"Well?"
Megane jolted on hearing that incensed question, and then he turned to stare at his mother, Aisuru Rui. "Well what, Kā-san?!"
A sigh, and then Rui — a very beautiful, older version of the woman now calling herself "Aisuru Tokiko" — seemed to explode right over her son, which made the leader of the Stormtroopers cringe. "LOOK WHAT YOUR MAD OBSESSION WITH THAT ALIEN'S FINALLY DONE!" she screamed out loud enough to blow over everyone else in the main reception room of the Mendō mansion, which is where the parents of the five newest members of Tomobiki High's Class 2-4 had agreed to get together after they had been alerted by Moroboshi Hiromi concerning events earlier in the afternoon; given her technophobia, it could have taken DAYS for Mendō Haruka to travel by ox-drawn cart to Tomobiki High School or the nearby restaurant district so they could meet at Tampopo's. "SEE WHAT CONSTANTLY OBSESSING OVER THAT SELFISH ONI ENDED UP DOING?!" she roared as she pointed at Tokiko. "HOW MANY OTHER 'SISTERS' HAVE YOU GOT?! ALL OF THEM POSSIBILITY BEING ABUSED AND RAPED LIKE THE MONSTERS THAT CAME HERE TO SPY ON YOUR DIARIES WAS PROBABLY GOING TO DO TO POOR TOKIKO-CHAN?! CAN'T YOU FINALLY OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU FINALLY?! WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN TO FINALLY MAKE YOU WAKE UP AND GET A LIFE FOR YOURSELF WITHOUT LUM?! WELL?!"
"Most likely, Okā-san, Onii-san won't finally GET a life until Hensō dies."
Megane croaked out with a mix of horror and anger as he spun on Tokiko. All of the Stormtroopers' doubles — as well as Mendō Tachiko — were still in their school seifuku; their parents were planning on taking their new daughters to the local clothing boutiques as soon as possible so they could have full wardrobes. Rui took a deep breath before she stared at her daughter. "So this whole thing about the 'Lum' we had to put up with for the last year not actually BEING Lum is true?!" she demanded.
"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Oba-san," Daremo Mitsuko said as she gave Kakugari a warning look to keep it buttoned up.
"You have proof of this?" Mendō Hajime asked.
"Hai, Otō-sama, we do," Tachiko spoke up — ignoring the incensed look from her own brother — as she held up her hand. "Like Hiromi-san and Tariko-san, we ourselves are Avalonians, blessed with touch-telepathic and empathic powers. Lum-san and Ran-san were both quite willing to allow us to probe their minds so we could all 'see' ourselves as to who and what they are." A sigh. "And it is all true. Five years ago, their very souls were shifted into Avalonian replacement bodies while the souls of their replicas were switched back into their original bodies."
"How terrible!" Haruka's valet — and full-time human parrot — breathed out.
"Do their parents know?!" Chibi's and Takako's mother, Urayamu Hiroko, asked.
"The mothers were told, Kā-chan," Takako replied. "They're with the replicas aboard Haida while Ataru's big sister Negako and the lady that put that curse on Lum-chan in the first place try to find some way of breaking that curse once and for all."
"We're not too sure about the dads, though," Mitsuko advised.
"And they'll be sent home finally, of course," Rui stated.
"Most likely," Tokiko said.
The older people all relaxed, many of them smiling on hearing that news. "Oh, thank the Heavens for that!" Perm's and Nijiko's mother, Shitto Yayoi, breathed out in relief. "No more crazy nonsense because of that damned Oni!"
The Stormtroopers all shivered on hearing that; for the last year, it had been a running battle between them and their parents concerning their sacred mission to ensure Lum would be happy while on Earth. "So what is the real Lum like?" Hajime asked after he and his wife gave their son a warning look to ensure he kept his tongue.
"Lum-san, as you can suspect, was very badly hurt by events five years ago," Tachiko reported. "Her whole life — and that of her three closest and dearest friends — was literally RIPPED AWAY from her. Try as those who realised what DID happen to make her parents — as well as Benten-san's parents, Oyuki-sama's parents and Ran-san's mother — learn the truth, they didn't succeed and thus, Lum-san and her friends had to go into literal EXILE on the planet Okusei." She then smiled as she gazed on her brother. "That, I believe, is what made the great dragon lord Nengmek'i-sama do what he did six months ago on Uru when everyone was trying to force Ataru-san to marry Hensō-san. He is very close to K'ekhech-dono, a Noukiite free warrior who befriended Lum-san and her friends; K'ekhech-dono is, in fact, here in Tomobiki today visiting Ataru-san and the others. No doubt, with Ataru-san close to Okusei…"
"Nengmek'i-sama felt it the right time for Ataru to get back together with his bond-mates," Tokiko finished for her friend, and then she thumbed her brother. "But to make sure it went off without a hitch, the peanut gallery had to be shoved out of the way!"
"Hey!" Megane yelped.
The parents all nodded in understanding. "So now that Hensō is finally going to be dragged out of our lives once and for all time, we can finally hope that some sense of normalcy can come back to this town," Nijiko's father Kōji noted.
"Not all the way, dear," Yayoi warned as she gazed on him.
"Indeed, Yayoi-san, there is the question of the remarkable gift Hiromi-san brought with her when she finally came to Earth for the first time in her own body last week," Hajime noted as he lit his pipe. "Have any of you girls talked to her about the fleet currently in orbit over the planet? How it's supposed to be supported and all that?"
The five girls shook their heads. "Unfortunately, just after last class, a young tōshi believed to be affiliated with Kyoshō came to the school seeking to assassinate Hiromi-san, Otō-sama," Tachiko reported. As the older people present all gaped at what was being said, she continued, "Hiromi-san was able to subdue her and remove a controlling curse over her with the Spirit-Breaker Fire-Light attack, and then she, Ebisu Kyoko-san and Uma Mikoko-san — along with four tōshi visiting from Seito, including Hiromi-san's own 'cousin,' Koro Sonami-san, alias Ryūbi Gentoku — moved the girl to Sakura-sensei's station so she could be examined. While that was happening…"
"You were all coming here," Rui finished.
"Hai."
"Do try to talk to her as soon as you can, Tachiko," Hajime urged. "What she's done for all of Earth can't be ignored and must be supported as best as possible by everyone on Earth. Those ships need docking facilities and all the necessary support structures a space fleet like that must possess to operate as best as possible."
"Otō-sama, you can't possibly begin to be thinking of something like THAT!" Mendō instantly spoke up as he stared at his father. "What proof do we have of all these wild assertions Moroboshi's so-called 'sister' has made over the last week?!"
"Oh?! And what about the Book of Lum?!" Tokiko demanded.
A dismissive wave of the hand. "A forgery!"
"Oh, really?!" Megane's sister demanded. "Nice try, Shūtarō! I saw the part of that book that was taken from Onii-san's own diaries! I couldn't BELIEVE how much they got from him! And how much they totally TWISTED around so they can continue to portray Ataru as their 'great evil!' FIFTEEN BILLION of these lunatics out there believe all that crap!" She then crossed her arms as she sat back in the couch, closing her eyes as she thought about it. "There's got to be some way to cut it off!"
"Cut what off?" Rui asked.
"Cut off this 'church's' access to Onii-san's and everyone else's diaries," Tokiko said. "If these people are so damned dependant on those diaries…"
"Burn them?" Nijiko wondered.
"HEY!" the Stormtroopers all shouted as once.
"I suggest before you consider doing something like that, ladies, you review whatever intelligence Hiromi-san and her friends possess about these beings," Hajime warned. "In a way, I can understand Hiromi-san's caution when it comes to these Niphentaxians. If what she's asserted about their fanaticism is anything near the truth…"
"We wouldn't want to have it reflect back on us," Daremo Hitomaro, Kakugari's and Michiko's father, then said, nodding in understanding.
"Agreed," Rui breathed out.
"I still say this is some stupid joke!" Megane spat out.
"Keep dreaming, Onii-san," Tokiko said…
In the northeast part of Tomobiki…
"Shasta, this is a potential threat to the Faithful."
"Agreed, Terri. How were those units activated?"
Shakes of the head from the others in the monitor room. "Unknown."
"Can the units be retrieved and returned to stasis?"
"Negative, Julie. The units are activated and fully programmed. We have no orders concerning what is to be done in a case of premature activation."
A nod. "We should contact them to ensure they are functioning well."
The others in the room — they were all women — nodded. "Agreed. We will do so when an opportunity presents itself," the leader of the group announced.
The others nodded again before they returned to their monitors…
"An ill air…"
"You were quick to sense it as well, Venerable?"
Cherry hummed as he considered that question, and then he gazed on the crimson-haired warrior from another world seated nearby, enjoying a cup of tea made by a now-recovered Kotatsuneko as they sat around the low space-heater equipped table the cat ghost always had with him. "Indeed. Yet there is no true evil in what I sense now." He sat down beside the kotatsu as he took up his own cup of tea and gazed in the afternoon sky over Tomobiki. "Still, I sense darkness approaching. Ataru's actions concerning those other souls that were once within him have ultimately unleashed powerful forces. I fear he may not — even with the knowledge the Black Death within him possessed — fully understand what he has allowed to run loose or how they can affect many others on Earth and off it." He closed his eyes. "Even those he ultimately seeks to protect."
Kyech took that in, and then she shrugged before she sipped her tea. She personally didn't care too much about these sorts of philosophical discussions, though she did sense that the aged monk she was currently with clearly did desire the best for the man she had met and fallen in love with a half-year before on Okusei (even if his many weaknesses often made him even less trusted among those he served than Ataru had been up to the time of the Second Tag Race). A woman who preferred to live for the moment, she always left talk about Fate and Destiny to those who possessed the temperament for it. What happened in the future was, in her eyes, really of no concern. As long as she and those she cared for were safe and content, that was all that mattered.
Still…
"They are like you in many ways, young dragon."
Kyech noted Cherry's warning, and then she gazed off to the northeast, her eyes glowing as the shadows on her face darkened for a moment, her metasenses reaching out to touch whatever had just attracted the monk's interest. After a moment, her eyes went back to normal and then she returned to her tea. "They are lost souls," she admitted. "Deep down, they yearn to be free of the constraints their masters put on them when they were awoken and made to stand in the place of their genetic templates. But they are not evil. If Hiromi approaches them with no ill intent, they can be made to defect."
The old monk nodded. He had been quite taken aback by the news of the Church of Lum when he had been allowed to examine Moroboshi Hiromi when she came to school for the first time in her own body in lieu of sharing Ataru's. How aliens from another world no one in Tomobiki had heard of to date — clearly desperate to receive a true and everlasting understanding of the meaning of Life — had locked on Lum (and later Hensō; he hadn't needed much in the way of convincing to understand THAT) as a living divine symbol, an arahitogami for them to seek out their own understanding of the Divine and their place in it. And how, after Hensō came to live on Earth, these people came to view those who closely interacted with her as no different as how a bodhisattva was viewed by Buddhists.
And because of that…
Cherry sighed. Despite the serene image he always tried to project to others, he had been truly humbled and scared by the experiences over the last year when it came to people such as Moroboshi Ataru and Redet Hensō. To originally believe he was on the path of knowing it all…and then learn how LITTLE he did know about the workings of the Universe. It had come close to him actually considering renouncing his vows as a priest and embracing the world beyond his faith, but he had held back from that. He needed the teachings of his faith as an anchor so he could better accept the nature of the Universe beyond the borders of Earth. And even if he still fell into temptation, mostly when it came to his appetite rearing itself quite frequently…
Nearby…
"The Venerable One is disturbed."
"Agreed. He must be comforted."
"We are not allowed to open contact with any of the Holy Friends."
"True. But helping preserve his good health and spirits does help the Faithful."
Silence.
"Agreed. We will go to him."
The others nodded as they rose from their stations…
Kyech perked, and then she smiled as a red-and-gold feathered phoenix landed on her shoulder. "Pretty bird…" she whispered as she shifted Sekitoma into her lap so she could stroke the feathers, a content smile crossing her face.
The phoenix cooed as he leaned into those strong hands, though he was quick to sense Kotatsuneko gazing at him as if the giant cat ghost was saying, "Better you than me, pal!" Sekitoma didn't mind it; as a phoenix that had lived for well close to two millennia, he was made of much sterner stuff, even when confronting someone who actually had DRAGON blood in her. At that moment, footfalls heralded the arrival of the current incarnation of Sekitoma's most famous rider. "Konnichi wa, Kyech."
"Suchaeuk-chit' ich'e suhik'hie, Shikuko," Kyech said as Kotatsuneko poured a new cup of tea for Ryofu Hōsen. "Are you here to see Tariko?"
"Naturally," the fighter from Rakuyō mused as she nodded her thanks to Kotatsuneko for the tea. "So what's going on with Hiromi today?"
"Nothing of real concern," Kyech reported. "I located Avalonian DNA clone replicas of Shūtarō, Satoshi, Akira, Hirosuke and Kōsuke located at one of the Niphentaxian observer posts in Tomobiki itself. With their assistance, they were awoken and allowed to begin their own lives." She then hummed as she gazed in the direction of Tomobiki High School. "Hiromi's cousin and her friends also are visiting."
Hōsen nodded. "Gentoku and the others. That makes sense."
"What do you mean, child?" Cherry asked.
"Kaku's been getting messages from the other schools concerning the Big Fighters' Tournament," the aqua-haired tōshi replied. "As of now, we know that Seito, Kyoshō and Nan'yō have elected to boycott the Tournament since Hiromi herself wasn't invited to it." A chuckle. "Kaku doesn't know how to take that sort of thing."
"And that is a concern?"
Hōsen gazed at him. "You understand the concepts of Fate, don't you, Venerable?" As the monk nodded, the tōshi sighed. "While it may be giving in to certain aspects of the fate supposedly marked for me, I was looking forward to participating in the Tournament. A lot of good new blood is coming into the ranks and I was looking forward to having some good bouts with them." She sipped her tea. "Especially Sonsaku."
"A friend of yours?" Kyech asked.
"No, we've never met. But given the spirit within her magatama, it would be one hell of a bout between us," the Terran warrior replied.
Cherry hummed. "Sonsaku Hakufu." He then nodded. "Ah, yes! Sūn Cè, Lord Bófú. Given that your magatama possesses the spirit of Lord Fèngxiān, I can see why you would be interested in meeting her. Your predecessors never met in your first lives."
"Nor in the successive incarnations, which I find disagreeable," Hōsen stated, and then she perked on sensing a familiar presence approaching her. "Mō-chan?!"
"Is that you, Shikuko?"
Everyone looked up as Ryomō Shimei walked onto the empty lot, followed by several people in the uniform of the Nan'yō Academy: Gakushū, Roshuku Shikei, Rikuson Hakugen, Shūyu Kōkin and Sonsaku Hakufu. On seeing the monk there, all the tōshi from Chiba stiffened before they formally bowed to him. "Venerable, please forgive us for disturbing your time with Hōsen-san and our esteemed visitor from another world," Gakushū said as they gave him a proper right fist-in-left palm salute.
"There is no need to ask my forgiveness, young man. Sit down and make yourselves comfortable," Cherry bade as Kotatsuneko moved to prepare more tea. "I assume you've come here to visit Hiromi concerning the upcoming Great Fighters' Tournament."
"We are, Venerable," Shikei replied as tea was passed around, and then she turned to Hōsen. "Is it true? That Tōtaku doesn't want you to participate?"
A nod. "Hai, it's true. Which is quite the pity, given the new blood your people just got," Hōsen said as she gave Hakufu an appraising look.
Hakufu blinked as she felt the older woman's attention fall on her, and then she hummed as she noted the silver magatama on Hōsen's ear, marking her as A-rank. Remembering that she was now pretty much seen as C-rank thanks to the "welcoming committee" that had received her on her first day attending Nan'yō, she then smiled. "So are you going to join the other Tournament, Fu-chin? The one Sō-chan is trying to start up?"
Hōsen perked on hearing Hakufu call her "Fu-chin," and then she blinked. "What other Tournament?" she asked. "There's only one Tournament to be held!"
"Sōsō's response to the fact that Hiromi wasn't invited to the one Rakuyō's hosting," Shimei replied. "Have a second Tournament here in Tomobiki with Hiromi as the host. We got the invite to come to Tomobiki to talk it over with Hiromi so we can have it here. So far, we have firm commitments from Seito and Kyoshō."
"You can add Yōshū to that, Shimei."
Everyone perked on hearing that deep man's voice, and then they looked over as a smiling senior student with moustache and goatee, a headband wrapped around his long, pigtailed black hair and sunglasses over his dark brown eyes. He was dressed, as was the want with many male tōshi, in a T-shirt and loose pants (thus allowing better movement of his body when in a fight). "Ah! Shigi-san!" Hakufu gushed on seeing the top fighter of Yōshū High School in Ibaraki Prefecture, waving at him to come join them. "You're coming to the Tournament, too?!" As the part-Polynesian Taishiji Shigi nodded, grinning at the younger girl as she gushed with excitement, Hakufu whooped as she pumped her fists. "Ooooh! This is going to be one awesome Tournament!"
Laughter filled the area around Cherry's camp. "You appear excited, young lady," Cherry mused as his metasenses were quick to detect another small group approaching.
"She's always been like that, sir," Kōkin stated, grinning.
"Cherry-sama?"
Everyone perked, and then they turned to see a group of seven women standing at the entrance to the empty lot, all gazing intently at the old monk that was hosting this meeting between warriors of different schools and different planets. Staring at them, Shigi blinked, and then he took off his sunglasses so he could stare intently at them. And their pointed ears. "What the HELL…?" he demanded as we…
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