Corpse March

Chapter 41 Back In Black

“So, this is your room?”

“Yep. We’ll be living together from now on so make yourself comfortable.”

“Alright.”

Tsumugi’s room is a spacious one. Though, strangely enough, it mostly extends upwards rather than outwards. The whole room is split into two floors by a set of spiral stairs. 

“How’s the place?” Tsumugi asks. 

“It’s alright. I had a bigger apartment, though.”

“You’ll have to take me there someday.” 

“Maybe. If we ever have the chance.”

The ground floor has all the necessities, bed, dresser, closet, the works, but the upper floor is where most of the actual interesting stuff is stored. A humble library filled with books, a study table filled with notes, a laptop filled with things that Tsumugi hides from her, and a gun display case in which a chrome M1911A1 Auto with pearl grips is kept. 

“What’s the point of this thing, anyway?” Haru completely disregards all the rules of gun safety by spinning it in her hand. “You have your magic for everything.”

“My, uh, my favorite character from my favorite movie uses the same gun, so… yeah. I just think it’s neat.” Tsumugi blushes and looks away. “I know, I know, it’s a childish thing.”

“Nothing wrong with being childish.” Haru shrugs as she puts the gun back in the display case. “Though, you should be careful.”

“Of course, I’m familiar with the rules of gun safety.”

“No, no, I mean that now that you’ve shown it to me, you’re going to have to use it at some point. People will be expecting it.” 

“...?”

The weeks leading up to the funeral fly by in a flash. The daily routine of a councilor’s wife is apparently very simple. Wake up, eat breakfast in bed while a cute maid heeds her beck and call, practice the guitar until lunchtime, eat lunch with Tsumugi, handle security arrangements until dinnertime, eat dinner with Tsumugi, then practice the guitar until her eyes drift shut and dreams take her. 

The most surprising thing to Haru is how quickly she gets used to Tsumugi’s presence. It’s like she’s not even there sometimes. After the first few days, conversation gets harder and harder to make, and yet they both mind the silence less and less.

Eventually, the day of the funeral comes. Haru finds herself putting on her most formal clothing and applying the most basic of makeup onto her face. Or rather, Tsumugi applying the most basic of makeup onto her face. “Stay still for a second, will you?”

“I’m fidgety by nature.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“No clue.” Haru shrugs. “Are you almost done?”

“Yeah, all finished.” 

Haru slowly peels open her eyes and looks at herself in the mirror. It’s strange. It’s like she’s looking at someone that isn’t her. Someone just a little more feminine, someone just a little prettier. “How do I look?”

“Perfect.” Tsumugi brushes a strand of Haru’s hair and tucks it behind her ear. Just the feeling of her fingers skimming over the skin of her cheek sends Haru’s heart fluttering. She’s so focused on keeping her own emotions in check that she barely notices Tsumugi blushing as well. 

“Hey, Tsumugi?”

“Yeah?”

“What are we?”

“We’re… married?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that.” Haru rolls her eyes. “But I meant as in, like… do you… you know… like me?”

“Of course I like you.” Haru feels as though there was a plug in her heart that was keeping the stuffing inside and now it’s gone and her heart’s beating like crazy, just barely keeping the innards where they’re supposed to be. 

“In spite of our differences, I feel like we get along pretty well as friends.” All at once, Haru comes crashing back down. 

“Aha… I see.”

“...”

“...”

“Ahem. A-anyway–” That might be the first time Haru’s heard Tsumugi stutter. “You should take these.” Tsumugi hands her a folded sheet of paper. Opening it up, Haru sees enormous blocks of text that she’s not going to bother reading through right now. 

“What’re these?” 

“Your speech.”

“My what?!”

“Don’t worry, all you have to do is read what’s on this paper and glance at the audience every so often.”

“Nope nope nope nooooope! No way I’m giving a speech!” Even reading in front of her class of thirty people was always a struggle, she can’t imagine doing this at a party of at least a hundred. 

“You’re a big girl, I’m sure you can at least handle this.” 

“But do I really really have to?”

“Hm… I think it’s necessary at this point.” She strokes a beard that isn’t there. “Maybe I can offer you a secret in exchange that will help sweeten the deal?”

“A secret?”

“Yup.” Tsumugi nods to herself. “Only of the most confidential kind, of course.”

“Hmmmm.” Haru tilts her head, suddenly all ears. “Alright, fine. You’ve got me by the balls. Tell me.”

“It’s… maybe not exactly the kind of secret you were hoping to hear. But I can teach you the super duper secret spice that separates the magic the outside world uses compared to the magic we use in Takakumo.”

“For real?” Haru smells power. More specifically, an easy way to get some more. “Is it really okay for me to be learning this?”

“You’re a big girl now, I think it’s time you learned.” Tsumugi makes a big show of clearing her throat. “The secret spice, that you didn’t hear from me, is belief.”

“Belief?”

“You heard me, belief.” Tsumugi starts motioning with her hands in a way that Haru’s learned is a sign she’s about to launch into a lengthy explanation. “How many people think of you and how they think of you matters. The more people know about you, the stronger your sorcery. The more strongly people feel about you, the stronger your sorcery. The more powerful the people believing in you are, the stronger your sorcery. Which is why starting now, we need to start curating your public image.”

“I see… so this speech is for that?”

“Yes, precisely. I think a strong speech should set a good first impression with Takakumo’s elite, and a good first impression with Takakumo’s elite should get you a relatively small but still important power boost, at least magic-wise. Just be careful not to embarrass yourself and you should be fine.”

“So, no pressure?” Haru laughs beside herself. Only that her head’s spinning so much that the laugh comes out as a short-lived whine.

“Yep, no pressure.” 

“Oh boy.” 

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

Because that went so well the first time she said that. 

“A speech… okay. I can do this.”

“You’ll be right after Kikimi.”

“Kikimi? What’s Kikimi going to do?”

“She’s going to be the new Vice President, remember?”

“Oh yeah… right… Sorry, it still doesn't feel real.”

Tsumugi pinches her chin. “If I had to wager, I’d say Florence forged that last will. He’s crafty and desperate like that.” 

“Well, why didn’t you say anything, then?” Haru’s long gotten used to Tsumugi’s… ‘surprises’, so she sounds more annoyed that she didn’t tell her anything. 

Tsumugi shrugs “It’s only a hunch. Imagine how I would look if I said that in front of everyone.”

“No, I mean like, why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Uhm… I dunno, it just slipped my mind?”

“...” Haru folds her arms and pouts. 

“I thought it was obvious!”

“Alright, fine, whatever, where does that leave us?”

“Well…” Tsumugi closes her eyes as she retreats into her mind. “I’ve actually been trying to get in touch with Kikimi but my letters have gone unanswered, and I’ve been too busy with the funeral to see her face to face.”

“Funny what power does to a person, huh? They become vice president and then they suddenly don’t know you anymore.”

“I don’t think it’s that. If I had to guess, Gleam, Nui and Florence have something to do with this.”

“You think they’re trying to get her onto their side?”

“I think Kikimi’s already on their side. Think about it like this. They have Kagami assassinated, then what? They’re going to want to actually capitalize on the opening so it makes sense to install one of their lackeys there.”

“But why Kikimi?”

“Why Kikimi?” Tsumugi opens her eyes. “I… don’t know.” 

“Hmmm… something’s fishy.”

“Most likely. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.” She nods to herself. “We just have to get this funeral over with. We can talk as much as we want when that’s over.”

“Yeah…” A shiver travels up her spine. Haru doesn’t know why but she gets the strange feeling that they won’t have to wait that long.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The sunset’s orange light casts long shadows along the street. Cars and buses, or at least the closest thing Takakumo has to cars and buses, mill about restlessly, loading and unloading people. Tonight’s the funeral for Lady Kentomi, after all, and she will be missed. 

Sort of. Not in the way family will be missed, but the way a distant but still semi-charming stranger will be missed. The kind of missing that won’t get in the way of the night’s festivities.

That’s a strange thing to do to commemorate someone’s death. Funerals in the outside world are always grim affairs. But it seems that none of that applies here. 

Stages and spotlights have been set up every dozen blocks or so to host “The Wanderer”, the half-play, half-showcase of the life and times of Kagami Kentomi. Heavily edited to make her out to be a saint, of course.

Inside one of the cars swimming among the endless swarm of vehicles sits both Haru and Tsumugi. Both of whom have been preening ever since they left. 

“How do I look?” The bespectacled girl raises her arms. Tsumugi’s wearing a simple white dress shirt, black vest, and a red handkerchief that sticks out of her breast pocket.

“You look just fine.” Haru makes a big show of framing Tsumugi inside a rectangle she forms with her fingers. Haru, on the other hand, is wearing a much more traditional outfit. Black suit, dark gray overcoat, and leather dress shoes.

“How much further do we have left to go?” Haru complains, like how she’s been complaining for the past two hours. “And who are we picking up anyway?”

“We’re here, actually.” Tsumugi rolls down the window. Outside, Haru sees 

a familiarly tiny twelve year old girl standing in the doorway. She wears her usual combat jacket along with her usual green dress that goes down to her knees. “Welcome back, Asuka.” 

And her eyes are as empty as ever. 

“How was your stay at the Disciplinary Committee Retention Institute?”

“Unpleasant.”

“Forgive me. It took far more time to arrange for your release than I anticipated.”

“It’s fine.” Asuka waves her hand as though brushing away the air. “Your visits eased the wait.”

“I’m glad to hear it. We’re going to need you on board for security. ”

“Aye.” Asuka gives Tsumugi a two-fingered salute and slides into the car.

“Oh, and I have something you might need.”