[Grysar] (Encrypted email) Date: Evening March 31, 2004 (Japan) / Early Morning March 31, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Taki's graduation and Kazuko Yamagata To: Wataru Yamada, Kaede Takeuchi, Satoshi Watanabe, CC: Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata,Taki Shimiru Wataru, Kaede, and Satoshi, and all The last of our little group has now graduated high school. Congratulations again Taki. Casting a bit of a pall over the ceremonies, there was a last minute replacement speaker in the form of Kazuko Yamagata-san. Her day job is as young adult liaison to the Tokyo Metropolitan School Board. The principal was really glad to have her and she was a better speaker than he was. Arai Hinako-san, the Hierophant, was also in attendance at ceremony, which apparently her sister Arai Nicola-san was not expecting, though it does appear to be on her behalf. After the ceremony, Hinako went backstage and Katie was able to report what happened next. Hinako and Yamagata knew each other but were surprised to see one another at the ceremony. Yamagata referred to "Shimiru-chan "and said that "she owes Taki and her friends a debt." This is presumably related to her being one of the people rescued in Osaka. That said, Katie had a sense that Yamagata may owe another such debt, maybe to Aki Uehara, Yorihisa, or the World, but those are all just her guesses. Hinako also pressed Yamagata about the Council of Mystery books. Yamagata sounded angry or edgy. She didn't want to talk to Hinako one-on-one about that and said to the Hierophant should read them herself. Yamagata added "if the Council wants to know anything, she'd be happy to answer their questions." Hinako wasn't surprised by this reference to the existance of a council and said ït wouldn't be necessary" and "Yamagata should consider what she's saying, for everyone's good, including hers." In addition, Hinako suggested that Yamagata could pay back the favor she owed Taki via a college recommendation. Yamagata took her up on this and Hinako delivered the note afterwards and did her refer to people's original full name thing. Apparently we aren't the only ones that troubles. Here's the text of the note: The note was on her own letterhead but was handwritten in fairly largely characters, it said: "I hope my appearance at your ceremony was not a disturbance, it was part of my official duties. However, since we happened to meet, I wanted to inform you that I would be honored to write a letter of recommendation to you, or any of your friends, that discreetly reflects the fact that there were important reasons that your focus on academics during that year was not what it would it would have been otherwise. While my role in the board of education is strictly advisory, my title does carry some weight. Your obedient servant, Yamagata K." Katie and Taki are going to try reaching out to Yamagata. I may try to follow up with some of my contacts (Ryuji, Matthias, Sumire), but only afterwards. I haven't spoken to Ryuji in person for at least a year, and he may know something that the other two didn't know or didn't tell me last month. Wataru, would you be interested in coming along? You might get along with him better than some of my other contacts and since Ryuji dumped me hard two years ago, it'd be helpful if the focus wasn't just on the two of us. Haruko P.S. I've been able to scrounge up the parts for a fingerprint kit, I should have a chance to test it out in the next couple days. If you would be willing to do me this favor, Takeuchi-san, I'll bring it to you so that Satoshi can have it for his investigations. ***** (Encrypted email) Date: Evening March 31, 2004 (Japan) Subject: Didn't get a chance to give you your present To: Taki Shimiru Taki, I wanted to give you and Nicola-chan a note with my gift if I had a chance to talk with you one-on-one. Obviously, that complicated, so I'll just tell you and you can relay. So to celebrate your graduation and upcoming birthday 18th, it would be my honor to take the two of you clubbing. Thanks to my time on Shin-Okubo story and my, let's say, slightly wilder younger days, I do know a bit about the Tokyo scene and can ask some questions without names to find a place where a few girls can have fun dancing without getting too much attention or too many requests to dance from guys. If that's not interesting, something else nice that the two of you can do that allows you to both be discreet and actually together. We could also put our heads together about bringing anyone else. Also, I forget if you told me, but be sure to let me know what the rules are for information sharing at girls poker night. Haruko --- [Ciara] (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Morning of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Evening of March 31, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Re: Graduation To: Haruko Kinsha, Wataru Yamada, Kaede Takeuchi CC: Katie Andrews, Kyon Sorata, Taki Shimiru Huh, okay. That whole thing with Yamagata is unexpected… and troubling. Is this the first that we’ve heard which acknowledges that there actually is an actual Council somewhere, and not just this thing from the books plus Shuffle? If they were talking about it, does that mean that one of them is on it? (I’d guess it’s not both of them because otherwise they’d probably have talked about this sooner and more privately.) Also, if Yamagata feels that she owes us a debt, I’m curious about how far she plans on taking her ideas for repayment. The letters of recommendation really only work for the rest of us if we’re planning on transferring schools. Does this mean she doesn’t actually know who the rest of us are? Sorry if I’m repeating stuff you guys have already figured out. I’m just trying to work my way through this from the information that I have. Satoshi ***** (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Morning of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Evening of March 31, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Congratulations To: Taki Shimiru Taki, I just thought I’d write to congratulate you on your graduation. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. I hope that whatever your next step is, it’s a good one and it’s what you really want. Satoshi ***** (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Morning of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Evening of March 31, 2004 (Maine) Subject: A Few Different Things To: Haruko Kinsha Haruko, So I was hoping I’d be able to tell you this over video chat, but things have been really busy on both our ends and I had promised you a decision on your very generous offer for the summer by the end of the month, which technically it still is here. I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline. Thank you again for offering, but given circumstances I don’t think it would be right to potentially place your parents in danger by drawing more of The World/Temperance/any of their other associates’ attention to them. I’ll be fine at my old place. I even had the locks changed a while ago. That might not necessarily stop anyone who’s really determined, but it’ll at least make it harder for them. Plus, me being back in Japan makes it a whole lot easier to check in with everyone. We should definitely video chat again soon, though. Maybe this weekend, since I don’t have any games for the first time since I’ve gotten back? (And then after next weekend, the season will be over one way or another, though I’m hoping it’s the best possible way it could be over.) Thank you again. I really do appreciate your offer even if I’m not going to take you up on it. Satoshi P.S. When you referred to the “original full name thing,” whose names are we talking about here? --- [Grysar] Haruko awoke grumpy. Morning's light shown through the curtains and while she stayed sober last night she had stayed up late only to be met with disappointment. Her phone had buzzed with a new email but her vision was blurry and not ready for the small screen. Still wearing her camisole with the cloth butterflies sewn to the straps and her pajama shorts, she ventured out to the hall to acquire coffee before returning to her computer chair. Maki apparently was already out this morning, so Haruko pulled up Satoshi's response without worrying about what her roommate may see. Frowning she read his first email, sensible enough but no response needed. When the second email arrived, she pulled it up as well better late than... Oh, she'd forgotten about time zones. The engineering student grinned and started an email noting that she didn't realize that Satoshi was majoring in pre-law before noting the time and with a startled curse. Rapidly packing her bag, if she ran, she could get to class just in time. Almost out the door, she reevaluated the social stigma for lateness weighed against her present attire. After a moment of consideration, she decided that sluttish was the more fearful label than laggard and the young engineer sprinted to join her classmates a few minutes later. (Encrypted e-mail) Date: Evening of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Morning of April 1, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Re: A Few Different Things To: Satoshi Watanabe Sorry if you were waiting on this reply. My morning was rushed by virtue of an alarm slept through. Regardless, I accept that there is a place called America where it was still March went you sent your email, although I do wonder if you consulted with you got any counsel from your wingman on that one. Seriously now, I understand. Remember that my father is one of the few adults that may actually be capable of properly weighing the risks on this manner, but I will not dispute your judgment otherwise. I would like to reintroduce you to them at some point. Now that I'll have brought a boy home, I don't need to fear my mother's meddlesome ways and your probably their favorite of my friends (Maki excluded). If you decide you want any part time work over the summer, the shrine might be looking for help, though I suspect you could get better wages for manual labor elsewhere. Let's talk more over video chat this evening. And in terms of Hinako-san, she referenced Hideo but also an alternate name for Taki's friend Mikage-chan. I don't remember exactly what it is, aside from old fashioned. There wasn't really much context for any of Taki's friends to put anything together, near as I could tell. She was asking after you, I always thought she might be a bit sweet on you or Kaede but she has a terrible way of showing it. That does remind me, decide if you feel comfortable giving advice in Taki matters. I worry I may have signalled too strongly that a ronin year was a bad idea. I was so excited to actually be out on my own, even though I love my parents, that I would have felt like I was just spinning my wheels. I don't think that's necessarily the right choice for her, I guess I lean Osaka as Katie made a convincing case, but big picture I wonder sometimes if I'm being a real friend or just sometimes enabling her. That said, I am proud of her for finally being the last of us to escape high school and to be trying new things even when they're hard. Anyhow, that can be enough, not your favorite topic I know. Lastly, looking at some rentable lake houses for the summer road trip. They're a lot cheaper places by the ocean sometimes, while still being charming. I'll get you more details once I'm further along. Good luck with your practices and games. Haruko --- [Ardweden] (encrypted e-mail) Date: Evening of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Early Morning of April 1, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Re: Graduation To: Satoshi Watanabe, Haruko Kinsha, Wataru Yamada, Kaede Takeuchi CC: Kyon Sorata, Taki Shimiru This is the first time I remember hearing about a Council that exists now & not the thing with the books, yeah. Hinako wasn't surprised or confused or demanding when Kazuko Yamagata said what she did so something at least named the Council makes sense to me. With the context, it almost has to have to do with policing or ruling or censoring Arcana, or maybe just keeping track of us and what people know. There's a quick list of Arcana I figure might be on it, like the Heirophant or Temperance, but it's strange we haven't heard of them at all because it's hard to police if they don't make themselves known at all. Maybe we just haven't caused enough trouble. (& I figure it was formed after Everything Two Years Ago but then why weren't any of us approached in some way for/against it?) I wonder if we could just ask Yamagata or Hinako about it directly but then I don't want either of them to know I was spying on them. I'll think about some good ways to approach it if it ever comes up. Because even though Yamagata's worrisome & even if she's being used against us, I don't think right now that she MEANS to be used against us. I felt like her offering her recommendation letter to Taki was in pretty good faith. She probably did some sort of combination of trying to forget about what happened & move past it, like a lot of us have. If we can get her on our side, even kind of, that would be helpful. I don't think she knows who the rest of us are either. Except for probably Kyon. He's pretty recognizable. I don't think anyone is as tall and orange and in the spotlight the way he is. Katie --- [Rowyn] (encrypted e-mail) Date: Evening of April 1, 2004 (Japan) / Early Morning of April 1, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Re: Graduation To: Satoshi Watanabe, Haruko Kinsha, Wataru Yamada, Katie Andrews CC: Kyon Sorata, Taki Shimiru >>This is the first time I remember hearing about a Council that exists now & not the thing with the books, yeah. Hinako wasn't surprised or confused or demanding when Kazuko Yamagata said what she did so something at least named the Council makes sense to me. With the context, it almost has to have to do with policing or ruling or censoring Arcana, or maybe just keeping track of us and what people know. There's a quick list of Arcana I figure might be on it, like the Heirophant or Temperance, but it's strange we haven't heard of them at all because it's hard to police if they don't make themselves known at all. Maybe we just haven't caused enough trouble. (& I figure it was formed after Everything Two Years Ago but then why weren't any of us approached in some way for/against it?) >> Kind of what I've been getting at and why I'm interested in past lives, really. It was either about re-forming the Council or it was already happening. This is what I've been trying to get at. The offer for a recommendation is almost insulting though. I have to wonder why now? -Takeuchi Out P.S. Kinsha-san: Fingerprinting kit? Explain. --- [Grysar] (encrypted e-mail) Date: Afternoon of April 2, 2004 (Japan) / After midnight April 2, 2004 (Maine) Subject: Re: Graduation To: Kaede Takeuchi, Satoshi Watanabe, Wataru Yamada, Katie Andrews CC: Kyon Sorata, Taki Shimiru >> P.S. Kinsha-san: Fingerprinting kit? Explain. Takeuchi-san, Sorry for the imposition of my request. The kit is small and carefully secured, but if you don't have the room I can mail it, but it will take a few weeks and not be able to assist in any investigations you are conducting. The fingerprint kit is my attempt to provide an engineering solution to Satoshi's information gathering problem. I tried to come up with a means of subtle surveillance for the Bangor tower reversed. You may be able to set up am exploit for the conventional building security system, but the absence of electricity in the world reversed stymied any means of detection I thought of that would not likely be detected themselves. There are some old fashioned spy techniques no doubt that could help detect usage, but using a film camera by daylight to record the exact current state of the place as a reference for future visits would do the job much more simply. Instead I thought it would be valuable to learn more about who was there. We know about Temperence, but having a set of her fingerprints on file could help should the future in case where her involvement is less clear cut. In addition, if i am remembering correctly, Satoshi suspected in his followup email that a second Arcana might be involved. If that's the case, fingerprints would help to verify that and give a means of establishing it in the future. I'm handing it off to you, Takeuchi-san, rather than suggesting Satoshi but one locally, so that I could do a test run and write up instructive that cover how to avoid leaving obvious signs of usage. Satoshi has enough on his mind with playoffs and I'm through my exams. I did check that all the materials are allowed to fly. But you might want to go with check baggage rather than carry on. Haruko P.S. I will confess to getting this idea from Maki's favorite videogames series. Admittedly in that one, the solution usually comes down to explaining the absence of prints or why they are in unusual places. But I did a little research and unlike some other types of pip culture forensics they seem to hold up. Full on DNA testing is also an option, but takes more elaborate lab facilities. [End!]