Rebirth

After the drama regarding her engagement and the attempts to break it, they take a ten minute break. Not a whole lot happens during it, she just chats in a private room with Maya.

When it's over and they've gone back though, Maya comes out swinging practically immediately, "Everyone, I have something I would like to say."

Kudou raises an eyebrow, "Oh. An issue raised by Lady Yotsuba is indeed rare. What would it be about?”

Maya nods, "Has everyone heard of a man that goes by the name of Zhou Gongjin?”

Mutsuzuka tilts her head, "Zhou Gongjin..?"

Yatsushiro's brows furrow, "Lady Yotsuba, isn’t that the famous Zhou Yu of Wu from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

She's a little surprised he'd know something like that. Then again, it is a widely known book(1), so maybe it'd be stranger if he wasn't familiar with it. Maya shook her head while smiling in response to their questions, "Basing his headquarters in Yokohama’s Chinatown, he’s an Ancient Magician born on the continent. Taoists, I believe they were called, correct, Kudou-dono?"

Kudou blinks quickly in surprise, "Ancient Magicians from the continent are often called as such, yes.”(2)

Mutsuzuka tilts her head, "So, what about this Zhou Gongjin?"

Maya hums, "Anti-Magic International Political Organization 'Blanche'. Hong Kong based International Crime Syndicate 'No-Head Dragon'. The sabotage forces of the Great Asian Union that caused the Yokohama Incident. And then the incident that took place in the heart of Tokyo, the Vampire Incident ‘Parasites’. He is the man who helped orchestrate all of this, the mastermind that brought chaos to our country, or should I say, the mastermind designated to cause trouble in Japan.”

The shock blows away the previously calm composed atmosphere, "Lady Yotsuba." Yatsushiro raises his hand, quite possibly just from falling back on school habits due to the stress of the situation or something, especially since he looks young enough that it probably hasn't been all that long since he was in university, "Just now you used the word ‘designated’ in past tense, which is to say he has already been disposed of? Or that he has fled the country?”

Maya shakes her head, “No, he was taken into custody by Toshiko and the Amano twins back in late October. It was actually during his interrogation that Toshiko discovered part of the information that lead to the more recent arrest of Jiedo Heigu who was the man behind Zhou. However, I am bringing it up now because evidence has recently come to light that Lord Saegusa here was in collusion with Zhou Gongjin.”

Itsuwa squeezes out in a tense voice, “Evidence has come to light’? So that's more than supposition Lady Yotsuba?”

Maya nods, “Indeed. The Saegusa as a whole seem to be unaware and innocent, but I have evidence that Lord Saegusa- No misterKouichi here, was working with him, ordering select individuals to serve as the contact between them. I can send it to you if you would like.”

Juumonji nods, “Actually, I've been in discussions with Lady Mayumi, Kouichi’s daughter, as well as Watanabe Mari from the Hundred Families on how to handle his betrayal of Japan as a whole as they also discovered it. As such, I also have evidence that Lady Mayumi brought me.”

Kouichi jolts, whipping towards Juumonji, presumably from hearing his own daughter handed over evidence against him, “It was given to her by her bodyguard, Nakura Saburou, who was the primary one he was ordering to serve as their contact. As a side note, I believe Nakura should be shown leniency, as him coming to her with the evidence he'd been collecting proves his loyalty to both her and Japan as a whole. But mister Kouichi was still the Head of one of the Ten Master Clans, which undoubtedly made it difficult for him to come forward with what mister Kouichi was having him do. I also believe we shouldn't punish the Saegusa as a whole for mister Kouichi’s deeds, in light of the fact it was his daughter himself that came to me with evidence, adding validity to her and mister Nakura's statements that it was only mister Kouichi who was involved.”

Kudou's voice is firm, “If there is evidence backing up both Lady Yotsuba as well as Lord Juumonji's claims, this isn't a small matter in the slightest. It's outright criminal, and we must act accordingly.”

There are murmurs of agreement as the other Clan Heads stare down Kouichi with frosty gazes.

She has to fight hard to suppress her smile. She has a strong feeling the so called ‘Sly Fox’ was about to get caught by the bear trap and wouldn't be getting away this time.

Her mind drifts to the Saegusa. If the rest of them were innocent in general, it was unlikely that they'd be removed from the Ten Master Clans and replaced by a different one of the families from Seven. Saegusa Tomokazu was the Heir, right? She can't say she knows a whole lot about him. Well, she'll probably learn more soon, since he's likely to become the Saegusa Clan Head very shortly.

As she'd suspected, Kouichi had indeed been replaced by Tomokazu, and more than that, he'd been arrested. His crimes were very nearly treason so she's not surprised in the slightest. Or rather, the only reason it wasn't considered treason was that Kouichi's defense was he had no clue all of the bull Zhou had been orchestrating or he wouldn't have remotelyworked with him. Unfortunately, his lawyers had managed to prove and/or place enough doubt on how much Kouichi knew to get him out of it being deemed actual treason and out a life sentence or anything like that. He'd still be in prison a long time, but assuming he didn't die he would get out eventually.

She hasn't seen Maya in person since, so it was a bit of a surprise when she was called to the Kanto branch of the Magic Association to meet with her. After being led to a private room, she greets her, “Maya, sorry did I Ieave you waiting?”

Maya shakes her head, "Not at all, Toshiko. I still have free time before the planned events. Please, have a seat.” She heads over to the cushioned chair Maya had indicated and settles on it. Once she has, Maya continues, “I know you're busy, but I need to request your assistance once more.”

She tilts her head, but while she trusts Maya, it's never a good idea to blindly agree to something, “What is it about?”

Thankfully, Maya is well familiar with the fact that practically the only people she'll blindly agree to assist are her soulmates, so she doesn't take offense to it in the slightest, "I need you to go to Okinawa. Officially, you will go to the meeting to discuss the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of that incident. You are visiting out of necessity, but you can just listen. At the call of the government, the tribute will be paid to the dead. As you've been officially recognized as the Yotsuba Heir and honoring such things is also a duty of the Ten Master Clans, as well as the fact you had a direct connection to the incident, no one should think it strange in the slightest. In addition, a visit to the temple on Higan(3) is required.”

She hums, “And what I'm actually doing behind the cover story?”

Maya hums and lifts a hand to wave forward Hayama, who'd been lingering behind her, "The real work that I wanted to entrust you is here. Please read it and then use Decomposition on it immediately.”

Sliding the letter opener Hayama had also given her through the fold at the top, she pulls out the documents, which Maya was likely giving her to avoid any potential eavesdropping. There were about a dozen papers, though most of them were more on details as she understands as she reads through them as quickly as possible. The main point is that a division of the GAU has gone rogue and is looking to sabotage the artificial island that was recently deemed complete near Okinawa and/or the assassination of someone important that's supposed to be at the opening event. They aren't one hundred percent sure which their goal is or if it's both. Their overall goal seems to be to encourage hostilities to undo the peace treaty.

It's a joint operation with the military, and even the GAU which is willingly cooperating since the message she sent to their port made it perfectly clear that picking a fight would be beyond stupid and they don't want to even risk them thinking the renegades are with them. The details are just things like the renegade division and what they know they have, the GAU contact they're working with, a note that she's explicitly taking part in her capacity as the Yotsuba Heir and not in her capacity as Special Officer ‘Obara Ryumi’ to show the Yotsuba working with the military. Things like that.

Decomposing it after she's done -it's not like she won't be able to recall it perfectly with her Occlumency if she needs to revise-, she looks up at Maya, “Is it alright if I tell Sora, Miho, and Hoshi?”

Maya smiles, “Certainly. Actually, I was going to suggest you tell them and take them to be on standby as backup. That part isn't quite Miho's area of expertise, but you never know when something will come up that she can help with.”

She smiles as she nods, “Alright then.”

Maya stands, “Anyway, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I actually have a fairly busy schedule today.”

She shakes her head as she stands as well, “Don't worry about it Maya. I'll see you later.”

Maya returns the sentiment before quickly leaving. Maya must seriously be busy today to be in such a rush to leave. It's alright though, she's not so unreasonable to hold the fact she couldn't stay to chat against her or anything.

She'll need to have Miho meet her at the Amano house so she can fill them all in. To that end, she tugs her mobile terminal out to message them.

She supposes it isn't very surprising since the artificial island had just been finished and Shizuku's family was rather wealthy from their businesses, so it wasn't that surprising that her family invested into the island construction.

Nevertheless, it's definitely rather strange timing that Shizuku is inviting her and Yuki to the celebration party held on the island itself. She hums, “Yuki can and really should go, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it.”

Shizuku, and Honoka who's with her for that matter, look a bit disappointed, though it's Shizuku who replies, “Prior commitments then?”

She looks down, “You could say that…” She shakes her head and looks back up, “Are you aware of the commemoration event for the fifth anniversary of the Okinawa attack that's happening around that time?”

Shizuku nods, “Of course. Dad and some of the others were actually wondering about pushing it back so as to not seem crass, but… Well, bluntly, if we tried to schedule around every tragedy, there would be no days left to do it. So they decided to treat it more as a moving forward and healing from the wounds kind of thing. From my understanding, the opening speech is going to start by paying respects then put it in that light.”

She smiles a little sadly, “My family, that is myself, my mother, and Yuki, were at Okinawa on vacation during the attack.” Honoka gasps in surprise, then quickly slaps a hand to her mouth so she doesn't interrupt, “I probably would've gone anyway, but my aunt has let me know that since the Ten Master Clans are expected to honor the event and as I have a direct link to the original attack, she's sending me to represent the Ten Master Clans. We've already scheduled things in the Yotsuba so there isn't any mixup on my availability, but I'll be here for graduation just to make sure there aren't any last minute problems, then after the closing ceremony on the twenty-third I'll be heading straight to Okinawa for Higan and the memorial anniversary.”

“Technically, the memorial is on the twenty-fourth and you aren't even leaving until the twenty-fifth since that party isn't until the twenty-eighth, but there's no guarantee something else won't come up, so… I mean, if nothing else, I'm actually friends with some of the soldiers stationed there, so I'll probably be catching up with them since it's been so long. Especially since, well, you remember that thing that was revealed when we went up to the conference room that you were asked not to talk about?” They nod expressions serious enough that she knows they're aware she's referring to her being a 'Special Officer’, “It was actually during that attack that it happened. I participated.”

Their eyes go wide, before Shizuku bows her head, and though it's difficult to tell since her face is usually deadpan, her expression is more serious, “I understand. I hope if you find yourself with some free time we'll be able to meet up, but I'm not so crass to demand it or hold it against you if you can't.”

She smiles lightly, “I know you aren't. Thank you for understanding anyway though. Given I imagine you already spoke to your father before you extended the invitation, express my thanks for the generous invite and my apologies for needing to turn it down please.”

Shizuku smiles and nods, “Mm. I will.”

The graduation ceremony seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, officially marking the end of her second year, as well as seeing the graduation of the likes of Nakajou, Mibu, Kirihara, Isori, Chiyoda, and Hattori which admittedly felt a bit strange, given how prominent their presence in the school was. Given she'd only had a year with them, it was going to feel significantly weirder for them to be gone then it'd felt when Saegusa, Juumonji, Watanabe, and Ichihara graduated last year.

She personally hadn't had anything to do with the preparations or anything like that given it was in wheelhouse of the Student Council, and as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, she was just on standby in case she was needed. The vibrant celebrations had felt so keenly juxtaposed to the mood she's been in because of the uncomfortable fifth year anniversary in honor of the losses at Okinawa that she felt like she got whiplash though. She was actually somewhat glad it was over in that respect, since it means she can focus on more important things, namely the event honoring the attack and her mission regarding the renegade division from the GAU.

She did have to go to the Buddhist festival of Higan(3) that Maya insisted on, but that hadn't been too difficult. After it was done, she'd gone back to change and was now walking into a steakhouse called ‘Left Behind Bloodline’ with the other three, more specifically up to the reserved second floor.

She doesn't get a chance to get that far though, given a familiar voice calls out as soon as she enters, “Oh, Toshiko! Long time no see!”

Given the voice, she's not surprised when she turns to find Higaki Joseph, though she is surprised to see him dressed in more casual clothes with an apron with the restaurant's logo on it. Nevertheless, she smiles warmly, “Hey, Joe. It's been a while that's for sure. Glad to see you're doing well. Though,” She gives his apron a bemused look, “have you retired in the years since or something?”

He laughs brightly, “No, I'm still in service. Actually, I was promoted to Sergeant just the other day. I'm just helping out some retired friends is all.”

Her expression shifts to understanding, “Congratulations on the promotion.”

He grins, “Thanks! And you! I knew you had to have some sorta connection, but Heir of the Yotsuba, eh?”

She laughs, “Not back then I wasn't. I was obviously of the Yotsuba Clan then, but the Heir hadn't been decided upon yet. Actually, the final decision was made pretty close to the same time it was announced. They happened back to back.”

He makes an understanding expression of his own, “Ah. Your new position ain't overwhelming is it?”

She shakes her head, “No, not in the slightest, thank you for your concern though.”

He smiles again, “Of course!” Then he shakes his head, “I've held you up though, the rest are already on the second floor. Head right on up. Maybe we'll have time to catch up later if you're free. I'm sure some of the other boys would like to see you as well.”

She flashes him another smile as she passes, “I'd like that. I'll hit you up if I can.”

Joe grins, giving her an acknowledgement as she heads off. All too soon, she's knocking on the door and calling out, “It's Shiba Toshiko.”(4)

A beat later she hears the lock before it pops open to reveal Shigeru, "It's good that you came. Well, come on in.”

He flicks a glance at Sora and Miho as he opens the door wider, but Maya had already assured her she'd passed along that they should expect them with and why. Hoshi was pointedly not attending the meeting since they don't want to potentially break the trap Sora and Hoshi had unintentionally built with their relationship.

Given she's here in her capacity as the Yotsuba Heir though, she's careful not to treat Kazama like he's her superior, "Lieutenant Colonel Kazama, Major Sanada, it's good to see you again.”

Also knowing about the difference in her participation, Kazama rises to greet her, "I'm happy too, I'm counting on you.” Then he gestures to the other occupant, who she recognizes from the fact her brother had captured him during the Okinawa incident after Kokonoe's warning, and had subsequently been exchanged for Japanese agents after the peace treaty was signed, "This is Colonel Chen Xiangshan from the GAU army. As I'm sure you're aware from the briefing you were given prior, in this operation we are in a cooperative relationship.” She nods, taking the seat Kazama had gestured to as he spoke, Sora and Miho taking the other two. Kazama settles back into his own seat at the same time, "Then I'll go straight into the explanation of the current situation.”

She tilts her head, “I assume from the tone there's been a development?”

Kazama shakes his head in bemusement, “You could say that. Before that though, a more general update, there are no large movements among enemy agents penetrating Okinawa. Once, with the help of Colonel Chen, we tried to provoke them, but at the moment we are acting cautiously. That is, however, where the development is, there are six agents on this main island of Okinawa. Among them are two Japanese but there is also one Australian.”

She blinks, “An Australian?”

Kazama nods, "According to the passport. Also, the place of departure of the plane he flew in on was Sydney Airport.”

She hums, “What do we know about him?”

Kazama tilts his head, "His name is James Jackson, he's forty years old, and supposedly he's a journalist.” She suppresses the urge to roll her eyes. She knows it's an easy cover, and it even easily explains why they have certain equipment like cameras, but really, they seem to have no imagination, "Supposedly, the purpose of the visit is tourism with his 12-year-old daughter.”

Her brows furrow as she clamps down on the utter rage at the idea they dragged a child into things, especially given-, "Is she really his daughter?”

She barely manages to keep the question steady rather than bursting out of her. It's unforgivable regardless, but it's even worse if they involved a child that isn't even related to him. 

Kazama holds out a tablet terminal, "Here's a picture."

She lowers it enough that both Sora and Miho can see easily from either side of her. Her lips pinch, “They don't look related in the slightest.”

Kazama gives a bitter smile, "Suppose they are really a parent and a child. If this is a disguise, then I do not understand the intention to bring such a girl. Are they going to use her in a suicide attack?"

She shakes her head as she hands the tablet back, “I'll look into it.”

By which she means she'll have Rowena look into it to find the truth. They better pray to whatever gods they believe in that they didn't actually drag an innocent child into whatever the hell they're planning. They won't escape her and they won't survive if they have.

Kazama nods, “I'll leave it to you then Miss Shiba. Moving on though, there is still no activity on Kuma Island. However, there is no doubt that the aim of the agents is the artificial island off the western coast of Kuma.”

She nods, "Let me know as soon as any movement appears.”

Kazama hums, "That's all I wanted to say. Do you have any questions?"

She glances at the other two to see if they have anything to say, then shakes her head, “Not in particular, no.”

Kazama nods, "I see. What are you going to do now?”

Her lips twitch, “Well, I did say there were some friends nearby that I'd catch up with if I had time since I didn't want to commit to anything until I got details of the situation.”

Kazama's eyes get a knowing look and he nods, “I see. Well, we'll be in touch then, but in the meantime, I do hope you enjoy yourself Miss Shiba.”

They get up to say their goodbyes. She needs to hit up Joe and find out when he'll be done helping out his friends with the restaurant and see about gathering up some of the other guys. Maybe treating them all to dinner to catch up over.

Rowena actually gets back to her by the next day about this Jasmine Williams that's with James Jackson. Luckily for the Australians, it turns out she isn't even a child. She's actually twenty-nine years old, but something went wrong with some genetic manipulation testing when she was twenty. It affected her like some weird reverse Progeria Syndrome. Something of a living Benjamin Button in a way.

It cools her rage somewhat, but there's still enough residual anger that she sends Kazama the information and informs him at the same time about the fact she's dispatching Hoshi to take care of it. She was still angry enough that Hoshi knew full well it was better if she handled the situation before Toshiko felt the need to step in and it would leave Sora to act as emergency backup so she hadn't protested in the slightest.

Kazama hadn't had anything against it either, given the morons had made contact with one of the renegade division, so they'd practically handed them a starting point for Kyouko to track them down. Given that and the fact the only reason he'd wanted her on standby was to not clue the GAU in on any more than necessary about her, he had no qualms with Hoshi moving to apprehended them on her behalf. Though, she had given her a heads up about the magic Rowena had found Jasmine to have, Ozone Circle, which could cause paralysis from acute intoxication, so while she knew Hoshi was likely to knock them out before they even knew she was there, she'd need to keep an air filtering spell over her nose and mouth just to be safe.

In the meantime, since he was still their friend even if they'd learned about the problems between Yuki and her, Shizuku had invited him to the party, and Yuki had accepted after their mom basically ordered him to. Their mom had said that now that she'd been announced as the Yotsuba Heir, it was obvious that Yuki was also a Yotsuba, so she wanted him to go to represent the Yotsuba with a strict reminder that any poor behavior from him would reflect poorly on Toshiko to keep him in check, but she's pretty sure their mom just wanted him to be too busy to potentially try to stick his nose into her mission. That, or she wanted a break from his pouting and temper tantrums at their separation. Not that she could blame her if that was the case.

It was actually Yuki's birthday, but to be frank, given he's always practically made his entire personality his love for her or revolve around her, she's never been entirely sure what to get him. She'd still tried in previous years when it came to his presents, but this year she hadn't bothered, just gotten him something impersonal and admittedly bland. The sort of thing most people would expect between siblings from high society that aren't particularly close, while being careful it wasn't anything he could take the wrong way. She hadn't even bothered to give it to him in person, just having straight up left it with their mother to give him.

She remembers her impressions of it, but she honestly can't even remember what it was because of how meaningless it had been. She honestly only got it because she hasn't quite hit the point of cutting him out of her life and it would be rude not to in light of that.

Miho had commented on how that more than anything just goes to show how much their relationship has degraded, since perhaps as a lingering after effect of how she grew up with the Dursleys in her last life, she's always tried to make her gifts thoughtful.

Her mom hadn't exactly been happy when she saw what she got him, having clocked the difference easily herself after they started actually having a familial relationship themselves and gotten a good idea on the sort of stuff she usually gave, but she hadn't made a comment or tried to chastise her. Which probably was a whole loaded silence of its own, and likely indicated that after she'd forced their mom to stop ignoring things that she'd had her eyes opened to just how bad things were between them and how steadily they were declining.

He should be getting whatever thoughtless present she got for him today though, so she should probably check her online shopping history to refresh herself on what it was in case he brings it up.

Technically, she could reach for her Occlumency granted edict memory stores, but if there's one thing she's learned regarding dealing with Yuki, it's that it's better not to. More often than not, she was frustrated and/or angry at him about something he'd done and she'd just be reminded of it if she went for the memory. So in general, it was better to firmly ignore those and use other methods to jog her memory.

She'd been a little surprised when Shizuku reaches out to let her know about the attack that afternoon, after having met up with some of the third year graduates who had apparently decided to take a trip here. She doesn't hesitate to head out with Sora to the beach they'd been at though, not for any sight seeing or the like, but to rewatch the Eidos data before it's too late and it gets essentially overwritten at the twenty-four hour mark.

She sets up a ride through Kazama on her way over, who doesn't hesitate to assist, and by the time they get there, a boat is already on standby.

She smiles a little tensely at who's taking them, somehow unsurprised, “Joe, can't say I was expecting you, since airborne doesn't exactly imply boating experience, even if it's just as a passenger if the crew is any indication.”

He laughs good-naturedly, “Somehow a higher up got wind, and they insisted that even if it's for a mission, we couldn't let the Yotsuba Heir go without an official escort. Lieutenant Colonel Kazama smoothed things by pointing out that we're familiar with each other to get them to quiet down while making sure whoever it was that was sent ain't in your way.”

She hums, “Not much to get in the way of, since my Elemental Sight can see up to twenty-four hours prior, and I just intended to follow their data back to the site of the attack and try to see if we can get any more intel.” She glances at the crew, “On that note, I apologize but I don't actually know right this second where exactly we're going, just the direction.”

No one seems bothered by that though, and they quickly set off. When they get to the site of the attack, she calls them to a halt. It isn't difficult to find the submarine the GAU had said the renegades were operating from, given they fired foam torpedoes so it was all too easy to trace their path backwards. She shakes off the rising feeling of deja vu as she pulls out her mobile terminal and gets it ready while watching things play out. There isn't really anything but standard situational discussions in the submarine at first, but after the attack fails and the captain orders them to begin diving, he begins discussing the failure with one of his men.

Even as she's watching the conversation, she's using that spell she'd made and the program Rowena crafted to accompany it oh so long ago that can essentially create a digital drawing just from a mentally projected image to write it out. To her side, Sora is receiving it on his own tablet terminal almost live with just a second of lapse and translating it.

She lowers her mobile terminal as the conversation ends and the sub dives, looking up a moment later, “It's exited my range.” She leans over to skim the translation Sora has done just to make sure she understood right even as she sends it off to Kazama, “It also came up in this area, so we can't follow its path backwards any to try to see if there's any other information, but given they haven't even completely decided on their targets and we know what sort of forces and the like were looking at, it's unlikely we'd get anything more anyway.”

Joe snorts, “How sloppy though. Not even having a solid plan from the sounds of it.”

She hums head tilted thoughtfully, before deciding that all that really matters is not disclosing details and calls Shizuku. The call is answered fairly quickly, though Shizuku does look a little confused, “Toshiko?”

She smiles tensely, “Sorry for calling a little late, but it's important. You know how I couldn't tell you guys how I knew, but I was able to warn Erika about the No-Head Dragons?” Shizuku's face becomes serious as she nods, “There's even more dangerous trouble now. I wanted to request the Kitayama make arrangements for Nakajou and the rest to move to your hotel. They're very capable of defending themselves during the day, but it's likely wisest to make sure they can benefit from the sort of security your hotel has when they're sleeping. I'm more than willing to pay the Kitayama back the money for the hotel booking as well as canceling their current rooms if necessary, but I'm not really in a good location to do it now, and it may be a somewhat pressing matter.”

Shizuku nods again, “I understand. I'll go and speak to my father immediately to see about arranging it. I doubt he'll ask for the money back, but I'll send you the bill if he does.”

She flashes a smile, “Thank you Shizuku.”

Shizuku nods a third time, “No problem Toshiko. I need to go to talk to my father though.”

They quickly wrap up the conversation there, and she sighs as she slips her mobile terminal away after the call disconnects. She can only hope Mister Kitayama is fine with it and Nakajou and the rest accept the offer, since she can't exactly force the situation.

They know for a fact that they intend to strike the party on the twenty-eighth though, and the sub will have to surface to unload its attack group. The moment Kyouko manages to catch them landing, she can follow their Eidos trail back, and the sub will likely remain closer to the surface for pickup. At that point, she'll be able to destroy it easily.(5)

She rolls her neck a little, utterly drained from the memorial and gazing at that plaque and being reminded of everyone she failed to save, Kyouko's fiancé included. There was actually a bit of a hiccup from a grieving mother who was clearly still hurting shouting at her for ‘daring to treat it like a PR event’ which she hadn't taken offense to. One, while she doesn't know how much the woman has healed, at bare minimum it was clear the memorial had drawn her pain back up and two, she could understand why her presence there may be seen as trying to grab good PR or something given the Yotsuba's reputation and there were cameras.

It had only been a brief hiccup though, since that event immediately following the attack had actually been recorded as something of a solemn record. And since they had it, it had been easy to gently ask the organizers to pull it up and jump forward to when her younger self, who was not tied to the Yotsuba yet, was there paying her respects. It was probably a good thing they hadn't said anything sensitive, given it had caught the conversation she'd had with Yuki, which had made it abundantly clear that she had participated in the defense.

The woman had lost all steam at that, her rage disappearing as she collapsed into a hunch with her face in her hands while she sobbed, and her husband had gently led her away. Before he had though, he'd quietly thanked her for her service that day. He was far from the only one, but when the man who'd been giving the speech had mentioned it, she'd asked him to please focus on the losses, since that was the purpose of the memorial, which he'd respected with a nod.

They'd been following her quietly the entire time, but practically the moment she's back at her shared room with Sora and Miho, a strong arm wraps around her from behind even as her hair is brushed to her left and over her shoulder before the hand that had done it lays itself on her neck, thumb resting itself on the back of her neck and gently stroking. Miho steps in front of her at the same time and starts running her hands slowly down her sides, eyes concerned and brows furrowed.

Sora kisses her right ear before his voice murmurs as soft as silk against it, “Come here sweetheart. Let us help you forget about it for a bit at least.”

Emotionally, she feels like a wrung out towel, and the temptation to lose herself in her soulmates and try to forget about it isn't something she can bring herself to pass up as she nods slowly. Miho's gently stroking hands immediately start moving to pull her clothes off the moment they have permission, and she does her best to just shut her brain off and feel, at least for a little while.

Yakumo had warned her the intelligence department was moving, but she does briefly wonder why there are twelve USNA soldiers closing in on her position just casually out grabbing some dinner with Sora and Miho since she wouldn't think they'd be involved without Yakumo warning her about that as well. At least, she does until scrutinizing one of them clues her in on the fact they're getting controlled with magic. Anger boils in her the moment she picks up on that, and after following the magic tether back to track the caster, she immediately uses Decomposition on the tether to break the control, causing the group to all collapse like puppets with their strings cut.

She eyes the startled woman who'd been casting the spell in disgust through her Elemental Sight. She isn't alone in that mobile control room vehicle, but she wasn't intending to do anything particularly damaging like an explosion so that's fine. Namely, she snaps shields around it to enclose the vehicle tightly so they can't open the doors, making sure it's airtight, soundproof, and jams any signals. Then she uses an area of effect Decomposition that she's been working on to target and destroy all of the oxygen within the shield without having to go atom by atom to knock the lot of them out.

Getting up she pulls out what should be double the bill, getting the staff's attention, and showing it so they don't think they're dining and dashing before leaving it on the table. She knocks out all the cameras in the area as she heads toward the closest unconscious USNA group, a confused Sora and Miho following. She idly watches the truck while walking as they realize they're having problems breathing and try to leave quickly, rapidly devolving into trying to force the doors, trying to send a message, and eventually banging on the walls to try to get attention from anyone who may be outside. That last one is rather dumb, given it looks like they went out of their way to clear out any civilians around.

She rolls one of the USNA group over after reaching them, pulling an eye open to connect with a more in depth Legilimency rather than telepathy. Miho makes a noise of surprise, “Is that a USNA soldier? What on earth are they attacking for?”

She hums, “They aren't exactly.” Miho makes a confused noise, but gets her answer when she murmurs out loud, “No mental damage from the mind control or breaking the connection thankfully.” She looks up at Miho who's expression gained anger of her own after she heard the reason, “They were in three groups of four, and you're actually really good at mind magics, so could you go check on the ones two blocks east?”

Miho nods, leaving without a word as she turns to Sora, “The perpetrators are currently unconscious in a monitoring van five blocks south. I removed the oxygen to knock them out, but if it's left for too long, they'll die. I've already knocked out the cameras over here and over there so can you head over there quickly to hit them with stunners so they don't wake up when they start getting oxygen and secure them?”

He nods as well, shooting his wires from one of his sleeves to rush over the roofs since they're on a bit of a timer. She turns back to the other men to start checking them over, stunning them to make sure they don't wake up as she goes. Given she's knocked out the cameras and she knows no one is around, she doesn't bother to hide it as she blatantly unshrinks her Trunk to store them inside. Once she's handed them off to Golems to take inside properly, she closes the Trunk and shrinks it back down before heading off to check on and stun the second group, repeating the process there before going to Miho to collect the soldiers she'd already checked on.

Once they're all stored away, they head to meet up with Sora. He's staring at the unconscious group like a starving panther, and she teasingly pats his butt as she passes, “Down boy. Put the claws away today please.”

He holds up his thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart as he jokes back, “Not even a little stabbing?”

She shakes her head in amusement, “Sorry, but no.”

He sighs dramatically, “Fiiiine.”

She laughs quietly as she starts checking them over with her Elemental Sight, having to Regrowth a tiny bit of brain damage from lack of oxygen, but careful not to wake them up. Heading over to the woman that had been in charge from what she'd observed, she pries one of her eyes open for Legilimency. The brief humor from joking with Sora fades as she starts going through her mind. She's little more than disgusting trash in the form of a human. It's technically the government's doing, but she's in charge of immoral human experiments as well as breaking the minds of people to use as puppets. She doesn't give a damn if they're usually foreign agents, or that this world has lost sight of morals practically as a whole. It was wildly unacceptable and she will not let it continue.

She growls as shoves away from the woman and climbs to her feet, “She's damn lucky that the fact she works for intelligence and she has superiors who know what she's doing tonight would complicate things if she died, or I'd be sorely tempted to rescind tonight's stabbing ban.”

Miho furrows her brows, “That bad?”

She looks at her and deadpans, “Amoral human experimentation, mind control, and mind breaking for puppets.”

Miho purses her lips as her own anger flares, muttering darkly, “Very lucky. I may actually be tempted to let Sora do his thing for once without comment or protest otherwise.”

Probably trying to lighten their dark moods, Sora whines at that, “That's so not fair! You can't tease me like that while simultaneously telling me I can't!”

She shakes her head in helpless amusement even as Miho giggles lightly. If nothing else, she's gotta hand it to Sora for managing to actually lighten them up a bit. She pushes her hair back, “Anyway, we'll just put them back in their van to wake up on their own.”

Sora kicks one of the unconscious men lightly, “Leave a warning?”

She smiles darkly, “You're assuming I'm going to give them any warning for what's to come. Speaking of, the Yotsuba have been setting up a relationship with Colonel Balance from the USNA, and some of the people they caught are from her command, so I'm gonna need Bai to go bust them out, preferably while we are visibly somewhere else. From there though, well… Hermione was always a moral woman, so I doubt she'd mind me borrowing her appearance after I have Rowena gather up all the evidence to send a message to the intelligence department and the Juumonji Clan that I'm only giving them a bit of leeway for the sake of the stability of the nation, but they only have twenty-four hours to ‘discover’ the wrongdoings of the Tooyama Clan and come forward with a public trial to distance themselves from the Tooyama before I go public with it all.”

Sora grins equally as dark, “Ohh I'm sure Bai would love to do the job. I kind of envy her to be honest.”

Even Miho looks pleased in a not totally innocent way, but that may be due to the lack of murder going on while they clean this mess up. Regardless, she contacts Rowena telepathically as they move to get the group back in the surveillance van and arrange things to make it look like they were never removed.

She's a little surprised by the announcement the morning news is covering regarding a press conference that was held in Los Angeles just a few hours ago, one PM local time specifically which would've been five AM and is likely why even if they had live coverage they were going over it again.

Edward Clark from the USNA's National Security Agency -the NSA as it is usually called-, had announced Project Dione, which has the goal of terraforming Venus using materials from Jupiter and its satellites. He was going with the angle that the best thing for national security for them all is international cooperation towards realizing the goal, especially given the fact the world is steadily moving towards overpopulation. It hasn't gotten anywhere yet, since they're still in the planning and recruitment phase, which seems a little early to her, but different people work differently. If it works, good on them. She's not going to try to compete and would actually love if they could collaborate on some parts.

That being said, she can't help but burst out laughing when he looks straight at the camera, "There is another technical specialist whom we very much want to see on the project. We cannot give a real name, because according to the laws of the country of residence, she's still considered a minor. I can only say that this is a Japanese high school student who acts under the pseudonym ‘Tōkōkuro Mihana.”

Her mom, Yuki, and Honami give her strange looks given how out of character her humor is for her given the circumstances, but she doesn't take her eyes off the news they're watching while they're in the ‘start the day’ time of the house, “Oh Mister Clark. Too little too late unfortunately. And you just barely beat my reveal happening in a few months, though I'd say I have the overall head start.”

Her mom looks utterly baffled, “What are you going on about?”

She glances over and shakes her head, “Don't worry about it. Given FLT is your company, please send an official notice from FLT out quickly stating that Tōkōkuro Mihana actually had an announcement to make on May thirty-first. The timing is a little strange I know, but I was going to have you set up a press conference for seven pm- nineteen hundred that is, since I actually need a local observatory to be looking at Mars and I'd like the news to show what it's seeing side by side, which is why it needs to happen after it's dark enough for it to see.” Her mom is still giving her an odd look, but she just smiles, “It's very important that it happens exactly like that, so please arrange it. Oh! And ask the Magic Association to send some magicians good at shielding.”

Her mom shakes her head in confusion, “Alright then I suppose… I'll make sure it's done.”

She looks back at the TV, mind already shifting to the international organization she'd set up with Asha Chandrasekhar and some others and their final preparations. Asha was likely to be utterly amused at Clark's announcement though. She was as lovely as she'd been expecting and had a good sense of humor, that was for sure, and she can practically hear her now…

She honestly feels irritated and whatever goodwill she had for Edward Clark, and his son as well for that matter, has very much evaporated over the two and a half-ish weeks since he publicly requested ‘Tōkōkuro Mihana’ to join Project Dione. First, her school had received an email announcing she was Tōkōkuro Mihana and urging them to impress upon her the importance of Project Dione.

She had told them the same thing she'd ended up telling anyone else who had bothered her for most of that time. That there's no point going hounding after Tōkōkuro Mihana's identity, given she's made it abundantly clear her official response would be released on the thirty-first and no earlier.

The school had accepted that, but wanting to try to cut down on reporters potentially harassing students to try to get to her, they'd asked her not to come in for a while and submit her work online, which she'd begrudgingly agreed to. There wasn't any use trying to keep a low profile now that she's been outed as the Yotsuba Heir, but it was still messing with her admittedly selfish enjoyment of experiencing attending school with her soulmates.

Something made even worse by the fact Maya hadn't wanted them to track her to the Shiba house, the Amano house, or even the Yasuda house. So while their agreement meant she couldn't technically force her to do anything, she'd put her all into convincing her to temporarily move to a secluded villa the Yotsuba own in Izu. She hates that Maya had made a few too many good points for her to deny the request.

That being said, there'd been something fishy about the whole thing and Clark's pushiness so she'd had Rowena look into it. Honestly, she felt embarrassed for not realizing before Rowena told her, but in fairness, she's gotten so used to the idea of the Teleport Gates that it hadn't even occurred to her that Project Dione was practically an exile from Earth. Which is exactly what he was after, to exile anyone he deemed too dangerous of a threat to his vision of the USNA. Not even the actual USNA. He'd pull that same BS against people from the USNA if he thought they were a threat to his vision of it. Rowena even found evidence of him briefly contemplating getting rid of Lina in some way before dismissing it. That was why Edward Clark had gotten on her bad side at least, his son, Raymond Clark, had gotten put right beside his father because not only was he in on it, but he'd also revealed her identity.

If that was all he'd done, she'd be able to point out just how young she'd have been when Tōkōkuro Mihana's name became famous practically overnight for developing Loop Casting, but the little shit had straight up introduced himself as a ‘Sage’ which explains where he got the footage of her placing her Patronus fire into her open Tōkōkuro Mihana H3. Right before her mom walked in, and she looked over and responded through her own lips and through Mihana's, and her mom's subsequent chastisement.

It had also shown her reminding her mom that she knew it took a few moments for her to adjust whenever she connected to limit which between her real body and Mihana she was speaking with. While Sora had suggested claiming the footage had been doctored and playing on people's disbelief given how young she was, as she'd pointed out to him, she couldn't really do that without potentially never being able to use her Patronus fire in an emergency without losing trust when people realized she'd lied straight to them. And given how trust was always difficult when you were a Yotsuba to begin with… It wasn't a genuine option.

It hadn't really changed her answer, regardless of the pressure they were trying to place on her, it had just tweaked her response slightly to adding that regardless of whether she was Tōkōkuro Mihana or not, Tōkōkuro Mihana had still made it clear, repeatedly, that her official response would be released on the thirty-first. It's actually something of a relief that it's finally the thirty-first and she can brutally break Clark's plans to pieces.

It's admittedly the main thought that helps her keep her anger and irritation off of her face in favor of a small smile as she and Ushiyama head out to the small stage set up in front of the press conference. Obviously, generally the polite thing to do would be to wait until they said something before the reporters start in, but apparently having confirmation that she's Tōkōkuro Mihana breaks the reporters’ patience as questions start immediately being thrown at them, or rather, her.

She ignores most of them, focusing on a select one who yells out, “So you really are Tōkōkuro Mihana then?”

She waves her hands down like she's gesturing for them to sit, an easy smile on her face, absolutely drawn up by thoughts of her soulmates to get a grip of the difficult to control emotions currently making a mess of her. First things first, lighten up the mood a little to throw off the frantic energy, “Am I Tōkōkuro Mihana? Yes and no. Isn't that right Mister Tōkōkuro?”

Ushiyama gives her an easy grin of his own, immediately catching on, “Quite right Miss Mihana.”

The byplay does as she wanted and draws some humor that derails the frenzied energy, she flashes them a friendly smile, “Mister Ushiyama here does the hardware, I do the software, the name Tōkōkuro Mihana is actually the name of a collaborative team, hence yes and no when it comes to me being Tōkōkuro Mihana. Because I am Mihana, but I'm not Tōkōkuro.”

Someone who's a little snarky and has a distinctly American accent which makes her think she knows exactly why he's saying such things comments at that, “Hardware is really just the box though.”

She raises an eyebrow, “Let me ask you something, you seem like you're a magician, have you ever used flying magic?” His brows are furrowed, likely trying to figure out where this is going, but he nods, “And do you find it tiring?”

He rolls his eyes, “Of course I do. It's amazing magic, but the cost of doing something so spectacular is unsurprisingly high.”

She flashes a smile, “When I first made it, it was double what it is now.” He jerks in surprise, “And the drop wasn't due to changes to the coding. It was entirely on Ushiyama working his proverbial magic and managing to decrease the toll on the user with his hardware.”

He falls silent at that, and another ever so slightly American voice calls out, hounding for the answer Clark is looking for, “You said you'd give your official response to the request to join Project Dione today! What is it?”

She smiles faintly, “It actually makes more sense if I show you why I set the conference for today and so late at that first, so I'll circle back to that question.”

She glances over at some assistants who have been on standby next to the large curtains that have been set up on either side of the stage, and they quickly hit the buttons to collapse the rods holding the curtains up back into their bases all at once, “These are Teleport Gates. They take advantage of the fact that distance doesn't really matter the same way in the information dimension by blanketing the target in a shield and pulling them into the information dimension before depositing them at their destination basically instantly.”

A stunned silence drops and she smiles easily, “I want to take this moment to assure people about security. Part of the reason we hadn't revealed them until now is that while the magic obviously requires a lot of assistance from the Gates at the moment, there is little way of predicting how long until advancements are made to minimize the magic. Perhaps removing the need to start from a Gate or the Gate at the destination, or maybe even eventually removing the Gates entirely, so we wanted to develop countermeasures to prevent it being abused to break into places first.”

There are murmurs of approval at their thoroughness towards responsibility, but even as that happens, she notices the two reporters who'd had American accents stare at the Gates like they're watching everything fall apart in real time. Which is fair, because those looks hint that they know what Clark's real goal was, and she just smashed that to smithereens even if she takes part in Project Dione. She can get her workday of terraforming done and be back in time for dinner, so they were watching everything fall apart in real time.

Given everything he's done and his actual goal, she can't help but relish the idea of the absolute meltdown Edward Clark has to be having right now.

With what that dirtbag tried to do, they're fools if they think she'll let them get away with just that level of destruction to their plans.

She has to fight to keep the dark out of her satisfaction of her tone, “For anyone who heard ‘teleport’ and whose mind immediately went to that age old thing about how if it ripped you apart in one place and rebuilt you in another and therefore teleporting technically kills the original and creates a clone, let me repeat, it does not function like teleporters often do in fiction and tear you apart. It pulls one into the information dimension and deposits them back into the regular world at their destination.”

She smiles again, “For those of you still weary, or thinking it's some sort of trick, I would like to remind you that between the fact I have to program exactly what it's doing into the spell I know for a fact what the spell does. Enough that even the Yotsuba,” Those who actually care about her anyway, but those that didn't have been warned by Maya that she would be generalizing so as to not air out internal issues within the family, “and myself are willing to, as the saying goes, put my money where my mouth is. Specifically, there's a reason I have two Teleport Gates here. Both for demonstration, and specifically for all those skeptics, I'm going to be the demonstration.”

She turns to the last group she requested to be in attendance, “To that end, I requested the Magic Association send magicians good at shielding, if you please would encase one of the Teleport Gates in shields after I get within its radius to add to the demonstration the proof that it isn't some sort of movement within the physical world?”

They jolt at the sudden request but quickly regain their professionalism and agree. Heading over to the one on the left of the stage -from the perspective of the stage anyway-, she enters into the archway area, which is immediately enclosed in a box of shields. Giving a reassuring smile to some of the nervous reporters, she types the name of the destination Gate in, and once it connects, the password it's requesting for authorization. Then she hits the button.

In an almost imperceptible moment of darkness, she finds herself on the other side of the stage, much to the amazement of the crowd. Smiling again she steps forward, Ushiyama coming down to her as they meet in front of the Gate, “Now, we're approaching my official response to Mister Clark's request of my participation in Project Dione, but before that, you were all given some additional equipment to attach to your cameras.”

“That is mostly for those of you who are live or are sending the recording back live at least. It's actually a prior creation related to the Teleport Gates, which sends the signal into the information dimension before depositing it at a receiver. That will let those who need a signal stay in touch rather than disrupting your broadcasts. To that extent, I would like to invite you all to come with me to another destination this Teleport Gate can deposit at.”

There are some murmurs, but no one protests and while there is only so much capacity within the arches of the Gates, it only takes three groups to get everyone to their destination.

After everyone quickly sets back up, one of the reporters pipes up curiously, “Where are we Miss Shiba? And what's with the large TV?”

She smiles lightly, “This may seem like a random subject, but it's absolutely relevant. Along with the time of the press conference to all of you, and the request for magicians from the Magic Association so no one could say they're my men and weren't doing the requested job right, I sent a message asking the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan to look towards Mars tonight, as well as requesting that they send what they were seeing to your television stations and broadcast it live side by side with this conference for those who are live. I already know they've all done that, so as one last thing, I should note that where we currently are gives us a similar angle of viewing.”

Then she smiles as she glances towards Rowena's custom H3 getting a nod in return, both that she's ready and that she remembered to back them up far enough to actually see it. ‘It’ being the light manipulation spell that Rowena casts through a drone below the message acting as a relay to create massive words, big enough to be visible through, say, a telescope pointed at Mars, reading ‘HELLO FROM MARS’ and she smiles lightly, her eyes half closed in pleasure at it all finally coming together.

She half turns to gesture at the window as the words light up the sky, “This is, in fact, not a TV screen but a window.” She drops that hand but lifts the other towards them, palm up as she tilts her head slightly, “I would like to formally welcome you all to the Mars Space Station whose mission is the terraforming of Mars.”

A pen slips from someone's hand and drops, and it's likely only one due to how few people use physical writing nowadays.

Toshiko doesn't know it at the time, but that image of her, head tilted, eyes half lidded softly, gaze and smile warm, half turned with her hand held out invitingly, the light from the message Rowena wrote unintentionally creating a golden halo with Mars in the background is an image burned into the minds of all of them watching it, both the reporters there in person and the live viewers. It's also the image that will be used in history books for centuries to come regarding the discussion of the turning point this day represents.

She looks like some sort of being sent by the gods, or maybe even a deity herself incarnated into flesh to lead the mortals back to the just path they've strayed from, which as a side note, also reminds people of the worldwide message regarding the death of morals. But as for the image itself… people who see it, either right in that moment as it's playing out or even centuries after her death yearn to reach out and accept her hand and the salvation she looks like she's offering.