Glorious Acting Director.

[therealkaichan]

Chapter Two



That morning, Kana walked up to Hans and informed him that they were partners from now on, period. Hans didn’t refuse, not that she would’ve cared, and she went up to get the paperwork to get the partnership done.

Miss Freeman did refuse, but nobody paid her much attention. She was just being overprotective of her favourite student. The paperwork was done in a few moments, and at least for the time being, Kana managed to get away from getting kicked out of school.

When Hans was asked the reason for this decision by one of his fangirls, who had offered before to become the replacement for his partner (as many had), he shrugged and said that they had managed to get along just fine, and that he was fine with partnering with anyone who could keep up with his pace.

Somehow, his fangirls didn’t find this any demeaning, even if he had basically said that they all sucked.



Kana didn’t have many fans to give explanations to, so in that aspect she got out easier. It didn’t mean any better, since she got to see Hans’ fangirls following her around and apparently wondering why the hell their flawless perfectly perfect idol had chosen to side with a girl like her.
Not that she cared much about her reputation. A bad reputation helped her quite a bit, after all.

As idyllic as everything sounded, their first practical class as partners was terrible. So was their second and their third. And it would’ve continued like that forever if it weren’t for someone’s very very short fuse.

“You are the worst supporter ever.”
“Idly standing by while a person with no capacity for strategy does everything is stupid. It’s no wonder you never got sent on a mission in the last four years.”
“Look, every class we are taught says it. Supporter channels magic, fighter shapes magic. If I’m shaping it what’s the point in giving you any of it? We’d lose time and power that I could use in kicking people.”
“The point is that once you fight against a pair that actually works like I say, two moving and attacking targets are harder to hit than one moving and one static.”
“If you give me enough magic input, I can deal with both without breaking a sweat.”
“And with twenty? Thirty? War is not the same as a duel at the Academy.”
“I know that! I can put up with twenty, fifty or a hundred. I just need you to work as I say.” She crossed her arms, set on getting her point across.
“If you want a mana slave you can go and get someone else. I’ll gladly step aside.”
“You’re just being an asshole again, aren’t you? We can’t work like this.”
“I’m just giving you my opinion. If you don’t want it, a partnership is as easily undone as it is done. I would prefer if we both compromised a little, but would you take that?”
“Of course not. Compromising when it comes to you it’s the same as simply letting you do whatever you want.”
“You are just being childish there.”
“Am not!”
“Kana.” Hans sighed, then smiled once more, he had gotten her attention just fine by using her first name for once. “You shouldn’t try to put all the weight on your shoulders. There is nothing bad about sharing your duty with someone else, is there?”

There was a long moment of silence after that. Kana left speechless for once, before she finally managed to blurt out the smartest reply she could come up with.

“Shut up!” Yes. Her wit had just gone away.
“Let’s meet tomorrow for training. Have a good day.”
“Come back here you bastard!” She ran up to Hans’ retreating figure, grabbing his arm to stop him.
“Yes?” He smiled, even though Kana was probably putting too much strength in her grip.
“I don’t know what the hell you are planning, but you are not getting me to do what you want.”
“I see. I will note that down. Now, if you don’t mind, that is the arm I use to get ace scores in my exams.”

She let go of his arm as if it were on fire, frowning.

“I don’t get you, and I don’t want to.” She stepped away as well, leaving the room even before Hans resumed his way out.



Kana decided to walk back to the dorm or to wherever as long as it was far. Maybe she stopped to kick Hans’ locker in the training rooms before leaving, but it was totally his fault. What was wrong with that guy?! They barely knew each other, and there was no way that she was that easy to read right? Was he that good at all the things he did? That only made her more and more ang---

Her thought processes were usually very longwinded and repetitive, so Kana was pretty used to them getting interrupted, but not by bumping into people. That was pretty not-her, unless it came to...
“I take it training didn’t go over too well?” And there he was. Kael was usually pretty serious, except when he was being Evil Acting Director Kael, so she didn’t fret too much over his neutral expression.
“Don’t even mention it.”
“Maybe you should consider a different approach? I do agree that Evie was a bit far too lenient with your requests.”
“You are supposed to be on my side, you know? You've known me for much longer than you've known him.”
“Him being your companion will surely raise your grades, I’m on your side, but not in the way that you like.”
“As usual.” Even then she couldn’t help a smile. Kael was a really soothing presence ever since that time long ago, and she couldn’t even think of him not being able to do those things. It was one of those things one assumed were natural.
“Compromising a little is not a bad idea and you know it.”
“Yeah, but still! He’s always winning at everything. That’s not fair.”
“Won’t you be losing far more when you get kicked out for not complying with the regulations?”
“I guess. But still.”
“You are angry because he can tell the kind of person you are. Tell me, when did you even try to hide those things? You were quite different when you first came into this Academy, were you not?”
“That’s different. And he wasn’t even here when that happened.”
“Some people are simply naturals at telling things about others? It must be associated to the fact that his main chakra is Ajna.” Kana just stared at Kael for a few seconds, waiting for the rest of the information. Sadly that never came.
“Translation, please.” She muttered once she was sure the explanation wasn’t ever going to appear.
“That’s the brow chakra. The third eye.”
“Oh. So he’s a magical intuition type?”
“You could say that. Just like you are the charge into things blindly type. That’s because your main chakra is Anahata and it keeps on spinning out of control. You’ve been skipping class too much.”
“I already got detention for that though.”
“Yes. But you kicked a locker today. Thrice.” And there he smiled.
“I’ll go pick up the toilet brush.”



Kael watched Kana leave without saying a word.
He still wondered why she kept on getting into trouble, when there was no need for it at all, but well, maybe that was just ‘her style’ as Kean would have put it.

In the end, he wondered if this new partnership would stabilize her, or if it would end up even worse. It was a bit like watching a trainwreck, in a way.

“Lieutenant General.” Hans greeted him. Even if it wasn’t usual for Kael to be visiting the training grounds, Hans still looked unfazed.
“Good afternoon, hopefully she’s not giving you much trouble?”
“Ahlgren? No, she’s okay.”
“Would you mind a little push?”
“You are the one in charge, Lieutenant General.”
“Yes, but pushing students beyond what they are willing to do has proven to be an ineffective method over and over again.”
“But her you can push?”
“She needs to be pushed in order to advance. But it’s all about how you push her.”
“Was your brother like that, Director?”
“Yes. I know these types quite well. But don't you have better things to do than play tug-o-war at such high stakes?”
“I can't say I truly care.” Hans shrugged. “I know you are well aware of that.”
“I am. That is why we cannot trust you with any important mission even when you are our top student.”
“Soldiers should be fanatics, shouldn’t they?”
“Isn’t devoted a much less dangerous word?”
“I suppose. But ‘dangerous’ is really descriptive of our usual procedures.”

Hans was the first to step back, saluting as it was normal before leaving to take a shower. Kael was a little amused. He rarely heard anyone except Tanit talking about Kean. Most of them had pretty much forgotten about him, or avoided mentioning him around Kael... It was some kind of unspoken norm.

But Kael had better things to do than sitting around, wondering why people were so horrified of even mentioning his dead brother. He had meetings to attend, and apparently now, he had to arrange a small push to someone who needed it.




Everything was silent. There was the faint sound of water all around, and it was quiet, warm.
The steps echoed really loudly, and there was the incessant sound of the small piece of metal being hit by a nail, caught and sent flying again.
And then the sound of water was over and she was falling, falling, and it was cold and noisy and she just wanted to go back to sleep.

The alarm woke her up from an uneasy dream. Kana sat in her bed, her hand reaching absently to her right wrist. There was nothing there, was there? As it should be.

Nevermind.

She was quick to get up, and even quicker to have breakfast. Kana was most definitely not in the mood for detention with all the things that had happened so skipping class, or even arriving late, was absolutely out of the question.

She made quick work of putting on her uniform and shoes, and made her way to the classroom.

There were more than a few shocked faces at seeing her around so early, but nobody really mentioned anything on that. Aileen arrived just a few minutes later, all smiles as she usually was while having a bar of chocolate serve as her breakfast.

“You’re here early. Is Hans rubbing off on you? That would be so weird.”
“No, he’s not. I went to bed early and I didn’t have anything to do when I woke up.”
“Are you sure? I worry for you!”
“Pretty sure, yes.”
“Oh good!”
“Responsible top student Kana would be creepy as hell.” Kana chuckled at the mental image. “If it ever happens, you are authorized to go and beat him up for me, Aileen.”
“Breaking the ‘no hitting my partner’ rule? Wow...”
“He’s clearly evil, maybe I should add an ‘unless he’s evil’ to the rule...?”
“It sounds like a good idea.”
“Consider it done.”
“Did you hear about the visit?” Aileen got closer as she said that. It looked like she was onto something.
“Huh? A visit?”
“Yes!”
“Good morning Ahlgren, Ivers.” Of course, that was Hans.
“Go die.”
“Good morning!”

As usual he arrived just second before the teacher came in, causing the conversation to be put on indefinite hold. After receiving the expected responses from both girls, Hans went on to his seat. He had been quite satisfied to find that he did look forward to seeing what was behind the ‘small push’ that the Director had talked about. He was quite sure it would prove to be entertaining at least.
Then again, most things related to Ahlgren ended up being either ‘entertaining’ or at least ‘interesting enough’. That was something that Hans actually found fascinating about that girl.

It was probably the only thing he found fascinating about anyone.



Kana was one hundred and fifty percent sure that she had seen that girl somewhere else. She used the world ‘girl’ very loosely, as she was most likely quite above the age for a ‘girl’, but that was beyond the point. She seemed to be around Kael’s age, and that meant that for her to visit an Academy this had to be either about work, or because she was to be a teacher.

She was tall and seemed to be in good form. Other than that it was difficult to describe her, since most of her face was covered by long brown hair, and her clothes were just the standard winter uniform. Maybe that last thing was noteworthy if only because it was the middle of spring.

It was always big news to have someone from outside visit unless it was a festival, so everyone had been talking about her for a while now.
“Man, I feel like I’m always the last to find out about everything.”
“That’s because you don’t pay attention to the things around you. You just go around and ignore everyone.” Aileen sighed. She wondered how someone who had been here for so long was so unaware of the things happening around her all the time.
“I guess that could be it.”
“It is, believe me. You should just listen to the things people say when you walk by. You can learn a lot by just doing that.”
“I’d say that I’ll try, but I’ll probably just forget about trying.”
“That sounds like you, all right.”
“So, tell me the juicy details? You are my endless source of information.”
“Okay, her name is Maryam Colburn. She arrived earlier today, and apparently there was no planned visit on her part, so it seems like it could be high clearance.”
“Or maybe just a visit?”
“Graduates don’t usually go visit Academies other than their own... You know, security reasons, or so the procedures say... But I heard that she’s a graduate from the Northern Quarters, class 1837.”
“That’s Kael’s class.”
“Yes. It looks like they were classmates, and they even went on some missions together.”
“Maybe that’s where she looks familiar from?”
“Do you know her?”
“Not by name. But I have this idea that I’ve seen her before.”
“Well, maybe you know her from the season you spent on the Director’s country house? She could’ve visited.”
“I’m not sure... I’ll ask Kael later. He’ll remember.”
“Well, if anything you’d do well on avoiding her for the time being. If she’s on a mission it’s best for us students to not bother her.”
“I know, I know. That’s standard procedure.”
“Yes, but ‘standard procedure’ usually is not in the same sentence as ‘Kana usually follows’.”
“You’re growing mean, Aileen. Are you sure it’s not you that the bastard is rubbing off on?”
“Brrr, no!” Both girls had a small laugh at the mental images that the idea had attached.
“Aileen are you done?” The voice came attached to a girl. She looked quite a bit like Aileen did (up to her pretty face and clear blue eyes), except for a few differences and a shorter haircut.
“Alyssa! We were talking about the strange visit.”
“How’s that strange? She’s probably here on a mission like graduates usually are.” Her tone was deadpan, and for Kana it was always weird to see that tone attached to Aileen’s face.
“Well, she’s from another Quarter to begin with.”
“Yes, and how is that weird?”
“She has a point there. There have been other people like her before.” Kana shrugged.
“But there is something about this one, okay?” Aileen was a little flustered as she added that. Maybe she was a little prone to overreacting, but it didn’t give everyone the right to assume that she did it all the time.
“Then let’s wait and see.” This was as far as Kana got in the ‘compromise’ category, and Aileen was okay with it. Maybe Alyssa wasn’t, but when was she anyway?





Later at day, Kana did exactly what she said she would. Around six, she could be seen waiting outside the Director's office, to see if their dear Acting Director Lieutenant General Kael Bystrom was in the mood to say hello to her.

Sadly, unless it was because of detention, it was really complicated for Kana to see Kael. The reason for that was, as most knew, the Serpent Lady.

She had assumed her position the same day as Kael had assumed the Acting Director role, when the General (the real Director of the Academy) decided to leave most of the administrative work to him. The change came as no surprise for most of the students and personnel of the Central Quarters, after all the General had been grooming his successor for a while, and while maybe for the Outer Quarters it was a bit surprising in the sense that the successor was really young, for a man of Kael's outstanding achievements (having made Lieutenant General at such a young age was reserved for war heroes and people whose achievements list was longer than the phone book) nobody really complained.

The Serpent Lady seemed to be of Kael's generation as well. That was probably why he had her brought all the way from the Northern Quarters so she could be his assistant. Other than that there wasn't much information on her. She was quiet and really pretty, and she gave off this really strange dangerous vibe that got on Kana's nerves really easily. Most people assumed that in case of an emergency she would be Kael's supporter, even when he had adamantly refused to use any kind of magic ever since his brother had passed away six years ago.

“The Acting Director is busy today." Was her usual greeting for Kana as soon as she arrived. "You must understand that he is a most busy man."
"I didn't even say what I wanted!"
"There is no need for that. A busy person is equally busy no matter what you want, unless you can really prove that this is an emergency worth of his time." She smiled, a creepy mix of a pleasant smile and the traditional 'laughing at you' face that most people knew how to use.
"Look, just let him know I'm here."
"The Acting Director is in a meeting. I was asked to not interrupt him as this is of the most importance to the Academy."
"I can wait."
"Then wait outside. Preferably while attending to your duties."
"You're horrible."
"And you are most spoiled and impolite. The Acting Director is far too kind with you."
"I get that all the time. I'll wait."

It was at this point that most of Kana's discussions with the Serpent Lady came to an impasse. Neither would really win the discussion, because they didn't consider the other's argument a valid one. So they waited in silence for over an hour, until Kael finally came out.

"Do you have anything for me, Tanit?"
"You received a call from the Northern Quarters in order to confirm Sergeant Colburn’s correct arrival."
"So much hurry, it's so uncharacteristic of them..."
"It is, but I gave them the confirmation."
"Good, good."
"Oh. Also that girl is waiting for you. She has been quite annoying about this, so I take it she must consider it important."
"Ah, if it isn't Kana herself. Please, come in, and I'm sorry that we had to make you wait."
"It's okay. She told me you were in a meeting."
"Things have been busy, you know." Kael smiled, moving aside and motioning for Kana to go into the office.
"I'm okay with waiting."
"Take a seat, tell me what's bothering you."
"That woman, Mariam Colburn, from the Northern Quarter."
"What happens with her?"
"It's easy. I have this nagging feeling that I know her."
"Maybe you do."
“What do you mean with that?"
“You know how it is. The doctors said that I shouldn't talk much about the things that happened before. So as to not affect your memory.”
“They just want me to remember in case of something important to them being missing. I don’t care, I just want to know if I met her before.”
“It is possible. You still shouldn’t think about it too much.”
“I already told them I don’t remember a thing anyway.”
“Fussing so much is not getting you anywhere. I’m not agreeing with you, the doctors are not agreeing with you, and you are wasting my time and yours with this.” Kael’s hand went to his pocket, where he found that coin he usually fiddled with. Kana frowned a little.
“I see." She understood, of course. He wouldn’t talk, but he did have other ways of telling things to her, didn’t he? “I’ll go then, I’m sorry for taking your time.”
“It’s fine, you know you can come talk to me any time you need it.”
“I’ll see you later then!”


Kana left the office. So she had known this person, hadn’t she? Somewhere before, it the part of her life that had been taken from her. Of course, Kael couldn’t talk about it, but he had been nice enough to let her know that, and that was something.

She wouldn’t push the issue. Neither on Kael’s nor on her memory’s side, she knew better than trying to commit suicide by getting crippling headaches, and she wasn’t really crazy about that strange drowning sensation that always accompanied every attempt to remember.

No, she was okay like this.





---

Dude I love Kael.

Also, spoilers, it's not amnesia and there are plenty of memories from that time.

*2 years old xD*