Ketsueki was sitting in an armchair near the TV as she was using a hair dryer that was plugged into the same socket the television was connected to. Mio was standing beside the chair Ketsueki was sitting on as she dried Mio’s hair, Ketsueki said. “Mio, is the hair dryer too hot?” Mio was wearing a plain shirt and shorts Shiro lent her as she made very slight movements to shake her head sideways. Mio said. “You can increase the dial by one, nee-san.” Ketsueki used her thumb to increase the dial by one while Shiro and Yuki were sitting on the couch watching TV.
Yuki was wearing a shirt and pants with a towel draped over her neck as her slightly damp hair trickled some droplets on it. Shiro picked up the remote on the coffee table and passed it to her friend, she said. “Yuki, do you know any good shows that air around this time?” Yuki used her right hand to grab one end of the towel and used it to dry one side of her hair, she said. “Not unless you plan on doing the exercise routine with me.” Shiro let go of the remote as it bounced on the couch a couple of times and landed in between them.
Ketsueki turned the hair dryer off as she carefully placed it on the armrest of the chair, she said. “Don’t move, I haven’t finished combing your hair.” Mio stood still as she let Ketsueki comb her hair while Shiro watched the koala hugging a tree branch thick enough to wrap its arms around as a man was trying to feed it a eucalyptus leaf. Shiro said. “You played catch with Onii-chan and exercise is still stuck in your head.” Yuki kept her gaze on the TV and said. “We just ate nearly three plates of desserts and I’m going to eat my fill for dinner. I need to burn calories somehow.”
She glanced in the direction of the kitchen, Yuki thought. I wanna see what Reiki is cooking in the kitchen. Reiki walked away from the kitchen as he had a towel draped over his neck while making his way to the living room, he said. “Yuki, Mio. How was the bath?” Yuki turned her head to face him and said. “Bath was good, I just wish I could’ve drank some lassi after it.” Ketsueki combed Mio’s hair a couple of times. Ketsueki said. “Done, what do you think?” She placed the comb in her pocket and took out a pocket mirror.
Ketsueki handed the pocket mirror to Mio who took it off her hands as she used it to see her styled hair. Mio saw her neatly combed hair and said. “I like it, thank you nee-san.” She passed the pocket mirror to her while Reiki stood beside the couch. Yuki said. “Reiki, any chance stew isn’t on the menu for dinner?” Her gaze wandered onto his hair which was mostly dried, Reiki watched the koala eat a eucalyptus leaf. He said. “Dinner is going to be, mongolian beef, thick cuts of ginger pork, and lamb curry.”
Mio made her way to the couch and sat beside Yuki while Reiki continued. “Onee-chan makes sure there are always vegetables to go along with meat, but with all the desserts in Onee-chan’s pocket. I think it’s fair if the table only has meat for the night.” Shiro held out both her hands toward her older brother, she said. “Onii-chan, towel.” Reiki leaned down while Ketsueki picked up the hair dryer on the armrest and said. “Yuki, it’s your turn.” Shiro took the towel draped over Reiki’s neck as she started to dry off his hair.
Yuki raised her hand to decline, she said. “I’ll pass, aneki. My short hair dries quickly.” She glanced at Shiro drying Reiki’s hair while Ketsueki carefully placed the hair dryer on the armrest and stood up from her seat. Ketsueki said. “Sure.” She made her way to the socket on the wall and pulled the plug for the hair dryer, Ketsueki continued. “If any of you four need me, I’ll be in my room.” While neatly tidying the dryer’s cable she watched her Shiro use a towel to dry Reiki’s hair. He said. “Shiro, how’s it going?” Shiro was meticulously drying her older brother’s hair, she said. “Almost done.”
Ketsueki picked up the hair dryer resting on the armrest as Shiro finished drying her older brother’s hair. Shiro moved the towel away from Reiki’s head and said. “Ta-da.” Ketsueki let out a chuckle as she saw her little brother’s hair that was completely frazzled while Yuki started laughing as Mio tried her best to keep her mouth from curling into a smile. Reiki moved some hair that was blocking his eye to the side and said. “What? Did something funny happen while Shiro was drying my hair?”
Shiro was giggling at her older brother while Reiki took the towel off his little sister’s hands, he said. “I need to go back to the kitchen or else the meat is going to burn.” He placed the towel on his neck again while Ketsueki was about to make her way to the staircase. Reiki said. “Onee-chan, I think you’re forgetting something.” Yuki’s laughter started to die down while Mio had a small smile on her face as Ketsueki did a half-turn and said. “... About what?...” Reiki held his hand at her, he said. “I want my share of lassi.”
Ketsueki’s lips curled into a slight frown as she took out a plastic pitcher that had some thick yellow liquid in it. She said. “Here…” Reiki made his way toward her and stared at the contents of the pitcher, he thought. I can fill three normal glasses with this. He looked up to his older sister and said. “Thanks Onee-chan.” Ketsueki smiled at her as she ruffled her little brother’s frazzled hair, she said. “You used mango and greek yogurt for this, right?” Reiki nodded at her as Ketsueki continued. “Good, make a bigger batch next time because I’m going to buy a lot.”
Ketseuki made her way to the staircase while Reiki stole a glance at her butt as he quickly moved his gaze onto Mio, Yuki, and Shiro on the couch. Yuki had a knowing look on her face along with a cat-like smile on her face, she said. “Reiki, can you tell me what you were staring at?” Reiki ignored her question and said. “What container did Onee-chan use for the whole apple pie? We don’t have enough tupperwares for everything.” Yuki’s cat-like smile turned into a slight frown while Mio moved some hair behind her ear.
Mio said. “Nee-san used the take-out boxes for the cherry pie and baklava cheesecake.” Shiro managed to pry her gaze from the koala on TV as she looked up to her older brother and said. “Onii-chan, can we put anything on top of the apple pie?” Reiki moved his gaze onto his little sister, he said. “Had you three waited for Yuki and me to finish playing catch. I would’ve added ice cream and pan-roasted nuts.” He glanced at the kitchen and continued. “Now, if you three will excuse me. I have to scrape all the burnt bits off the meat.”
Reiki made his way to the kitchen while Yuki had a mischievous cat-like smile on her face. She said. “Reiki, you don’t mind if I tell aneki you’ve been staring.” Reiki didn’t even stop or turn his head and said. “I don’t.” Yuki had a look of surprise on her face while Reiki continued. “But dinner is going to be tofu and vegetables if you do that.” Yuki bolted off the couch as she quickly caught up to Reiki and started walking beside him. Yuki said. “Do you need any help washing dishes?” Mio and Shiro stared at the spot on the couch Yuki sat on as the two turned their heads and saw her walking beside Reiki.
Reiki let out a chuckle and said. “I’m joking, just sit back on the couch and I’ll give you three a glass of lassi each.” He slightly shook the pitcher of lassi he was carrying while Yuki followed Reiki into the kitchen, she said. “Then I’ll at least carry the drinks to those two so you can focus on cooking.”
~Three Hours Later~
Mio changed back into her uniform while Yuki was still wearing a t-shirt and shorts as Shiro stood by the doorway. Shiro waved at her friends and said. “Yuki, Mio. I’ll see you two at class tomorrow.” Mio returned the wave along with a smile, she said. “Thanks for letting us stay and have dinner.” Yuki gave her friend an energetic wave and said. “I’ll return the tupperwares tomorrow at school.” Shiro and Mio gave her odd looks. Shiro said. “You’re going to eat everything in a single sitting?” Yuki’s brows furrowed, she said. “No, that would ruin my diet for three to four months…”
Yuki placed a hand in her pocket and continued. “I’m going to put everything in a different container so on the off chance Reiki makes more food. I can take some home.” Mio had a pondering look on her face, she thought. … That’s… I’m going to do that too. Shiro let out a laugh and said. “If either of you asked, I’m fairly sure Onii-chan would make extra to take home.” A black car parked right in front of Ketsueki’s house which got Shiro’s attention as she moved her gaze on it.
Mio turned her head to the side as she saw the parked car and let out a soft sigh, she said. “... Continue this conversation at school tomorrow?” Yuki was already doing some light stretches, she said. “Sounds good.” A man wearing a suit walked out of the driver's seat and made his way around to the other side of the car by the backdoor. Shiro stopped waving as she watched her friends walk toward the street. Mio glanced at her friend's stomach and said. “You’re going to run home, after eating all that food?” Yuki’s mouth formed into a smile, she said. “It’ll help me burn more calories.”
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The two of them came to a stop as Mio gave Yuki an odd look, Mio said. “Sounds like a guaranteed way to throw up everything you ate.” Yuki crossed her arms and said. “It wasn’t that much-.” The moment she finished her sentence Mio let out a chuckle, she said. “You ate five servings of rice.” Yuki rolled her eyes at her friend, she said. “They were small-.” Mio gave Yuki a couple of pats on her shoulder. Mio said. “I had two bowls of rice, a single one of your bowls was equivalent to five of them.”
Yuki gently slapped her friend's hand away from her shoulder, she said. “I don’t need to hear that from someone who ate six plates worth of desserts.” Mio’s eyes widened, she said. “They were-.” Yuki’s mouth curled into a smug smile, she said. “Bigger than my plate and Reiki’s combined.” The two of them stared at each other for a couple of seconds, Mio said. “Conversation ends here?” Yuki raised a brow at her and said. “You're the one who brought it up.” She did a half turn and started walking down the street while Mio made her way toward the parked car.
Yuki started jogging while the man opened the door to the car as Mio got in it. Shiro closed the door and saw her friends make their way home as she made her way to the living room. Ketsueki was sitting on the couch as she put both her feet up on the coffee table, she kept her gaze on the TV and said. “Shiro, how was seeing your friends off?” Shiro made her way to the couch as she sat next to her older sister, she said. “Yuki ran as usual while Mio got a car sent here to pick her up… Where’s Onii-chan?”
Ketsueki placed a hand on top of her little sister’s head and gently caressed it, she said. “After he finished washing all the dishes he’s in his room.” Shiro stared at the show on TV and said. “Onii-chan calling it early again?” Ketsueki ran her hand through her little sister’s white hair, she said. “Reiki’s been sleeping early for the past few days…” Shiro looked up to her older sister and said. “... Onee-chan… Can we have ice cream?” Ketsueki looked down at her little sister as she smiled at her.
Ketsueki said. “... Yeah, I could go for some ice cream. Grab us a couple of spoons from the kitchen drawers.” She moved her hand away from her little sister as Shiro excitedly stood up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen.
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Reiki’s Room
Reiki was sitting on the bed as he was holding onto a tattered pouch with his left hand while his right hand was in it. He thought. Where are those nails… He felt something from the inside and took out three packs of nails with different sizes. Reiki placed the packets on the bed in front of him and put the pouch on his thigh, he continued his train of thought. Zero point five-inch, one-point-five-inch, and two-point five-inch nails… These are going to be useful.
He took one of the solid plastic lid packs of nails, took out a single nail and stared at it, he thought. I can even use the leftovers to repair something. Reiki placed the nail back in the plastic container and placed the lid back on. He picked up the pouch on his thigh and placed the three packs of nails one by one inside of it, Reiki said. “All I have to do is cover my palms with mana and create a string. Sounds doable.”
Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Coming from someone who took five hours to control mana on his fingertips.] Reiki pocketed the tattered pouch and said. “Coming from someone who lived in a world of science and technology for most of his life. I say that’s decent.” He rubbed his hands together and faced the palms in his direction and started to concentrate as mana on his right palm started to form. Ender said. [In the higher realms we make kids stand in a corner and force them to do mana strings.]
Reiki lost concentration as the mana on his right palm vanished, he said. “How many repetitions?” He deeply inhaled as the mana around his palms started to move while Ender’s voice rang in his head. Ender said. [They’re usually given somewhere from ten thousand to fifty thousand.] Half of Reiki’s palm was covered with glowing light blue mana, he thought. … How long does it take them to complete that? The mana was about to reach his finger as it dissipated, he let out a sigh while Ender said. [Two hours give or take.]
Mana that was gathering near Reiki’s palm slowly disappeared, he thought. … Two hours?... That’s… Eighty-three mana circles a second… He glanced at his hands and continued his train of thought. How is that even possible? Apart from having more than two arms. Reiki started to gather mana on his right palm, Ender said. [They make them out of thin air, I taught you the toddler version.] Reiki stopped gathering mana on his palm, he thought. … Cherry’s in England, how long until she returns?
He started gathering mana on his palm again and continued his train of thought. If I remember correctly… The distance between Japan and England is about… Nine thousand kilometers, which makes me wonder how long the round trip will be. The mana on his palm started to dissipate while Ender’s voice rang in his head. Ender said. [Right now she’s at a museum.] Reiki rested his left hand on his thigh and started to concentrate as mana started to cover his palm, he thought. The first thing that comes to mind with England and the word museum is…
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The British Museum
A streak of light appeared on top of the museum as a white crow with blood-red eyes. Cherry looked around and saw different styles of buildings made out of bricks or wood that were painted white and had some cast iron gates. Cherry looked down and saw a few royal guards standing at locations as tourists were flocking to the main entrance while they were slowly being let in by an employee wearing a slightly faded blue suit paired with a dark red tie with diagonal white stripes. The man wearing the suit said. “Single file please, everyone here will be able to get inside.”
The line started to sort itself as a man wearing a long-sleeved white shirt underneath a sweater vest with pants made his way to the man overseeing the line. The man in the sweater vest whispered something to the man in the suit while no one noticed a streak of white heading inside the museum. Cherry flew past the great court filled with a handful of people walking around with a few taking pictures as she flew deeper inside, took a left, and ended up sitting on top of a marble statue.
Cherry looked around the room as a few people were admiring the marble statues all over the room. She heard the sound of a group of footprints coming from the entrance as she turned into a streak of white as a man wearing a suit was leading a group of high schoolers along with their teacher. The man in the suit said. “This is room eighteen, where all the parthenon sculptures are displayed.” The man stood beside the centerpiece of the room as the group of high schoolers surrounded him, he said. “Does anyone have a question?”
All the students raised their hands except for the teacher while the man pinched the bridge of his nose and continued. “A question that isn’t related to excalibur…” Every student slowly put their hands down as the teacher let out a hearty chuckle and said. “Archie, how about we just skip to the main event and you lead us to the legendary sword?” Archie moved the hand away from his nose as he saw the excited looks of the students and said. “... Sure thing Mr. Lewis.” The students erupted into tiny cheers while Archi continued. “Follow me please.”
Archie thought. I hate this job… I majored in history only for everyone to keep asking about that bloody sword in a stone. He led the group of students as Lewis walked from the back as a streak of white followed them. Archie led the group back into the great court as a female student spoke, she said. “Are we heading to the next floor?” Archie led the group up the stairs near the center of the room, he glanced to look back and said. “Third floor, and yes. I did see the flight of stairs we walked past and no. With the size of our group taking the elevator would take half an hour.”
A streak of white followed them all the way to the third floor as Cherry appeared standing on top of one of the frames of the paintings. Archie was leading everyone, he thought. On the left is the portland vase and on the right is the oxus treasure… Cherry watched the group walk toward the door that led to the fourth floor while Archie rummaged through his breast pocket as the group of high schoolers saw two royal guards guarding a steel door on the right side of the door leading to the stairs.
Archie took out his ID and handed it to one of the guards, he said. “Gents.” The guard on the left took it off his hands as he did a mechanical right turn revealing a scanner behind him. One of the students spoke in a whisper and said. “I heard that the bearskin they wear on their heads is made from real bears, some of the higher-ranking ones use monster fur.” The guard placed the ID against the scanner for a few seconds as it finished as he did mechanical movements and handed Archie’s ID with one hand.
Archie gave the guard a polite nod as he placed his ID back in his breast pocket, he said. “Everyone, if you please.” Cherry was on top of a painting frame as she turned into a streak of white as she phased through the ceiling. The students had looks of excitement all over their faces while the steel door released a gush of air as the steel door slowly slid open. Archie turned around and said. “Now, before we go in. I’m warning all of you, the moment one of you crosses the velvet rope. Your parents will pick you up at a detention center the next day. Are we clear on that?”
All the students stiffened while Lewis let out a laugh to lighten the mood, he said. “Archie, is that necessary?” Archie moved his gaze onto Lewis and said. “It is Mr. Lewis, the last time someone crossed that velvet rope, he was dragged to one of the guilds. To this day he has not been released.”