Amanojaku | Divine Weakness

4 | luring a knight with nothing but words

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture April 9, 2095 AD: Third High School
The end of the first week rapidly approached as Mahiru trekked through the golden gates of Third High an hour and a half before school started. Mitsuki followed behind faithfully until splitting with Mahiru in front of the Student Council room. 

If Mahiru could help it, she would not have arrived at school at an earlier time. School started at eight in the morning, and her current sleep schedule consisted of a maximum of five hours. Her health was starting to decline, and Mitsuki had started adding an increasing number of supplements to her meals. Unfortunately, this couldn't be helped as Subaru had sent a message through her personal terminal about meeting early, disguised as a request for budgeting reports. 

He offered coffee as a treat, and Mahiru was not one to turn down such a bribe. She sent her order that dictated down to the minute the coffee beans were to be processed. Not because she was that particular, she just wanted to see if he'd do it. 

She knocked once before entering. "If you actually want the budgeting reports, you need to wait until after the recruiting period is over," Mahiru greeted curtly. "Although, I doubt it will differ greatly from the preliminary report." Her words were different than the polite tone she had yesterday.

Subaru didn't bat an eye at it. "Never doubted your instincts," he replied smoothly. "Close the door, please."

"You can't order me around," Mahiru rolled her eyes but did so anyway. "So, what was the urgent matter that you wanted to discuss with me? And why wasn't Mitsuki allowed to join?"

"Your Guardian isn't the best when it comes to a poker face," Subaru shrugged. "Not like us." He placed his face on his interlaced fingers. "Unlike people from our family, there are only things you can hide by experience—not by external means."

Mahiru raised an eyebrow. So the Mashiba family wasn't all that fond of made magicians. Not an unexpected sentiment, but she supposed it was out of precaution more than anything. "Then, I suppose it's concerning the prince and his cardinal?"

"I think it's time to establish the dynamics of this group properly," he beamed. "I'd like to settle the dynamics here and now before it settles naturally."

Those words weren't something out of the blue. It appears that he'd been throughly informed by either her pseudo-father or her mother. Glancing at his pale complexion, she inferred it was the latter. "You've met our head of family, then? Your ideas are not original."

He flinched slightly, avoiding eye contact with Mahiru. "Saw right through me. Does no one else comment on it?"

"Not really," Mahiru sipped her coffee. "They know better than to bring it up." She frowned at his raised eyebrows. "If you're this convinced after seeing me, you might faint when you see my younger sister. Her mannerisms even match, but I suppose by then, you'd be graduating."

It was the truth. While Mahiru resembled the head of the family to unmeasurable degrees, Ayako tended to act more like Yotsuba Maya. Whether that was due to her young age or the needed authority, Mahiru was grateful for that diversion. 

He hummed at that. "I suppose—the Kuroba family is technically more closely related. It's not a surprise." Tapping the wooden table, he turned to stare at the window. "Why don't you demonstrate your skills today during patrols? There's no need to fabricate anything—at minimum, you'd handle a disturbance."

"If that's the route you choose to take, I guess I have no choice but follow along." It wasn't a terrible plan but faster than she preferred. 

"It's noted that you specialize in long-term plans, but the family wants this settled. I doubt they'll notice this one," Subaru turned to smile. "You're excused from your morning classes by the way. Student Council members, Disciplinary Committee members, and certain club members."