Hello, I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday...
From the song Hello (the Fallen album), by Evanescence
It was nearly a year after we'd first met that Solomon finally told me the sobering news.
"The Searrs have managed to create their own Chiroptera. I don't know how - yet - but we can expect an attack from them very soon."
I looked at him with calm resolution. "If their attack is going to be inevitable, then the least we can do is ensure that it happens on our terms."
"You want to provoke them?"
I paused thoughtfully. "No...I merely want to tempt them."
"How do you intend to do that?"
"By having all the former Himes concentrated in a single area and apparently vulnerable."
He raised an eyebrow at me, intrigued. "What do you have in mind?"
I smiled. "I think it's about time we told the world of our engagement."
~~~~~
"Shizuru-san, it's been a very long time."
Fumi-san smiled at me with genuine pleasure. "We've often wondered where you'd gone these last two years."
"My sincerest apologies, Fumi-sama," I told the pink-haired Fuka Academy Director with genuine regret. "There were matters I had to attend to all this time."
Fumi-san laughed. "There's nothing to apologize for or explain, Shizuru-san. As the heir to Japan's largest corporation, I can only imagine the kind of responsibilities you've had to assume since your graduation."
I shook my head ruefully. "If only those were the only matters I had to attend to Fumi-sama. In fact, it's not merely my absence or my silence these past two years that I have to apologize for. I'm afraid that my business with you today can only disrupt your well-being." I paused. "It has to do with the former Himes."
Fumi-san frowned. "That business got settled two years ago with the defeat of the Obsidian Lord, Shizuru-san. And it will remain settled until the next Carnival which is another 298 years from now."
I shook my head again. "Unfortunately Fumi-sama, the Searrs aren't willing to wait another three centuries for the next Carnival. Especially after how the last one turned out. So they're plotting something else entirely, but still with the Himes in mind."
She looked at me silently, waiting for me to go on.
"Himes aren't the only...unusual beings to inhabit this earth, Fumi-sama. There are other creatures as well. Specifically vampiric ones, called Chiroptera. The Searrs intend to transform the former Himes into these vampiric creatures, and then exploit them for their purposes."
To her credit, Fumi-san took the news remarkably well. "Is there something that we can do?"
"By ourselves, not much." I told her ruefully. "We've lost whatever powers we could have used to fight them on our own. However, we have a Chiropteran on our side. It was because of him, actually, that I even know any of this."
"So what do you intend to do?"
"We want to provoke the Searrs into launching an attack. According to our intelligence, they're planning an attack anyway. The only way we can gain an advantage is to set the battle on our terms. It will also allow us to sap and assess whatever strength they've gained so far, before it grows to a level we can't manage."
Fumi-san shook her head. "I agree with your plan in principle, Shizuru-san, but I'm extremely uncomfortable about the risks it entails."
"We don't have much of a choice, Fumi-sama. Whatever we do, the Searrs will attack. This is the only way we can shift the element of surprise from their hands into ours."
She looked troubled for a long time, and her eyes, when they looked at me, were sad. "I had hoped that those girls would finally be able to lead normal lives, Shizuru-san. But it seems their enemies are determined to deny them that happiness. Tell me what you need and how I can help."
For the first time in our conversation, I smiled.
~~~~~
After concluding my meeting with Fumi-san, I decided to visit the garden I hadn't seen for nearly two years. Solomon had taken it for granted that common decency was what had prompted me to join his fight. I didn't know if I possessed any such decency; I didn't need it as a reason to fight.
The only reason I'd needed - that I'd never needed - I'd met in a garden five long years ago. And I was hoping that I would find her there again, somehow.
And I did.
The shock of seeing that familiar profile was nearly enough to bring me to my knees. I clutched a tree for support, staring at the silky blue hair waving gently in the breeze.
When she turned around and saw me, she...ran. Ran towards me and held me tightly, burying her face in my neck. I wanted to cover her face with kisses, but settled for just stroking her head. Then the green eyes had looked at me, and I had been surprised by the violence of the emotions in their emerald depths: relief, happiness, dismay, and the ever so familiar anger.
"You left without a word, Shizuru."
I stared at her helplessly. Why was it that I always ended up paying a price for giving her what she wanted?
"I'm sorry, Natsuki. I was selfish in not saying anything. But I was only fulfilling your wish by leaving."
She'd looked so genuinely regretful then, so contrite. Her voice had trembled when she replied. "I wish you wouldn't fulfill my wishes if they meant your being far away."
And then Solomon had arrived, and I had witnessed her shock and her dismay at our announcement of our engagement, and in the middle of my bewilderment, had felt the faintest flutter of hope.
I watched in silence as she walked away, and Solomon had watched me in turn, a new understanding dawning in his gaze. After a few moments, he spoke.
"Shizuru, if you ever change your mind about our engagement, you know I would release you in an instant."
I smiled at him fondly and shook my head. "There's no need for talk like that yet, Solomon. But thank you anyway for the offer."
He smiled back. Like I said, we understood each other implicitly from the start.