim in an antique style. Even accustomed to luxury, Shiina wondered how much it could cost.

"In the closet there is a change of clothes. The size should fit. Although according to the plan you are here for only one night, you will probably need it?"

"Ah, yes. Many thanks."

Tearing her mind from the bed and table, Shiina thanked Tsukasa.

"It's my pleasure. It's because I asked you to help, so to provide everything you need is natural to me."

"Sorry..."

Shiina wondered for a while whether she should ask now, but in the end decided to ask.

"I cannot contact my family, right?"

"I'm sorry. Can you just think it's part of your job?"

"I understand." Shiina said, while thinking: "I knew it."

I'll call you when the food is ready Tsukasa said and left the room. The sound of the door locking was inaudible, but Shiina did not even think to check it.

She had to leave her bag with her personal belongings in the school boardroom, but she had her personal mobile information terminal in her inner jacket pocket. Grabbingit, she checked the signal level. As she thought, the antenna icon was crossed out.

"I signed it myself, I cannot refuse now."

Shiina opened the closet and took off her school uniform. Dressing in simple room clothes, she layed onto the sheet to check the softness of the canopy bed.

She did not know how Tsukasa had persuaded her father and her brother.


She felt guilty for leaving school without telling Saburou and the senpais from the school board, but she believed that her family would tell them about this situation.

She did not even think it possible that she was considered missing.

 

The emotions that surfaced on the face of Honoka, who had finished her reply, were a mixture of confusion and disappointment.

"What does Miyuki write?"

"It's from Tatsuya-san." Erika asked Honoka a question with an unconcealed shock in her voice. "He writes that we'd better leave it to the police."

Erika's face was also disappointed.

"What kind of a template answer is that..."

"Show me."

Shizuku glanced at the display that showed the message. After reading, she, in an uncharacteristic manner, heavily frowned.

"...And that is true, he has written that it is better to leave it to the police.

"Ah, yes."

Reproaching herself that "it was necessary to explain more clearly,"

Honoka sent Tatsuya's response to a large wall display.

"Wait... So, Tatsuya also believes that there is a high probability that Mitsuya has been deceived..."

"But, since there is no evidence, we do not know if the police will respond... They most likely wont."

Leo and Mikihiko frowned on their unfavorable expectations.

"And still if this is confirmed, and the Mitsuya family will turn to the police, then just leave it to the police... it's not normal!"

"...But this can be the most sensible decision. What we can do outside of school is very limited."

Izumi tried to reassure the indignant Kasumi.

"If you leave everything to the police, then what will you do if it becomes too late!"

Kasumi screamed in rage at Izumi.

"Then tell us, what can you do, Kasumi-chan?"

Izumi calmly responded to the twin sister, absorbed in emotions.

Perhaps Izumi herself could remain calm just because Kasumi was already shedding all the emotions.

"...Why not use the search network of our family!?"

"But she's in Kyoto now. Kasumi-chan knows who to contact and what to say?"

"We'll ask onee-chan!"

"Onee-sama went to a meeting with Shiba-sempai."

"That's good! At the same time, I'll complain to her about it!" Kasumi ran out of the school boardroom.

"Hey, Kasumi-chan! Do you even know where she went?... Well, everything! I beg your pardon, Mitsui-senpai. For today we will finish, good-bye!" Said Izumi and left after Kasumi.

Shizuku looked disappointedly at the departed terminal of the disciplinary committee.

"Honoka. Can I leave it here for now?"

"Of course, there are no problems."

Kasumi on Monday is waiting for something not so very funny. After thinking about it, Honoka shrugged, deciding that it was not her business.

"So, what shall we do? As Tatsuya advised, will we sit back and wait?"

On Leo's inciting question, Erika answered in a malicious voice.

"If he says to leave it to the police, then we will. But this does not mean that we will sit idly by."

"Erika, what are you going to do...?" Asked Mikihiko anxiously. He was worried not because he did not know what she was planning, but because he guessed what she was going to do. "You've already decided? In the dojo, after all, there are a lot of people connected with the police?"

"Abuse of power for personal purposes."

"H-nothing."

From the straight faced Shizuku to the anxious Mikihiko.

"When such links exist, it is a sin not to use them."

The old Erika would now have a mischievous smirk. But the current Erika did not smile.

 

The place where Mayumi invited Tatsuya and Miyuki was a traditional Japanese restaurant in Akasaka.

Tatsuya thought that he would need to be three times older to visit such a place. Moreover, for this institution having that age would not be enough, it would also be necessary to, at least, have status, fame and wealth.

Tatsuya's group arrived at the restaurant 3 minutes before the appointed time. A restaurant employee lead these three young people who were not suitable for this place, showing nothing but a smile on their face.

Exactly at 17:00 Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami entered the room that was in the traditional Japanese style.

There they saw Katsuto waiting alone.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Tatsuya said and sat down, without asking permission to sit down.

"No, you are just in time." Katsuto confirmed that they have nothing to blame themselves.

With a small gap from Tatsuya and Miyuki, followed by Minami.

Miyuki sat on the pillow next to Tatsuya, and Minami sat right on the floor behind Miyuki.

All four sat in the "right" posture on their knees [Seiji]. None of them did any relaxing movements, showing that it was uncomfortable for them to sit like that. All looked long accustomed to the seiji.

"I'm sorry!"

When Tatsuya and Katsuto's eyes had already met and they were about to begin, the front door opened and Mayumi and Mari entered the room.

"Excuse me, did we make you wait?"

"No, we just arrived."

When asked by Mayumi, Tatsuya answered immediately. Katsuto was already ready to answer, but eventually closed his mouth, without saying anything.

Mayumi, with a sigh of relief, took her place next to Katsuto and opposite Miyuki. And Mari sat down next to Mayumi.

While sitting in Seiji Mayumi looked better than ordinary female students, but compared to Tatsuya, Miyuki or Katsuto, she looked awkward anyway. Even Mari looked better in this matter.

"Okay, right away..."

Mayumi wanted to start negotiations (or better to call it persuasion), but suddenly from behind the front door a voice was heard: "I'm sorry."

Mayumi answered: "Yes, I'll ask." The door opened, and on the other side there appeared not the waitress, but the young mistress of this restaurant.

"Visitors came to us who called themselves your comrades..." The hostess spoke with an impartial face.

The surprise was natural, because everyone who was supposed to come was already here.

"Er, and who are they?"

Although Mayumi was also confused, she quickly recovered and asked.

"They introduced themselves as Saegusa Kasumi-sama and Izumi-sama."

"Er...!?"

Shortly after losing her speech, Mayumi asked Tatsuya and Miyuki "to wait a moment," and, without waiting for the mistress, walked to the entrance to the restaurant. Saying "I'm sorry," the landlady bowed and closed the door on the other side.

While they waited, Miyuki asked Tatsuya: "They are here for that matter, are they not?"

"What business? Tatsuya-kun, do you know anything about why the younger sisters of Mayumi interrupted us?" Mari asked Tatsuya, hearing this question from Miyuki. Katsuto frowned at the fact that Mari's mannerisms had not changed since First High, but Tatsuya did not care, and he responded with an air of ease.

"Yes. Today the first daughter of the Mitsuya family was taken from First High, and there is a possibility that she was abducted. That's what it was about."

"Kidnapped?" Marie was surprised, slightly rounded eyes. "The youngest daughter of the Mitsuya family, that is, Shiina?"

"Watanabe-senpai is also familiar with them?"

"A little familiar through Mayumi. So, this year, Shiina entered First High?"

"That's right."

"Well, what about the kidnapping?"

Tatsuya briefly retold everything he knew himself.

"This is a serious matter! Tatsuya-kun, and Shiba, too, what are you doing here!?"

Mari seemed incredible that the president of the school board and another important member of the school board do nothing while the student may be involved in something criminal.

"In what sense...? "But Tatsuya only smiled crookedly. He was invited here. Although Mari was only one of the participants, but she treated the invited party, and such accusations from her sounded ridiculous.

"Shiba." Katsuto turned to Tatsuya.

"What is it?"

"Can I address you not from the position of the families Juumonji and Yotsuba from the same Ten Master Clans, but as a sempai to the cohais of the same First High School?"

"I do not mind."

Immediately after Tatsuya nodded, there was a feeling that Katsuto's massiveness had increased significantly.

"Let's postpone this conversation. You should give priority to the first-year student who may have been kidnapped."

Tatsuya again woke a crooked smile. This time it was more ironic than in the previous one.

"Juumonji-senpai, I dare to call you that. In the role of representatives of the Yotsuba family, the daughter of the Saegusa family invited us to this place, indicating that the meeting will be held with the participation of the head of the Juumonji family. In this case, your words about the postponement of the conversation can be regarded no more than the remark of the Juumonji family of the Ten Master Clans."

Katsuto could not respond to Tatsuya's words.

"Based on this, neither I nor Miyuki will object if you say that we should postpone this meeting" said Tatsuya and looked at Miyuki. Miyuki's elegant nod-bow became a dumb sign of agreement. "However, it seems to me that there is no point in postponing the meeting."

"...What do you mean?"

"It is still unknown whether the incident that happened to Mitsuya-san is a crime. Since it is known that she left First High, then, with the authority of the police, after studying the records from the street cameras, you can easily find out where she was taken away."

Hearing this, Mari wedged an irritated conversation.

"If you know so much, then why did not you do anything?"

"It could have happened because of her own will." Tatsuya replied in an indifferent voice. "Yes, Mitsuya-san definitely was taken away. But if she left by her consent, the attempt to save her would be an illegal invasion of her personal space."

"This remark is not in the style of Tatsuya-kun, who without further ado, invaded Blanche's base." Mari objected with obvious sarcasm.

However, not only Tatsuya, but Miyuki also did not show an emotional struggle. Because it was obvious to them that Mari's sarcasm was not a logical deduction, but a desperate search for a reason.

"At that time, I did not have to check whether I was free or busy."

Tatsuya said in refutation of Mari's words. After that, he looked from the clenched teeth of Mari back to Katsuto. "As students of First High, we cannot do anything publicly. But if you insist that the meeting should be postponed, then we will not protest."

Katsuto folded his arms and thought. At that moment the front door opened sharply and noisily.

"Shiba-senpai, you're mistaken!"

"Kasumi-chan, stop!"

"Kasumi-chan... Oh, Miyuki-senpai, Shiba-senpai, I'm sincerely very sorry for that!"

Raging Kasumi, Mayumi in a step behind her, and pale and apologetic Izumi. It was the invasion of the three sisters of Saegusa.

"Kasumi-chan, in any case, let's go home? Well?"

Mayumi tried to calm her younger sister by talking to her like a little girl, but Kasumi's gaze was clearly fixed on Tatsuya.

"We cannot ignore it silently! Is it really possible to just sacrifice Shiina?!"

"Yes, you can," such an answer did not follow.

"So you heard this conversation?" Instead, Tatsuya answered the question with a question.

"I heard it. Overheard! This is bad!?" With a reddened face, Kasumi, in a fit of despair, responded with a defiant tone.

"Eavesdropping is bad." Tatsuya with the usual tone said the obvious.

"...!"

"But, as you already heard, it will save me time. Shiina is a minor.

Even if she wants this, the police can protect her only with the consent of her guardians."

"And so what?"

"Kasumi-chan. Shiba-senpai says that you turned to the wrong address." Izumi said, pulling Kasumi by the sleeve.

"The wrong address?"

"Shiba-senpai means we should talk to Shiina-chan's family, not with him."

"To talk about what!?"

Izumi grabbed Kasumi's right arm.

"Let's go. We have already received valuable advice from Shiba-senpai, we should not stop him further."

"Right. "Said Mayumi and took Kasumi's left hand.

"Izumi? Onee-chan? Hey... What are you doing!?"

"Tatsuya-kun, Miyuki-san, I understand that it's rude to say this after I invited you here, but do you mind being finished for today? I will take care of compensation for this."

"Yes, it's alright."

The existing atmosphere no longer had serious conversations. Tatsuya readily accepted Mayumi's apologies.

"Kasumi-chan, let's go."

"Okay, we're going."

That said Mayumi and Izumi, dragged the silent Kasumi to the exit.

Tatsuya and Katsuto exchanged glances and at the same time sighed.

"Juumonji-senpai, in that case, please forgive me."

After these words, Miyuki, who was silent for most of the time bowed with a serious face, on which there was no shadow of a smile.

"You two, I'm sorry that it happened." Katsuto could only say that. Mari said nothing.

Thus, the private meeting between the families of Yotsuba, Juumonji and Saegusa ended without any specific conversation.

 





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