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I'm sending this from my work account. If you reply, please
reply directly to the FFML or my home account:
guilty@furinkan.net
As always, all of my other fics are available at:
http://www.furinkan.net/fanfic/
------------------------------
Power's Price
a Mahou Tsukai Tai short by
Chris Jones
------------------------------
It was late fall, really almost winter, and Akane Aikawa
found herself walking down the hall of her high school in near
darkness. She was on cleanup duty, but managed to put it off a
few hours so that she could attend her club meeting. She was due
to leave for a big trip the next day and felt like she owed it to
the others, especially Sowanoguchi-sempai and Takakura-sempai.
Because of her hectic schedule, she missed the club meetings
pretty regularly.
Despite her obvious talent for sorcery and magic, she
knew it put a strain on the others for her to act so blase
towards the club.
Still, there was one last matter to be taken care of
before she went home and started to pack. No matter how important
'Tropical Magazine's Swimsuit Issue' was, she had obligations
that she *couldn't* ignore.
"Takakura-sempai?" she called out, knocking once on the
half-door that opened up onto the improvised room that the Magic
Club called home. Receiving no answer, she slid the door open and
glanced inside.
Inside, a dark shape sat against the back wall. While she
could not see the figure's face in the candle-lit twighlight, his
thick glasses glinted back at her. She could also make out the
white pattern on his pants legs stretched out in front of him,
and the stylized bird-shape atop the magic wand balanced across
his knees.
"Takakura-sempai?," Akane asked again, idly twirling the
single red loch of hair around one finger. "You wanted to see
me?"
"Ah, A-Aikawa-kun," Takeo said nervously, stammering
slightly. "Yes. I needed to talk to y-y-you before you left on
your trip."
Akane couldn't help but grin at the upperclassman. The
way he was distracted by her low-cut dress was so funny and cute!
"What's the matter, Sempai?" she asked.
"Aikawa-kun," Takeo said, his voice breaking slightly. "I
wanted to talk to you about your powers... and what they mean."
Akane sighed dramatically. This was probably going to be
another lecture on the 'proper uses of magic'. She didn't resent
any of the others for being so concerned about it, but it wore on
her nerves!
"So..." she prompted the young man whose face was still
shrouded in the shadows at the back of the room. She leaned
forward ever so slightly, imagining the deep red blush that no
doubt covered her sempai's face and neck.
"I... I don't think it's any secret--" his voice cracked
again, going into an almost girlish register, "--that all of
us... all the club members, have used magic for personal
reasons."
Akane blinked. This wasn't really what she was expecting.
"There have been a few times that I've been tempted to
use it for... less than altruistic purposes," he continued. "But
we've done some really great things. If nothing else, we saved
humanity from the Bell. You had a large part to play in that, and
you deserve to use your powers as you see fit."
Akane was genuinely surprised at the words of praise.
Takakura-sempai was normally very supportive, but he usually made
a point of never assessing the club members skills.
"You're very powerful, Aikawa-kun," Takeo said seriously.
"Maybe even more powerful than I am. You know as well as I do
that power has a price. Look here," he instructed, gesturing at
the floor in front of him.
For the first time, Akane noted an irregular shape
covered by a scarf on the floor right in front of the President's
feet. He gestured slightly with his wand, causing the scarf to
levitate up off the floor and into the darkness behind him.
Akane gasped when she saw what was underneath.
"It is a government-issue service revolver for Japanese
soldiers. It belonged to friend of my family who used it during
World War II," Takeo said. "Don't worry," he said, noting her
discomfort. "It's not loaded. I don't even think it works
anymore. My family keeps it in a box of mementos for personal
reasons."
"Personal reasons?" Akane asked.
"During the war," Takeo said, "this man, the friend of my
family, killed forty people with that gun. He fought in the
battle of Midway Island, which the Americans won. His close
friend was killed by an American soldier, and he did his best to
kill as many Americans as he could before he was shot himself. He
was injured in the fighting, but survived to escape back to
Japan."
Akane nodded seriously.
Takeo's voice became stronger, and less agitated. "When I
was little, he showed me this gun and told me about the people he
killed. He told me how badly he regretted taking all those lives.
He told me how he heard the screams of the wives and children of
the soldiers he killed in his nightmares. He told me how he could
see the faces of the men he killed every time he closed his
eyes."
Akane took a deep breath, stunned by her sempai's
stories.
"He told me he wished that he had been shot instead of
his friend. He thought that the gun itself was evil, tainted by
so much spilled blood."
Akane nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. How any weapon
could do so much evil was far beyond her. It was an alien
concept. She couldn't conceive of her friends, the people she
loved, being hurt or killed.
"But he realized he was wrong," Takeo continued.
"What?"
"After the war, just after the American occupation
began," Takeo continued. "There was a riot near this man's house.
The daughter of a merchant who criticized the war effort was
being drug out in the street. She was going to be lynched or
worse. It was a very tense time, and there were many angry people
in the country. More than anything else, I think they just wanted
to take their anger out on someone. My-- The man pulled out his
gun and fired it into the air. He had to limp to the riot because
his leg was still healing, but he kept firing the gun into the
air and reloading. The people who were going to attack the girl
were frightened away.
Takeo cleared his throat.
"A few minutes later, the American soldiers arrived. They
saw what had happened. Because it was illegal for Japanese to
carry guns during the occupation, he was supposed to have been
arrested or even killed. He hated the faces of the American
soldiers right then. But then, one of the Americans turned to him
and told him that he better hide his gun in case the girl was
attacked again and he had to protect her."
"He thought the gun was evil," Akane said, understanding
dawning across her face.
"But it was his own, killing, thoughts that were evil,"
Takeo said. "Now, it's illegal to own this kind of weapon in
Japan, and there are good reasons for that. The point I want to
make is that the gun itself is just a tool. It's power. The power
itself isn't good or evil, but the thoughts of the person who
wielded it. My-- The man used to tell me a saying before he died.
He always said that it was impossible for an evil man to do good
deeds," Takeo paused for a second, "But it is all too easy for a
good man to do evil deeds."
Shocked and humbled by Takeo's story, Akane found herself
wordless.
"I know that Sawanoguchi-kun and Nakatomi-kun really ride
you for the way you use your powers, but they do it because they
care about you. The magic is a part of you, and it's probably
best if you use it every chance you get. But, power has its
price, Aikawa-kun and you're very, *very* powerful. Your magic is
just like the gun. Soon, if not already, you could hurt or even
kill people with your magic. You can also use it to do wonderful
things. Some of the things you do with it may seem right, but may
end up hurting someone down the line. Maybe even you."
"I understand, Takakura-sempai." Akane said. "I'll think
more carefully before using my magic in the future."
She thought she detected the faintest hint of a smile in
the darkness in front of her. The glint off of Takeo's glasses
shifted slightly, as if he was pushing them up on his nose.
"That's all I ask, Akane-kun. Have a good time on your
trip."
Akane nodded, bowed respectfully, and left the club room.
Nanaka let her voice-changing spell release. It had taken
incredible concentration to hold it up. She had even lost it once
or twice near the beginning and had had to recast it.
She stood up and began to strip out of Takakura-sempai's
club uniform, revealing her own school uniform underneath.
Nervously reaching behind her, she picked up the scarf and used
it to lift the antique gun off the floor and into her purse.
Levitating the scarf while holding the voice-spell had
been one of the hardest things she had ever done, but if Akane
took her seriously, then she guessed that all the effort was
worth it.
She removed Takeo's spare glasses and put them back into
the filing drawer near the front of the tiny club-room. Taking a
few minutes to make sure that everything was back in its place,
Nanaka sighed, worrying about what she had just done. She knew
her mother would be livid if she realized that she had taken her
grandfather's revolver. There was also the highly unlikely but
real possibility that Akane might try to discuss the story with
the real Takakura-sempai after she returned from her photo-shoot.
Nanaka felt what she had to say was important, and she
knew that both she and Sae had worn out Akane's ears with their
admonitions.
"I just hope I've done the right thing," she said out
loud before leaving the club room.
A few seconds after Nanaka left, a shape blurred into
visibility inside the clubroom, leaning up against the wall.
"I hope you did too, Nakatomi-kun," Takeo whispered.
------------------------------
The Magic Club and its members belong to Bandai. They're used
here without permission.
After seeing the Mahou Tsukai Tai fansubs, I've fallen in love!
It's quick-paced, delightfully funny, and truly romantic. Altough
you would think it's cliche, both the OAV series and the TV
series can be... *Magical*. The more surreal, serious moments
(Like Sae's dream sequences or Akane's flight sequences) seem
like the effects Evangelion *should* have had in the later
episodes. I haven't liked a series like MTT since I first saw
Urusei Yatsura and Ranma. It's a shame it's so damn short.
Unlike Kodocha, I think I can easily write for it. ^_^
If you haven't seen Mahou Tsukai Tai, I highly reccomend it.
While they're closely linked, you can pick up either the OAV *or*
the TV series and not be left out.
C.
* * *
C. Jones - http://www.coredata.net
Bus - cjones@coredata.net
Per - guilty@furinkan.net
Ph# - 806-372-7520 x 536
Just say NO to intellectual property!