"Sarah."
"Almost certainly." Reina's voice was tight. "She used the Zenith caster to trap Sophia's consciousness in the same loop that held all of you during the invasion. Then she sealed her body in some kind of magical artifact. We don't know where. We don't know how. We don't even know if she's still alive."
Hoshimi's hands were shaking.
He didn't know when that had started.
"Without her, everyone else is going to come after me."
Reina's voice was flat. "The government is in crisis mode. The other great families are positioning themselves to fill the power vacuum. The rogues are already getting bolder, we've had reports of attacks on three separate Academy facilities in the past twenty-four hours."
"Can you protect me?"
Reina's laugh was sharp, almost genuine. Reina blinked.
"They can sure try." She stubbed out her second cigarette, the movement controlled. "I'm a level ten and a high ranking government official with connections to the Miller family and the vice principal of Hex Academy. Coming after me would be like declaring war on the government itself. They're not that stupid."
"Miss Reina."
"What?"
"I'm curious, why weren't you there?"
"Look, I was tired from all the government work and had a really good rest. I didn't realize the bells were ringing. I'm sorry about your injuries and the Walker girl's missing arm."
"It's fine."
"But it's totally your fault," he said.
"WHAT? HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING."
Hoshimi smiled.
Reina laughed.
"I really don't think it's a situation to be laughing in, as much as I want to go free Sophia, she could probably handle herself. It's much more important to be here with you, after all your situation is much more dire. I'll go send out some people to go look for her."
"So what do I do now? Sit here, while waiting for your henchmen to go pull out Sophia?"
"Yea, exactly." She reached into her desk drawer, pulled out a folder, slid it across the desk toward him. "The government is sending an envoy to the Academy. Some high-ranking official from the Witch's Department. They're throwing a banquet in a few days to welcome him."
Hoshimi opened the folder. Inside were photographs, dossiers, security clearance forms.
"In three days. They're coming to visit the school. They've requested a formal gathering with the top students to protect him while he's here."
"Why?"
"Because they want to assess the damage. Because they want to reassure the other families that everything is under control. Because they want to figure out how to spin this whole mess into something that doesn't end with the entire system collapsing."
She paused.
"And because they want to meet you."
Hoshimi looked up.
"Me?"
"You're the reincarnation of King Arthur. You have a sword that can kill Primordial Witches. And you just survived a fight with a level nine that should have killed you ten times over." Reina's lips curved. "You're interesting, Hoshimi. They want to see you. Shake your hand. Take pictures. Use you for their own political purposes. They're also a family that was close with the Mirlo family."
"I don't want attention."
"Attention you don't have a choice about." Reina leaned back in her chair. "You made a mistake in revealing your trump card, and you'll have to face the consequences. The banquet is in three days. You'll attend. You'll smile. You'll make small talk with people who want to use you, control you, or kill you. And you'll try not to start any international incidents."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you're an idiot. Again." Reina leaned back in her chair. "This is an opportunity, Hoshimi. A chance to make connections. To build alliances. To put yourself in a position where killing you would be politically inconvenient."
"You want me to play politics."
"I want you to survive." Reina's voice was hard. "Your reincarnation puts you at the level of Sophia, many people would want you alive for their own reasons, you can use it to protect yourself. The Walkers and the Smiths can't touch you if you're under the protection of someone higher than them."
"Someone like this government official."
"Someone exactly like that."
Hoshimi nodded slowly. The banquet was in three days.
"What do you know about them?" he asked.
Reina's smile widened. "I know they're paranoid. I know they're powerful. I know they've maneuvered through several attempts at defamation in the past decade, which means that they've got a good brain. " She paused. "And I know they're interested in you."
"Why?"
"Because they've been asking questions. About your reincarnation. About your abilities. About whether you'd be willing to work for them after graduation, even if you aren't willing to, just act like you're planning to, to appease them."
Hoshimi's eyes narrowed. "You've been talking to them about me."
"I've been making inquiries. On your behalf. Be thankful I'm doing such a thing and appreciate your mother a little bit." Reina's voice was sharp, but there was something underneath it. "You don't have to accept anything. You don't have to commit to anything. Just go to the banquet. Be charming. Let them see that you're useful."
"Most of them will be planning to use me."
"Let them." Reina shrugged. "For now. While you're still vulnerable. While you still need protection. Once you're strong enough, once you've built your own power base, then you can start making demands. But right now? Right now you survive."
Hoshimi held her gaze.
"You're very good at this."
"I've had practice." Reina's smile was tired. "I'm a government official for fuck's sake, doing this is my job. This is the only thing I'm good at."
"That's not true."
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "Name one other thing I'm good at."
Hoshimi considered. "Being a bitch."
Reina laughed.
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. The tension in the room had eased, replaced by something almost like normalcy.
"Anyways Sarah is a problem for another day. She's gone. Vanished. No trace, no trail, no witnesses. We don't know where she went, what she's planning, or when she'll come back."
"So we just wait."
"We prepare." Reina stood, walked to the window, stared out at the grey sky. "We train. We gather intelligence. We build alliances. And when she shows herself again, we put her down."
"The rogues," Hoshimi said. "They're going to get more active now. With Sophia gone."
Reina's expression darkened. "Almost certainly. She was the only thing keeping them in check. The only thing they were afraid of."
"Now they're not afraid of anything."
"Now they're not afraid of much." Reina corrected. "They're still afraid of the faculty, we still have soldiers on our side. And the government's special forces. But you're right, they'll definitely get more rowdy."
"So we're also going to have to fend them off."
Reina's voice was flat. "Same as always. Same as we've always done. We survive."
Hoshimi nodded slowly.
"The other students," he said. "How are they handling it?"
Reina's expression flickered. "I know you care about Kira but for you to want to know about the others is weird. Some of them are going crazy, especially Lucy."
"And most of them are blaming me."
"Oh that's what you're worried about, how they perceive you." Reina shrugged. "I don't think anyone is blaming you."
"Edward got his legs destroyed, how is he?"
[I need to make sure that someone as unstable as him doesn't come out to be an enemy. He might start to despise the government and start to rebel and I'll have to deal with him]
"Edward's still in the hospital. Probably not going to walk again. His legs are gone, and his regeneration isn't strong enough to grow them back. He's going to need prosthetics, assuming he survives the infection."
"And Neila?"
"Neila's fine, it seemed that absolutely nothing had affected her in the first place, in fact she reminds me of you."
"Wasn't she rather close to Dominic."
Reina spoke. "How am I supposed to know? I have a job and I'm an adult, I don't keep track of the lives of students. What I'm going to guess is that she probably keeps people at a distance so she most likely doesn't give a shit."
Reina's expression softened. Just slightly.
"Now get out of my office. I have work to do."
"What kind of work?"
"Damage control." She waved a hand vaguely. "Lots of phone calls. Lots of explaining. Lots of telling people that everything is fine when everything is very clearly not fine. And it's all your fault"
Hoshimi moved toward the door.
"Hoshimi."
He paused.
"The banquet," Reina said. "It's in three days. You'll need to be there, don't argue."
It wasn't a question.
"I'll be there."
"Good." She turned back to her desk, already reaching for the phone. "And Hoshimi?"
"What?"
"Wear something nice, I'll make sure you do. The last time you showed up to a formal event looking like a homeless teenager, you have terrible style. I had to listen to three hours of complaints from the organizing committee."
Hoshimi's lips twitched.
"I'll try."
"You'd better."
He nodded and walked out the door.
The corridor was empty.
The fluorescent lights hummed their eternal song, pressing against his skull, vibrating in his teeth. The chrome doors gleamed, his reflection staring back at him in fragments, pale and hollow-cheeked.
He walked.
Past Neila's room, where the lights were off and the silence was absolute. Past Edward's room, where the door stood open, the bed empty, the sheets stripped away. Past Seraphina's room, where a single pink hair clung to the doorframe.
He stopped at Dominic's room.
The door was closed. The nameplate had already been removed, leaving behind a dark rectangle where the metal had been. No one had been inside to collect his things. No one would.
"Why didn't they just give me this room? I should look through his stuff, I wonder if there's something I could take."