Volume 5 - CH 5(2/3)
The two seat table did not have fixed sofas (at least apparently), but rather wooden chairs. After requesting the waiter fetch some chairs for them, Tatsuya turned to Miyuki. As he pulled out the chair for her to sit, she looked back at him coyly and gave a curtsy. Seating himself in the chair opposite, Tatsuya glanced at the waiter. In haste, he brought over and offered them menus. Receiving them in relaxed manner, Tatsuya dismissed him.
His conduct was so full of dignity belying his age that the waiter didn't feel any discomfort from the brusque treatment. The gazes of the customers who had been staring at Miyuki were for a fraction of a second diverted to Tatsuya. Most of them were female, but in their minds the sense of discomfort was replaced by a sort of consent. Although they had earlier been silently belittling Miyuki in their minds, thinking things such as 'what an unbalanced pair' and 'her taste in men is terrible', all this changed to 'the perfect couple' as they fully accepted their defeat.
With the rivalry discarded, the jealous looks changed to praise. However the couples, especially within the men, felt an anxious plight similar to jealous suspicion. Few of the 'boyfriends' were able to understand the look in their 'girlfriends' faces, but subconsciously an instinctive part of them understood that what had stolen their current girlfriend, or future girlfriend's eyes was not just her haunting beauty, but the deep love between her and the boy sitting opposite her.
A new player came upon the stage immediately after Tatsuya had finished placing orders for the two of them.
She was a superb beauty.
Her age was around 20. She was in the flower of her youth, her regal color and luster like an overpowering bouquet of roses.
Whatever the time or place, hers was a beauty which would not fail to catch attention.
She herself understood that perfectly well, and one who was fully showing off.
Her pompous carriage however did not elicit disagreeable reactions from those watching. In all likelihood she had polished her image, as well as her consciousness of being seen. She carried it as if it were her career.
Behind her, as if chamberlain to her empress, a probably considerably older young man tagged along. She was possibly an entertainer-- that being an actress. In the year 2095 realistic 3DCGs had pretty much completely replaced the role of 'idols', but the role of 'actress' was still the realm of living women.
She had an aura which would be fearless even if introduced as a lead actress.
It could only be guessed at why she would come into such a casual restaurant. Maybe it was just on a whim, or she was looking over a location. The one thing that could be said for certain was if she set foot in this place filled with 'ordinary' people, she would have certainly drawn the eyes of everyone instore.
She herself had fully expected that. It didn't stem from any vanity or self- esteem. It was simply based on experience repeated dozens of times that it was almost a rule. As if second nature to her already, she directed her charm and prepared to be stared at.
However, her expectations this time were off the mark. As per the golden rule 'no rule is without exceptions', her string of experiences, was met with an exception.
The clerk who greeted her showed a sense of surprise and admiration, but it was a far calmer reaction than she would have thought.
For a mere waiter to appear before her and keep his cool, in her experience took considerable courage. However in the 80% full shop, a small murmur buzzed in the vicinity of the two as intrigued eyes and heads turned towards them with surprise as men and women alike recognized her beauty, then as if losing interest immediately turned back to watch something inside the store.
Appearances aside, she was an actress. For the five years since her debut, she had built up a strong position as an entertainer. If one is insensitive, they cannot survive in that industry. CG technology improves by the year, and glamour was no longer the absolute advantage it once was. It was not just her beauty, but her extraordinarily acute sensitivity and forceful acting beyond her years which had gained her stardom.
However normal sensitivity, never mind acute sensitivity would have sufficed to reach the same conclusion. She realized that there was something in this shop which was attracting more attention.
To her this was not something interesting. Rather, you could say it was unpleasant. She couldn't help dreading to think just what kind of person was here who would attract more attention than herself.
However, her pride as a star could not allow to let this incident wherein the public simply looked (or rather 'flicked a glance') at the two of them go. As she was guided by the wait staff, she simply tried to avoid looking in the direction where all the other customers were staring.
However, whether by chance or design, the table the two of them were led to was immediately diagonally across to the table which was drawing everyone's eye. Seating herself, she made herself steal a glance with forced casualness. A young couple was sitting there. The boy who was facing her, while not bad looking, didn't seem like the type which would magnetically attract the ladies. That being the case, the focus of attention of everyone had to be the girl whose back was to her.
--Though even as she thought, she put on a brave face. The fact she did so meant the girl was definitely not normal. In truth, she had known that the moment she caught a glimpse of her profile slightly. Perhaps she was forced to understand even from behind. The fact that this girl was extraordinary.
It was a sensation she had never felt before. In words, it would be something akin to desperate jealousy. She didn't exactly think of herself as someone chosen by the gods. The position she proudly had now, without meditating over the providence of her being born with good looks, was attained through living towards a more polished appearance, studying beautification and greedily learning all she could about acting.
But this girl was different. Whether she was loved by God or had made a deal with the Devil, it was evident she was special. She was in a dimension unreachable by mere effort.
She felt that was unreasonable. For her to enrapture the attention of all without any effort, made her who had desperately strove all her life feel like a fool. A deep desire to prove again that stardom was not dependent on born appearances swelled within her.
She beckoned to the young man sitting opposite her, who leaned over, and whispered in his ear.
While facing that beckoning beauty, the man's thoughts were on another woman.
Or rather, another young lady.
Diagonally behind him, was seated a girl whose beauty the likes of which he had never seen. It fully occupied his mind.
To him, the beautiful woman was just a commodity, an accessory. He was the third generation president of a top talent agency, was in control of many popular actresses and countless more budding (unhatched) ones. It was to him something only natural, without a hint of guilt. This woman before him was a star now, but back when she was just a pretty face it was all because of his taking care of her from an early age that she had risen to her position, he thought. He also did feel that such congratulatory thoughts were pretty just really considering all the effort he had gone through, and he thought that it was not just him but also her who agreed and was appropriately grateful.
He had brought her along to this folksy establishment because he wanted to show her off and see the envy in everyone's faces. An accessory is meaningless unless shown off. He was aware that it was a rather perverse interest, but he decided that being a professional performing artist was a perverse occupation from the beginning. To him who did not know the hardships of the age of war, the entertainment winter his predecessors had gone through, the chair of the president of production was just a means to quickly and easily satisfy his ephemeral vanity.
This woman who he had brought with him today was the accessory that most attracted his interest for now. She wasn't one of the top earners for the office, but she was the best looking among them. Now that she had joined the ranks of the top actresses after a fashion, he could no longer parade her around as much as when she was more anonymous but that simply increased the sense of superiority he felt. From the perspective of most people the woman was the dominant one and the man just an adjunction, but that was probably too much for the bullheaded man himself to realize.
To him, the woman was like a large diamond polished and cut by a craftsman. He purchased the roughs, then in the hands of a craftsman they were worked upon. That was the work of production, with the resulting gem being called an actress. To be sure she had earnestly worked hard to polish herself, as an example even if a craftsman processed his gems well without a fine band of gold around it wasn't on the level it could be sold.
At the first glance he immediately knew that the girl over there was not something money could buy. If the woman in front of him was a large diamond worth several tens of million yen, then the girl was as the priceless 'Great Star of Africa' (aka Cullinan diamond, the largest diamond ever found); such was the difference between them. By happy circumstance judging from his attitude the one she was with was just a boy, and he felt the eager urge to add her to his collection as soon as possible. But he was accompanied by an actress from the office today. In any other case, he would have realized how bad the appearance of wanting to turn her into a money making machine would hurt his case, and recalculated accordingly.
Which was why having the actress along and being able to say the woman before him wanted to scout the girl for a new movie was a godsend. He pretended to deliberate a while, then stood up as if going along with the will of the selfish actress.
The previously cute gaze (in the dull childish way of thinking) suddenly turned hostile. Tatsuya felt the change. He had so far ignored it because they did not seem likely to cause Miyuki harm, but it had turned rather troublesome. As he thought so, the source of the problem across from him (for Miyuki it was to the back diagonally) stood up from his table and walked over to them.
Both Tatsuya and Miyuki directed an unpleasant look at the young man standing next to their table. Glances were one thing, but it was no wonder they were uncomfortable with being stared at from point blank range by a stranger.
"Sorry to disturb you."
He had a rather blunt way of speaking. He seemed to be hedging his words to some extent, but still came across as far too familiar.
Tatsuya lost his intent to respond amiably to this man.
Miyuki's eyes were pregnant with a frosty light, and naturally turned away from him.
Despite this apparently rejecting attitude, the young man took out his cardcase and held out a business card to Miyuki with a fake smile.
"This is who I am."
Instead of a built-in chip, it was an old fashioned card made from paper. There was no micro-pattern or anything printed, just a character based truly classic cheap card. Miyuki reluctantly took it, then with a glance passed it on with strain to Tatsuya.
The surname and the name of his company were written with the same characters, and before his name the title President was attached. Behind the company name was the word 'productions'. Probably to do with professional entertainment Tatsuya thought.
"You, got any interest in movies?" Miyuki's eyes avoided him.
"I have a role that'd be just right for you!"
Miyuki's curt attitude should have spoken volumes, but the man would not be discouraged.
"Hey, won't you tell me your name?"
At that the young president brought his face so close that Miyuki cowered down. He completely ignored the clear air of rejection she was giving off. Such thick nerve and mental toughness was fitting for a salesman like him, and that unrelenting determination really was rather impressive.
Of course, what would be remembered would be the far more overpowering discomfort, but still.
Finally, Miyuki turned her gaze on the man she had been avoiding up to now. That didn't mean her attitude had swayed one bit.
Within her eyes was a frozen light. Her hard look seemed to accuse the man for his lack of courtesy.
Shown that face, the young man momentarily faltered but almost immediately righted himself, well almost. With an even falser smile than before, he actually reached out his hand to Miyuki.
That was probably due to his obstinacy as a man in professional performing arts. To him, a production president who considered beautiful women and girls as commodities, to seem to have lost a mental battle with an amateur was probably a blow to his pride.
In any case it was short-sighted behavior. As a young man who had inherited status, he seemed to have gained the bad habit of being unable to control his feelings when it came to people in weaker positions than him.
Was he going for her hand, or her face?
It didn't really matter, as there was no way Tatsuya would ever allow such outrageous behavior.
The young man's arm, as it reached for Miyuki, was suddenly firmly in the grasp of Tatsuya's hand before he knew it.
"Wha--!"
The man's selfish protest changed to a scream in the middle, before stopping short. The pain he was experiencing was so intense it didn't even allow him to let out a sound.
"Let's leave it at this."
Tatsuya's words probably didn't even reach the man's consciousness. His fingers twisting the man's hand were also pressing with severe strength and angle into pressure points in the man's wrist, like the points in Chinese medicinal acupuncture, such that the man's mind whited out from the pain.
As Tatsuya released his hand the man staggered back two, three steps before collapsing. Tatsuya's cold face as he looked over the youth was entirely devoid of expression. A shiver ran down the man's spine that eclipsed even the pain. If he had been laughed at, the pride within him could have been fanned to flame.
Even if it was something small and ephemeral like a sparkler. But Tatsuya's emotionless gaze, simply telling him 'get out of my way', brooked no hope of resistance.
With his eyes locked on to Tatsuya's-- he couldn't look anywhere else-- the youth stood up and hobbled away. Truth be told, to have experienced such crushing pain and hesitate to even think about retaliation before retreating was a testament to the man's courage. It was not inconceivable a weaker man may even have had incontinence.
However the woman accompanying the man certainly didn't think so. At the sound of a chair scraping the floor, the beauty haughtily and proudly left the shop with the echo of her heeled sandals resonating through the store. She didn't so much as glance at the man.
Finally, staff arrived. Two waiters approached at a quick pace, their footsteps worried. They didn't go to Tatsuya, but rather to the man.
Politely, in such a low tone that only the listener could hear, the waiters had some words with the now red faced man. His frenzied retorts, those which could be discerned from the loud ranting, seemed to comprise senseless things like "just who do you think I am!?" and "don't think you can talk to me like that!" among the parts where he raised his voice, but Tatsuya didn't give it a second thought. Although nothing physical occurred after, with a waiter pressing on him from both the left and right, after the mounting psychological pressure built up and made the man leave the shop, Tatsuya returned to his seat.
As he sat down, a man of around 40 dressed in white chef clothes came to their table. Introducing himself as both the chef and owner of the establishment, the man bowed deeply to both Tatsuya and Miyuki.
"I am very sorry for that uncomfortable episode just now."
"No, we're the ones who caused a disturbance. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Although still just 16, Tatsuya had spent much time around adults. If the other party was civil, he would be able to respond with as much equanimity as any.
The shopkeeper's eyes thawed slightly towards Tatsuya's cool demeanor, probably because he felt the calmness beyond his years.
"Don't mind the commotion. The one at fault was the other party. You were just involved."
Even at the close of the 21st century, the bad habit of insisting that 'in a quarrel both parties are to blame' remained ingrained into society, but this shopkeeper seemed to be the type who did not agree with that poor custom of dancing around accountability.
"Thank you for that."
Tatsuya approved of this attitude which could clearly distinguish between black and white. Without the need to put on any exterior show, he returned the bow naturally.
"The clerk was delayed and it ended up causing such a problem for you two, but please feel free to continue your meal if you would like to do so. Of course, it'll be on the house."
Before Tatsuya could object, the shopkeeper went back to the kitchen. Despite the casual appearance of the store, the food was of an extremely satisfactory level. Both the appetizer of soup and the following mains pasta were as straight laced as the stubborn character of their chef, well worked together with no pretensions, and both Tatsuya and Miyuki enjoyed them immensely.
After that was dessert. This was especially enrapturing for Miyuki. It was a thin size four (12 cm diameter) ice cake. The rich smell of vanilla wafted from the mutely colored topping, and it was just as authentic and unpretentious as the earlier courses. The not too hard, not too soft cool melt in your mouth texture was just as good as the offerings from any more upscale shops.
What delighted Miyuki was not just the taste however. Among the waiters the one slightly older, presumably the senior, brought along the ice cake with two spoons. The spoons had an unnaturally long handle, and wouldn't have been very practical for eating alone.
Placing those items in the middle of the table, the waiter had spoken to them in a soft voice.
"One for the lovely boyfriend to the beautiful girlfriend. One for the beautiful girlfriend to the lovely boyfriend. For the very compatible two of you, enjoy this sweet moment."
Due to the character of the place, those were probably words specifically scripted for such a situation as this.
Still Miyuki happily accepted it, smiling giddily with her face dyed red, and held out the spoon with a scoop of ice cream in it to Tatsuya.
--after concluding this shameless play disguised as dessert, as promised no specific bill came, so Tatsuya instead of taking out his electronic wallet simply repeatedly pressed a disposable money chip into the waiter's hand before quickly leaving the shop.
Lunch had finished on an unexpectedly interesting (and possibly just a bit embarrassing) note, but unfortunately life was not so kind as to end everything so cleanly.
Before the siblings stood the young president of the performing arts company from the restaurant earlier. There was no sign of the woman. She had probably left him and gone back. Instead, he was accompanied by four inversely proportioned (that is to say physically overbearing but far inferior in looks) men.
"You caused me quite the bit of humiliation earlier."
Although his voice was level for the time being, not the outraged ranting of before, it was possible to catch just a hint of crankiness in it.
This guy really is going full throttle spouting out all these cliched lines Tatsuya thought to himself, but he wasn't about to throw in the towel this late into the game.
"I believe I said so earlier. Let's leave it at that."
But as he had no intention of purposely picking a fight, he kept his words somewhat peaceful. At least he didn't say something like 'it's no surprise your companion ran from you considering your tiny mind', but he didn't hide the contempt in his tone either. He didn't intend to start a fight, but it almost seemed like he wouldn't mind welcoming one either.
If that was the case, Tatsuya's words were super effective.
"......If you want to prostrate yourself and apologize, now's the time."
"You're going to cause a scene right here?"
His words and attitude were fairly easy to grasp, but did he really intend to try something with so many people around? Tatsuya had said this out of concern for the man's social standing, but
"Shut up. Since when are real people subservient to you witches?" Those words were enough to clear Tatsuya's hesitation and restraint.
He shifted his body, completely hiding Miyuki from view. All traces of expression disappeared from his face, and his eyes narrowed.
Perhaps mistaking the change which had come over Tatsuya, the young man smiled.
"I had thought I remembered seeing you somewhere. We had met in the Nine Schools something hadn't we? I had thought I'd found a huge gemstone, but it turned out to be just a fake imitation."
Perhaps this man cleaved to the hoax that magicians were genetically modified and produced androids. Although their numbers were much reduced, Tatsuya knew through observation and knowledge that some still stubbornly persisted, which was why he didn't recall a sense of surprise at his words. "That's a lie."
The man's words were rather barefaced.
"You've only just met my sister today. Even if you had caught a glimpse of her during the Nine Schools Competition, even through video, there's no way a man of your type could ever hope to stand before her."
A wintry air began to permeate. It did not hold the chill of snow or ice, but cold hardness of a razor sharp steel blade
"What the hell. You a siscon or something?"
Subconsciously the man opened his mouth wide and laughed out loud. --his face almost turned blue. His voice trembled.
Tatsuya didn't bother to retort to that, but rather came right back with a line of his own.
"Is that something you had to learn from your buddies over there?"
The cowardly dog barks the loudest, and besides Tatsuya wasn't so delicate as to be provoked by such words. Still, that didn't mean he had to be tolerant of such dogs.
"It'd be better for you to leave before you do something unfortunate in public. Or should I say it again so you can understand better?"
The one who had been insulted was not himself, but Miyuki. That was the sole reason Tatsuya had dispensed with all peaceful intent.
Keeping his eyes on the man, Tatsuya took a step forward. The man's entourage visibly tensed. They didn't have the same finesses or training as professional bodyguards, but they were experienced in their own way. On the level of street fighting anyway. You'd never guess from their attire, but Tatsuya idly guessed that the four were probably gangsters. The talk of there being good relations between pro entertainment and the underworld were probably not the whole truth, but at least not false either.
"What the hell are you guys all scared for! They can't use magic in cities. It should be a piece of cake!"
It seems the man had been completely taken in by the urban legends surrounding magicians.
Magicians didn't use magic in cities because they were restricted by the law from exercising magic, not because they received remote mechanical signals or the like. In any case magic was only prohibited if there was no legitimate reason and in the event of accidents or disasters the use of magic to help is encouraged, and yet another exception is the case of self defense.
It seemed the henchmen were not so naive as to believe in the myths the president was spouting. Slipping a hand to their waists-- probably a folding pocket knife or something-- they studied Tatsuya's movements with care.
After two steps, Tatsuya stopped and raised both his arms to shoulder height. It wasn't a holdup.
By fluttering and waving his hands, he showed them that they were empty. At that gesture, the gangsters felt they were being made fools of. They knew neither the shape nor utility of CADs, but they did know that magicians used some sort of small device to cast magic. They took Tatsuya's gesture, directed at them, as a declaration that he didn't need magic.
They were correct. Tatsuya was provoking them, as if saying 'I don't need magic to deal with the likes of you.'
The effect was immediate. From the start they were low ranking members, desperate to prove their worth. Being called by the young president, they had been sent out as the small fry. Desire to appeal aside, they had a low boiling point anyway.
Drawing their knives, they lunged at Tatsuya in unison.
Gangs nowadays train their members in group combat as the norm. In this age where both vigilantes and the general public are well organised, groups which are said to be professionals in violence could hardly get away without at least learning to fight as a team.
Two waves of knives attacked from the left and the right. The screams of young women rent the air.
Miyuki's voice was not among them.
Without a word, without so much as a flicker of emotion, she simply looked on at her brother's back.
Her trust in her brother's skills was absolute. Neither was that trust betrayed.
Four punches. One man, one blow. Each fist struck a vital area with unrelenting precision, leaving the gangsters crawling about on the floor.
Tatsuya resumed his advance.
For each step he took, the president took two steps back.
Then he stopped short. The moment he felt he had bumped into someone, he was seized by both arms and forced to kneel. Looking back in a hurry,he was greeted by the sight of uniformed police officers.
There were eight in total. Two were overpowering the president, four secured the gangsters rolling around on the ground, while two more came to stand before Tatsuya.
Miyuki walked to stand just behind him. Glancing alternatively between the two, the policeman began an inarticulate delivery.
"Umm, we want to hear your side of events, so could you accompany us to the station please?"
Tatsuya couldn't say he was surprised at this attitude. Even if you say it was self defense, they had engaged in violence in public. It wouldn't have been strange if they had actually been detained.
Looking closely, the shape of a CAD could be made out around the policeman's wrist. He was evidently a mage. If so, knowing both Tatsuya and Miyuki were also mages, it could only be wondered if he felt a sense of solidarity with them. Still, his sheepish attitude was a little worrying.
"Uh, in addition......"
The partner of the cop who had first spoken began to say something, stammering out a preface. On his waist was a handgun shaped CAD.
The officer put his hand behind his waist. Was he going for handcuffs?
At Miyuki's arched eyebrows, Tatsuya wordlessly gestured for prudence. The officer's hand stretched out to the two of them. Or rather, to Miyuki.
In his hand was, not his police notebook, but another private notebook.
"......You're Shiba Miyuki san right? You were in this year's Nine Schools
Competition. I'm an Old Boy of First High myself......
If you could, may I get your signature?"
Another policeman held out another rare classic for these days, a fountain pen.
Tatsuya and Miyuki exchanged a glance, before Miyuki gave a sly smile at the two officers.
[August 31st (3)]
"I didn't think we'd see an OB in a place like that."
Remembering the days events, Miyuki couldn't help giggling. Tatsuya also struggled to rein in laughter, before leaking out a smile.
"It's not that surprising when you think about it. The only magic high school in Kanto is First High, so a mage who became an officer in Tokyo is most likely to have graduated from there."
"That's true. In any case, the reason we spent hardly any time at the station was because the guy was a huge Miyuki fan...... In other words it's all thanks to you.
You were a great help."
"You're welcome. Being able to be helpful to Onii-sama is more important than anything."
"Still, for them to actually invite us out to tea was totally overwhelming. It was hard to refuse."
"Well!? That was hardly Miyuki's fault!"
At that the two of them looked at each other, and once again, exchanged smiles. Miyuki was sucking on a straw, and her glass was pretty much empty. Tatsuya's cup had likewise been reduced to just ice.
Seeing his sister remove her mouth from the straw and looking towards him, Tatsuya rose from his seat.
"Now then, the bank's about to open, so let's head out."
<-->>