Aquila surveyed the street as she strode down it with Kasumi’s hand in hers, watching the reactions of the crowd. The morning sun passed behind some clouds, but only for a moment. Behind them were Yuri and Cap, holding hands as well, and behind them were Sayori and Yukari.

    “So, did anybody else keep calling the front desk to see if Natsuki had checked in?” Sayori asked, a tremor in her voice.

    “We did,” Yuri said.

    “Same here,” Kasumi added. “We barely got any sleep.”

    “I think that goes for all of us,” Yuri stated.

    “Is it just me,” Cap asked, “or are Aquila and Kasumi holding hands rather...aggressively.”

    “Looks that way to me,” Sayori said, walking alongside Yukari behind Cap and Yuri.

    Beside her, Kasumi sighed. “Aquila’s still annoyed about the hotel register.”

    “What about the hotel register?” Cap asked.

    “They needed a family name for her, so we used mine,” Kasumi replied. “But, we have to pretend that we’re sisters. I keep telling her that unmarried couples living together do that sort of thing here all the time to keep up appearances with the neighbours, but...”

    “But we should be able to pretend that we’re married,” Aquila declared.

    “We’re not married,” Kasumi stated.

    “If Cap and Yuri can pretend that they’re engaged, we should be able to pretend that we’re married.”

    “I’ve been dealing with this all morning,” Kasumi said.

    Aquila gave Kasumi’s hand a firm squeeze. “Let them witness our love! I want to see the looks on their faces when...”

    “Aquila,” Kasumi interrupted, “nobody is going to be scandalized by two women holding hands on the streets of Tokyo. It happens all the time – it’s an acceptable form of public affection. Look, there are two women also doing it!”

    “But we’re in love,” Aquila retorted.

    “They might be in love too!” Kasumi declared. “Nobody cares here! They just care that we don’t make a spectacle of ourselves. The only way two women holding hands could scandalize the people around them is if they started making out.”

    Aquila stopped and stared at her. “What, you mean...in public?”

    Kasumi nodded.

    Aquila blinked and blushed. “But, that’s a private thing.”

    Kasumi smiled. “Precisely.”

    Aquila heard Cap chuckle. “You Japanese are way too reserved.”

    “Except for Yuri,” Yukari added. “She’s lovey-dovey with Cap everywhere.”

    Aquila glanced back. Yuri was staring at the ground with a deep blush.

    “Face it, Yuri,” Sayori said. “You’re turning into an American.”

    “Aquila, I keep telling that nobody cares that we’re together here, and it’s true,” Kasumi stated. “This country has an entire mainstream genre of literature about women falling in love with women, and another with men in love with men. Appearances having to be a certain way is something that everybody here has to deal with, not just us. The only way two people holding hands could scandalize anybody here is if they were men, and that’s assuming things haven’t changed in the last nine years.”

    Aquila grinned. “That’s it! We could make ourselves look like men! It would be easy! All we’d have to do is–”

    “We’re not doing that,” Kasumi declared.

    “Okay,” Aquila said. “Then I’ll make myself look like a man, and hold hands with Cap, and–”

    “Yuri would kill you,” Kasumi stated.

    Aquila held up her hand. “But...”

    “And I’d help,” Kasumi added.

    Aquila frowned. “Well, I’m keeping your family name. From now on I’m Aquila Agawa.”

    Kasumi smiled. “That makes me very happy.”

    “So, can we get back to actually trying to find Natsuki?” Sayori asked. “And perhaps not drawing everybody’s attention by having a loud, public conversation about drawing people’s attention?”

    Aquila sighed and nodded. “The first creation I detected is just a little further ahead. Cap should have eyes on them in a couple of minutes. The second is a bit behind them.”

    “We’ve got a problem,” Cap said. “What I’ve got eyes on ahead of us are six men in plainclothes with concealed weapons, coming our way.”

    A chill ran down Aquila’s spine. “You think they’re here for us?”

    “Let’s not find out,” Cap suggested, lowering his voice. “Let’s turn down this intersection ahead. Everybody keep walking and talking like nothing’s wrong.”

    “I don’t know if I can do this,” Yuri said as they walked around the corner. Aquila blinked. They were the only pedestrians on the street, except for a group of men approaching in the distance.

    “Damn,” Cap hissed. “Six more men in plainclothes with guns, right ahead of us.” He looked behind them. “And the six who were ahead of us just turned the corner behind us too.”

    “So they are here for us,” Kasumi said, looking around. “They’ve cleared the street! What do we do?”

    “There’s a large parking lot coming up that connects to a street on the other side,” Aquila whispered, squeezing Kasumi’s hand. The creation they had been following was getting closer too. “We cut across that.”

    “As soon as we hit that parking lot, run,” Cap hissed.

    They turned into the parking lot and broke into a run. They only made it to the middle of the lot before they found themselves surrounded by soldiers on all sides, training their rifles on them.

    “They herded us!” Yukari said. “What do we do?”

    “Can we fight our way out?” Kasumi asked.

    Cap shook his head. “Not without a stray bullet hitting one of us. They’re JSDF – they know how to shoot.”

    “What can we do?” Yuri said. “What are they going to do to us?”

    “I don’t know,” Aquila muttered. Both of the creations she had detected were very close now, one of them just behind the soldiers in front of them, the other trailing by a few minutes at best.

    “What is the meaning of this?” Cap roared, still holding Yuri’s hand. “I am an American citizen, and I am here minding my own business with my fiancee, who has applied for American citizenship, and our friends. How dare you try to detain us! Do you have any idea of the shitstorm you’re in for from the American embassy for this? If you’re not going to let all of us go on our way in peace, I demand to speak to my embassy, as is my right as an American!”

    “That right only exists for Americans from this world,” a voice said behind the soldiers, the crowd parting to reveal a Japanese woman with long blond hair in a turtleneck and a long tan wool coat. “And we know for a fact that you’re not.” She held up her smartphone, the screen displaying a street layout with six dots in the middle of the parking lot and one to the edge. “Everybody from the story worlds is saturated in a certain bandwidth of EM radiation. Once you know what that bandwidth is, you can track them wherever they go. It used to be that we’d try to detain you as soon as possible after your arrival, but the new procedures call for a period of observation first, to determine powers and intentions. Makes sense, I guess – after all, the last thing we want is an altercation with some high-powered individuals in a four star hotel...or a jewelery store...or a ramen restaurant.”

    “We never stood a chance,” Yukari breathed.

    The woman gave them a sad smile. “I’m afraid not.”

    “You still don’t have the right to detain us!” Cap declared. “If we’re not from this world, then we’re foreigners, and Japanese law does not distinguish between foreigners from this world or foreigners from another. And it clearly states that you can’t arrest us without suspicion of a crime, and that you have to inform us of that suspected crime within forty-eight hours or let us go. I know all of this because I used to be a superhero and I operated in Japan in the 1980s, and you have to know the law before you can help enforce it! So tell me, what crime are we suspected of committing, because I’m pretty sure eating ramen, buying an engagement ring, and staying at a hotel are legal here!”

    “You mean besides entering this country illegally?” the woman replied. “Or how about counterfeiting currency? Shall I ask you where all this money you’ve been throwing around came from? You’re right, though. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t have the right to detain anybody from the story worlds without cause. That would require an emergency cabinet order signed by the Prime Minister.” She pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of her coat, walked forward, and handed it to Cap. “He signed that order two months ago. Here’s a copy. I trust you can read Japanese as well as you can speak it.”

    Cap opened the envelope and read the piece of paper inside. “It’s real,” he said quietly.

    The woman sighed. “Look, you may not believe this, but we are the good guys. Once we’ve taken you in and processed you, we’ll help you however we can. But, we can’t leave you at liberty.”

    Cap gritted his teeth. “And if we refuse? I may not be a superhero anymore, but still have all of my powers. You really want to go up against somebody who can move faster than the speed of sound, shoot lasers from his eyes, fly, and is bulletproof?”

    The woman raised an eyebrow and took several steps back. “That’s impressive. But I think even somebody who can move faster than the speed of sound can’t protect this many people once the bullets start flying. And...” She held up her hand. Magic circles appeared around her, humming with energy. “...how are you against magic?”

    “Wait!” Aquila cried, stepping forward and holding out her hands. “Everybody, please just wait! We’re just here to find our friend. You’re right, we’re from the story worlds. Our friend, Natsuki Toshiro, fell through the information stream into this world, and we came here to find her, get back into the story worlds, and get away from this war. That’s all we’re here to do! We–”

    Aquila’s eyes widened as the second creation she had detected stepped through the line of soldiers. The long white hair, the build, the gait, the face, the eyes...

    Aquila began to shake. “You can’t be her. You can’t be.” She shook her head. “There’s no way you can be her! You can’t be Lady Atlantia!”

    The new creation, dressed in a shirt, light blue peacoat, and jeans, stopped and stared at her. “I’m not. I’m Lady Meliana. Good grief, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

    Aquila barely felt Kasumi take her hand. “You can’t be her. You just can’t be.”

    Meliana hesitated, but then stepped forward and put a hand on Aquila’s shoulder. “I’m not this person you think I am. But I am here to help.”

    Tears rolled down Aquila’s cheeks. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...I’m sorry that I–”

    “Aquila, it’s not her,” Kasumi said. “It’s not your magical knight.”

    Meliana turned to the woman in the turtleneck. “Lee, what were you thinking? The point was to bring them in quietly, not scare the hell out of them.” She looked at the soldiers. “Everybody, lower your guns! If a fight was going to start, it would have happened by now.” She turned back to them. “I apologize. Intelligence came in a few days ago about our enemy, his capabilities, and his intentions, and it has everybody very rattled. My name is Lady Meliana, and I’m a magical knight and a mech pilot from a science fantasy light novel series and anime. This is my friend, Leora Deutschland. She’s a wizard from a fantasy anime. And Lee, if you don’t put away those magic circles, I’ll tell them what they actually do.”

    “Just sit down,” Kasumi said, helping Aquila to the pavement as the humming of the magic circles disappeared. “Breathe. You’re going to be okay.”

    “She looks just like her,” Aquila muttered, shaking her head.

    “Just breathe,” Kasumi repeated. “In and out.”

    “I’m guessing I’m negotiating with you,” Meliana said, stepping over to Cap. “What’s your name?”

    “Just call me ‘Captain’,” Cap said.

    “Very well, Captain,” Meliana began. “We’re in a war, and things are very, very bad right now. If we don’t win, this world and every story world attached to it will be destroyed, and time is running out. We can’t let six individuals of unknown power just wander around the city. We need to bring you back, find out who you are, and verify your intentions. I think you understand all of this. So, how do we make this work?”

    “If we’re going to be surrendering to you, there are conditions,” Cap said. “First, we are not to be separated at any time, including during transit.”

    “I can agree to that,” Meliana said.

    “Second, we are not to be imprisoned.”

    “I can agree to that on the condition that you have no malicious or criminal intent. Is that acceptable?”

    “It is.”

    “It’s going to be okay,” Kasumi soothed, holding Aquila. “Everything is going to be okay.”

    “If any charges are made against us, we are to receive legal defence counsel, both American and Japanese, and they are to be private lawyers with a track record of winning cases and at least ten years of experience in Japanese criminal law,” Cap continued.

    “Agreed,” Meliana said.

    “Upon verification of our identities and intentions, you are to release us on our own recognizance.”

    “Agreed. Is there anything else?”

    “None of our phones are to be confiscated.”

    “I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to that. They will have to be checked for software that can compromise base or operational security. I can arrange for them to be returned after inspection, assuming that they’re found to be safe.”

    Cap sighed. “Then, just let us keep the flip phone that Aquila is carrying. It was bought through the hotel, specifically so that our friend could contact us if she asked for us at the front desk. All we’ve done is charge it.”

    “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises. It will be up to base security. What else?”

    “You need to help us find our friend,” Cap stated.

    “Natsuki would have fallen through only a few minutes before we followed,” Yukari said. “She wasn’t more than half an hour ahead of us.”

    “Lee, what happened to that other blip?” Meliana asked.

    “We lost it,” Leora replied. “I’m sorry – this is a new technology, and there’s still parts of the city we haven’t got coverage of yet. It appeared at the edge of our range, and then moved out of it. It didn’t appear again.”

    “So she’s out there somewhere,” Sayori said. “There’s still hope.”

    “We will help you find your friend,” Meliana said to Cap. “As agreed. Are there any other conditions?”

    “I guess not,” Cap replied.

    “Well, then, Captain,” Meliana said, “I guess it’s time for me to accept your surrender.”

NEXT: “Natsuki”