[FFML] [Mai Hime, Future] The Summer of Her Discontent Teaser

[Bert Miller]

John Biles wrote:
> However, because it cannibalized pieces from drafts which died and adds a
> ton of new stuff, it ended up stupidly large.
>   
That's not a problem.  Trust me.

>     "Do you get to see your family very often?" I asked Mr. Smith
> curiously.  I know he is from the US.
>   
I think most Japanese would be more likely to say "from America"; 
preferring "the US" to "America" is, in my experience, an Americanism.

>     "That's why we never went back to Tokyo," Kazuya said.  "You chose
> wisely.  Osaka is a great city."
>   
I see you settled on the "move everyone to Osaka" strategy.  Given how 
little fanfic is set there, this has a lot of potential:  kaiju battles 
involving Big O with Osaka Castle as a backdrop, etc.  ;) 

>     Shizuru smiled.  "I grew up around Kyoto, but I like Osaka.  Of course,
> you all stand out as outsiders to the locals, even now."  She has the local
> accent and we don't.
>   
Good point.  What accent do the kids have?

>     "A combination of investigation and negotiation," Shizuru said.  "We try
> to help the parties involved to come to terms.
This was a surprise:  having Shizuru also be a "Negotiator".  In 
hindsight, though, I can see it.  Though I'm not sure what she does if 
she gets caught up in violent situations like Roger does.

>     "Oh, the business with the container ship where half of it showed up on
> the shore and the other half is missing?" Kazuya asked, sounding curious.
>
>     Shizuru and Natsuki looked curiously at Mr. Smith also.
>
>     "The curious thing is that the last example of this was a good
> twenty-three years ago near Fuuka City when a ferry was cut in half," Mr.
> Smith said.
Heh.

>   "However, whoever did this was not as good at cutting ships in
> half as whoever did that."
>   
Double heh.

>     "This could have some connection to the appearance of a mysterious mech
> during the destruction of Tallin," Mr. Smith said.  "Matching no known
> model."
>
>     We suspect he's connected to that, but he doesn't seem to know about it,
> I thought.  But if he isn't, who was?
>
>     Shizuru was smiling an odd smile and I don't know why.  It rather
> reminded me of a mother smiling at her child, but that made no sense at all.
>   
Well, I can see there've been developments.  The Hime have fingered 
Roger, and gotten the word out enough so that even Akane knows.  But 
Shizuru and Natsuki know more than Akane; are the Hime starting to keep 
secrets from each other?