The Carnelian Sparrow

Chapter 10

“Tell me everything. Spare no detail.” Koharu’s voice was toneless as ever, though Hanako had detected hints of urgency that she never had heard from Koharu before this.

“U-Um… well…” Hanako looked away, bandaged cheek on full display for Koharu in the dim light of the boarded clubroom. “I… I thought to take a hunt for myself. It’s… it is the duty to which… I’ve consigned myself, after all.” Sensing her friend’s impatience, Hanako continued. “I studied the Witch for a while… then I was attacked. Knives… lots of… daggers, seemingly out of nowhere.”

Koharu moved in front of Hanako and stared straight into her eyes as the story unfolded. “I was holding my own for a time… but I haven’t the experience to stand with a girl like this. She told me her name, and… that she is connected to Tomatsu.”

“Bodyguard maybe. Illogical. Why would someone like Rui need another to fight her battles for her? It makes no sense.” Koharu looked down, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor. “Must have been a warning. You told me she gave you an ultimatum. One you turned down. Must be a scare tactic. But why give her name? Who is she?”

Hanako sighed heavily, moving and sitting on the floor in the corner of the club room. “…She only gave me a first name. Yasu.”

Koharu, in an instant, reached for a small book on the desk beside her, flipping through laminated pages. It sat in a pile of scattered papers and books, various documents, the organization of which only made sense to Koharu, and no one, not even the staff questioned her methods anymore. “Yasu Matsushita? She’s our age I think. Unremarkable girl otherwise. Average grades, no clubs… hm. The attack still defies logic.”

An audible gasp came from the clubroom door, the source of which cause Hanako to turn pale where she sat. Koharu remained unflinching as she turned her head to look at Shinju standing at the entrance. “You were attacked again, Hanako?! By one of Tomato’s cronies this time?!”

“Calm down. Hanako is unharmed. We are gathering information—”

Shinju’s fist came against the side of the door frame, causing Hanako to flinch where she sat. “Information?! These attacks are getting worse! Who knows how far this girl’s going to go! And this is considering we’re trying to clear her name and everything! What the hell is wrong with her?!”

“This is how bullies operate. Listen to me.” Koharu’s eyes flashed with determination, a rare fierceness to her voice. “As far as I am concerned, clearing Rui Tomatsu’s name, and her bullying of our friend, they are two separate incidents. I remain committed to the truth, but I do not tolerate bullies, either.”

Shinju took a few deep breaths. “…You’re right. God damn it, I know you’re right. But it pisses me off, you know? We’re helping someone who’s actively hurting us!”

Koharu sighed softly, closing her eyes and returning her attention to the yearbook in her hands. “You don’t have to like it. This is our duty.”

“…Duty, huh? …Permission to leave early then, Captain?”

“Don’t call me that. I’m the president of this club by technicality. Not your leader. Or anyone’s. Do as you like.” Hanako had learned by now to read between the lines with Koharu to discern actual intent behind her words. Koharu was telling Shinju that she recognized that she was going to solve things in her own way, while Koharu did the same. Their goals were the same, with differing approaches. Shinju would focus on protecting Hanako, and Koharu would focus on clearing Rui’s name.

With a quick nod and a glance towards Hanako, her face a hastily assembled mask of attempted reassurance, Shinju bolted out of the room. Koharu sat down, nudging her head towards Hanako. “Oddly quiet, even considering.”

“S…Sorry, Koharu…” Hanako’s voice was even more meek and timid than usual as she ran a finger along the bandage on her cheek. “Just… thinking.”

“Natural. The incident is escalating in a serious way. You need time. Right?”

Hanako said nothing, loosening the grip she had on her knees.

“It concerns me too. But the other thing that surprised me is that you survived, relatively unhurt beside some scratches. Another power of yours?”

“Oh, um… I… I discovered something. My wounds were… far worse than they are now. In fact, this bandage… it’s for show. My mother saw it, so if I were to remove it now, well…”

“It’s healed already?”

“Y-Yes. Um. I don’t know if… if it’s just my power, or… something we all can do. But I can… heal. It… it does, however, cloud my Soul Gem more swiftly than just… fighting normally does.”

“Go on.” Koharu, in turn, knew Hanako well enough to know when she had more to say, but needed to find the right words. A prod like this usually kept Hanako from drowning in her own mind.

“Ah, u-um… right. Well… I haven’t cleansed my Gem in… in awhile. And I thought it was just… adjusting to this new form, but… but my wind. It’s… it’s more powerful. Much… more powerful, I feel like. As if it responds not to me, but… my emotions. Does that make sense?”

Koharu was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Makes sense. Your wish was emotional in nature. Your powers are fueled by emotion.” She nodded again, more slowly, as if she were talking to herself more than Hanako. “But there’s a price to using it too much. Balance.” She quickly turned her head to face Hanako. “You need to find balance. A happy medium between this strength and emotional stability. Understand?”

“I… I do.” Eventually, Hanako pulled herself back to her feet, shaky and nervous, but standing upright. “I should… probably leave as well. I don’t want to be late to my other club.”

Nodding again, Koharu turned back to her chaotic stack, beginning to gather it together. “We’ll talk more later.”

“Mm.” Hanako shakily made her way to the door. As she left, walking in a soft haze down the hall, she recalled her first encounter with Yui. She shuddered, realizing that she had once thought of Yui as a bully. Now that she encountered one properly, she realized how foolish it was to think of Yui that way. She had been trying to teach her, albeit in a harsh, blunt manner.

But ultimately, Yui was right all along. Hanako really didn’t know what she was getting herself into. How could she? Kyubey never disclosed any of the finer, more important details, after all. The more Hanako considered this fact, the more she realized that it was likely intentional on Kyubey’s part. Its main focus, after all, was convincing Hanako to make a contract with it in the first place.

Shaking her head, she returned her thoughts towards Yui’s advice. With the new revelation about her ability to heal, as well as the state of her actual powers, she needed to actually learn how to fight. Both in a physical sense with her fencing, and in an emotional sense with her magic.

In a twisted sort of way, Hanako’s wish for the strength to fight her depression had come true after all. In order to overcome her predicament with Rui, as well as helping clear her name, Hanako would need to learn proper balance. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Shinju was pacing around the dining room of the little apartment she shared with her older sister. For once, Kohaku was home, with no surprise duties to pull her away this time. But despite how many days Shinju waited for this talk, she suddenly found she couldn’t find the words.

With a sigh, Shinju returned to her bedroom, making a beeline for the dresser along the far wall. Specifically, what was on top of it. A simple, yet immaculately kept cage, and a curious chinchilla standing on his hind legs as Shinju entered.

“Yo, Kinu,” she called. As she did, the chinchilla sniffed the air, as if greeting her in return. “Let’s say I have this friend, right? And she had to ask her sister for advice, but didn’t know how to go about it. What would you do?”

Kinu tilted his head, then leaned along a small willow ball in the middle of his enclosure. “Yeah, that makes sense,” Shinju continued, as if replying to some unknown speech from her pet. “I thought so too, but like, where do I even begin? It’s not the easiest thing to bring up…”

Pushing the ball a little, Kinu began chewing curiously along the top. “Heh, I guess that makes sense. Rip the bandage off. That’s how ‘Haku’d do it after all. N-Not that I’m talking about myself and ‘Haku or anything!”

A tiny, inquisitive squeak followed, but undoubtedly Kinu was far more interested in his newest toy than anything his human was talking about. Not that he really understood in the first place. “Fine, fine, you got it out of me! But it’s our little secret, okay?” Taking Kinu’s silence as agreement, Shinju chuckled and made her way to the door. “Okay, no time like the present. Now or never, and all that. Now, let’s go talk to her. Been putting this off for far too long now.”

Kohaku was in her bedroom, a slightly larger master bedroom just opposite from Shinju’s, separated by a tiny hallway. Her door wasn’t quite closed, just left ajar. This was typical, as Kohaku wanted to keep herself accessible for her little sister whenever she could, yet maintained a strict air of privacy otherwise. Shinju had never really questioned it before. As long as Shinju knocked first, there was never any issue, and she never really had much reason to bother her sister most of the time.

Finding her resolve, Shinju rehearsed a few opening lines in her head, taking a few deep breaths before starting down the hall. She didn’t have any reason to be nervous, but she also didn’t want to just blurt out Hanako’s circumstances without a good reason, either. Kohaku gave Shinju her freedom, but sometimes, Shinju felt like somehow, Kohaku was always looking over her shoulder. As if waiting for an excuse to swoop in and save the day, or something like that.

Knocking on the door, Shinju found it swinging open more easily than she expected. “Hey, ‘Haku, got a sec? I need some advice—”

Her words stopped as she noticed two things immediately. First, her sister was mid sentence, and going pale at the sound of Shinju entering her room, even inadvertently. Second, a small, white, cat-like creature with bright red eyes jumped up a split second after seeing Shinju, hopping swiftly out the window.

“Shinju! Didn’t I tell you to always knock?!” Kohaku’s voice was harsh, of course, but Shinju had detected a note of panic.

“I did knock! I even said something before the door just kinda… swung open! So what’s the big secret? You’re keeping a cat now, or something?”

Kohaku swiftly made her way to the window, closing it with a slam and drawing the curtains to hide the creature’s escape. “…Not exactly.” Closing her eyes, she took a few deep, calculated breaths before turning to face her younger sister, color returning to her face. “I guess the best course of action is to just tell you everything. No story I make up is gonna hold.”

Noting Shinju’s confused expression, Kohaku continued. “Well, you might not believe me, anyway. But I can tell you this much. There’s reasons beyond my sworn duty to the Defense Force that I leave at night.”

“Oh. Um… yeah, I guess I did notice you sneaking around at night.”

Kohaku sighed again. “I figured you’d caught me once or twice. I don’t even know how to tell you all this without sounding like I’m losing my mind…”

“Hey hey, look. You’re not the type to make stuff up, right? Just lay it on me, and I’ll promise to listen with an open mind. At least, I won’t laugh. Okay?”

Another few deep breaths followed, and Kohaku stared Shinju straight in the eye as she spoke. “Magic is real, Shinju. That creature you just saw, it gave me a certain kind of power awhile back.”

Shinju just blinked. Kohaku wasn’t the type to make things up, after all. And nothing in her tone indicated that this was some attempt at a first ever prank. But still, magic? It sounded like a manga that Shinju used to read when she was much younger.

“At night, I leave the base and fight creatures known as Witches. Beings of malice and contempt that prey on humans if left unchecked. Maybe you’ve seen the news? Rises in unexplained suicides and disappearances?”

Sprinkling in the real-world tie was enough for Shinju to believe the story in full. She wasn’t one for staying glued to the television, but she had seen stories here and there to the effect. It was enough to catch her attention, but never enough to hold it. Still, given what Kohaku had just told her, it did add up in Shinju’s mind.

“So these, um… Witch thingies, they make people disappear or off themselves?” Shinju stopped herself with a sudden gasp. Comprehension dawned, and circumstances were beginning to add up.

Rui Tomatsu -couldn’t- have been the one to break the window after all.

If Witches could make people do desperate things to themselves, then it stood to reason that Koharu had broken the window while under attack by a Witch. She had been injured in the incident, and neither she nor Hanako seemed bothered by it. It was something Shinju always found strange, but never questioned.

Not to mention Yui’s involvement. She and Hanako never seemed to get along, something that made Shinju nervous during band practice sessions. Yet after the incident, Yui had hovered around Koharu a little more carefully than someone just concerned over a close friend’s little sister.

And when Shinju returned to the club room to investigate on her own, she had noticed a rock in the middle of the room. But it wasn’t anywhere near any of the broken glass, it was sitting dead center of the club room itself. Pieces were coming together along the edges of Shinju’s mind.

This train of thought led Shinju to consider Hanako’s injuries. Sure, she was attacked by Tomatsu’s minion, but she seemed more shaken by Shinju confronting her about it than the attack itself.

Before Shinju could pursue the thought any further, Kohaku interrupted. “It looks like you’re getting the picture. I want to explain all this to you because I need you to promise me something, Shinju.” A startled Shinju turned to look Kohaku in the eyes once more, and Kohaku cleared her throat. “Under no circumstance are you to engage with Kyubey. That’s the creature you just saw flee my bedroom.”

“You’re a strong kid, Shinju, but this isn’t the life I want for you. You deserve to be a normal, well-adjusted girl. Someday, you’ll move off base and get your own place. Maybe a dorm room for university, maybe an apartment, maybe roommates, maybe start dating, who knows?”

“Point is, you deserve to live a normal life. I’m telling you this so you’ll forget about it, just like everything else that we talk about in a serious manner. It’s not even the danger I’m worried about, but… ugh, how do I even put this?”

Shinju rubbed her chin, looking away. “Well, what does it take to get this power, anyway? Meeting with the cat thing. But what else?”

Kohaku’s eyes narrowed a bit, as if wanting to shut Shinju down, but she continued anyway. “Kyubey grants one wish in exchange for this power. I’m sure it has limits, what you can wish for, but it’s a contract. Once your wish is granted, you spend the rest of your life fighting Witches.”

“So what did you wish for?”

The question caught Kohaku completely off guard, as if this were another layer of truth she wasn’t ready to confront with Shinju. This time, she went completely quiet, looking down and away.

“Aw c’mon, don’t go all quiet on me now! I wanna know what you wished for! It’s an honest question. Or like, does telling someone your wish break the contract or something?”

“Nothing like that, no.” Kohaku’s voice was much softer now, melancholy and nostalgic even. “Technically, Kyubey saw you first, so I’m not breaking any rules here. In fact, it might approach you on its own, so me telling you all this is even better if I’m going to keep you out of all this. …Remember that trip to the ocean we took last year?”

“Oh yeah! We spent like three days swimming it felt like! We even swam at midnight one night, under the full moon. Don’t really remember a whole lot of that night though. Woke up feeling like I slept for a week. Why do you ask?”

“Well…” Kohaku paused yet again. “…There’s a reason for that, too.” Once more, comprehension began to dawn on Shinju’s face, but Kohaku didn’t let those dots connect naturally. “You wanted to break your own record for how deep you could dive. Your friends at the time, they had been training to serve in the JMSDF once they got out of high school. They could touch the bottom of the lagoon we were swimming in, but you couldn’t.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that!” Shinju beamed with a bit of pride, then sunk back down. “But I never really remember actually reaching the bottom…”

“You kept trying, the entire time we were there. You just had to touch the bottom, just once. So under the full moon that night, you gave it one final push. No matter what, you had to catch up with those friends of yours. …You didn’t come up.”

“Wait! Are you telling me I… died?!”

“No. If you had… there’s nothing even Kyubey could have done, I think. After you didn’t come back up, I dove down myself. You’d gotten yourself caught on a rock at the bottom of the lagoon. I thought you -had- died, actually. I got you to shore, called in for medical assistance on the radio, but they were taking too long. I tried to resuscitate you as best I could, and that’s when Kyubey appeared before me.”

Shinju paused for a moment, going pale herself now as she heard this story. “So then… your wish was—”

“—to save your life, yes. I didn’t think twice about it. I would have done the same thing a thousand more times, without any regret. Even knowing what I know now, having done this for over a year.”

Shinju was stunned into silence. She had forgotten all of this. Was this a part of the wish? Could it have been the lack of oxygen from being so deep underwater for so long? Or was she blocking this memory on a subconscious level? Even hearing the story, she could only partially remember pieces of the incident, but she couldn’t remember much after that last dive.

“…You never act like I owe you my life or anything. Hell, you let me get away with a lot, I talk back a lot, and… I…”

“Stop, Shinju.” Kohaku’s authoritative tone returned by now. “You -don’t- owe me your life. I saved you because I want you to have a normal life. Just because I couldn’t, what with my career in the JSDF and this new duty of mine, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have your own life either. Remember, I’m telling you this so you stay away from Kyubey.”

Shinju had begun to think again, leaning against the door frame and closing her eyes. “And if I decide I have to, how’re you gonna stop me?” Kohaku’s eyes went wide, but Shinju didn’t let her interrupt her this time. “What if it’s the only way for me to protect the friends I have now?”

This gave Kohaku pause. She raised an eyebrow, but folded her arms across her chest.

“See… I told you about Hanako, right? Quiet kid, down all the time. Well, she’s getting bullied at school.”

“That’s no reason to—”

“And I don’t think it’s the regular kind of bullying that teachers can step in and fix,” Shinju added pointedly, leaning on the context of Kohaku’s story.

This seemed to sink in, and Kohaku’s eyes widened. “…Continue.”

“So… there’s this girl that’s being accused of breaking our club’s window. But there’s a lot about it that doesn’t add up. The school staff seems hellbent on putting the blame on her. So what we’re trying to do is, using the school newspaper, clear this girl’s name. But something hasn’t sat right with me.”

“This girl’s a nasty character, see. But she didn’t break our window. At the same time though, she’s sending her little friends to actually attack Hanako. When I got to school, she was covered in bandages all over her face and stuff. But I couldn’t get the story out of her until we met up at the Newspaper Club meeting.”

“She was acting all secretive about it, like she and Koharu didn’t want me knowing what was going on. If it was just normal bullying, I wouldn’t see a reason for her to keep that from me.”

“And what’s more, Koharu had cuts on her face just last week pretty bad too. Like, I guess the story was that the window breaking gave her those cuts? But I saw the window before they boarded it up. It was broken from the inside, not a rock from the outside.”

“So what I’m saying here is, ‘Haku, that I believe your story, not just ‘cause I trust you and everything. But it makes sense. I think that Koharu and Hanako at least know about all this, and that Hanako was attacked by someone who isn’t just an ordinary girl.”

Kohaku had no choice but to acknowledge the determination in her sister’s voice. She could tell that Shinju wasn’t a child anymore, despite how often she acted like one. For the first time in ages, she spoke to Shinju as a complete equal, rather than as a guardian and older sister. “…I’d agree with that, Shinju. It sounds like Hanako probably made a contract with Kyubey herself. Given what you told me about her mental health, it’s a pretty safe bet. I can’t say whether I think Koharu did the same, however.”

“So you agree, then? That Hanako’s bullies are probably using magic, just like you are?”

“Yes.” Kohaku uncrossed her arms and sighed again. “I’ve sensed others like myself at that school before. But since I’m duty-bound by the Defense Force, I can’t really investigate it, myself. I’ve been curious for awhile now, in fact.”

“So that means you could use my help, and I could use the magical power stuff to help keep Hanako safe. ‘Cause who knows how many other cronies this Tomato chick has lying in wait.”

Kohaku was silent for a long moment. She wore a contemplative expression, then finally gave an annoyed, resigned sigh. “…I tried, I really did. But I don’t see any other way around it.”

“Wait, so you’re gonna let me—”

“I’ll arrange a meeting. No more, and no less. But you’re still going to have to follow my rules. And if this goes the way you think it does… there’s gonna be a hell of a lot of training. No sister of mine is going to be fighting literal monsters unprepared. Am I understood?”

Shinju gave a little salute, her face glowing as a smile crept in. “Yessir, Captain!”