[X] Shinji and Luna are upfront about Shinji's and Zelkova abilities and their ability to work as a team.
[X] Shinji and Luna are upfront about Shinji's and Zelkova abilities and their ability to work as a team.
Choice 178: [X] Shinji and Luna are upfront about Shinji's and Zelkova abilities and their ability to work as a team.
Choice 179: Despite all the time-saving measures he had put into place over the years, and the markedly reduced amount of travel he was permitted to do these days, given the situation in Britain, the History Professor of Hogwarts was a very busy man. By any measure, preparing lectures, grading assignments, and arranging for the more motivated of students to take part in interesting learning opportunities such as Insurgency was a full-time job in and of itself - and that didn't take into account the time he spent on his writing, on training particularly talented students like Pansy Parkinson and Matou Shinji, and on the many other activities he was involved in - including a weekly column on practical self-defense that he authored for the Daily Prophet and other publications.
After all, in a time when the citizens of Wizarding Britain had found themselves forced to face the cold reality that there were dangers all around them, that their illusions of safety were just that - illusions, the advice of an adventurer who had made his fortune in the untamed lands beyond the sea was very much in demand.
Of course, Matou Shinji - who was no citizen of Britain, and had in fact, turned down the offer of British Citizenship - already knew that the world was a dangerous place, with dangers lurking behind every corner that he couldn't even begin to imagine. But he, at least, knew that he didn't know what was out there, and knew that despite everything he'd done to prepare himself for the routine hazards of day to day life in a magical world, he was nowhere near ready for waited on the Isle of Thule. Compared to his competitors - people like Sajyou Ayaka, Elesa Labelle or Rachelle Lestrange - he was far younger and less experienced. True, he'd seen horrors in his time, faced threats to his life, and generally had been forced to grow up far more quickly than someone his age should, but so, he suspected, had they.
That was why Shinji, too, had come to seek advice and training from his...mentor, Gilderoy Lockhart, as he thought that if anyone would be able to give him practical suggestions to help him survive the Potions Championship, it would be the man who styled himself the Old Man of the Mountain.
Of course, as Shinji had learned, Lockhart's advice was most useful when the man had solid information to work from, and so, he brings Luna with him to the meeting with the Assassin, something that makes the other man visibly curious.
"Well, I figure if anyone knows me - especially my weaknesses - it's Luna," Shinji replied to the man's unspoken question. "She's more experienced than I am at surviving in the wilderness, after all. Even taught me how to cook."
"That...and you trust her. Especially after she was willing to lay down her life for yours, yes?" Lockhart inquired softly.
Shinji swallowed.
"...I do, mentor," the Boy from the East replied, nodding his head.
"More than you trust me, of course."
"Of co--"
Shinji's reply, which he'd begun to voice almost automatically in response to Lockhart's matter of fact tone, died in his mouth, as he felt a shiver go down his spine.
"Such is not unexpected, given who we are, Matou. Even so, given why you are here, I'm afraid I will have to ask for you to be upfront about what you are able to do. I have seen some of it, and know more from what my apprentice has mentioned, but I suspect there are some things you have yet to reveal, yes?"
Matou Shinji was silent.
"You are a person who enjoys secrets, who enjoys knowing what others do not, Matou. Yet in this place - in my office - if you seek my help, you will have to reveal some of what you have hidden."
"...I know, mentor," Shinji finally answered.
And, in response to Lockhart's query, the boy laid out what it was he was able to do - and how it was, with Zelkova's help - he had accomplished most of his feats. Admitting it was hard - and made him feel more than a bit like a fraud, given how he'd misrepresented himself to so many people over the years - yet Luna's presence, and the fact that she knew who and what he was, yet accepted him anyway, gave him some reassurance.
Not enough reassurance to mention the Room of Requirement or to tell Lockhart about his mansion, and his secret link to the school (which was how he disappeared so often), but some, all the same.
"I see. I can think of a few things that would be immediately useful, given your situation. One, of course, is improving your combat abilities - learning to stay in fusion for a prolonged period of time and unlocking the ability to flow-walk in combat, as you Easterners put it. Another would be intensive practice at surviving in nature - with only a wand. A third would be experience fighting against a number of different foes - I understand you often spar with Miss Lovegood, but a bit of...variety would be useful, given that your foes are likely to use quite different styles. I can help facilitate that, given the many styles I have seen over the years."
He chuckles.
"Alternatively, if you would care to try a game of Insurgency, we can help identifywhat your weak points might be when it comes to situations where you are outnumbered and as the Americans might say, outgunned."
What would Shinji like to focus on? (choose one)
[ ] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
[ ] Survival Scenarios in the Book of Spells
[ ] Gaining experience fighting against new styles
[ ] Trying a custom game of Insurgency to better identify his weak points
[ ] (write-in)
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; June 29th, 2017 at 07:02 AM.
[X] Gaining experience fighting against new styles
As useful as advancing our abilities would be, that will come with time.
As useful as learning more wilderness survival would be, I'm not sure that's our best option.
As useful as Insurgency would be, that's a concern for down the road.
What is a concern now, what will always be relevant, what's always been one of Shinji's biggest weaknesses, is fighting against new styles. He has a long history of underestimating opponents, even when he knows he shouldn't, and has an equally long history of getting surprised by abilities he didn't forsee. I think that this is the most important choice, because it's both immediately relevant and will continue helping through the Grail War.
[X ] Gaining experience fighting against new styles
We've actually spent a lot of time over the course of the last few years going for flexibility. Especially with our focus on movement for much of the earlier part of this year and part of last year (Flow Walking just pushes this further). While it's not a bad idea, now might be a good time for some punch.
All things considered, we've also seen what future there is in fusion, so that could warrant some development as well.
[x] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
I am going to have to disagree on the above statement. While I agree that Shinji does have a long history of underestimating his opponents combined with overestimating his own, this entire year has been nothing but a slap to his face showcasing to Shinji exactly how far behind he is for the PC, to the point that I am not sure that Shinji is capable anymore of underestimating them (as long as we do not in our votes). We have already focused heavily in exposing Shinji to different fighting styles this year, as Shinji has had countless fights with other people over the year.Originally Posted by apsalar
All four of these choices have something to gain. Heck I think that the likely overlooked choice of survival with only a wand is of great importance as it strips Shinji of all his special tricks and abilities leaving him only with his intelligence and cunning and his most basic of tools. The game of Insurgeny would be the best choice to train Shinji's ability to think on his feet, and how to face overwhelming odds.
If Shinji, had a few years of hard training with Lockhart, and was more fully trained at this point, I could see us needing to focus on the fighting styles, but the sad truth is that Shinji is not at that level yet, as he is coming in as the least trained candidate due to his age. We need punching ability and we need to complete Flowing as best we can as most of us agree that the person that has the better battle movement tends to win. I think that if we are going to win this, it is not Shinji's knowledge or training that will lead us to victory but how well can Shinji work as a team with Zelkova that will be the deciding factor. After all in a grail war, its not just how powerful is the HS you summon but also how well can you work with them. Gil might be a great powerhouse but is rather useless if you are unable to work with him.
[x] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
Bonus reason: Luna was picked to help here and this is the choice that she would be the best at boosting since she has more experience with the two skills then Shinji does. If we had picked Pansy, they the other choices would make more sense. Let Luna help in the area that she can help in the most.
Last edited by Skull Leader; June 29th, 2017 at 10:43 AM.
And yet, of the three fights he's had that readily come to mind (Tsuchimikado, Tomas, tanuki), he's underestimated every one. One resulted in him not even knowing how he lost, one resulted in a serious injury to Zelkova, and the last nearly resulted in him and two friends dying. If any of those happen during the PC, Shinji is likely to be unable to continue.
While, as usual, I agree with most of the points you make, which two skills does Luna have more experience with? The only two skills mentioned are fusion (she definitely has more experience) and flow-walking (she can't do at all, as she doesn't use ofuda).
If I am remembering correctly from my many talks with Alf, Luna has just spent a year at Hogwarts with very little distractions and not much else to do but to push herself. And given that she had access to the RoR as well the mansion, I believe that Luna had access this year to the same book about Flow-walking and combat apparition, and thus learned the skills in the book better than Shinji as she has more time. Yep, she can not use Ofuda and thus flowing might be not her thing but combat apparition? Not so much, and add in her flying and invisibility skills, you have a person that beats Shinji hands down on movement. And if flow walking has anything to do with water element, Luna is better in tune with the element than Shinji is.]
That was my point that in that choice Luna can really help Shinji boost his learning so to me its the optimal choice given her presence, but it does feel a little strange to vote for the option that not the skill that Lockhart teaches himself after going to him. I assume Lockhart will help 'motive' Shinji in getting better at the two skills.
Last edited by Skull Leader; June 29th, 2017 at 04:30 PM.
While she doesn't use ofuda in the traditional sense, she does have some slips of paper in which she has put a bit of her prana, though they do not carry any shaped spells or intent within them. She can flow-walk with these, but can't really use them for much else.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
Intense training with Zelkova.
[x] Survival Scenarios in the Book of Spells.
Shinji can always improve his relationship and synergy with Zelkova whenever. I don't think that's necessarily a bad idea to vote for this choice, however, it's not something I would ask a master Assassin. There are better mentors for this task.
Relying too heavily on Zelkova might bite Shinji in the ass. Tom proved that much in the past. If Shinji ends up in a situation where the fusion is cancelled or he finds himself unable to access it, it wouldn't bode well for him. Besides, Shinji can't remain the whole time on the Isle of Thule in fused form. Better to work what can improve his chances overall than go with a boost for a temporary form.
Out of the choices offered by Alf, there are two which offer insight; survival scenarios and game of insurgency. While finding out in details what are Shinji's weaknesses and how to approach them would help a lot in the long run, it is the slow approach, which might not be of much help on the Isle. On the other hand, survival not only open for us the option to learn how to survive in hostile environments, it also gives us first-hand training as well. And like the game of insurgency option, it is something that will remain useful all his life.
Unless someone offers a better option as a write-in; my choice will be survival.
Last edited by Daiki; June 29th, 2017 at 07:47 PM.
Ah. Not having been part of those conversations, I was unaware that Shinji had given the book to Luna, and that she had started to be able to flow-walk. I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread; if it has, I'm either unobservant or forgetful.
Think I mentioned it in the context of her getting into Draco's room to heal / awaken him. But it was only once.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
[x] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
Let's get the flow-walking already.
To be fair, Shinji can already flow-walk to a small degree as he already has used the skill, it more that he is not skilled enough to truly use the skill in combat or reliably yet. Similar to how Fusion worked at first as it took Shinji quite awhile before he was able to fuse on command and not just at moments where he met its rather limiting requirements.
Last edited by Skull Leader; June 30th, 2017 at 03:38 PM.
Lockhart is quite good at providing...motivation, so to speak. There are certainly scenarios he can craft or expose Shinji to which will require him to use flow-walking or some other movement skill if he wants any chance to succeed without...undue pain.
This is correct. It's not something he can truly rely on at the moment, given that there's a mindset involved with it that requires a bit less stiffness. Intensive training helps him improve on that quickly.
On IRC, as per usual.
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; June 30th, 2017 at 03:54 PM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
Happy Fourth of July. I'll take today off and get writing again tomorrow! Will be on IRC if you want to chat!
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
Choice 179: [x] Intensive training with Zelkova to unlock his abilities, with help and supervision from Luna and Lockhart
Chapter 54. Soft Power
As he stood at the window of the penthouse suite in his London manor, looking out at the mist and fog lingering in the air, Matou Shinji couldn’t help but sigh. He’d been hoping for a bit of sunlight on the morning of Christmas Eve, a bit of warmth to add color to the land, in a pleasant change from the polar night of Svalbard, where, there was no sunlight, no day – just darkness, or at best, an eerie twilight that hung over everything, turning white into grey and black and blue.
‘Christmas Eve already…it’s hard to believe….’
It didn’t seem possible that the end of the year was already fast approaching, but the boy knew that his sense of time was…still very much recovering from his extended stay above the arctic circle. Without the rising and setting of the sun providing a helpful division of day and night to mark the passage of time, and the artificial schedules of others to measure himself against, the moments had bled into one another, and since his return to Britain, he had been so busy that everything seemed a blur.
Having burned through so many ofuda on his expedition, he’d had to devote much of his time to rebuilding his stockpile, as even the best onmyouji was decidedly less dangerous without the tools of his or her trade.
Explosive ofuda, binding ofuda, sealing ofuda, elemental ofuda and more.
He’d worked tirelessly, filling them with prana and binding them with intent – with Zelkova, his kodama familiar, helping as best he could.
‘By which I mean that he made a number of ofuda as well, so now I have as many of mine as his.’
He supposed that it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him that his familiar could create – and use –ofuda. True, he’d seen Kaiduka, the kitsune familiar of the Maiden of the Tree, do just that, but while he had acknowledged that such would have implications for what Luna might learn from Pandora in the future, he hadn’t even considered that a kodama – a spirit of the forest – might use ofuda at all.
‘We don’t tend to use them, but that does not mean we are not capable of doing so,’ Zelkova’s voice commented in his mind. ‘Our kind does possess an affinity for things like us. We can hear the voices of the trees, feel their latent impressions, and more.’
‘And paper is made of wood, which is ultimately derived from a tree,’ Shinji mused, nodding. ‘But, doesn’t it feel strange to use things made of paper? Given that to make paper, we have to cut down trees?’
After all, Matou Shinji knew he would feel a little strange if he was using trinkets of human bone or grimoires bound with human skin. Did youkai not feel that way about things made from things of their ilk, really?
‘It is as I said before, Master. When beings like myself cease to exist, we have no claim on anything – even that which we once were, thus I cannot begrudge humans recycling a fallen tree into something of more use to them. That is the cycle of nature, after all.’
“…so you don’t fear what comes after death, but you still fear fire, which can kill you?” Shinji wondered aloud. “Why is that?”
‘Tell me, Master, do you enjoy pain?” The kodama’s voice was somewhat arch, for all that it was gentle enough. ‘Would you like being burned to death?’
‘Well, no, but…’
‘Neither would I.’
‘…point very much taken,’ Shinji conceded with a silent sigh. He rather thought ‘I do take it that your ofuda do not work entirely like mine?’
‘Correct, considering our affinities and natures. Unlike you, I have no need to use the prana stored in ofuda to give me a sense for the earth around me, or to bend it to my will. My ofuda would simply bind enemies at a distance, to drain them of prana, to curse them – or as a catalyst for flow-walking, however.’
‘Supplementing your core abilities, not substituting for them.’
‘That is correct. Of the youkai, only kitsune who have become skilled at the magical arts are likely to use them extensively, but then they are the youkai who are most used to placing a portion of their power…elsewhere.’
‘You mean the hoshi no tama?’ Shinji inquired, by which he meant the white jewels glowing with foxfire that kitsune were often depicted with in artwork.
‘Yes, Master. They are capable of separating their spiritual cores from their bodies for a time, meaning that even should their physical vessel suffer a moral blow, they can recover.’
‘…isn’t that somewhat like how you go around in astral form, separate from your physical vessel?’
‘I suppose, although they can only separate their spiritual core from their vessel for a limited amount of time, whereas I can continue to exist indefinitely in astral form, so long as the tree that sustains my existence continues to exist. Remember, Master, I am a spirit by nature, whereas kitsune are beings of flesh and blood.’
Shinji nodded slowly. In the past few days, Zelkova had taught him much about other youkai – things he hadn’t really thought about, or understood before – things he’d never really thought to ask. It humbled him, really, to be aware of just how little he knew, of how much there was yet to know. Yet at the same time, discovering all these new things was…exciting.
…far more exciting than the sessions of makeup work with Professor Slughorn he’d had to endure these last few days, to their mutual displeasure.
After all, to Horace Slughorn, Matou Shinji had simply skipped out on the advanced potions tutorials the potioneer had kindly arranged to offer, wasting time that the Potions Master could have spent productively doing almost anything else. And now that he was back, the Potions Champion offered no explanations for what he had been doing, no apology for the inconvenience, or token of appreciation for the effort Slughorn had wasted on the youth.
Shinji, for the record, hadn’t known how long he’d be out, and hadn’t really thought that Slughorn would believe any explanation he offered, given the rumors floating about. Further, while he could have taken Harry’s suggestion and given Slughorn the ticket to the Potions Championship, the Boy from the East didn’t feel it worthwhile to salve the hurt feelings of a man who he doubted he’d be interacting with in the future anyway.
He’d sent it instead to the Director of Atlas, with a note that she might find it useful to have an agent onsite who wasn’t him.
Knowing he didn’t have much time to waste, however, the onmyouji had sent Zelkova to run some errands for him while he was otherwise indisposed, as there were other tasks that were also quite important to take care of.
For example, making sure that Christmas Eve plans had been made, as he didn’t intend to spend it alone, or ensuring that the formal outfits that Fashion House LeShin was creating for the Yule Ball, as well as the dresses he was having made for some of his friends and acquaintances, had been finished in time to be shipped out to France – whereupon Rachelle Lestrange would take possession of them and bring them to Durmstrang, where they would serve as an official gift of the Beauxbatons Tri-Wizard Delegation to Champions in attendance at the Ball.
Or something like that, anyway.
Contrary to what one might assume from the name, Fashion House LeShin was not a French couturier, but a Japanese venture, born out of a partnership between Matou Shinji and Surein Toroi of Mahoutokoro. LeShin specialized in using exotic materials like spider silk, possum fur, and cashmere wool to create bespoke garments that blended effortless elegance and casual sophistication, and had apparently launched to rave reviews in the City Beneath the Earth (as Shinji had learned after coming back from his expedition).
Shinji, however, had always dreamed of expanding his reach beyond a single city, no matter how grand, and so, he had worked out a deal with Rachelle Lestrange, where she would place a complimentary order on behalf of the Beauxbatons delegation (since he couldn’t very well bring them to Britain, and then to Durmstrang himself, since he was not supposed to be able to travel). He wasn’t entirely certain how Lestrange had gotten Madame Maxine to approve of the cover story, but he didn’t really care. All he wanted was to give Fashion House LeShin’s Moonlight collection a stunning debut at an internationally attended event, as he felt that a good first impression in the public eye was just what was needed to kickstart foreign sales.
…and it had better, he now owed Lestrange, who was helping him promote his business, even more of a debt, beyond that accrued during the tanuki pacification excursion.
But what could he give the Beauxbatons Potions Champion that she would accept in place of the rather sizable favor he owed her for her instrumental role in capturing the tanuki?
That had been the question plaguing him these last few days.
In the aftermath of the expedition, the boy had found himself having nightmares of what might transpire if he allowed her to simply call in the favor at a time of her choosing – with scenarios of being forced to give up the Book of Potions (the sentient tome that was his one advantage in the Potions Championship) or having to buy Lestrange time against some implacable, illimitable threat flashing through his mind.
The thing was, he had little idea that would interest her, as she didn’t seem the sort to be dazzled by riches or magical artifacts (unlike Tohsaka), and it wasn’t as if he had a spare familiar he could offer her (not that he thought she was looking for one to begin with).
He supposed that an introduction to the Director of Atlas might satisfy the favor, given Lestrange’s interest in Alchemy and her lineage’s past involvement with the Eltnam, but he thought that probably wasn’t something he should do without consulting with Sokaris first.
‘I’ve written Sokaris about the French Champion already, given their shared…history, but she hasn’t given me any direction, so I should probably not presume on her name. The last time I did that, she scolded me. Mildly, but still.’
If he had not already given the notes of Nicholas Flamel to Sokaris last Christmas, he supposed those might be a suitable substitute for the favor, but…
‘…that’s right. There were those other books the goblins bought for me at the auction.’
Among them were the collected notes of Paracelsus, a number of tomes on the forbidden art of necromancy, and a strange illustrated codex written in a strange, flowing script that he couldn’t make heads or tails of.
‘I was going to give offer Paracelsus’ notes to the Director for Christmas, and I don’t think Lestrange would appreciate a tome she wouldn’t be able to derive any use from.’
The necromancy tomes though – those held a good deal of promise, given what Lestrange had mentioned about her soul-devouring blade, and the dark magics used to create it. He had little enough use for them himself, having little knowledge of blood magic, or other such things, but he imagined she’d find them quite nice.
…the trouble was, if he tried to bring them to Durmstrang so he could show them to her, they would likely be confiscated by the Aurors who guarded the Vanishing Cabinet link between the two schools.
‘I suppose I could have shipped them along with the dresses, but that doesn’t sound like a good idea,’ he mused, shaking his head. ‘Maybe I’ll just bring them to the Potions Championship, and offer them to her there?’ He thought it over for a few moments and nodded. That was probably the idea with the least potential for catastrophe, though he was too jaded to think there was no potential for such whatsoever.
Everything else risked people connecting the books to him and labelling him a practitioner of the Dark Arts, especially after the Cornerstones play had painted him as a likely villain, someone whose path would be forever cast in shadow due to his “obsession” with the late Sialim Sokaris.
‘Soon, it will be Christmas, and unlike last year, there will be no gala at the Clock Tower – not that I could go if there was, since dead men do not dance, and “Matou Shinji”, son of the fallen Makiri, is dead…’
Matou Shinji, Potions Champion of Hogwarts, however, would indeed be dancing on Christmas Day, given that the Tri-Wizard Champions and their partners traditionally opened the Yule Ball with a waltz, wand given the fact that there were three Potions Champions in attendance, it had been deemed an elegant solution to pair them off, at least for the first dance.
Rachelle Lestrange and Viktor Krum.
Rachelle Sondrol and George Weasley.
Matou Shinji and Fleur Delacour.
‘I suppose I’ll be the center of attention, as I was at the gala – and at least this year, there are no Magicians around to terrify me.’
Just envious students from all three schools, many of whom seemed to think he was sleeping with both of the Beauxbatons Champions – never mind that if made an unwanted move, he was sure that Lestrange would gut him like a fish.
Or well, something less bloody, but no less deadly.
‘And I thought I was the one training under a modern-day Assassin…’
Speaking of which, he’d have to see Lockhart sometime during the winter vacation between Christmas and the New Year, to see if the man had any advice for him, or could propose a training regimen for him to follow in the last weeks before the Championship.
Whatever else, he wanted to come back alive, after all!
Today though, was supposed to be a day away from all of that, a day to be spent with close friends and family.
‘Not that I have that many people to spend it with, not if I want to be in London…’
After all, most of his peers were at Durmstrang, and they would not be going back to Britain for the holidays, given security concerns on both ends, though he knew that the upcoming break from classes was considered a good time to hold Capture the Flag events, or other such.
Harry and Daphne, of course, due to being British Youth Representative and the daughter of the Head of the Department of War, respectively, would be back, but they had other obligations, as they had been invited to attend a state dinner with Minister Malfoy and his cabinet.
Even they hadn’t, Shinji wasn’t sure he wanted to spend the eve with his old friend, given that at this point, the fortunes of one Harry Potter were bound up inextricably with that of Wizarding Britain, and Shinji still felt…hurt and betrayed by how Harry had questioned him so. That and he didn’t want to face the Boy-Who-Lived wondering why he’d chosen to ignore his advice about what to do with the spare ‘ticket’ Harry had given him.
As for his peers at Hogwarts, while there were some winter festivities for the army and for the students to keep up morale, including an authorized (and supervised) liberty excursion to Hogsmeade, none of them would be allowed to go home until the end of the year. Luna, his usual companion, had sadly been given a leading role in some of the festivities, due to her status as a Stone Cutter, so she was out as well.
The Fujou family had other obligations – though they had invited him to visit for a special event at New Year, with Shiroe teasingly adding that he should bring his shiroi koibito – for which Shinji had flat out told his old friend to expect no gift that year.
…he hadn’t expected Shiroe to bow and tell him that Shinji had already given the family more than they could ever repay, so no gift was necessary – not for someone who might as well be his brother.
His former Master, of course, was unavailable, and Tomas was apparently spending the day with Tsuchimikado Hokuto, something which suggested to the Boy from the East that the automaton and the grand-daughter of the head of the Japanese Council of Magic weren't just...sparring partners, as it were.
Which really just left Tohsaka and Mashu as possible choices for his companions.
‘This year…it wasn’t at all what I had expected when it started, as I’m used to driving events, not finding myself at their mercy. Still…’
Things hasn’t been entirely bad, and Mashu Kyrielite, his observer from Atlas, had always been an island of calm in the sea of chaos, with quiet conversations with her helping him keep up his spirit and maintaining his sanity.
‘She mentioned she’d be unavailable for about a month or so after Christmas, so I might as well invite her to spend the day together – it’s only right that I do something nice for her after everything she’s done for me.’
Though if he was going to spend it with Mashu, he supposed he should invite Tohsaka along, since he didn’t want her to feel left out, since no one should have to spend the Eve along unless they wanted to. And it wasn’t as if Rin would be terribly busy at the Department of Archaeology over the holidays, save for any demands on her by her Master – and Touko herself was away.
It would be a quiet day, he thought – one spent at his manor (and otherwise in London), a day he well needed, given how grueling the last few months had been, with all the mandatory training for the Potions Championship running him ragged, the events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament dragging him in unwittingly, and the hunt for the rogue Tanuki.
Though…
“Hey, Zelkova,” the Boy from the East said aloud.
‘Yes?’
“What do you want to do today?” Shinji asked of his familiar, with the kodama seeming confused. “For Christmas Eve, I mean.”
‘…I do not know, Master. Trees don’t really celebrate holidays.’
“Not even Greenery Day?”
Greenery Day being the Japanese equivalent of Arbor Day, a day to commune with nature and to be thankful for blessings.
‘…no. Not that you celebrate it either, Master.’
‘Well, I can’t at Hogwarts. They don’t celebrate Golden Week here, sadly,’ the boy groused silently. “Look, I’ve asked a lot of you this year. I know that. I just wanted to know if there was something you wanted.”
There was a long moment of silence, as if the kodama was considering something for the first time.
‘Something I wanted?’
“Yes.”
‘…I suppose I would like to speak with Miss Kyrielite, if you do not mind, Master.’
“Oh? Why is that?” Shinji inquired, willing Zelkova to materialize into his usual form of a blue-haired boy with golden eyes, white Japanese clothing and small horns like those of a deer.
“Because she is like me, in a way,” the kodama said quietly. “Accepting of what is to come, always learning more about the world, and more of a protector than a warrior.”
“A protector…?”
“She is not simply an observer, Master – of that much I am certain,” Zelkova concluded. “Not with the power I sense in her…”
“…and so you want to meet her,” Shinji echoed slowly. He thought it over for a moment, then nodded, as he recalled that Zelkova hadn’t really ever asked for anything before – and that his familiar had been formed from the curiosity of the Great Tree of Shiretoko. He smiled, slightly. “Yes, that would be more than fine, Zelkova. Though…”
“Yes, Master?”
“If you could forego the horns when we go out in public, that would be preferable.”
“Is there a form you would prefer me to take? Yours perhaps?”
Shinji grimaced at the suggestion.
“…no, I think that could be a bit awkward. Your default form will work, unless you have another preference. Just no horns for our outing.”
“Of course, Master,” Zelkova said agreeably, moving to stand beside Matou Shinji as the two looked out the window. “It’s a lovely day, with the mist and fog, is it not?”
“…you really don’t think like a human being, do you?”
“I believe, Master, that I was upfront about that from the day we met.”
“…point.”
Choice 180: What should Shinji and co do for their outing on Christmas Eve?
[ ] Go out for Ice skating and hot cocoa
[ ] Visit the Charles Dickens Museum
[ ] See Les Miserables - the longest running musical in the world
[ ] Go window-shopping
[ ] (write-in)
[X ] Go window-shopping
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