4:

"I said I don't want to talk about it, and I meant I don't want to talk 
about it."

"But it's not like you to just go dashing out of somewhere like that," Hima 
continued as they ran through the hallway.

"I'm feeling peculiarly athletic," Calyx snapped. "Want me to demonstrate by 
kicking your head in?"

Fortunately (or perhaps not), they reached the classroom at that point, 
which caused a break-off in their conversation. They each began to compose a 
polite apology to the instructor, while Hima slid open the door.

The classroom was empty.

Calyx broke the silence first. "We're not *that* late, are we?"

"No," came the voice from behind them. "But Professor Mizuno was."

After he came down from the ceiling, Hima turned to regard the source of the 
voice. "Whaddayamean, Professor Mizuno was late?"

Vic Stengovitch had repeatedly and emphatically denied to anyone who asked 
(and several people who hadn't) that he wanted to be a ninja, claiming that 
the black jumpsuits that he wore constantly were merely reminders of his 
wonderful childhood. Most people generally took this to mean that he was 
cultivating the "ninja do not exist" attitude of the true ninja. Actually, 
most people thought he was a nut. Calyx hadn't yet formed an opinion in the 
five days they'd been in class together, but stunts like this helped her 
understand why someone else might think him insane.

"She never showed up," Vic answered Hima's question. "The whole class waited 
for ten minutes, per regulations, and when she didn't show up, we declared a 
mutiny and left."

"Waste of a good panic," Calyx muttered.

Hima's brow furrowed. "That doesn't make any sense. I mean, Aunt Athena is 
flighty as hell, but she's not deliberately irresponsible enough to just 
forget that she's got a class to teach."

Vic shrugged, almost imperceptibly. "She's your aunt. I wouldn't know."

"There wasn't any message on the blackboard, no sprite or anything?"

"Not a one." He checked his watch. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but my 
Demolitions project could probably use a bit more effort if I want to get it 
done in time for the deadline, in half-an-hour. So -- hey, is that a UFO?"

Neither of them turned to look at the alleged UFO.

"Assholes," Vic muttered, and turned to walk away.

"So now what?" Hima muttered.

"Well, speaking for myself," Calyx replied, the faint beginnings of a grin 
on her face, "I'm going to go look up Nataku-sensei and see if he'd mind 
sparring with me for a while, before I have to go earn my scholarship with 
the team."

Hima didn't return her smile. "Well, I hope you have a good time. I'm gonna 
find Sheila -- she probably knows what's up with Aunt Athena." He paused to 
consider his own words. "She damn well *should* ..."

"It's probably just something that came up really suddenly," she said in a 
soothing tone. "Maybe something's up at the Palace. Maybe she's got visitors 
from her own world --"

"Maybe a lot of maybes," he said. "See you later."

Calyx felt torn as he walked off. On the one hand, she wanted to help Hima 
out if she could; on the other, it'd been too long since she'd had some 
serious sword practice. And Hima was a martial artist. He should understand 
that.

She consoled herself, as she turned to head back the way that she'd come, by 
telling herself that he did, and that it was just worry about his aunt that 
made him surly.

Very consciously, she avoided going by the courtyard as she headed for
Nataku-sensei's office.

                               TBC