meitori | open post

Yuuta moved over to one side of the sidewalk before he paused to write down a note on his phone. It was a warm, clear day. Schools were about to let out and he was just in time to get to the entrance to walk his eldest niece and nephew home.

They were both independent enough to get home themselves—and had done so since they were in kindergarten—but he wanted to surprise them and take them out for ice cream. Graduation was only a month away and he knew that they were feeling the pressure of exams. He had been where they were and wanted to give them a better experience than his own. If it took some extra sugar before dinner … Well, he didn’t have to tell his brothers.

When the kids were out, they were a little late, but probably gushing. There had been a special assembly, and all the kids coming out were talking about it. Because the Guardians had been hosting it. For anyone new to the scene this could be confusing, but the kid probably had told uncle Yuuta all about the Guardians. The children who were like a student council but effective. They were the go-betweens between the students and the adults. The Guardians would deal with disputes with teachers, and even with parents. And to most of the students, they were like celebrities.

Today's assembly was, apparently, to deal with rumors that something has been happening to cause students to pass out. The Guardians gave told the students that they are looking into it and gave all sorts of safety tips, including telling the students to stay together where possible, to stay together. To not go anywhere alone.

But telling uncle Yuuta about all this was probably interrupted when a ripple of silences spread and then became squealing as two students came out of the school. They had the same uniforms as everyone else, except that over the blazers, the pair wore short caplets that matched their bottoms. Blue being for the male students, red for the female students.

The one in the blue had short blond hair, was super slender, and seemed to almost sparkle. He smiled warmly at students who called out to him and looked... regal.

The best word for the one in red, however, was graceful. A long purple ponytail that swayed with every step, beautiful posture and a lovely smile. But more than all that was.. what looked like a tiny hand sized child in a kimono floating along side that ponytail, as if dancing with it. A spirit seeming to have the time of its little life. And no one seemed to notice the creature. which, probably wasn't surprising. But the people the spirit was with were the center of attention at the moment.

Yuuta had opinions about the Guardians, but he decided to keep quiet about it, due to how much everyone seemed to love them, especially his nieces and nephews. He didn’t see the point in putting so much pressure on students to be intermediates for their fellow classmates on top of everything else. But, if there were students out there who were mature enough to handle such a role, who was he to stop them or rain on their parade?

The two students, though—

No one seemed to notice the creature. Yuuta was used to experiencing this, being able to see spirits and a slew of other creatures when no one else could. It was a power he shared with his grandmother and she taught him all that she could. Though useful, that knowledge did not always protect him from the dangers of being able to see those strange, frightening beings.

The question now was this: was that creature dangerous or malicious?

The pair made their way through the crowd slowly, smiling and talking to people as they walked. The spirit kept dancing in the air above them, keeping pace. Another rose up, seeming to be coming out from under the blue plaid cape of the blond. This one had short purple hair and was dressed like a king or prince or something. From this distance it was hard to make out what they were saying, but this one seemed to be lecturing or yelling at or commanding the one in the kimono one. Instead of being cowed, however, the one int he kimono started dancing around the one in the crown, waving a small twig with leaves about.

Yuuta narrowed his eyes. Their actions right now didn't seem malicious, nor could he see that they had any darkness to their aura, but he couldn't risk being wrong. Not when there were children involved. He went into the school. No one minded him.

"Uncle Yuuta!" his niece cried, spotting him. She ran over and hugged him.

He chuckled and returned the hug. "Do you see those spirits over there? Hanging by the shoulders of your classmates?"

"Spirits?" she repeated. Knowing of his powers (the whole family did), the question didn't bother her. She looked around and shook her head. She did not have the powers she did, but her answer confirmed that they were indeed spirits. If she could see them, then there was some other explanation: props or a digital projection for instance.

The student in the red skirt and caplet seemed to notice him while he was talking to his niece. She said something softly to the one in blue, then she turned and walked off, ponytail sashaying in time to her graceful steps. The kimono spirit made a face at the regal one then trailed after her. The small blond boy in the blue capelet and shorts was now watching Yuuta thoughtfully.

Yuuta was watching him as well and made no attempt to hide it.

"What is going on?" his nephew asked. "Is everything alright?"

"We'll have to see," he replied. "What can you tell me about those classmates of yours?"

There would be lots to tell. Because they were two of the five most well known and popular kids in school, the Guardians! The one in red is Nadeshiko Fujisaki, Queen's chair. She bakes and cooks and teaches dance at the Fujisaki school and her dad is a super famous dancer! And then the one in blue is Tadase Hotori. King's chair. The boy every girl in the school has a crush on if they crush on boys at all. His secret nickname is the prince of the school. Then, probably unasked, kids around would join in, gushing about the other guardians.

Kukai Souma is the oldest, he'd be told. He's the Jack's chair and the star of the soccer team. Very competitive but also a good sport, always willing to help people and super energetic.

Then there was the Ace chair, Yaya-chan. No one offers a last name for Yaya. She's just Yaya-chan. She's cute and hyper and lots of fun. She also does dance - ballet - though she usually doesn't try out for the prima roles, everyone agrees she's pretty good. But that could just be fan gushing rather than an accurate read. It is hard to tell.

And then the final one, the Joker is Amu Hinamori. She's a transfer student who has a famous photographer for a dad and a famous writer for a mom. She's - and this is the quote he'd get from everyone - "cool and spicy!", and there are a million rumors about her. How she saved one of the littler kids from being bullied on the way to school, then cooly brushed him off rather than accepting his thanks. That she once beat up another school's whole soccer team. That she's the only athlete in school better than the Jack's chair. That she'll destroy anyone who tries to hurt any of the students in the school! And that she just one day became friends with the Queen's chair and despite hoe different they are, they fit perfectly, and then she became the Jack.

Basically he'd be surrounded by students all happy to gush about how overawed they are by the five students. It might be hard for him to notice with all the crowding and shouting over each other when the group behind him suddenly moved to the sides, growing quieter. But the group in front of him was probably loud enough to cover that.

At least until the moment a young feminine sounding voice said right behind his ear "Boo," in a near-whisper.

Yuuta, upon learning this, stared at them in disbelief. Seriously? This is what high school was like now? Who set up this kind of system? And came up with the names? What was their purpose in this school beyond commanding all sorts of attention from their classmates who should be studying or working on their extracurricular activities? Not to mention it sounded like one of them needed a serious case of detention if the rumors were to be believed. Beating up another school’s team should have been a horrible offense.

One would think that with all of their famous ‘parents’ they would either not want the spotlight to be on them during their waking hours or they would know how to behave.

As for the whisper in his ear?

He turned around and pushed his niece and nephew behind him, his satchel already in his hands to smack someone if needed.

Nadeshiko Had her hands behind her back and was giving a warm smile. She leaned slightly to look past him. "Hello," she said, addressing both the nice and nephew by their full names with a warm smile. Then she stood perfectly straight and looked up at him. And you must be their uncle Yuuta. A pleasure to meet you."

Above Nadeshiko's head was not just the little spirit in a kimono, but also a sporty one bouncing a futbol from knee to knee before diving down in front of Yuuta's face, dancing around. "Hey, you see me?" he asked.

Yuuta kept his face schooled into a calm expression. He should get more information about this spirit and the others before casting judgement. Perhaps they were not like the spirits that had plagued him most of his life. The students didn't seem to be in distress.

"Yes, I can. What are you?"

"Oh!" Nadeshiko said, as if surprised in the cutest way possible. She was a little charmer and she knew it. "What an unusual answer! I know, why don't you come to see us Guardians after school. We'd love to get to know the family of two of our best students, after all."

A stunned awed silence from the kids around them. Almost no one got invited to the royal garden for tea!

"I'll have tea ready. We'll see you then, okay, Yuuta-sama?"

And he knew that she was a little charmer too. But, she did have a point: talking about such things out in the open like this was not a good idea. Especially if it concerned larger matters that he was unaware of.

He looked to his niece and nephew. "I suppose this is better than ice cream?"

"Uh, yeah!" his niece exclaimed. "I mean. We'd love ice cream with you too, Uncle Yuuta."

His nephew snickered a bit.

Nadeshiko chuckled. "Well, what if Kukai-senpai took the two of you out for ice cream while we talk to your uncle, and then you can join us for some of the cookies I made this morning?" she asked the kids with a warm smile.

It was a good compromise and would prevent the knowledge they were going to share from reaching too many ears. Yuuta nodded at them, giving them a smile. "We can plan for next week."

The two of them hugged him, voicing their thanks.

"Shall we?" he asked Nadeshiko.

Nadeshiko nodded. Tadase joined them and the students made way, watching the progression with something like awe. A boy in the blue uniform with the cape - Kukai - rounded up the kids for ice cream, which would probably make them extra popular the next day. The sporty spirit went with them. The kimono one stayed with Nadeshiko.

Tadase and Nadeshiko walked Yuuta around the school to the back, and along a small well kept path to what looked like a very well maintained and ornate greenhouse. Nadeshiko opened the doors as if they were remarkably light and held them so that Tadase and Yuuta could go in.

Inside there was a flower lined path. Everything was warm as you'd expect in a green house, but not as humid. And while there were plants, they were decorative flowers mostly, and mostly around edges. The path lead to a raised platform that took up most of the green house. It housed a dining room table with chairs around it at the center. Off to one side was a sofa and some other comfortable seating. On the table itself was a nice looking doll house. More of the little spirits were inside the doll house. One, dressed all in green, seemed to be cleaning it. One, dressed as a baby, was sleeping right where it would be in the way of the one trying to clean.

Around the table were two kids. One was a girl, a bit younger than the others, wearing the same exact uniform and Nadeshiko, though she had mary janes instead of boots. She was dozing off, and didn't seem to notice their arrival. The other girl...

Pink hair pulled back by red X clips. Narrowed eyes. Something about how she wore her uniform screamed "punk". And not in the music sense. Instead of a cape, she had a red armband over one jacket sleeve. She wore leg warmers that matched her uniform skirt, except that they were held in place by black bands with metal buckles. Her bag was dangling from the back of her chair, two bands of red sewn onto the outside of what was a bag just like everyone else's were set at sharp angles crossing near the lower corner.

"Who is this?" she asked, her voice sharp. Two of the spirits floated out of the doll house to hover over her head. One wore a pink cheerleader outfit and had a heart on her sun visor. The other was in blue shorts, white shirt, with a big blue hat that sported a blue spade. The small spirit also sported what looked like a messenger bag or satchel.

"A new friend?" the pink one asked.

The blue one stared at Yuuta a long moment then pulled out a sketch pad and a pen and started drawing.

"This is Yaya-chan," Nadeshiko said, gesturing elegantly at the dozing girl. "And this is Amu Hinamori," she added nodding to the pink haired girl. "Amu-chan, I'm going to make some tea. Did you want to help me bake some tarts for tea time?"

Amu flushed slightly, and glowered. "No," she grumbled, crossing her arms. The little pink character over Amu's head started giggling.

"Baking?" the green character in the dollhouse asked. Her broom vanished as she floated out. "Leave it to Su! Chip! Syrup..."

Amu's hand shot out and caught the green character abruptly. "No, no chara-change. You wanna help Nadeshiko, go right ahead. I'm staying here." She opened her hand.

The green spirit considered a moment, then flew off after Nadeshiko who walked past plants that had seemed to make up the back permitter.

"Hinamori-san," Tadase said. "This is the uncle of some of our students. And he can apparently see the Shugo Charas.

Amu scrambled out of her chair so fast it fell backwards. She seemed like she was ready to either attack - never mind the table between them - or run away. "Easter?" she asked, Yuuta, accusingly.

Yuuta was still in disbelief about all of this. It was—ridiculous. Yes, that’s how all of this could be described. Was this where their tax payer money went into? What about the school tuitions?

And all of their reactions screamed that this was a secret, just as he suspected.

The best thing to do was alleviate their fears of … whatever Easter implied. He wouldn’t be a threat to them anyways, now that he was sure that they were not malicious themselves. He couldn’t say that someone capable of murder wasn’t also capable of being excited by baking, but from what he sensed of the other spirits, they were protective at the most.

“I don’t know what that means,” he said. “Unless you are referring to the Christian holiday. But, I have been able to see spirits and such things since I was small. It’s a power passed down in my family. If you need a reference, I can give you the contact information of my grandmother and the shrine I worked at over the summers to train when I was about your age.”

That was another possibility. Could this have just started?

Could they have just recently stumbled upon these protective beings and got caught up in something akin to a fantasy anime? Half of the supernatural stories that appeared in the media had more truth in them than the average viewer might realize.

“As long as you are not hurting anyone, I don’t have a problem with spirits being about. They’re here whether we like it or not.”

"WELL SAID, PEASANT!" the little king looking spirit said. "We Shugo Charas are here no matter what anyone thinks of us!"

"Kiskei... please," Tadase said quietly and a little plaintively.

Amu slowly calmed down, still eyeing him. "Easter. The huge company. The one that is using evil to destroy kids' hearts, that Easter. You're really not with them?"

Yuuta raised an eyebrow at the peasant comment, but otherwise, kept silent. Who was he to criticize how a spirit addressed him? It wasn't entirely false either.

"No. Absolutely not. How are they destroying kids' hearts? I have more nieces and nephews than the two you saw here today! Are they in danger? How does no one know of this if this Easter company is so huge?"

It certainly wasn't ringing a bell to him, but, there was much in the world he didn't know, especially if he was not in their target audience. They could be from the United States too, for all he knew.

"Most people cannot see the Charas," Tadase said. "Very few children and even fewer adults. That is why adults cannot see what is happening when Easter steals the Hearts' eggs of children and turns them dark. And destroys them." His voice was even, but he was struggling for calm.

"We can see the Batsu Charas, and we have Shugo Charas," Amu said. "so it is up to us to stop them!"

"YEAH!" Yaya cheered.

“This is the same with other supernatural creatures and beings, unless they will themselves to be seen,” Yuuta said, leaning forward. It was much like what he experienced as a child—some of his classmates could see the creatures and beings he could, until eventually, they could not. But these powers ran strong through him and his family.

“What if you got some help?” he asked. “From adults, I mean. Adults who can see like I can and who would do what they could to help?”

He suspected that there would be a number of spirits out there who would want to help as well. If Easter continued their practices, who knew what they would be able to do? Or what they would do once they achieved their goals? Even if they could care less about humanity, they would at least be concerned about themselves.

"Adults.... who would help?" Amu said, sounding like she didn't believe that was even possible.

"IF there were adults who wanted to help, that would be wonderful," Nadeshiko said.

"So long as they do not try to stop us from doing what we need to do," Tadase said with a nod. "Hinamori's role as Joker is crucial."

Nadeshiko nodded. "Of course."

Yuuta nodded. “Yes, adults who would want to help. There are many who would happily take up arms to defend children from an obvious evil.”

His grandmother would be one of them. He was pretty sure that she could easily raise an army of other grandmothers and grandfathers who would fight monsters despite their sore knees and backs.

“You would need to make a convincing argument regarding your roles and why they are crucial as they are,” he said. “I’m afraid that there will be many adults who might think they know better. But, this has been your fight. How did all of this start?”

They exchanged looks, then Tadase stood. "There is someone you need to meet, he can explain things better than we can."

"I'll make sure tea is ready for when you get back," Nadeshiko said with a warm smile.

Amu hesitated, unsure.

Yaya just dug into the snacks like the discussion was over.

“Who would this be?” he asked.

Coming to this garden and learning about a corporation that was literally destroying the lives of children had already put him way outside of his comfort zone, as determined as he was to help.

"Tsukasa-sensei," Tadase said. "He was the first King. He knows more than anyone. Follow me."

The first king was a teacher at the school?

Yuuta was starting to be not surprised at this point.

"Alright. Lead the way."

He nodded and headed out of the royal garden. "It is a bit of a walk," he said, apologetically. "This time of day her is more likely to be in the observatory than his office."

Yuuta gave him another look of disbelief. What kind of school was this? He was going to have to do some research when he got home once more, or at least find some blue prints or those aerial map views.

"That's fine," he said. "I'm not going to shy away from a walk if it means protecting my niece and nephew."

Another nod as he led Yuuta down a narrow but neat wood lined path. They could walk along side each other, but only just. It was peaceful out here, and lovely, but there was nothing about it that seemed to fit in with an elementary school. It was about a ten minute walk before the planetarium came into veiw. The chain was down, so Tadase led him in. Kiseki, his chara, zoomed in ahead.

Tadase led Yuuta into a large circular room full of movie theater seats around a central projector. A thin man with pale hair sat in one of the seats, sipping his tea. "Welcome," he said, not looking up as the "sky" overhead shifted into a deep red sunset. "I shall take it from here, Hotori-san," he said kindly.

Tadase bowed deeply to the man, then to Yuuta. "Unless you need anything else....?" he offered Yuuta.

Yuuta was pretty sure that what he thought of the world, his place in it, and some certainties of it were no longer true. He was clearly being introduced into another reality—one he had not been aware of. That, or he was in a very long and lucid anime-influenced dream.

“No, besides answers,” he replied. “Among them how best to help as soon as possible.”

As important as gaining the full picture and as much information as possible was, he was itching to do something already. He already knew that he had calls to make. His grandmother would absolutely join forces with them to defeat these people (and beings) who threatened her great-grandchildren and other children everywhere. She would even rope others into the cause, knowing their hearts would be aligned to protecting the innocent and thwarting their plans.

But he held those impulses back. He needed information first.

"Please, return to the others, they are waiting," the man said to Tadase.

The young boy nodded, bowed, and left.

The man tickled the chara gently with one finger. "Always a pleasure to see you again. All the same, go on now, my friend."

The small chara nodded and floated off.

The man sipped his tea waiting. When the door closed he looked to Yuuta. "you wish to know how to help? Even if the answer isn't the one you are hoping for?"

That made Yuuta suspicious. Even more so than he was when all of this started.

"It depends upon what your answers are," he said. "I do want to help, but I might have to draw some lines."

He nodded, considering Yuuta. "Good. It wouldn't be very comforting if you were the sort of person to say you'd anything without knowing what was being asked of you."

"Then what will you be asking of me?" he asked. "And how much of it is negotiable?"

He could see himself in a supportive role: giving rides, helping with injuries, making sure that others had a safe place to recover and rest, making sure that communication was maintained. Maybe even helping with some magical aspects, if anything between his and theirs meshed or crossed over.

"The most important things I will be asking of you will be the hardest. And I am sorry that I have to insist upon them. The first is trusting those children. The second is to keep most of your help subtle an behind the scenes. There is much we can do for them from back here, so long as they aren't aware of it. Bit by bit those children are shaping who they are. Who they will be. And we need to trust them enough to allow it. That said, there are many ways we can still help. But as the adults it falls upon us to be subtle where they cannot be."

Yuuta considered this carefully. The specific duties was on par with what he had expected—they were not going to fight these monsters directly, but … It was not as if he did not trust children and teenagers to learn and grow under normal circumstances. But this was hardly that. His own life experiences had molded him into the person he was today, but many of those experiences were violent and traumatic. He would not wish them upon anyone.

“Why is this being placed upon the shoulders of children?” he asked.

What if these children, someday, asked the very same question?

Their innocence was already at risk. Why were they being made to fight? He was not arguing to keep them in the dark, but why were they literally being dragged into a magical war in a world where there were already literal wars being fought?

“Why should we be subtle when we should be whistle blowing this?”

"This is on them for a number of reasons. One of which being that they stepped up. Part of it is that Easter is using the young and adults might hurt them or not take them seriously enough. Some of it is that while some rare adults like you and I can see the spirits, the powers needed to fight this battle can only be harnessed by children with their hearts open, their minds not yet set into adult ideas of what is and is not possible." He sipped his tea and shook his head lightly. "Think about it, whistle blow to who? Those of us who are adults and can see that his happening are rare. And even if not... in this case there is something fragile here that would be broken if we are not subtle."

Yuuta was silent for a moment. These were the answers he was hoping for—this was all pretty fantastical, unless someone was already in the know that such things were possible. He was just wondering if these others had done their due diligence to do all they could to protect these children who were shouldering a responsibility only the cruelest of beings could come up with.

However, that was what they were dealing with, wasn’t it?

Absolute, sure cruelty.

He wished that they could just whistle blow this to the entire world, have entire armies by their sides to protect these children and all other children. But when it came to the magical and supernatural, it was simply a fact that they could not.

“What is this fragile thing?” he asked.

He gave the smallest of sad smiles and set a finger lightly against his own lips; indicating that he couldn't even speak of it.

He gave him a smile back, understanding.

Certain things could not be spoken about. Not now, perhaps not until later, maybe ever. It just depended upon how it all went.

"Well, at the end of the day, you can count on me. I just hope that you can be as transparent as you can without endangering the children or your overall mission of protecting them."

"I thank you, and I shall take you up on that offer. Between us, hopefully we can be the subtle invisible support that they need. I do have a task for you, if you are ready for one, though the difficult part will be not acting," he warned.

"My nieces and nephews are in danger," he replied. There was no 'if'. "What is it?"

"I need you to start researching Easter, the company not the holiday." Easter being one of those big mega corps with their fingers in nearly every pie from financing to bulk product to stadiums and concert spaces and celebrity management. "I have done quite a bit, but it is possible that they are aware of my investigations and I may not have the most accurate information."

Yuuta nodded. "I can do that."

It is not something he speaks much of, but growing up as he had ... given who his father is ... He has a few fingers in different things too. More importantly, he has a network who can be much harder to detect and much more thorough in their investigations. They are not people to be messed around with.

But they would be happy to help Yuuta out. They had younger children and teens they cared about as well.

"Shall we meet again next week for an update?"

"I look forward to it. Perhaps three hours after school lets out for the young ones?"

"Yes, I can meet you then."

Kai mulls over what needs to be done at the cafe he's started to frequent. Matsukawa's vanity and temper might be his downfall but he needs to be careful. He doesn't want to endanger the rest of the family who seem to be cowering under his thumb. Already, he's working on his connections to ensure safehouses for the grandmother, the mother, and the children.

The youngest Matsukawa, though, he seems...well, Kai doesn't let himself dwell too much on it.

Yuuta, meanwhile, is mulling over the same problem, though from within it. He hates that he and his family can do little else besides cower, but his father has too much influence and power over them. He could easily put them in a hole they could never climb out of. What was more, was that his father seemed to want him to be his successor.

He stares at his computer screen, determined and focused, going over details of a plan that will hopefully work. His tea going cold.

Children are our future, it was said. If he got enough people from his generation together, in the right place, working on the same objective, they might be able to change the future their parents seemed so set on them inheriting.

open post

school pickups

Re: school pickups

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Re: school pickups

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*Elementary, not HS

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*He

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time skip? i can edit this :)

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