Updated the blog page. More updates forthcoming over the next few weeks. Mirai's cosplay outfit has been 'mocked up' for you to see.

Chapter 2 - Part II

Eiji walked quickly out of the Faery Nest, and made his way toward the faculty administration building where the Guidance Counselor for high-school students had her office. He chose not to change out of his work coveralls, since he didn’t expect to be away from the Nest for long. If the Counselor had an issue with his attire, he was determined to ignore her.

On the way to the faculty building, Eiji had a thought, so he pulled out his palm-slate and gave Ayato a call. He had to wait a little while for his classmate to answer the call, and when he did, Eiji spoke quickly.

“Hey, Ayato, have the guys started working on the Faeries yet? No? What—they’re still arguing about the merchandising? Look—just get them to snapshot all the settings on each Faery. That is, make a full snapshot of the entire Faery before they start work on detuning it. It took weeks to get each machine customized to their respective pilot, so I don’t want to lose any of those tweaks. Do you understand what I mean? Yes. That’s right. The components in those machines are military grade so their configuration can be reloaded from the backup memory core with a minimum of fuss.”

After Ayato agreed with him, Eiji discussed a few more points as he walked up to the entrance to the faculty building.

“Just get the girls practicing in the detuned Faeries as soon as they arrive. Don’t waste any time.” He swallowed quickly before asking, “Has Mirai arrived? What? She’s still not there? What about Hoshikawa? Ah—forget it. Just focus on snapshotting the machines, then detuning them. Tell those idiots we’re running out of time. I’ll hurry back as soon as I’m done here.”

The entrance to the building was meters ahead of him.

“Ayato, I have to go. I’ll chat to you when I’m done here. I don’t think I’ll be able to take calls while I’m with the Counselor. Talk to you soon.”

He hung up, set the palm-slate to silent mode, then pocketed the device into a coverall pocket, before entering the building foyer through the glass doors that opened for him automatically. As soon as he stepped inside, Eiji noticed the Ether was almost non-existent within the building. He assumed the Etheric Reflectors mounted to the roof and walls were doing their job by reflecting the Ether away from the structure. The stark difference between interior and exterior, reminded him that while the Ether wasn’t harmful to humans, it felt stifling on the days where the concentrations were high. The best he could describe it was an oppressive humidity that sapped the soul of its strength.

Getting his bearings by looking at the floor directory, Eiji chose to climb the stairs rather than wait for an elevator. He didn’t think the Academy staff would want to share a lift car with a student in work coveralls, however, he had no such qualms about meeting the Guidance Counselor in his current attire.

If she won’t take no for an answer, then she can put with it.

Approaching the woman’s office with purposeful strides that did nothing to hide his impatience, Eiji rounded a corner and came face to face with a young woman carrying a mug of steaming coffee, and a large calorie laden donut in her mouth.

He had to stop quickly or risk crashing into her. As it was, he had to use his quick reflexes to reach out and steady her mug before the coffee sloshed over its rim.

“Damn,” he muttered as his fingers were scalded by the piping hot coffee mug. Releasing it quickly once he was sure it wasn’t going to spill its contents, Eiji cooled his fingers by flapping his hands.

“Oh, sorry about that,” the young woman said with surprising clarity around the donut in her mouth. However, she didn’t sound apologetic in the least.

Eiji held back a glare.

Partly my fault for walking too fast.

“By the way,” she said, “you’re Eiji Seiun. Am I correct?”

Eiji’s inner glare gave way to a confused frown that slid quickly onto his face. “And you are?”

“Miss Hoshi Sakuraba,” she replied, taking the donut out of her mouth. “I’m your Guidance Counselor.”

Eiji studied her much like he would a Battle Faery, making mental notes regarding her appearance and probable specs.

Sakuraba-san had light auburn shoulder length hair. It may have been a dye job or simply hereditary. She had a slender physique, and was quite tall for a woman. In fact, she stood a good two inches taller than Eiji, aided by the fact she wore stylish three-inch high heels.

I guess she’s not much for sensible shoes, Eiji thought to himself as he continued studying her.

She was dressed much like an office lady, complete with grey business skirt, white blouse, and sheer black stockings. Eiji judged her attractive to a point, but she wasn’t a beauty like Mirai or Kizuna Yumeno. In fact, if he had to rate her specs, Eiji would have given her a seven point five on the beauty scale, well short of how he rated Mirai and Kizuna. However, there was no denying her physical attribute were top ranked, including her enormous breasts. Eiji’s eyes scanned them in passing, but there was no doubt in his mind the woman’s bust measured close to the triple digits.

This is our Guidance Counselor? In a school where half the student body is male, is it really a good idea to hire someone like her?

He winced inwardly.

I’m sure I’m going to be harshly judged for thinking that. I should reserve my judgment for later, and not judge her by her cover.

He was grateful the Ether flowed thinly through the building, courtesy of the reflectors on its rooftop and walls. However, that didn’t obviate the need to be careful with his thoughts and feelings.

Our Guidance Counselor just happens to be a woman. How convenient.

He suddenly remembered that the previous Guidance Counselor was an older woman with a charming, pleasant disposition, someone the students and he himself had felt quite comfortable being around.

Eiji pushed his frown aside as he asked, “Where’s Miss Yoshitsune?”

“On maternity leave,” Sakuraba replied without hesitation. “I’m her temporary replacement. I would have called you in sooner but I’ve had a number of troubling cases to review. It took me a while to get to you.”

“Troubling cases?” Eiji felt his mental footing slip and recover a heartbeat later. “What do you mean?”

“Why don’t we discuss that in my office. That’s what it’s there for.”

She had to use her mouth to hold the donut in order to free a hand to unlock and open the door.

Eiji followed her inside, and closed the door behind him.

“Take a seat,” she urged him as she set her coffee mug and donut on her desk, then set about unlocking her smart desk.

Eiji noticed that though the office was large, it was taken up by a great deal of furniture, the center piece of which were the two leather sofas facing each other across a low glass coffee table. There was a chair before her desk, but when Eiji started to sit on it, Sakuraba waved a hand quickly at one of the two sofas. “Sorry, I meant over there,” she told him. “Much more comfortable. Less formal.”

“Sakuraba-san, I have to return to the Faery Nest as soon as possible. There’s been a complication due to a new tournament regulation. Could we keep this short?”

Sakuraba turned her dark eyes toward him, her expression losing some of its pleasantness.

Eiji felt his innards clench a little, but he held his ground and met her stare with a flat one. After all, she wasn’t facing the prospect of hard labor in the Faery Pit like he was.

After a while, Sakuraba nodded toward the sofas. “Take a seat, Mister Seiun. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

Eiji restrained a sigh.

Great, another woman with attitude. Better to play along and get this over with.

He walked over to the sofa along the wall and sat down. It was actually more comfortable than he expected.

I wonder if this is her way of softening up her targets. First make them comfortable, then shoot them down when they least expect.

He paid the office another cursory inspection, and his gaze swept over the printed photo on her desk. It showed Sakuraba with an unknown older man.

Her father perhaps? Or maybe she’s into older men. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

She beavered away on her smartdesk for a couple of minutes.

Eiji crossed his arms, sat back, and fixed his stare upon her. There was little doubt in his mind that she was deliberately stalling. Deciding he had better things to do than stare at her, Eiji pulled out his palm-slate and texted Ayato, requesting an update. After a half minute, his fellow engineering student replied with a quick message.

SNAPSHOTS IN PROGRESS. SIX DOWN, TEN TO GO.

He quickly typed: ARE THE GIRLS THERE YET?

SOME OF THEM – YURIKA, KANAE, SEIRI, AND MIRELLE.

WHERE’S MIRAI?

NO IDEA. IT’S BUSY HERE. I HAVE TO GO. SORRY.

Sakuraba rose from behind her desk, and Eiji signed off before pocketing his palm slate.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mister Seiun,” she said politely.

Eiji dismissed the apology since he believed it lacked sincerity.

Sakuraba sat on the sofa opposite him, and placed a data slate on the coffee table. “Mister Seiun, please take a look at that.”

Eiji picked it up, and read the displayed material, recognizing it as his school dossier. His grades were shown, and he wasn’t surprised to see the disparity in his scores between subjects. His Mechanics and Engineering marks were close to the hundred percentile, but everything else hovered around the fifty to sixty percent range.

Looking up at Sakuraba, Eiji asked, “What am I looking for?”

“According to your file, you intend to apply to the Millennium Institute of Technology. Is that still your intention?”

He nodded shallowly. “Yes, it is.”

Sakuraba sipped her coffee. “With those grades, you don’t have a snowball’s chance in a blast furnace of being accepted.”

Eiji’s innards tensed up and his stomach grew into a heavy ball.

I guess she’s not one for mincing words or treading lightly.

Sakuraba was clearly going for the blunt approach. She was tenderizing Eiji by pounding him with the heavy mallet of Truth.

After another sip, she asked, “So…do you still intend to apply to the institute?”

Eiji swallowed hard, and looked back down at his dossier on the data slate.

Apologies for the small release.

Day job got in the way.

The next part is almost ready but not in a state to be released yet. I may only post it next week along with the remainder of the chapter.