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Kasumi's Tale:

    I couldn't sleep, so at 1 AM, I put on some clothing, opened the window
and leaped out, flying down to the ground.  I don't have to transform to use
my abilities, I know now, it just gives me armor and a weapon.  I can call
either seperately or together.

    I went down to the track and I ran, just going full tilt and letting it
all out, dust kicking up wildly around me.  I circled it several times, then
stopped and tried practicing running fast but not too fast.  Only I felt
weird and I think I must have looked fake.

    But there has to be some way to do this. Or we would have figured out
the parental secret a long time ago.

    I tried again, feeling frustrated.  I could run any speed I wanted, but
it had to be obvious I was NOT trying my very best.  Which would make people
suspicious.

    I stopped, leaning on a lightpole and thinking.  Maybe I should wake up
one of the others.  I need someone who can tell me if I look natural.

    "Power has its price, but without power, all you can do is be a victim,"
a teenage male now said.

    I spun and saw someone in the junior high uniform, with dark red hair
that cascaded down to his elbows.  He had blue-green eyes.  "And who wants
to be a victim?"

    "Who are you?" I asked, feeling panicked.  He'd seen everything.

    "I promise I won't blab the fact that you're a battle princess to the
whole world, Kurauchi Kasumi," he said, amiably.

    "..."

    "Am I wrong?"

    "Who are you?" I asked a second time.

    "My name is Kei," he said.  I noticed he wore a pair of earrings with
square cut gems, both of them opals.  "My mother was the headmaster of Fuuka
when your parents were there."

    My breath caught.  "Do you know what happened there?" I asked.

    "Yes," he said, but didn't share anything, just studied me.  "It is too
late to back out now, Kurauchi Kasumi.  You have taken the oath and bound
yourself to destiny.  And destiny is more than running track."  He stood up
and stretched.  "But you are meant for more than this."

    "Wait, your mother was the headmistress who resigned after all the
disasters?" I asked.  And he goes here with us???  Then again, after all
that, no wonder his mother doesn't want him to go to Fuuka.

    He looked a little embarrassed rather than arrogant for a moment.
"Yes."  Then he straightened back up.  "Once your parents were ready to
rule, she passed on her duties to them and returned home," he said, walking
over and studying me, then gesturing to the track. "Is it really fair to all
these kids, you competing with them?"

    "But...I've been doing this for so long...," I said, then looked at the
ground.

    His voice was kind.  "You will be running races with tornados and
comets, Kurauchi Kasumi.  This is the cocoon," he said, spreading his arms.
"But now you are the butterfly.  You can't turn back into a caterpillar, nor
can a baby crawl back into the womb."  He shook his head.  "Your destiny
calls you to higher things."

    "I can't just give up on track after all the effort I put into it," I
said firmly.  "My folks all have destiny too, but they still do normal
things."

    He stared into my eyes and bowed.  "As you like, Princess," he said, a
little mockingly, which made me frown.  "Good luck, then, at pretending to
be something you are not.  I'll come back when you get serious."

    "No, wait!," I said.

    But his earrings glowed softly and then he was gone.

    I slapped my forehead.  Dammit.  I put a hand over my mouth for
swearing, even though it was inside my head.

    I wasn't going to give up just because some junior high kid...with
magical abilities...told me to.  Mom had appeared normal for all my life
until now, so there had to be some way to hide this so I could still do
things like track.

    If I could figure out what it was.

    I yawned, but ignored it and tried running again.  But I couldn't see
myself.  I needed someone to help me.

    Had that boy really been the old headmaster's son?  But he knew so much
and he did just show he had some kind of powers himself.  Of course, if he
could have powers, that likely meant Shun and Dan could too.

    I don't want to wake up everyone at this hour, but...

    Well, it's not that urgent.  I can try and see if Natasha maybe can help
me some with this.  She can time me and everything.

    I decided to go to bed, though I didn't sleep well.  And I sent everyone
an email that I needed to see them for a private family breakfast.

    Hopefully, my roommate and suitemates would all run off to buy breakfast
as none of them liked to cook.

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