Visitors to the Shiba household were rare, but the guest wasn't an unfamiliar face. If anything, she was one of the more frequent callers—not that it made her arrival any less noteworthy.
"Sorry, Onii-sama's out right now," Miyuki said, her tone polite but guarded.
"No worries, Miyuki-san," Kyoko Fujibayashi replied with a casual smile. "My schedule's clear until I meet with Tatsuya-kun, so I can wait."
"Is meeting Onii-sama your work, then?" Miyuki asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"You could say that," Kyoko said, unfazed.
"Then shouldn't you have made an appointment?" Miyuki pressed, her voice carrying a hint of frost.
"It came up last minute," Kyoko explained, her tone breezy. "No time to schedule, so here I am."
To Miyuki, the air felt charged with a subtle tension, Kyoko's playful, almost predatory demeanor grating against her instincts. But Kyoko, ever the composed professional, seemed oblivious—or indifferent—to the mood.
"By the way, where's Tatsuya-kun off to?" Kyoko asked. "It's rare to see him out without you."
"It's not that rare for Onii-sama to go out alone," Miyuki countered, her tone sharp. "You'd know that better than most, wouldn't you, Fujibayashi-san?"
Miyuki's jab alluded to Tatsuya's solo missions and training with the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, but Kyoko didn't so much as blink. "That's why it's interesting," she said smoothly. "No training or missions today, yet he's left you behind."
"…True," Miyuki conceded, her voice tight.
The gap in life experience between Miyuki and Kyoko was vast—ten years, after all. Both had lived through things far beyond the norm for magical families, but Kyoko's seasoned perspective gave her an edge, even if Miyuki's own trials made her no ordinary teenager.
"I'm back," Tatsuya's voice called from the entrance.
"Welcome home, Onii-sama!" Miyuki said, her tone softening instantly.
"Welcome back, Tatsuya-kun," Kyoko added, her smile widening.
"Fujibayashi-san?" Tatsuya said, feigning surprise despite having sensed her presence. "Something up?"
Kyoko caught the act but let it slide, giving him a knowing look. "Sorry to barge in, but could you spare some time?"
"Sure, but why come to the house?" Tatsuya asked. "We could've met somewhere else."
His question was reasonable, and for a split second, Kyoko's expression flickered with a hint of "oops." Fortunately for her, only Tatsuya noticed.
"Fair enough," he said, brushing it off. "Miyuki, I'm heading out again. Lock up properly, okay?"
"You worry too much, Onii-sama," Miyuki said, leaning into him with a playful pout. "I'm not a child anymore."
"I know," Tatsuya said, ruffling her hair with a smile that was anything but brotherly before turning to Kyoko. "Shall we?"
"Uh, yeah…" Kyoko replied, momentarily thrown by his seamless shift from doting brother to cool professional.
Even for someone like Kyoko, who'd known him for years, Tatsuya's ability to switch gears caught her off guard, disrupting her rhythm just enough to notice.
"Where to?" Tatsuya asked as they stepped outside.
"Anywhere's fine," Kyoko said. "Somewhere private enough that eavesdroppers won't catch on."
Understanding it was a work-related matter, Tatsuya chose a nearby café and led the way.
"So, what's this about?" he asked, ordering coffee and cutting straight to the point. The sooner they wrapped up, the better—leaving Miyuki alone too long meant dealing with her clingy aftermath later.
"First, a report," Kyoko began, sipping her tea. "No protests from the Great Asian Union on that matter."
"As expected," Tatsuya said. "Officially, they're not involved."
He spoke so casually about sinking a fleet and reshaping a peninsula that Kyoko couldn't help but give a wry smile. "Moving on," she said, "your true magic got exposed to your classmates during the incident. If you want, I could use mental interference magic to erase those memories."
"No need," Tatsuya replied. "Erasing just that part wouldn't wipe their memories of Hirakawa, Kirihara, and Isori's injuries. They'd start wondering why they were unscathed, which would lead to more questions."
"You're right," Kyoko agreed. "Not just those three, but their friends would be left with nagging doubts. And that curiosity would drive them to dig deeper."
"Exactly. Plus, some saw me disintegrate those constructs. Even if I haven't said it outright, they already know I'm not normal."
"I'm really sorry about this," Kyoko said, her tone genuinely apologetic. "We weren't careless, but letting Lu Gonghu escape and causing you all this trouble…"
Tatsuya waved it off with a faint smile, sensing that lingering on her guilt might draw curious stares from the café's patrons. "My aunt will probably contact Major Kazama about it soon. That'll wrap things up."
"That doesn't sit right with me," Kyoko said, frowning. "You've saved us time and again, and I've done nothing in return."
"Don't worry about it," Tatsuya said. "It wasn't a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Kyoko protested. "If you hadn't stepped in, countless people would've—"
"Let's stop there," Tatsuya interrupted, his voice firm. "That's not a conversation for a place like this."
Talk of lives lost was too heavy for a public café. He stood, signaling the end of the discussion.
"We're done, right? I'll head out—"
"One more thing," Kyoko said quickly.
"What's that?"
"Kazama-san asked me to have you handle my CAD maintenance," she said.
"Why?" Tatsuya asked, surprised. "That's Sanada-san's job."
The idea that Kazama and another superior were playing matchmaker hadn't crossed Tatsuya's mind, but that's exactly what this was—a nudge from them, mixed with a bit of Sanada's mischief. CAD maintenance hinged on how well the technician could interpret the user's data. Sanada's measurements differed slightly from Tatsuya's, a matter of technique and approach.
"Can we use your basement workshop?" Kyoko asked.
"…Sure," Tatsuya said, already dreading how he'd explain this to Miyuki as he led Kyoko to the basement.
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