Study Session

[halfemptyglasses]

"Oh, good evening, Autor-senpai," Mirai greets when she opens the door to her sparse room. "I'm sorry there's not much."

The plush bed sits unmade, the comforter piled on the end. A small stack of books and papers wait on the low table that serves as her desk next to a few canned juices. Living on the fund for minors provides the necessities but not much else. Still, Mirai can't complain.

"We'll pretty much have to work from the floor," she says, padding over there with stocking feet. "Ah, and please help yourself to something to drink."

Comments

[halfemptyglasses]

Mirai passes the information over to him with a, "That sounds like a good idea. I... Well, I don't know how much of this I should explain, but you already know like the most secret stuff."

She thinks back to her chat with the Emcee and her realization there.

"It... I'm not really lying as much about this stuff here."

[herr_bookman]

Autor sets his juice on the table and accepts what she hands him. "Oh, really? What changed?" he asks, and then amends that with a, "I didn't think you were lying about it very much to start. It just seems like you're making a note of it."

He stacks the papers and starts skimming them, ready to pause when she speaks.

[halfemptyglasses]

"I'm not really sure," she answers. She then folds her arms on the table and goes, "Ah, I can't even figure myself out."

[herr_bookman]

Autor sets one paper aside after he examines the contents. "I'm sorry," he murmurs. "We're in the same boat."

He skims another paper, and then straightens his shoulders. "But for now, we can study. What is an Appraiser?"

[halfemptyglasses]

Mirai straightens up, glad for the change and turning to face him with a determined look.

"An appraiser is someone who determines how much a youmu stone is worth."

[herr_bookman]

"What is a youmu stone?" Autor asks, setting the second paper down.

[halfemptyglasses]

"That's what's left when you kill a youmu."

[herr_bookman]

Autor tilts his head. The information she gave him didn't have much more than that, so while he wonders what they are, exactly, she probably doesn't need to know more than that. They might not know what they are in general.

"What are youmu, and where do they come from? Are they dangerous to normal humans?"

[halfemptyglasses]

She pauses for a drink of juice to think on that one.

"Youmu are..." she starts. "They're monsters made of darkness. They come from the darkness in people. They... well, they can be dangerous to normal humans but usually don't bother with them?"

[herr_bookman]

"Wait, really? Wow," Autor says, blinking as he processes that. Negative feelings that create monsters no one can see? It... makes a certain amount of sense to him.

He picks up another paper, skims it, and sets it down.

"What is the name of your organization that hunts youmu? Also describe the hierarchy of each clan, and where you start in the chain."

[halfemptyglasses]

"The Society of Spirit World Warriors."

That part she can answer with confidence, but the hierarchy... How does that go again? She rattles off what she can remember, tossing in that it's usually by age and birth order for good measure.

She probably got some of it switched around.

[herr_bookman]

Autor turns the current page around on the desk. "Close. You missed one and switched two. This might be a good paper to study."

The boy adjusts his glasses. "But you've done well until now. Who do you contact when you move into a new territory?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"Ah, all right.

"That...the clan of that territory has a representative, right? They handle this sort of thing?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor smiles a little, inclining his head. "That's right."

He opens his can of peach juice and gulps some down to wet his throat while he reads two more papers. "Thanks for the juice. What are the Cleaners, and how soon should you notify them?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"The Cleaners are the ones who repair any damage done while fighting youmu and need to be called... it's as soon as it's safe to do so, right? Once the youmu is killed or otherwise gone?"

[herr_bookman]

Autor nods again, and then he launches into musing of his own. "That's right. I wonder who pays them, or how you get to be a Cleaner, too--not to mention what magic they use to restore everything that's been destroyed--but, ah, you probably don't need to know any of that for this test. That'd be a Cleaner test."

He smiles apologetically for the diversion, and asks another question. "


What's the difference between an Intelligence Officer and an Interrogation Officer?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"Ah, that... intelligence is about keeping track of information and interrogation is getting it through questioning?"

[herr_bookman]

"Good," he says, picking up another page.

Autor continues quizzing her in this manner, skimming the papers and absorbing her answers. He's proud of her for knowing her stuff.

He ends with a last question, one that has been bugging him for a while since it was only briefly mentioned and not well defined. "What is the Calm?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"That's a period of time when youmu become weaker. It's almost like a hibernation?"

[herr_bookman]

"Hibernation is the word they used," Autor says, setting the last page on the top of the stack. He leans back on his hands and glances at the ceiling, drawing a breath.

"Well, you've done it. You've answered all of my questions, and did quite well, in fact," Autor says, smiling a little. "Are you hungry?"

[halfemptyglasses]

"I did?" she asks, even though he's been confirming her answers along the way. At least it sounds like she has a shot at this.

Mira nods at his next question. "Oh, should we head downstairs for dinner?"

[herr_bookman]

"Yes, you did," Autor says, nodding again. Then he sits up a little, holding up a hand. "Oh, no, we don't have to. If we don't want to, that is. I brought dinner."

[halfemptyglasses]

"Ah? Th-that was a good idea, Autor-senpai. It... I am used to it this way."

[herr_bookman]

And Autor knows exactly what she means, and tries to keep his consternation off of his face. He kicks himself for forgetting that she spent most of her time with the Inami clan in her room. "I'm still glad to see you downstairs," he says quietly.

Autor pulls his sylladex out of his pocket. "Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, or gluttoning on all, or all away,*" he says to his journal, and out pops his food bag.

The boy rummages around for a while, and then pulls out two large bowls with lids, which he pops off to reveal the homemade udon noodles with tofu and baby spinach, garnished with grated ginger. Steam rises from the food, and scallions and red pepper flakes float in the dark brown miso broth. He sets the bowls on the table, and holds two pairs of chopsticks in his other hand.

*Shakespeare, Sonnet 75

[halfemptyglasses]

Mirai looks into her bowl, inhaling the aroma. "This... is this the udon you said you were going to make?"