Chapter Text
The tea party hosted by Kirifuji Nagisa is special.
No, not the political entity; the actual tea party.
To many, it is a sign: that the eye of the Tea Party has laid upon you.
The eye of Kirifuji Nagisa; the embodiment of elegance, beauty, and political skill, the ultimate leader of Trinity.
And to be able to meet her in person is an honor bestowed upon a few.
The said person rests her teacup back on its saucer with a sigh.
Since when did it change?
The blue sky outside the balcony before her offers no answer.
The idea of her tea party was to connect with students under her reign while enjoying the scenery and quality tea.
It's supposed to be relaxed and relieving, not a stage for hidden agendas or ulterior motives.
It's supposed to be her little moment of escaping reality.
"You know," The voice she's waiting for arrives. "It is said that sighing will make you grow old quicker."
Sensei quietly walked through the double door; perhaps too quietly, Nagisa didn't even hear it open and close.
She's composed enough to not any of her surprise show; her experience in politics and manners did help.
"Welcome, Auburn Sensei," The Host of the Tea Party offers a PR smile. "Please, have a seat."
The adult remains the same: confident steps, straight posture, and shades.
Instead of taking the seat on the opposite side of the long table, he chooses to sit beside her.
And boy, he is sticking out like a sore thumb here.
"I tried to look nice," Sensei briefly scans his eyes over himself. "Sorry, this is the best I can do. I had errands in D.U."
The slightly dusty wolf-gray combat pants and tan boots attest to that, he does have a clean T-shirt though.
It's a white T-shirt with a gigantic Suger Rush logo on it, Nagisa had heard of that band a while ago.
Then from his pack, Auburn pulls out a mini umbrella on a wooden stand carved in runes; it looks like a desk ornament.
He places it on the smooth, white table, and opens the umbrella to expose the bone-white central shaft.
She almost wanted this little umbrella of anti-eavesdropping for herself, but it only works when the adult is around.
Nagisa can feel its voiceless humming even from over an arm's reach away.
The smile on her face transforms into a genuine one, bringing a sense of warmth and affection.
"You look ridiculous, Sensei."
She puts away the image of Nagisa the Tea Party Host for now; she's now just Nagisa.
Nobody will hear her as long as the umbrella is open and he is in range.
Sensei returns a soft smile. "You'd rather me walk in with a dirty shirt instead?"
"At least you'll look coherent," She pours her lovely guest a cup of black tea.
He takes the tea by its saucers with one hand and a thank you while taking off his shades with another hand.
The same crisp, silver eyes greet Nagisa's bronze gaze; just seeing those makes her feel relaxed.
"To nothing ever happens," Auburn raises the teacup ceremonially.
Nagisa snickers. "Whatever that means." And she returns the same.
The serene afternoon stretches before them.
A Soothing symphony of nature echoes in the air: trees, birds, the faint gunshot noises in the distance.
Just another day in Trinity.
Nagisa lets this quiet moment brew; all she wants and all she needs is right within her reach.
"Sensei," She almost regrets breaking the silence. "Do you miss the past?"
Upon hearing the generic question, the adult stalls for a millisecond, and his teacup hovers in the air briefly.
"That depends on how far of the past you're talking about, I've got some years under my belt, you see."
Usually, she would just stop here, give him a polite apology, and segue into the next topic.
But no. "Like, about a year or two ago...?" The slight ripple in her tea distorts the reflection of her face.
"...Huh," Auburn lets his sight wander out of the spacious room and over the blurry horizon. "You mean the times before I got here?"
Her pristine wings flutter at that. "!..." Yes but no.
Sensei has always been open about himself. Can those eyes glow in the dark?
Even if he ran into a question he didn't like, he'd at least give out a generic answer or loop around it.
Do you have a preferred academy or a specific student in mind?
Except for this; the very topic that not a single person has managed to pry anything out of his mouth.
What were you doing before you were invited to Kivotos?
She should've at least thought once before asking the question. She has let her guard down and along with it, her manner.
"I don't mean to pry," Nagisa curtly puts down her teacup and saucer. "I apologize, Sensei."
"Aw, don't be," The adult quickly waves her off. "It's not like it's a landmine or something."
He pops a biscuit into his mouth and the talk quickly fades into silence.
This time, Nagisa is hesitant on whether to let it brew or not; tea spoils if left too long, much like conversations.
"Even if I tell you," He goes for another sip of his tea. "They're too cool for you to believe them." Auburn finishes the line off with a wink.
"...Right," Now she kind of understands why Mika is head over heels for this man. "Of course."
"Well, would you believe me if I said my team killed a werewolf by overloading its power with magically made mini-moons?"
Technically, it was a Type Yellow that was crudely worked on by a Type Blue.
It was impervious to both silver bullets and cold iron bullets, according to the previous encounters documented by the assessment teams.
Not a problem for his team; they have one of the strongest Type Blue of their division.
Much like metals to magnets, thaumatic energy would naturally flow towards the stronger controller of the bunch.
So nullifying its intangible defenses is as easy as tearing through a piece of paper.
It was fun; they snuck around with the invisibility function of the White Suit, set up some taser traps and rituals, and voilà.
That answered the question of how many moons are too many moons.
Nagisa half-baffled, half-intrigued replies. "...No?" She hopes her expression isn't too weird.
"I understand, like, two-thirds of the words you said, Sensei."
"There you go," Sensei smirks. "Too cool to be believable."
His vision, however, remains drifting over the scenery outside.
The monsters, cultists, madmen, and self-proclaimed deities, and the thrills of taking them all down with the team.
All are but fleeting flashbacks, a distance ship, smoke on the horizon.
The good ol' days. The good ol' days nevermore.
"Sensei?" His tea party partner finally prompts, seeing his dimming eyes.
"...Yeah?" Sensei reflectively utters. "Sorry. Spaced out a little."
He quickly adds. "You know that feeling of having too many things you can say, everything ended up stuck at your throat and nothing comes out?"
"It's kind of like that," Auburn lets the black tea wash whatever stuck at his throat down.
"...Oh right," A terrible segue, even he knows so. "How are the flowers?"
Nagisa decides to let it slide. It was a sensitive topic they were on anyway.
"They're doing great," She smiles as the image of her garden surfaces in her mind. "All thanks to you."
"They grow fast, take roots deep and sturdy."
"And so far, they endure the weather well, and aren't too picky about temperature and humidity."
"But we'll have to see if they can hold up to the winter and the dry seasons."
Nagisa is a bit more open and willing to speak when it comes to her other hobby, it's pretty cute in his eyes.
Sensei shrugs. "Don't thank me, thank the princess of Arius. She was the one who offered the seeds and did the improvements."
It was a coincidence when they found out; Atsuko wanted her flowers to prosper and look nice.
So he jokingly said ooh maybe you can pray to them or something.
Mistakes were made.
The said princess almost made his jaw drop when she displayed the limited ability of... thaumatology?
He gave it a question mark. Because obviously, she performed magics; it looked and felt like so to him.
But there were no backlashes like what would usually happen when he does it. It's strange.
For now, Auburn theorizes that it's Atsuko's Royal Blood acting like some sort of Sink: the buffering component of a thaumatic working.
And to validate that theory requires a scholar, not a practitioner like him.
There's one thing he's certain though. That red bitch must knew this, that's why she wanted her as a sacrifice.
It's a shame he couldn't tear that subhuman scum apart little by little, let every decibel of its wretched scream howl across the ruin.
Sensei grits his teeth at that figure appearing again in his head.
But anyway, he never imagined taking on a disciple for thaumatology in his life, but it was his doing, he has to own the consequences.
That's another story.
"Princess... You mean Hakari Atsuko-san?" Nagisa blinks inquisitively.
"Yup," He digs himself out of the depth of his wandering thought. "She's a flower person, and I told her you're into gardening, too."
"You two will get along great." Sensei rests the teacup and saucer and pops another biscuit into his mouth.
Nagisa likes flowers too.
She likes them for how certain they are—certain in their beauty and meaning—and almost envies them at times.
Nobody will see flowers as ugly, or think otherwise when presented with a bouquet of red roses.
And more than once, she has wished if only things can be as easy as so.
Wonder if Hakari Atsuko-san feels the same? "She's too good for me," She makes a helpless smile.
"Said it was a little personal gift for the care packages and that aid program," Sensei rubs his fingertips together to dust off the crumbs.
The Host of the Tea Party lifts her eyebrows a little at that. "You told her?"
"No," he doesn't bother with more tea. It looks like he had his fill of caffeine today. "She figured it out with the Squad."
Sensei sets his eye on her as he goes on. "I just filled in some gaps in her intel."
"Trinity and Arius are bound to meet at some point in the future anyway, you two should leave a good first impression between each other, no?"
"...Yes," Her sight shows a tinge of weariness. "The reunion of the two academies... It's a rather heavy burden, historically and politically."
"Welp, fortunately, I'm good with heavy lifting," Auburn grins; his almost signature expression.
He deliberately checks his watch slowly and showingly; another shitty segue.
"Now, what about a stroll down the fancy, enclosed garden you've got down there?"
Sensei gets off his seat. "I don't think you invited me here for those topics?"
"......" It blindsided her a little. "But-"
"-Nah, you can take this little thingy on the fly, it'll still work."
He takes the mini umbrella with one hand and her dainty palm with another.
The quiet hum of its magic is coursing down through her arm.
Nagisa gently cups it with both hands. She feels protected, covered, safe.
"Well?" The adult makes a dramatic pose as he extends his hand, as if he is asking for a dance.
"Pff!..." It takes several seconds of chuckle for Nagisa to be Nagisa again.
"First, you need a better shirt for this, Sensei." She takes his hand with grace nonetheless.
He leads her like leading a princess off the throne. "I'm working with what I have, okay?"
"Then I'm afraid what you have is, in your words, lacking."
"Lackin', you say?" His mischief inside is ignited.
A step forward, a pull with one hand, a scoop with another hand, and finishes off with her frantic yelp.
Sensei has the Host of the Tea Party in a bridal carry within a few seconds.
And he turns to the balcony.
"S- Sensei!?" Her image is already through the arc, out that balcony and to the beyond.
The silver irises are now decorated in streaks of pink. "Oh please, I've always wanted to do this okay?"
"What do you mean always!?"
"Here we go!"
"SENSEI--!?"
And thus, the latter half of the day of Sensei and Nagisa begins.
Magic, memory, and politics can all fuck right off, at least for a while.
All those issues of the past and the future can also get in that line.
Now, it's time to enjoy the scenery of petals, breeze and maybe some bugs.
And it all starts by the 20-yards fall from the top floor of the building.
With the girly scream of a certain tea and flower-loving lady.