Concerned that Miyuki was at the mercy of the Uncles and their machinations, Tatsuya was very pleased to find Miyuki in the western style banquet hall with Fumiya and Ayako buffering her on either side from the adults.

Even Maya, whom he thought would have taken the opportunity to hover over Miyuki from the seat next to her, had the good sense to let those her own age comfort her instead. Maya sat on the other side of Fumiya and took most of the adults' attention off Miyuki.

When he entered the room, Miyuki's eyes were already focused on him. Worried anticipation melted instantly off her face at the sight of him. She nearly patted her chest in relief. Fumiya and Ayako's eyes also met him. Both seemed to radiate satisfaction at his presence and a bit of remorse.

Tatsuya and Hayama both moved quickly to take their places behind their respective masters' seats.

It was then that Tatsuya could sense his aunt's eyes on him as she spoke to one of the family members who had lined up to give their condolences. The unreadable glint in her eyes and the enigmatic smile on her face were all there as she looked at him intently.

After another similar look at him from their aunt in the past, Miyuki had once speculated that if Maya could eat Tatsuya she would. When he confusedly asked her what she meant by that Miyuki had become strangely embarrassed and said to ignore her.

After only a few seconds Maya returned that smile to the person in front of her and continued their conversation.

Hayama took his place behind Maya, replacing second Yotsuba butler Hanabishi with mutual nods. Hanabishi, who was probably in charge of the actual physical arrangements for the funeral, departed forthwith.

Tatsuya could sense animosity aimed his way the second he entered the room. More than a few eyes of family members and servants alike had aimed contempt at him.

A particular set of angry eyes now looked directly at him.

Yotsuba fourth butler Aoki had been assigned to Miyuki in his stead.

The two lesser servants to either side of him that were serving Fumiya and Ayako appeared to share their superior's contempt for the lowly reject Tatsuya.

Aoki even had the audacity to stand his ground and glare at Tatsuya, who was waiting to relieve him. For his part, Tatsuya waited patiently and expressionless. Aoki had always seemed to have a particular contempt for Tatsuya, which he was not afraid to express. In this way, he wasn't that different from the rest of the servants who treated Tatsuya like scum.

He was however, the highest ranked of those that directly treated Tatsuya as a pariah to his face.

In strange dichotomy to his feelings toward Tatsuya, he treated Miyuki as if she were some type of goddess. All of this being even more ironic for the fact that because of the way he treated her much beloved Onii-sama, Miyuki held her erstwhile admirer in utter contempt.

Being blithely unaware of all this, as usual, even now Aoki couldn't seem to sense the chilling glare of anger building in intensity from Miyuki looking over her shoulder in front of them.

After a few tense moments, a gentle cough came from behind Tatsuya's back.

Hayama, still waiting dutifully behind Maya, spoke softly to them.

"Aoki-san, you have other duties to attend to, correct?"

Aoki's face contorted into a rage, and then discomfort, as reality hit him. Still, he tried to fight back.

"Under the circumstances, would it not be more appropriate for Miyuki-sama's attendant to be someone worthy to serve her on such a meaningful occasion as this?"

Miyuki, at her breaking point, slid her chair back to rise up, only to find the concerned hands of Fumiya and Ayako gently keeping her in place.

Still, the eyes in the room were now drifting in their direction with growing interest and concern.

"I'm not in the habit of repeating myself Aoki-san."

It was delivered with a gracious smile and perfect manners, but no one who could hear it mistook Hayama's statement for something warm and friendly.

Finally realizing he had touched the dragon's scales, Aoki, with a mortified expression bowed to Hayama.

"My apologies."

He then bowed towards Miyuki's back.

"Please pardon me, young madam. I must depart for other duties."

He still seemed oblivious to Miyuki's anger towards him. She refused to turn around or speak to him.

As he moved out of position and Tatsuya replaced him, he spared Tatsuya an angry glare before departing. The two servants on either side of him purposefully moved slightly away from him as if he had a contagious disease.

Hayama stepped up behind Miyuki and whispered into her ear. Tatsuya read what he said to her by lip reading.

"My apologies Miyuki-sama. He will be corrected most diligently, I assure you."

Miyuki smiled and nodded towards Hayama, and once Hayama moved to return to his original position she shared a warm smile over her shoulder with her Onii-sama, now in his proper place with her once more, though she naturally would prefer him to be sitting beside her as her equal.

On the other side of Ayako, their father Tatsurou had watched the proceedings in silence. Few if any present even bothered to speak to him. He was practically as much a pariah here as his son was. Some might say he was even more so. Despite whatever else the dreaded Yotsuba were, they would defend their own. No one here would offer his father forgiveness for his infidelities toward their cousin. As respected as Miya was, her husband Tatsurou was loathed. A fact he was being made painfully aware of.

Once dinner had concluded, the family members either went towards their rooms in the main residence or towards their family residences on the grounds. They would array themselves in their finest kimonos and furisode to say their final goodbyes to Shiba Miya, daughter of the Yotsuba.

Fumiya and Ayako, unable to speak to Tatsuya during the dinner by the rules of decorum, took this opportunity to express their sincere condolences to him and Miyuki both. Tatsuya was grateful for their loyalty to Miyuki.

Their father Mitsugu, one of the Uncles, waited impatiently for his errant children, embarrassed yet again by their misplaced affection for a mere servant.

Tatsurou waited with more patience and departed for his room along with Miyuki.

Shirakawa-dono was assigned the honor of supervising Miyuki's dressing for the ceremony. Her custom tailored dark purple furisode was displayed on a T-shaped rack, ready to be put on her. There were three other attendants who would dress Miyuki, apply her makeup, and quaffed her hair for her under Shirakawa-dono's discerning eye.

As a male, Tatsuya would not remain in the room during this process. Once he was satisfied that Miyuki was in safe hands he asked her permission to guard the doorway from the hall. Reluctantly given that permission, he moved to depart. It was then that Shirakawa-dono informed him that the servants had a buffet in their area and that he should take the chance to eat.

Miyuki, who hated that Tatsuya had to watch her eat during these occasions, insisted he go eat. Shirakawa-dono also reminded him he also needed to change outfits.

When Tatsuya entered the servant's dining area his presence drew immediate animosity. He always found it odd the other servants seemed to hate him even more than the family members. It was as if they took their masters' contempt for him as their own, and redoubled that contempt as a way to prove their loyalty toward their masters.

He also happened to be the youngest person in the room. At fourteen he was still considered a child. Still, even as a young child, these same "adults" had treated him like scum.

None of them could be oblivious to that fact that this child's mother had just died. So strong was the disassociation between himself and his family amongst their other servants that even when reasonable humans would have at the very least left him alone on this day of all days, they still treated him with contempt and loathing.

Here, he was always the intruder. Always the undesirable element. The ultimate outsider.

Had he had normal emotional range, he suspected that this situation might cause him to have a breakdown. He was surprisingly grateful at this moment that his mother had taken such extreme emotions from him.

If his mother's reasonable assumption that one day Miyuki would head the Yotsuba did actually come to pass, these same servants were in for a radical readjustment of their attitudes. Not from Tatsuya himself, but their new overlord Miyuki.

Once his eyes saw the well picked over buffet, he heard more than a few snickers from the watching servants.

Finding nothing left appetizing enough to consume, he took a to-go cup of black coffee instead and left for his room to change.

Since Miyuki's awaking to her devotion and love for her brother, she had become insistent that when they travel he should be housed as near to her as possible. This resulted in an immediate upgrade to better sleeping quarters, especially when they visited the main residence. Previously Tatsuya would have been housed in the male junior servants' dormitory when they visited, which had made the scene just now in the servants' buffet seem like a pleasant visit to the park by comparison.

Under normal circumstances Yotsuba servants would wear their formal serving wear on all occasions, but as a Guardian Tatsuya only would wear an appropriate suit that could hide his specialized CAD holster and provide enough freedom of movement to allow him to fight in it.

He had brought two such suits, but now seeing both back in his room, he thought they would seem odd on this occasion for some reason.

He had also brought his middle school gakuran uniform. It was dark navy blue and at night would appear black.

For some odd reason he couldn't fathom, he sensed that this would be more appropriate to wear than a suit for a fourteen-year-old young man to say goodbye to his mother in.

"But...I'm just a servant."

He would not stand with Miyuki, their aunt, and their father. He would be in the back along with the other servants.

This wasn't his mother who had died, just another Yotsuba master. That was how he was raised and taught, even by the woman in question herself.

Especially by the woman in question herself.

Still, for some odd reason he couldn't explain, he put his school uniform on instead.

After checking his appearance before departing his room, Tatsuya moved down the hallway to stand guard at Miyuki's door.

A few seconds later, Shirakawa-dono slid the screen door back and stuck her head out of the room.

"Oh, you're finally back. She wants you in here."

Tatsuya dutifully followed her into Miyuki's room.

"Do I look alright Onii-sama?"

Miyuki had commissioned Shirakawa-dono to have this furisode made for her specifically for their mother's funeral. It was violet, their mother's favorite color. The pattern was blooming lilacs in various other shades of purple, their mother's favorite flowers.

The obi was their mother's favorite. It was silver with purple accents in the stylized four-leaf clover mon of House Yotsuba. Since the mon was only ever used in this village and no one not associated with the Yotsuba had ever seen it, it was safe for Miya to wear that obi on her rare trips in public. The string used to tie it didn't match because it was pink, but Tatsuya recognized it as a part of one of Miyuki's other kimono outfits from her childhood. From her kimono on her seven-year-old Shichi-Go-San, another gift from their mother.

Her hair was done up in the traditional style for Kimono wearing, and the hair pins with purple ends were also recognized by him as their mother's.

"You are the most beautiful thing in all the universe."

Such a line delivered by anyone else would have seemed downright corny. Even Shirakawa-dono and the other attendants winced slightly at it.

But the sincerity of his delivery made it into something akin to a proclamation of love.

"OH! Onii-sama! Don't embarrass me so!"

Perhaps it was Miyuki's reaction to his words that had made the others present feel awkward instead?

She placed her hands on her pink tinged cheeks and smiled uncontrollably as she tried to regain her composure in happy bliss.

Perhaps he should have held back a bit in his praise to her this once. Her sudden joy seemed very out of place on such a somber occasion.

Miyuki must have picked up on this sense of the mood as well. She composed herself rapidly and calmed down instantly.

"You look very handsome as always too, Onii-sama."

If the servants in this room held the same negative opinion of him as the rest of the staff, they had the good sense Aoki and the others seemed to lack to hide it in front of Miyuki.

"It's just my school uniform."

She smiled and tilted her head at his self-deprecating response.

"And you always look handsome in it."

He smiled back awkwardly to her.

"Thanks."

Shirakawa-dono took the opportunity to cough, creating a gap into which she could speak.

"If Miyuki-sama is ready?"

Miyuki turned an inquisitive look towards Tatsuya, who nodded lightly to her.

"I am, Shirakawa-dono."

One of the attendants slid open the door of the Japanese-style guest room and bowed as the other two bowed off to the side, all seated properly now on the tatami mats. Shirakawa-dono then led Miyuki out. A normal Guardian would have followed a few steps behind their Primary on such an occasion, but Miyuki intently took Tatsuya's arm so that they would walk out as equals.

She led them through the residence to the front foyer, where they found their father waiting for them in his normal formal black kimono. Shirakawa-dono then retreated to the wall where other servants waited to serve their needs if called upon.

"Miyuki-chan, you are perfection as always."

Their father spoke with sincerity, but it clearly had not meant as much to Miyuki as Tatsuya's own praise had minutes before. Still, she smiled graciously and accepted their father's praise.

"We'll have to get Tatsuya a shinai to carry around to beat the boys that fall in love with you away."

Miyuki bowed slightly with a self-deprecating smile.

"You embarrass me, Chichi-san."

After raising her head she returned the compliment.

"You look quite handsome as well."

He smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed but not by the praise of his daughter.

"Oh, this old thing."

His formal kimono was appropriate in every way and in good order. There was nothing inappropriate in the least with it. Yet Miyuki seemed to suddenly understand why he felt awkward.

"Were you not offered a new kimono for this event Chichi-san?"

The look on her face was pleasant and tranquil, but Tatsuya could sense a boiling anger building in her. That anger was not aimed at their father though.

"Um, no. It was probably an oversight though. After all, it has been a busy time for the family as a whole."

Miyuki was still smiling serenely at their father.

"I'm sure you are right Chichi-san."

Tatsuya could make a good guess where Miyuki's anger was being directed.

"If you like, I'll see a new formal kimono is made for you tonight, for your trip home."

"No dear, at this point that would just be a waste. But I thank you all the same."

Their father seemed to understand Miyuki's hidden fury as well.

The family had on-sight tailors in the house whose only duty was to make sure that the family and their rare guests were properly attired for every event. Had Miya not specifically forbidden Miyuki from making an issue out of it, Tatsuya would be wearing a custom made five mon formal kimono at this very moment, emblazoned with the mon of House Yotsuba.

Yet where it was expected that Tatsuya the servant wouldn't receive such finery, to have the deceased family member's own husband neglected in such a manner, no matter their relationship status, was blatant disrespect. Even if his infidelity towards Miya were completely discounted, to have a future head of house candidate's father treated this way alone was a serious affront.

Miyuki allowed a certain level of effrontery towards their father by the family because she felt he deserved it. He lived apart from them with his long-term mistress. It was without doubt shameful behavior on Tatsurou's part and even if Miya tolerated such behavior, it had still been a grave insult to their mother. Miyuki's fury at their father far exceeded anyone else's in this regard.

Yet despite all this, she loved their father deeply, despite his flaws as a husband and father. She could never bring herself to be mad at him to his face or confront him with her own anger.

She allowed the family to shun him for her instead, on the rare occasions he was invited to a family event.

Even this form of indirect punishment she inflicted on their father had its limits, and those limits had just been exceeded.

"Shirakawa-dono."

Miyuki's smile never wavered, but even for a thirteen-year-old, she could have a terrifying and commanding presence when she wanted to. That terrifying smile was aimed squarely at terrified looking Shirakawa-dono at this moment. The Harridan of the Hallways suddenly looked like a first-time servant off the street under the icy glare of the teenage girl before her.

"You are in charge of the tailors and seamstresses, are you not?"

A very scared looking Shirakawa respectfully bowed her head.

"This one has that honor Miyuki-sama."

Miyuki added a slight head tilt to her terrifyingly smiling visage.

"Is there an explanation for this grievous oversight? The husband of Miya, daughter of the Yotsuba, should be first to receive proper attire for her funeral service, should he not?"

Tatsuya knew Miyuki was not using magic, but the temperature in the room had dropped for all witnessing this event.

"I...I...this one has no excuses for this terrible oversight Miyuki-sama."

Tatsuya could hear Miyuki's jaw pop with this response from Shirakawa-dono.

"You will find me the correct explanation to this affront to my father, my mother, and myself and inform me and Toushu-sama of it before I leave tomorrow."

Head still bowed in fear, Shirakawa-dono responded.

"This one will get to the bottom of this egregious error Miyuki-sama, you have this one's word."

Miyuki's facial expression adjusted to a slightly less terrifying smile now.

"You will immediately go to the seamstress shop and have them make my father the appropriate five mon formal kimono. You will personally inform Toushu-sama that I have requested that the ceremony be delayed until the kimono is ready."

Shirakawa-dono was about to respond in the affirmative to this unreasonable and unrealistic order when their father took a surprised Miyuki's hands in his own.

"Miyuki, I'm certain this was not Shirakawa-dono's fault."

"Father, I..."

He pulled her hands upwards between them still in his own hands.

"She'll get to the bottom of it, I'm sure it was just an oversight, these things happen. You know as well as I that even the amazing tailors of the Yotsuba cannot have me a tailored formal kimono ready tonight."

Miyuki looked like she was still going to protest when their father's next words shot her down.

"Your mother had the kimono I'm wearing made for me. I'm sure she would be fine with it, and tonight isn't about me or you. We are here to honor Miya's life, and as it was her wish to do this as quickly as possible, the best way to honor her life is to honor her final wish and get on with it. Is it not?"

Under normal circumstances having their wayward father interpret his estranged wife's wishes would be offensive, but in this case, Tatsuya felt he was not only right about her wishes but right to point them out to Miyuki.

As was her way, Miyuki looked to Tatsuya for final confirmation. He nodded with a slight smile to her.

She let out a surrendering sigh before replying.

"Very well Chichi-san, if you are certain it does not bother you."

Tatsurou nodded enthusiastically to her.

Miyuki turned to a contrite-looking Shirakawa-dono next.

"Forgive my harshness please Shirakawa-dono."

"The fault is mine Miyuki-sama. I should have double checked to make sure your honorable father was well prepared for tonight. I will find out the reason and report it to Toushu-sama and yourself, and correct it for the future so it will never happen again."

Miyuki and Shirakawa-dono bowed to each other.

With a brief look to inquire of him if she had done things correctly, Tatsuya smiled reassuringly to Miyuki.

It was at this point that Tatsuya could see the vehicle pull up through the glass of the main residence's front doors.

Seeing his eyes focus outwardly. Miyuki followed his line of sight and recognized their ride was here.

"Are we not waiting for Oba-sama?"

Her concerned look and question was directed towards Shirakawa-dono, the senior servant present.

"I believe she will be using the next available vehicle."

It was certainly true that she had not come out to join them, which would be odd if she planned to ride with them.

Miyuki sent Tatsuya another concerned glance but all he could do was smile back again reassuringly. He would be the last person their aunt confided her plans to.

He then moved to open the door for her, but to everyone's surprise, Miyuki called out to him.

"Wait Onii-sama!"

They all directed interested eyes towards her.

She seemed to be looking at the door with a strange and sad expression. She then enigmatically reached her hand towards the door as if to grab the handle, but she didn't move any closer.

She just sadly extended her hand towards the door, with an expression on her face as if she were about to cry.

"Miyuki?"

Their father asked her in concern.

"It's…alright."

She closed her eyes with her hand still extended. For a brief moment, it seemed like she was praying. Then she slowly opened her eyes again. Her expression was one of serenity.

Tatsuya, the only one to her front, saw her lips move quietly.

"The very same door. This is for you Haha-chan."

Then she boldly moved and reached for the door handle.

"I have it Onii-sama."

She boldly pushed the door open and went through. Their father, perplexed as everyone else at his daughter's odd actions, followed her a few seconds later. Tatsuya the servant dutifully went last.

He would remember to inquire of her later what that enigmatic sequence had been about.

Once outside his earlier prediction that the light wind would turn cold after nightfall was confirmed. It had the slightest of cold stings to it as it hit his cheek. The wind suddenly whipped at their hair and clothes, particularly pushing on Miyuki's furisode. Tatsuya and their father bracketed her to help he stay upright on her geta.

Unlike her progress through the doors of the residence, Miyuki dutifully waited for Tatsuya to open the door for her, which he did immediately. She smiled at him and went inside the car, holding up the hem of her furisode so she could clear the lower rail of the door with her traditional wooden geta.

Tatsuya continued to hold the door so their father could enter behind her, then he closed the door and proceeded around the vehicle to let himself in through the opposite door.

Once his door was closed the driver pulled off without saying a word.

It was going to be a short trip.

They had but to move through the driveway that circled around the front gardens of the residence to the main gate. Once through the main gate, the village square and park was right in front. The vehicle would proceed down the vehicle path in the park until they got within walking distance to the center of the square, where the public funeral would take place.

Miyuki grabbed Tatsuya's hand as if on instinct. She sat resplendent in her gorgeous furisode between their father in his black formal kimono and Tatsuya in his navy gukuran. It was only now that Tatsuya realized Miyuki was also holding their father's hand.

Here in this car, for this short ride, at least in appearance, sat father, daughter, and son.

As a family.

Only the mother was missing.

"Would she hold my hand if she were here?"

Tatsuya instantly dismissed the nonsensically errant thought immediately.

Still, he couldn't dismiss the possibility entirely. Just hours before she had initiated rare physical contact with him. She had even died holding him.

He still couldn't process entirely what he had experienced in that room alone with their dying mother.

The vehicle passed through the residence's main gate. It was here for the first time that they could see the crowd that had gathered.

The village had several hundred residents. All magicians or their magicless immediate family. Every single person in the village had been brought here as a refugee from the other areas of Japan devastated by the Third World War or were descendants of those who had been brought here. This had been done on their grandfather's orders. They paid for, and wanted for, nothing and all that was asked of them was that they serve the Yotsuba unconditionally. They saw the Yotsuba as their saviors and their loyalty to the family was fierce. The most worthy became servants in the main house. The skilled were employed as Yotsuba guards, agents, and soldiers. All others worked to keep the village operational.

Yet all served the family in some capacity.

Here in the Japanese Alps was the feudal system of Kamakura Era Japan, alive and well in a mostly modern setting. At the apex of this old and ancient system sat the Daimyou over his domain, demanding the loyalty and service of his subjects in exchange for his benevolent protection of them.

Or in this case, her benevolent protection.

Yotsuba Maya was the undisputed ruler of this valley and its village, as her uncle and her father had been before her.

Everyone in this village had turned out on this cold autumn night to dutifully pay their last respects to their overlord's Onee-san.

Here if nowhere else, were the Yotsuba loved.

Hundreds lined the short route through the park to the square. They all bowed as the car slowly passed.

This was not just their loyalty but their curiosity as well.

Most in this village had never set eyes on the girl in this car rumored to be their next overlord. When she came and went from this place she did so in a car with blackened windows. This limousine had the window tinting turned off specifically so they could see Miya's family. Now they would have a chance to see the renowned beauty in the flesh.

There was another darker and more mysterious rumor inside this car that probably brought their curiosity to the fore as well. He knew from the talk he overheard amongst the other main residence servants that the rumors related to Miya-sama's "defective" son also had reached the villagers' ears.

They'd get their first good chance to see him tonight too.

As the vehicle approached the central square, the faces became more familiar. Lesser servants of the main house, then more senior servants.

A large clearing in the sea of humans up ahead appeared. Tatsuya knew the sight that awaited them there. He pulled Miyuki towards him in preparation.

It was then she saw the elaborate stack of logs in the center of the square. What lay on top of that stack of wood made her inhale a few sharp breaths and tear up at the corners of her eyes.

Tatsuya and their father worked both sides of her as she clenched even harder at their hands with her own. They both whispered reassuringly into her ears.

After a few ragged breaths, she regained her composure.

"It's all right, I am with you."

She managed a smile at his whispered reassurance and then nuzzled her head inside the gap between his head and shoulder. The onlookers couldn't have helped but to see the siblings' mutual affection.

The car came to a stop and after she nodded to him he opened the car door and stepped out.

He knew exactly where the family members and the servants were as he felt their animosity bore into him. All the other eyes he felt on him were unreadable. This was their first time seeing the "Defective One", it's only natural to be more curious than hostile.

As a proper servant, he held the door open so Miyuki could slide out. Upon seeing her properly, the reaction of the audience was very different. After the initially stunned reactions to this young girl's extreme beauty, all the villagers lowered themselves before her.

Visibly touched by this gesture, Miyuki returned it.

Their father slid out of the car and offered his arm to his daughter. She took it and he guided her to their honored places in front of the family.

Tatsuya closed the car door and the vehicle immediately pulled off. He followed behind his father and sister at a respectful distance. Once Miyuki was in her proper place she nodded to him and he went behind the family members and took a place at the end of the line of senior servants behind the family. Not more than a few eyes followed him as he did so. He was clearly the source of much curiosity.

Other eyes looked at him with familiar contempt. Some of the junior servants clearly didn't think he deserved such a good view of his own mother's funeral. Better views than they had. Aoki was a few spaces down, but unlike before he wouldn't even spare Tatsuya an angry look. He did have an expression that made one think he was smelling something rotten though.

A few moments later another vehicle pulled up. Since everyone else was already present, there was no doubt who was the occupant of that car. Unlike their own car, the window opaqueness had been left activated. Villagers bowed to their overlord's car as it passed by them.

It came to a stop in the same place their car had been moments before. As expected Hayama emerged from the other side and went around to open his master's door for her.

Those present, in anticipation, already began to bow to the Lady of the Yotsuba even before she had emerged.

Then a surprising gasp came over from the crowd.

Maya had emerged from the car.

Instead of a formal furisode as was expected for her to wear on this occasion, she was instead in a violet colored Nuevo Victorian style dress.

It was not her dress.

She also had her hair perfectly arranged.

Yet not in her usual hair style.

The person who emerged from the car was already the twin sister of the woman whose body now lay on top of the funeral pyre.

They were now truly identical.

Even Tatsuya couldn't tell that he was not looking at his mother's ghost, as his aunt, in his mother's dress, with his mother's hair style, moved toward Miyuki.

"Miyuki!"

His concerned eyes moved to see Miyuki's reaction to this unexpected visage before her. Every eye of the family looked at Maya in stunned silence. Their own father seemed mortified to see his sister-in-law dressed as his dead wife.

Miyuki, even to Tatsuya's surprise, seemed to not be in any distress at all. The look on her face seemed to say "as expected of aunt".

Sensing his eyes on her, it was her turn to give him a reassuring smile, which he could only now return to her.

Maya stepped up beside Miyuki and they exchanged a few quiet words.

For all the stir her sudden appearance as her sister's doppelganger had caused, it had seemingly ended just as quickly with Miyuki's calm reaction to it.

Still, even Tatsuya found it disturbing to see his aunt dressed exactly as his mother, and in her clothes.

With Maya's appearance, all the principal actors were now on stage.

The show could begin.

Most Japanese prefer Buddhist funeral services and rites. Yet the Yotsuba prided themselves on their Yamato origins so much that even their funerals were in the Shinto style. Open funeral pyres instead of using a crematorium were just another aspect of the Yotsuba's desire to replicate ancient Japanese rituals to impress their servants.

The village priests performed the rites and soon it was time for the family to do their part. Maya, Miyuki, and Tatsurou were all given unlighted torches.

There would be no public speeches from the family members. All that was left was to light the fire.

Only now could Tatsuya begin to sense his sister's mounting dread.

"How can they ask her to burn her own mother's body?"

Tradition be damned. If he could he would take this burden from his sensitive and loving sister.

It was then he noticed Hayama step up from behind her and whisper into Maya's ear. Her eyes drifted over to where Tatsuya stood. Everyone present seemed to notice where she was looking. He felt their eyes shift from her to himself and back again.

Then he read her lips as she said with that unreadable smirk of hers plastered on her face: "Well, I suppose it was time."

Hayama pulled back and nodded to Maya, then stepped out from behind her and approached where Tatsuya stood. Now all eyes were locked on the young boy in his school uniform, including the concerned eyes of his beloved imouto.

Hayama stepped up to Tatsuya's side and whispered into his ear.

"Miya-Ojou-sama had a final request of you."

Tatsuya then listened to the rest of Hayama's words and nodded.

When Hayama turned to retake his position behind Maya, Tatsuya followed him.

When he came to a stop behind Miyuki she looked as if she would break out into a smile. He nodded to her reassuringly again.

It was then he saw Maya shift her unlighted torch to her left hand and use her right to tap on her left bracelet style CAD. Tatsuya read the activation sequence with ease. Instantly the extended end of her torch brightly ignited.

She offered the tip of her flame toward Miyuki to light her own torch, and then Miyuki did the same for their father.

With all three torches now lighted, Maya nodded to her niece and moved towards her sister's funeral pyre. She walked to the far side of the pyre and then turned to face her sister's right side.

She stood before the pyre with her torch held out in front of her.

In a clear voice that all present could hear, she spoke out into the cold and windy night sky. The breeze moving the tresses of her hair about her face. Tatsuya couldn't help but think of his mother as he saw her spitting image before her laid out body.

"Farewell, Onee-san!"

She then slowly lowered the torch to the lowest rung of logs that made up the pyre and touched it in three places. When she had finished, she placed the torch down on the lowest log and walked back slowly to her place in line with the family.

She didn't spare her twin sister's body another look.

Once she was back in place Miyuki and their father exchanged a nod, and Tatsurou approached from his wife's left side.

In a voice that was slightly choked, he managed to speak out as the wind pushed at his extended torch's flame.

"Farewell, Tsuma-san."

Then he touched the lowest rung of the pyre with his torch and placed it on top of the logs. Returning to the line of relatives, he touched Miyuki gently on her shoulder.

Despite the wind moving them about, there was no threat of the fire reaching their mother's body before Miyuki had her turn. The fire accelerant they had used was distributed on the logs in a way that would burn upwards slowly, but once it reached the platform where the body rested, would engulf it quickly and efficiently.

Miyuki hesitated to step forward, the only motion being the slight wisps of her hair that had escaped from the hold of their mother's hairpins. This only attracted more eyes to her. Even Maya was cutting her eyes down at her reluctant niece.

It was at this moment that Miyuki turned tear stained eyes behind her.

Tatsuya offered her a warm smile and mouthed words to her.

"You can do it. For Mother's sake."

Refortified by his words, she nodded intently and turned around, then slowly walked forward, but a few seconds later she stopped.

Tatsuya could see her begin to shake. It wasn't because of the cold breeze.

Now all eyes were on her.

Suddenly she turned around and without hesitation extended her free hand back towards him.

"Onii-sama!"

He didn't once consider if it was the right thing to do or if it was what etiquette called for.

The "unworthy" servant stepped through the gap Miyuki had occupied between his aunt and father and grabbed her hand.

Hateful eyes poured onto them from the family and the servants.

He couldn't care less about that though.

Miyuki wanted him.

Miyuki needed him.

And that was exactly what his mother had designed him to be.

He was Miyuki's Onii-sama.

How better to honor her than to do what she had designed him for.

"I am with you. We will do it together, just like on Okinawa."

She nodded to him, and they walked forward, arm and arm.

At their mother's feet, they stopped and looked across at her playing atop the pyre, with flames slowly licking upward on either side. Miyuki now was in open tears. Tatsuya pulled her into his left side to comfort her, and warm her from the wind. More angry eyes dared to judge her.

Tatsuya reached his right hand up to wrap around Miyuki's left hand that had the torch in it.

They locked eyes and nodded, then both spoke aloud.

"Farewell, Haha-sama!"

Together they lowered the torch, touching the flame to the base of the pyre. A new line of flame spread across the front log the log.

Miyuki released the torch into Tatsuya's hand and he lowered it onto the log for her. When he stood upright Miyuki had reached her breaking point. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed.

Tatsuya could feel the hateful eyes on his beloved imouto. They were her enemies as well as his and he has marked them all.

He knew it wouldn't be long before the fire reached its zenith. He pushed her out from his body so that he could look her in her eyes. He dabbed at her tears with his handkerchief and then handed it to her.

"Mother had one final task for me to perform. It won't take long though. Please rejoin aunt and father, and I will be back with you shortly."

She looked at him in mild confusion.

"One….final task?"

He nodded solemnly to her.

Suddenly she brightened up noticeably and smile radiantly at him despite her tears.

"I understand Onii-sama. You must do this thing for Haha. I will await you with pride in my heart."

She then stepped back and bowed to him. The level of hatred he felt on him tripled at this display of Miyuki's love and respect for him.

Before he could even try to return her gesture she stepped beside him on his left, cupped his right cheek with her left palm and kissed him on his other cheek. She then gracefully rejoined their aunt and father in line. To his surprise, when he followed her with his eyes, Maya didn't seem the least bit put off by the emotional display the siblings had just performed before the whole village. She even smiled at him, disturbingly.

He turned to face his mother one last time. Within seconds he knew the fire would engulf her body.

There was no time for errant contemplation of her life.

Tatsuya, now alone before his mother's funeral pyre, before his entire family and the whole village, came to attention. A soldier of the Self-Defense Forces rendering his respect.

Then he bowed from the waist before her. To his family and the servant's surprise, the rest of the villagers followed his example. After a few awkward moments, they too also bowed.

As they all returned to the upright position Tatsuya unbuttoned one button on his school jacket with his right hand and reached inside it under his left arm. He wrapped his hand around the handle of his brand new custom made Silver Horn Trident in its holster. His thumb pressed the top button on the back of the gun-shaped specialized CAD.

His eyes never left her body.

It would be his last glimpse of her.

He squeezed the trigger.

It would be everyone's last glimpse of her.

A collective gasp arose from everyone present.

Miya's body evaporated before their eyes in microscopic ash-like particles. Only a sudden flash of blue flame was left, and that too was soon gone.

A few seconds later the flames had finally reached the platform, and a whooshing sound could be heard as the flames intensified instantly, sucking in oxygen rapidly.

His mother had been laid out in the same white kimono with purple Yotsuba four-leaf clover mons she had worn on her deathbed. The same kimono he had diligently switched lapels on just hours before. Her body had been surrounded by lilacs as well.

When he decomposed her body he had left the kimono untouched, only the blue flame of her body's excess gasses reacting with exposure to atmosphere had scorched it slightly.

Now the intensity of the normal flames pushed air under the light garment and sent it skyward as it also burned, to be caught by the wind before it too evaporated into ash as its occupant had moments before.

All eyes followed it into the night before it disappeared. In years to come, the villagers would say it was Miya's spirit ascending into the heavens, on wings given to her by her dutiful son.

The much heavier lilacs didn't move though, they just burned and smoked.

For some reason he couldn't fathom Tatsuya's forearms seemed to suddenly ache. He couldn't explain it, but the flames of the now empty pyre seemed to stir something in him he couldn't put his fingers on. The unexplainable memory of an unknown pain.

He turned back to rejoin Miyuki only to see stunned faces looking back at him.

"So mother wished me to debut my Decomposition efficiency at her funeral. One last task to perform."

Even his father seemed stunned by what he had just witnessed.

Decomposition was a rare talent among magicians. No previously known Decomposition user had the ability to decompose an entire human body in literally half a second. No one present had ever seen Decomposition used with such power and apparent ease. The stunned eyes were aimed at someone they all now knew was the world's greatest known Decomposition user.

The Defective One wasn't entirely so.

Miyuki, with tear stained eyes, looked on with pride at him and the humbling reaction his Decomposition of their mother's remains had caused among the crowd, especially their arrogant and prideful relatives.

Maya only smiled at him, as if very satisfied with the results.

The Uncles looked at him too with stunned expressions.

They also directed negative emotions his way again.

This time it was pure fear.

They were afraid of him again.

He could live with that result, as apparently could his aunt.

Miyuki could only look at him with pride as he returned to the line.

He walked past his aunt to retake his original place among the servants. It was now he felt a soft but firm hand around his left forearm.

He turned to look slightly downward at the mysterious eyes of the possessor of that hand. She only smiled back at him with that unreadable expression and his mother's stolen appearance.

"On such an occasion, your place is by Miyuki's side."

This woman in his mother's clothes, with his mother's hair style, and with his mother's face; looked at him with the same expression as he had seen just that afternoon on his dead mother's face.

She seemed…proud, of him.

She turned him gently around with her arm and took his right arm in her left.

"You belong with your family."

Only now could he see the concerned look in Miyuki's eyes as she watched him with their aunt.

"That's the way Onee-san would have wanted it to be."

She dropped her left hand and took his right hand in hers.

The uninformed would have mistaken Maya for her dead sister. They would see these four standing together watching a now empty stack of logs and flowers burn into the cold night wind and assume they were the Shiba Family, united as never before.

Tatsuya couldn't help but notice how truly happy his aunt seemed in this moment.

Was she happy her sister was dead?

Was she happy that Tatsuya had again terrified the Uncles?

Was she actually happy to be dressed up as her sister, and with her sister's family as if she were their mother instead?

Was she even happy to be holding Tatsuya's hand?

A disturbing possibility came to his mind.

What if all these things together had caused her happiness?

Tatsuya and Miyuki both stole worried glances at each other and their aunt as they both watched in concern as their mother's funeral pyre flames danced in the shining and bright eyes of this woman who now would dominate their lives in their mother's stead.

Tatsuya seemed to feel the cold autumn night breeze penetrating his school uniform jacket for the first time. It felt more like winter to him now than the fall his mother had loved so much.

It was dark now. Much darker than it had been in the room where their mother had died a few hours before. That was the natural difference between nightfall and midnight.

Actually, now thirty-five minutes past midnight.

In truth, he was beginning to think she'd hold out even longer than that. She had fought sleep off impressively when by all rights she should have been exhausted well before they entered this room. Only moments before had she finally surrendered to the inevitable daily call to rest.

Now the only sound that broke the silence of this dark room was her gentle rhythmic breathing.

They lay there together on the futon mattress on top of fresh tatami mats in the darkness inside Miyuki's Japanese-style guest room. Even in darkness, it was a stark contrast to the western style bedroom where their mother had died in his arms just hours ago.

His eyes, well trained, had long adjusted to the darkness. He could see every detail of her face, including the lines of the tear stains still fresh on her cheeks. The left shoulder of his nightshirt bore further evidence of her tears through its dampness.

Only hours before another's more mysterious tears had dampened the opposite shoulder for him.

Today, for the first time, he had been able to hold both of the most important women in his life as he had never before.

One was gone now.

The other was now his responsibility alone.

She had not cried continuously the whole time. In truth, he was very proud of her. Anyone else her age would have been devastated by the loss of their mother and wept openly and loudly through the whole ordeal.

Instead, Miyuki had shown the entire family and village tonight that she was the Ojou-sama her devoted mother had trained her to be. Miyuki was now the publicly acknowledged legitimate successor to Miya's legacy. Her grace and poise under tremendous emotional pain had been praised profusely among the family and servants alike. She was the perfect living proxy for their now deceased mother in all things.

Except one.

The one area where they differed was of course Tatsuya.

Following the short ride back to the main residence the entire family had gathered for evening tea, on a massive scale.

A few family members took the opportunity to tell antidotes about their mother's life, or to praise her work in the study of mental interference magic. Their mother was legitimately the world expert in mental interference magic. Of course, her invaluable research in that field would most likely never see the light of day. It was for the benefit of the Yotsuba alone.

For some reason, this bothered him. Not for the first time was he glad that his own specialties were something that only benefited the family if disseminated to the world at-large.

Others took the opportunity to praise Miyuki's bravery and grace during this period. Tsukuba-dono was very eloquent with her praise of Miyuki, and how she had brought honor to her mother. Kuroba-dono also praised Miyuki. Tatsuya was surprised he didn't find some way to praise Fumiya and Ayako too. Both looked relieved that their father had managed to avoid his normal trademark faux pas on this somber occasion.

Watching from the wall with the other servants, once again he was reminded that though he was of the Yotsuba blood, he was not one of them. None of the adults spoke to him or to offer him condolences on the death of his mother.

After all, he wasn't her child in their eyes. He was only a long-term test subject for her. Defective material only suitable for study to prevent such mistakes in the future. How could someone as praise-worthy as Shiba Miya ever be identified on an emotional level with a defective like himself?

They did look at him often though and whisper to each other about him. Tatsuya preferred their fear to their contempt since fear of him would help them keep their distance from Miyuki.

To their father's constant disappointment though, the Kuroba twins refused to follow the adult's example where he was concerned. They only departed from his side when their father insisted and soon would find their way back to him. They made a constant loop between himself and Miyuki, who by etiquette was trapped between their aunt and their father. Tatsuya remembered his mother's words about the Kuroba twins already being in his pocket. In truth, he was grateful for their support of Miyuki in this way. He knew that despite her heavy heart she would be more concerned for his sake than her own. Here the twins helped relieve her burden by visible supporting her beloved "Outcast" in defiance of the adults.

She would occasionally exchange a happy smile with him across the room as Fumiya chewed on his ear and Ayako smirked at her brother's obvious devotion and admiration of their elder cousin.

Even as Miya and Miyuki were both publicly praised, so too was the overlord of the Yotsuba. Sitting beside Miyuki still dressed for all the world to see in what Tatsuya was now referring to mentally as her "Miya costume"; Maya smiled graciously and accepted their profuse accolades. Even someone as emotionally limited as Tatsuya could see how uncomfortable Maya had made her relatives by dressing up as her dead sister. She even seemed to be trying to channel their mother's mannerism as she spoke and replied.

Had he still had emotions, he suspected he'd either be offended and angry at her or simply "creeped out" by this display.

She had certainly made the rest of the family very uncomfortable, which might have been a significant factor in motivation for this play-acting of hers.

Still, Tatsuya got the impression something much deeper was going on in Maya's mind than simple exhibitionism. He couldn't help but feel on some level Maya was doing this to usurp their mother's position and legacy. Maybe she even felt that as Miya's twin, she could somehow replace her for Miyuki. Tatsuya remembered their mother's warning to use Hayama as a go-between with their aunt. He thought it sound advice at the time. Now, he would implement the policy in full force when they returned home.

After an hour and a half, it was clear no one wanted to be the first to leave and Maya was apparently enjoying herself too much to dismiss them. Tatsuya was beginning to get annoyed that Miyuki's feelings and need to rest were being ignored when Hayama informed him that he could take Miyuki back to her room if she was ready.

She most certainly was ready.

They managed to depart the banquet room discreetly without attracting the cousins' attention. One adult did stop them in the hallway though.

Their father also took Miyuki's departure as an excuse to leave. Like dinner before, he was ignored to his face and ridiculed in whispers at this event as well.

Instead of returning to his guest room to sleep, he planned to return to his home in the capital with his mistress tonight. Tatsuya thought it would be hard for a neutral observer to blame him after tonight's display of contempt, despite knowing his history with their mother.

Miyuki was most certainly not neutral though.

To Tatsuya's surprise, she didn't protest and wished him a safe journey. She offered to see him off when he was ready to depart, but he insisted she go to bed.

A hug and a kiss, a promise to get together soon, and their father was off to change out of his kimono and hopefully leave without any additional attention.

As he left, father and son locked eyes for the first time tonight. No words were said, but his father gave him a slight head nod. Not knowing the meaning behind such a rare gesture from his normally disinterested father, he simply returned it and followed Miyuki and Shirakawa-dono into her guestroom.

For Tatsuya's part, he felt that their father departing tonight would make tomorrow much easier on everyone.

Once Shirakawa-dono had supervised Miyuki's disrobing and made sure they were settled in she departed with the attendants to allow the siblings to sleep. Once Miyuki found out that Tatsuya hadn't eaten she immediately called an attendant back to the room to order him food from the kitchen. Tatsuya suggested she say it was her that was hungry and not himself. Miyuki seemed to want to protest such actions but told the attendant she wanted the food for herself. She probably understood his motivation for asking her to claim the food, even though they didn't speak about it. Having to prepare a meal for what the other servants considered to be the lowest of the low, would probably result in further unnecessary conflict with the main residence servants for him later on.

After the food was brought up Tatsuya ate as Miyuki retreated to the bathroom to relax in the tub. Then they exchanged places.

And after that…it was bedtime.

He had been apprehensive about the prospect of sleeping with her in the same bed. He knew instinctively that the physically affectionate Miyuki would "cuddle" with him. For some reason, he couldn't explain, despite the natural need for him to be with her at this difficult time, the idea of holding Miyuki in this manner while laying down and under a cover had produced a considerable amount of concern for him.

It wasn't rational, and he knew as much. For some reason her being his sister didn't seem to mitigate the prospect of holding her in this intimate manner in his mind as it should have.

He even was noticeably embarrassed when he informed her of the option to sleep together earlier that evening.

Miyuki's reaction was even more difficult for him to understand. She blushed profusely for several minutes and tried to hide her flushed face from him. Yet her words did not match her shy reaction. She became giddy at the idea and was very enthusiastic about it.

Once alone in the room, she was the one encouraging him to bed, yet again with her blushing face showing. He still couldn't explain either of their reactions in this situation.

It had been the right choice though. She immediately snuggled into his left side and laid her head on his left arm. At that moment Tatsuya's mind couldn't help but draw parallels with his experience with Miya earlier.

Yet unlike their mother, Miyuki couldn't hold back any longer.

She buried her face in his chest and screamed. He rolled over to hold her with both arms as she released all her pain into his body. A few muffled wails made him think the hallway servants might hear her. They either did not hear her or had been told not to hear her.

After the first intense crying spell, he held her as they talked. He asked her about her gesture in the foyer before the funeral, where she held out her outstretched hand and then insisted on opening her own door. Once she told him the story their mother had told her of the last day she had seen her own father alive, it made perfect sense to him. This was Miyuki's tribute to their mother. She would boldly open the door where their mother had held back doing so and regretted it.

A moving tribute, even for someone as limited as Tatsuya to understanding the emotions behind it.

He took the opportunity to tell her about Pledge and how it would help them through high school. Miyuki seemed dubious about the benefits and asked if this was some way to limit him. Showing no concern for herself, she was worried about hampering Tatsuya for the Uncles' sake. He dutifully explained why he supported it and in the end, she acquiesced, but only after he told her that either could end the link temporarily if they chose to.

Then another fit of crying came. Nowhere near as intense as the first, but a bit longer.

Afterward, they talked more about their mother and her life. Miyuki told him many things he had never heard about Miya before. Again, Tatsuya was forced to reevaluate the distant and cold-hearted mother he thought he knew.

More crying, followed by sharing memories of Honami and discussion about what their father would do with "that woman" now. Miyuki said she wouldn't be surprised if he married the "hateful old cow" and Tatsuya had to work hard to look like he knew nothing about it. He judged now was not the time to tell her about their father's pending remarriage.

They lay in the dark, talking and in her case crying. She kept going each time Tatsuya thought she'd finally fall asleep. At one point she even had her lips close enough to his neck that he could feel them moving as she whispered, and the heat of her breath.

Despite his training against it, his heart mysteriously began to race out of his control.

And then she went silent, and a few moments later she was finally asleep.

Now he lay with her cradled into his left side.

Her long and miserable day finally at an end.

"I managed to protect her for another day."

Tatsuya said these words to himself every night so far since the day he first became her Guardian nearly seven years before.

It was the way he ended every day, and a reminder to repeat the same efforts tomorrow.

She was his entire world, even more so now than before.

She would also need him more now than ever too.

He would defend her again tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on.

Because that is who he is.

And who he was designed to be…..by her.

Mother.

Only now that she was safe in his arms could he ponder his own experiences today. Their mother's last words to him, the apparently altered Eidos Log, and….

"…that smile."

Tatsuya had discovered something interesting once Miyuki started to like being held by him. It was only in times like that that he truly felt she was safe. Physical contact with her was his ultimate security blanket. Only then could he let his mind wonder.

Before tonight, hugs between them were for just a few moments.

Tonight, with her safe in his arms for hours, would afford him a rare chance to free his mind completely.

She could be no safer than in his arms, so he could at last release the burden of being her constant sentinel and expand his mind beyond himself.

In the Eidos plane, his mind wondered outward through the residence. He saw the servants cleaning up after the gathering. He saw other servants sleeping in their dorms. He saw his aunt in her study with Hayama. He resisted the urge to focus on them, not sure if they could detect his ability if he concentrated on them.

His mind drifted beyond the main residence to the branch family residences. He saw Fumiya and Ayako talking in one of their bedrooms in the Kuroba residence. He saw Mitsugu talking with his own mother Yume-sama, their grandfather's younger sister.

In the nearby Tsukuba residence, he saw their cousin Yuuka, who had been asked to talk to them tomorrow before she departs, laying asleep on a futon. Yuuka would discuss with the siblings her knowledge and experiences from her days at First High School. She had just graduated that past March and would know almost all the staff and a good deal about their impending third-year sempais who had been her own kohai.

In another room, he could see Yuuka's mother, Tsukuba Tuuka-dono, with her husband. He seemed to be comforting her as she cried. Rumor was she was close to their mother as children and might be having a hard time dealing with her death. Tomorrow she would bond him to Miyuki with Pledge.

His mind went out even further. Now he was beyond the walls of the residence. Now he saw the park and square where the funeral had taken place. He chose to rewind the Eidos Log now. He went back a few hours and watched the funeral again. He watched them arrive and then their aunt. He saw them light the pyre. He watched himself decompose his mother's body. He could now see all the faces as they watched him do this. The shock on every face.

Was his Decomposition magic that impressive?

He watched his aunt's face again. The strange glare of fascination and satisfaction showed on her. He was still "creeped out" to see such a passionate look on someone nearly indistinguishable from his stoic mother.

His mind came back to the main residence and a few hours further back. His mind came back to the room where his mother died in his arms.

By tomorrow night, he'd be unable to return to this point again. His Eidos Log rewinding ability had approximately a twenty-four-hour life span. Being able to examine this mysterious event was of high importance to him. He would not rest well till he could explain why he had fallen asleep and the difference between his own memories and what the previous Eidos Log review showed.

He watched as he entered the room. He watched them talk as he stood over the chair. He watched himself lift his mother up and carry her into the bed. He watched as he joined her.

Again he seemed to fall asleep immediately and she died embracing him moments later.

"That's not right."

He watched it again, nothing changed.

"But this cannot be. I know what I experienced was real."

He could feel himself, lost in this information dimension, losing his connection to the physical world and becoming more agitated with each review.

"I must find the solution."

His grasp on reality and consciousness slipping away from him as he pushed further into the Eidos plane.

Then he felt warm and recognized the sensation from earlier today.

"Am I…"

It was the same sensation he had felt right before he had lost consciousness on his mother's deathbed.

Then he heard a familiar voice, or more like a chorus of familiar female voices.

"Always working so hard. Constantly pushing yourself to new achievements."

The same chorus of familiar female voices he had heard earlier that day had returned.

"Tireless warrior, always searching, always vigilant."

The warming sensation calmed him as he seemed to gently fall out of the information plane and back into his body.

"Not all mysteries must be solved in a single day."

He could feel his consciousness drift away from him like earlier.

"Rest now, the princess is safe in your arms."

He couldn't even put up a fight this time. He could only listen as Miyuki's voice mingled with Shirakawa-dono's, Maya's, Ayako's, and Honami's voices inside his mind

"Tomorrow holds new challenges for you to overcome."

He only seemed to have enough energy left to ask one weak question.

"Who…..are you?"

The voices coalesced as they surprisingly replied to him.

"I will always be with you, as I have always been."

Now one familiar voice dominated the others as they spoke to him.

"Rest now my poor child."

He felt once again as if he were a child in a giant's arms. Warmth and safety pushed his mind into unconsciousness.

"I will never let you fall."

He could smell her scent and feel her holding him in her embrace. He had never felt this much contentment in his life. He never wanted to let her go.

As he drifted off to sleep, he could hear the familiar voice singing into his ear a song he knew was a lullaby sang to babies lull them into sleep. He knew this couldn't be a memory of his own since no one had ever sung him a lullaby before.

Certainly not her.

Yet her song was as real to him in this perfect moment as anything he had ever experienced.

With the one person he loved safe in his arms, Tatsuya could finally and truly rest in the mysterious arms of another unexplainable but familiar presence.

She sang that lullaby to his weary mind all night long, and he had the best night's sleep that he could ever remember.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks again for reading my stories. If you like it please check out my other MKnR work. This one is a short story (short for me anyway). For my regulars, I am currently editing the already published chapters of To Stand at the Pinnacle to realign them better with the canon light novels since events have changed since I first started on it. I'd suggest that once I have this done and get to publish my first new chapter of that story that you start from the beginning since some things will have changed.

Again, thanks for reading and commenting on my stories. Till next time.