Characters: Standard three, no NPCs.
Warnings: Nine year old included. Long.
Omi was in the kitchen again. Although he expected it to grow easier with time, feeding two telekinetics was currently a great deal more work than feeding one, even if that one had been a rapidly growing little girl. Half-listening to African Suite on the small stereo tucked into one of the cabinets, he was rapidly reducing large amounts of assorted meats to neat cubes destined for sate. It was one of Nancy's favorites, and Omi wasn't above a touch of bribery when it seemed prudent. He'd need every edge he could get, tomorrow.
The main course for tonight's dinner was already in the oven; glancing at the clock, Omi decided it would be done in plenty of time for their normal dinner hour. The question of the moment was when Nagi would decide it was time for Nance and him to break from lessons to eat. Frowning down at the flashing knife, Omi continued wrestling with a decision he had to make. Something was up with Nance, something more than losing her beloved gymnastics could explain. All the signs pointed to an imminent explosion. Nagi's doing much better than I hoped he would, when it comes to teaching her. But I really don't think he's equipped to deal with a child's emotional melt-down. If I could watch without Nancy knowing. . .
Almost as if he could hear Omi's thoughts, Nagi wandered into the kitchen, holding a small shopping bag with the logo of a local dime store on it. "Excuse me, Tsukiyono-san. Not to interrupt, but would you have a couple of water bottles I could use?" He had spent most of today prepping for the first few lessons, trying to sift through the memories of his basic training in order to figure out the appropriate way to approach things.
Knife pausing briefly, Omi looked up and blinked at the other man. "Ah, welcome back, Naoe-san. Water bottles. . what size? I'm assuming you need the squirt-top caps on them?" Going back to his chopping, Omi tried to remember if they still had any of those bottles, or if they'd been thrown out.
Nagi shook his head. "No, anything with a cap will do." He gave Tsukiyono an odd quirk of a smile. "I'm not proposing to do anything unique with them. It just seems that the day has turned out a bit hotter than expected, and I don't want us to become dehydrated while working. It's too easy to get distracted with such things."
"Ah. in that case, there should be something suitable buried in the back of the plastics cabinet," Omi said, jerking his chin toward the cabinet Nagi had gotten the tupperware from the previous evening. "I'd dig them out for you, but I'm a bit bloody at the moment. Help yourself."
Frowning down at the lump of muscle he was slicing apart, Omi asked thoughtfully, "You'll be training outside, then? At least for this evening?"
"Yes." Setting the bag on the table, Nagi bent over and began to rummage inside the designated cabinet. "I figured it would be safer that way, until I have a better idea of what her power level is, and until her control improves...less breakables." He fished out one slightly-dusty water bottle, setting it on the counter. "And as long as the weather stays reasonable, I don't see it being a problem. Your backyard seems to be fairly private." Though I'll have to keep a watch for any prying eyes, he reminded himself. Schuldig's not around to make such problems conveniently disappear...
"Thank you, Naoe-san," Omi said with a faint smile. "I came to terms with the ephemeral nature of fragile objects a long time ago, but the cleanup does get tedious." Pausing to dump some of the cubed piles of meat into the waiting bowls of marinade, he continued, "I believe I shall observe from inside the house, through a window. Whatever's bothering Nance is going to break soon, and if something gets triggered, it might happen while you're instructing her."
Shrugging slightly, Omi admitted ruefully, "I'd warn you what might do that, if I had any idea. But this is more than the gymnastics, and I'm currently in the dark about it myself."
Pulling his hands from the cupboard, Nagi sat back on his heels and frowned at Tsukiyono. "You mean this is not a normal sulk? What do you think might get triggered? A temper tantrum?" He didn't like that idea at all...if he had to deal with childish histrionics during lessons, he might have to rethink his approach.
"Mmmm, it's not normal in that Nance sulking isn't normal. From what I've observed of her friends, it's a normal child-sulk." Lips tightening, he started slicing into the last slab of meat with a hint of undue vigor. "And if by temper tantrum, you mean an uncontrolled display of her Talent. . she does not do that any more."
Eyes narrowing, Nagi asked, "Oh? And why is that?" His voice was colorless and neutral--unnaturally so, even for him.
Continuing to slice, eyes on his task, Omi said calmly, "I mentioned that her mother was killed in a car accident, while Nancy was in the vehicle; at the time details were not relevant. While travelling, her mother's car was sideswiped and sent off the road, up in the mountains. Nancy was trapped inside the vehicle for ten days; her mother was flung out and died instantly." Finishing the last of the slicing, he began piling it into the remaining marinade.
"Naturally, this left her with some trauma. One day, while we were on the interstate in fairly heavy traffic, someone almost sideswiped me. Nance panicked, and managed to 'shove' the truck. Not very much, but enough that I noticed. The driver certainly did. If he hadn't had excellent reflexes, I expect the resulting accident would have involved at least seven vehicles."
Hands stilling, he looked up at Nagi. "I will admit that I was probably slightly cruel. But I can't tell when she's using her talent until I see something move, and I had to make sure that she was always aware, when she did. Nance does not 'move' things without knowing she's doing it, and she knows damn well that if she does it in anger, without control, that she is going to be in a great deal of trouble."
"Ah." After a moment, Nagi went back to sorting through the cabinet. That would explain some of her control, despite her age. "Well, it appears to have worked-" perhaps a little too well "-and I take it there haven't been any further incidents?"
"Not of that nature. As you saw, when she's trying something new, accidents happen, but I've never worried much about that." Turning on the tap with an elbow, Omi started scrubbing the blood off. "Out of curiosity, what have you decided to start with?"
Finally spotting a second water bottle shoved far to the back of the cabinet, Nagi gave it a telekinetic nudge. It scooted obediently to his hand, and he set it on the counter with the other, then began replacing the tupperware he'd had to remove. "Basic exercises, I think. Some chi exercises, to start--sticky hands and so on. She's new to feeling things with her telekinesis, so we'll probably see how sensitive a touch she has. I also want her to get used to keeping track of--and eventually moving--more than one thing at once." Closing the cabinet door, he sighed, blowing up at his bangs as he contemplated the task in front of him.
Blinking a few times, Omi mildly commented, "I understood most of that, but. . 'sticky hands'?"
Nagi blinked up at him, a bit puzzled. "You never did those exercises?" Straightening, he put the bottles in his bag. "It's a Tai Chi exercise, but it's used in other martial arts as well. You partner up facing each other, and put your palms up--like you would to play patty-cake." He put his hands together to illustrate, palms facing each other but a couple inches of apart. "One person leads by moving their hand, and the other follows, trying to mirror their movement exactly. The trick is not to rely on your eyes, but to sense your partner's movements. My sifu could do it with his eyes shut--and he wasn't any sort of psychic." Not unless being a scarily good martial artist counts...
"Aaah, right. Momoto-sensei used that term for a different technique, one I couldn't see the purpose of here." Holding his own hands out, he moved them so that his wrists were barely touching. "Chi sho. You keep your wrist in contact with your opponent's, and stifle their attacks without allowing them to pull you off balance, as a grab might. Your technique we called 'pushing hands'."
"I can see the application, though the purpose is different." Nagi shrugged. "It may seem a bit esoteric for a child her age, but she needs to start thinking of her power as something beyond the limits of her body. Otherwise she will always unconsciously restrict it to what she thinks she can do, and never find out what her true abilities are." He met Tsukiyono's eyes directly, knowing the other man would understand the underlying meaning. "There is also the practical aspect. Sensing a movement before it happens...gives a person a very good advantage."
"It would indeed," Omi said, with a hint of a smile. He met Nagi's challenging gaze evenly. "You might disagree with my choices, Naoe-san, but I have tried to raise Nance so that she is prepared and able to defend herself, without warning her against more than the standard dangers. Anything which would make her more capable in that area is something that I wholeheartedly approve of."
Shrugging slightly, he started transferring the bowls of meat to the refrigerator. "As for being esoteric. . the more esoteric, the more likely it is to interest her. She's done basic chi breathing exercises with Sashiko-sensei; I expect she'll be very interested in learning something related."
"Tsukiyono-san, I don't know enough about the choices you've made to agree or disagree," Nagi said calmly. "And I will admit I have a certain bias. In my experience, most choices normals make for Talented children--well, they're not good ones, to put it mildly. However, I am doing my best not to judge you by that standard." He raised his hands in an open-ended shrug. "I think that's all we can do for now. But I am happy to hear that Nancy-kun has an aptitude for such things. Abstract thinking is often hard for young trainees to grasp."
"Thank you, for your forbearance." Sighing faintly, Omi admitted, "In a way, I look forward to your eventual judgment of my efforts. Sometimes I worry that I'm making disastrous errors of judgment, even with the best of intentions. If you discover something I'm doing that might be harmful for Nance. . well, at least I'll be able to change while she's young. And she can adapt to just about anything, I've found." He grinned. "That one was born trying to outwit the world from her cradle, I think."
A smile flashing across his face, Nagi said, "Children are incredibly adaptable that way, yes. And hopefully you and I both can figure out what not to do through deductive reasoning." And if God is kind, Nancy and Schuldig will never meet. I don't think I could handle the stress of that much combined mischief...
Through the kitchen window both men could see Sara pull up and let the little girl under discussion off, waiting until Nancy had reached the front door before driving away. The door closed with a bang and the young telekinetic marched into the kitchen, stopping short and looking warily at the two men waiting there.
Uh-oh. Both of them. I'd better not be in trouble! She knew she probably should be in trouble, given the way she'd been acting, but ... dammit... Confronted once again with the fact that she didn't even understand why she was still so mad, Nancy scowled.
Raising an eyebrow at the scowl, Nagi said only, "Once you're ready for your first lesson, come out to the back yard. I'll wait for you there." Turning, he picked up the shopping bag, and headed out the back door. Childish temper tantrums.... Joy.
"Lesson?" Nancy said, baffled, then looked at Omi. "But. . . my homework?" she asked uncertainly.
"How much do you have, Nance?" Omi asked her. This was a minor sticking point. . he'd decided not to shift her school schedule around until after they'd worked through whatever was bothering her, but if she turned in bad work before he made the request things might be awkward.
Shrugging, she had to admit, "Not much. I already knew all of this week's spelling words. Just some math, that's all."
Relaxing, Omi pointed at the refrigerator, continuing to wipe his hands dry. "Then grab a portable snack for both of you and go meet Naoe-san."
Waiting until the little girl was almost out of the room entirely, having gathered up a double handful of fruit, he said softly, "Nance? I know you're not happy with me. But don't waste this."
The little girl who entered the back yard was considerably more subdued than the one who had come home from school.
Nagi had settled in a shady spot under a tree, back to the shed. He looked up as she approached, closing his book and setting it to one side. "Have a seat wherever you like." He studied her as Nancy settled herself, trying to figure out her mood. "Before we start, have you figured out any questions you'd like to ask?" Maybe he'd get an idea of what her expectations were before they actually had to begin the lesson.
Wordlessly, Nancy set down the fruit between them, and picked up an apple, turning the fruit over in her hands. Questions? Yeah. Lots of questions.
Eyes unhappy, she started, fumbling a bit, with one of the tangled up threads inside that was making her snarly all the time.
"Why are we like this, sir? Different, I mean. Why can't more people do stuff like we can?" If only they could. . . then she wouldn't have to lie to her friends, and worry all the time about what would happen if she messed up. . .
Nagi eyed her carefully, thinking about his answer. Because the world isn't fair? Because we might be a next step, or a different step, or not human at all--and no matter what we are, we'll still be hated for it? Neither of those answers were fit for a nine-year old. And the last thing he needed was to upset her even more.
"Why can Rabbit run faster than anyone else? Why was Einstein smarter than anyone else?" He leaned back, folding his arms. "Did you know that Mozart composed a piano concerto when he was six years old? People called him a genius, because he was very, very good at that one thing. Music. We're just very, very good at *our* one thing. It's just different from what other people can do, so sometimes they get jealous." He gave a little shrug, looking at Nancy's downturned head. "Don't some of the boys get mad when Rabbit beats them in races all the time?"
"Yeah, they do," Nancy admitted quietly, still sounding unhappy. "But she doesn't have to lie, or pretend like she can't run at all. Rabbit asked me why Omi-poppa was making me give up gymnastics, and I had to make stuff up, because I'm not allowed to tell, about Talent."
"No, she doesn't have to pretend that she can't run. But that's because other people can." Nagi chewed over his words, trying to explain without having to disillusion Nancy about the world she lived in just yet. "But if she could fly--then she might have to lie. Because other people can't--and they'd be angry that she could fly, and they couldn't. Or they might tell her that she since she was the only one who could fly, she could only fly to places *they* wanted her to go, because she could get there quicker and easier." He sighed a little. "Does that make sense?"
Wordlessly nodding, the little girl looked up, eyes holding a very old sadness. "Yessir. I know that, I do." Pulling her knees up to her chest, Nancy wrapped bony arms around them. "I know Omi-poppa's right about keeping Talent quiet, after mother. . but it's not FAIR!" she suddenly burst out, almost yelling that last word. "And I hate it!!"
As it had that first morning before she walked the labyrinth, the child's power upset the air around her, but despite her violent distress, not a leaf on the tree above her quivered.
"No, it's not." His eyes narrowing, Nagi decided to give Nancy a bit of the truth. "There's a lot in the world that isn't fair. Is it fair that you have food, and other kids starve? Or that you have a place to live, when other people don't?" Or that you had a mother who loved you, when others throw away their children like so much trash? He snapped his mouth shut over that last. "Those things don't change, any more than your Talent will."
"I know," the little girl said dully, slumping over. She looked up at Nagi and asked wistfully, "But will I ever get to stop lying? Do you have friends you can tell?"
"A few. Not many." Nagi said briefly. He wasn't quite ready to discuss his rather dysfunctional 'family' with this too-inquisitive little girl. He took an apple thoughtfully, spinning it between his hands. "Everyone has secrets, Nancy-kun. It's just that same are bigger than others. And our secret...is one of the biggest someone can have. It's that important." He looked at her. "At least you can be honest with your father and I. That's a start. As you get older, there may be others."
As soon as Nagi mentioned her father, the little girl slumped a bit, looking almost hopeless for a few brief seconds. She remained silent for a few seconds after he finished, and then slowly clenched her hands into fists. When she flung her head up again, she was glaring at her teacher, face set in resolute lines that rested uneasily over a foundation of fear.
"That's another thing. I don't care if Omi-poppa told me to do what you say. If you tell me to do something he's said I can't, I won't! I just won't!" Her determination is almost hysterical.
Nagi blinked. Where did THAT come from? "Of course. I wouldn't expect you to do otherwise," he said mildly. "Any disagreements Tsukiyono-san and I have will be worked out between us. What made you think I'd tell you to do things behind his back?" He kept his voice calm and even, hoping that it would help defuse Nancy's incipient hysteria.
Why doesn't he understand??? Nancy wailed inside, not wanting to say it. If she said it, it would make it real. She didn't want it to happen again. . . without noticing, the little girl had started to rock back and forth slightly. At last tears started to quietly trickle down her cheeks, and she whispered very quietly, "I just don't want Omi-poppa to be afraid of me too."
Nagi ran a hand through his hair, trying hard to resist pulling it out in frustration. This conversation made no SENSE--and now she was crying. What was he supposed to do? Did he have to hug her or something? He suppressed a reflexive flinch at the thought.
Finally, he asked helplessly, "Who was afraid of you?"
Shoulders hunching over protectively, Nancy unhooked her hands' tight clasp so she could chew nervously on the tip of her thumb while staring warily at Nagi. After a short interval, she whispered quietly, "Mother was."
Ah. Suddenly things became clear. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to reassure her about her mother, but... Nagi leaned back against the shed, looking up at the sky for a moment. "Nancy-kun. Do you think Tsukiyono-san is afraid of me?"
Slowly, blinking in confusion, Nancy shook her head. "No, he's not." She sounded certain of that, at least. Ducking her head and sounding a little shy, she added, "If he was afraid of you, he wouldn't let you be in the same country as me. If he couldn't make you move, we would."
Nagi nodded, and looked back down at her. "Would you like to know a secret? But you have to promise not to tell anyone." He smirked a bit.
She drew back a little. "Not even Omi-poppa?" she asked warily.
"You can tell him if you want. He already knows about this secret, though."
Eyes brightening immediately, Nancy leaned in eagerly. "Yes! Tell me!" Immediately she corrected herself. "I mean, please tell me, Naoe-sensei?"
How much to tell...? Playing it up a bit, Nagi looked from side to side, then dropped his voice confidentially. "When Tsukiyono-san and I were both younger, we fought all the time. And I used my powers on him too." He suppressed a snicker--who knew editing for an underage audience would be so damn amusing?
Eyes going impossibly wide, Nancy gaped like a fish, mouth opening and closing several times. "Wha...but...wha...NO FAIR!" she suddenly burst out, looking righteously indignant, "I get in trouble for fighting!" Blinking, she demanded, "What KIND of fights? Over what?"
Nagi shook his head, smirking just a little. "I just said I was going to tell you one secret, Nancy-kun, not all of them. But yes--it wasn't a good thing." If extremely satisfying at some points... "But if Tsukiyono-san isn't afraid of me after that, do you still think he'd be afraid of what you can do?"
The child was enough preoccupied by the thought of Omi-poppa fighting! a lot! and how much mileage she might be able to get out of that, that the real problem slipped out. "What if he stops loving me?" she asked, very very quietly.
I am so not equipped to deal with this, Nagi thought ruefully. Wondering briefly if it was too late to back out of the job, he said only, "Well, you'd have to ask Tsukiyono-san to know the answer to that one. But he's seen what I can do, and he's seen what you can do. If he hasn't stopped loving you yet, I don't think he will."
Carefully, Nancy closed up her doubts inside, imagining that she was locking them up in a cabinet so they couldn't bother her any more. Stop whining, she told herself firmly. He'll just tell you not fair doesn't matter again. "Yessir. I'm sorry, sir. I'll pay attention to lessons now."
Nagi nodded. "All right, then." Straightening, he squared his shoulders and rested his hands on his knees. "How much have you done with chi exercises in aikido? Have you gotten very far?"
"Well," she said slowly, "I don't know if I've gotten far, because I don't know where I'm going. Sashiko-sensei raps us on the head with her knuckles if we ask too many questions about what's coming up next, and then she's all grumpy." Nancy shivered slightly, and said solemnly, "Grumpy Sashiko-sensei is scary. No one asks anymore. But I can breathe so that I can feel my blood going all through me, and make sure that it's not stuck anywhere?"
"Good. That's a start." Nagi took a deep breath. "Chi and your power are not the same thing. But your power comes from your chi, so knowing what it is and what it feels like is very important. Remember how I showed you to feel things yesterday?"
My power comes from my chi? Nancy thought blankly. My chi does stuff? Even though she wanted to ask questions about that, LOTS of questions, this was different from other times. This was a Lesson. So she reluctantly focused on what her sensei wanted her to. "Yessir."
"We're going to try something similar today." Nagi raised his hands, putting them palm-out in front of Nancy. "Put your hands in front of mine, like this, but don't touch them." Waiting until she'd done so, he said, "All right. This is a bit trickier, because I don't want you to use your Talent. I'm going to move my hands around, and I want you to follow with your hands as closely as you can. I want you to try and feel what I'm going to do as well as watch, so you will need to concentrate." He moved one hand in a slow circle, starting out very slowly.
Frowning deeply, almost scowling, Nancy tenatively mimicked that circle, a beat behind. She showed no signs of catching the first few directional changes, and appeared to be very confused.
I really don't get this, she thought blankly. She didn't have the slightest idea what Nagi was talking about. Wanting to try, she slowed her breathing and started her Aikido mental exercises. Eventually, even with the distraction of trying to follow his hands, she could feel her own energy moving slowly.
Paying fierce attention to her hands, she concentrated until they almost buzzed, and for a split second the little girl thought she caught a flicker of something pressing against her left thumb. But when she moved her hand that way, Nagi's went along a different path.
Watching her, Nagi could tell Nancy was struggling with the concept. She was trying, but she just didn't have the skills--or the right frame of mind--to sense the flow of his chi along her skin. He watched her frown down at their hands, and said quietly, "Don't concentrate so hard...you're blocking yourself. Just relax and be aware of everything around you. This is something that will take time to learn."
Hands stopping, Nancy suddenly looked doubtful. "You mean. . . like Sashiko-sensei always knowing when someone's attacking from behind, no matter how sneaky and quiet they are? I don't know how to do that yet." Inwardly, she was muttering. Sashiko-sensei rapped people on the head when they tried to do stuff she didn't think they were ready for. She had Too Many Senseis!
Nagi sighed, and let his hands drop as well. "Yes, exactly like that. We'll try this exercise again later, once you've learned a bit more about chi control." Little baby steps, he reminded himself. No sense getting frustrated when she doesn't even have the basics down.
"Let's try something else," he suggested, folding his hands in his lap. "What's the heaviest thing you've ever tried to lift with your Talent?"
Even though she didn't think she was supposed to know how to do what Nagi had wanted her to, Nancy drooped a little when he went on. She hated failing. Inwardly, she resolved to talk to Sashiko-sensei at her next lesson. She'd probably get thumped, but...
When Nagi's question registered, his student abruptly looked very guilty, and glanced anxiously over her shoulder towards the house
Interpreting the glance, Nagi said, "If you don't want me to tell Tsukiyono-san, I won't. But I do need to know."
"I'd get in a lot of trouble. . ." she said slowly, looking warily at Nagi. "But I was careful, he didn't know it was me!"
Biting her lip, she glanced over her shoulder again, and then proceeded to tell the Great Halloween Ghost story, staring fixedly down at her knees.
"See, there was this bully. He's a big kid, he's doing sixth grade for the second time this year. He picks on everyone. . . or he did." Despite her apparent nervousness, a small, sly smile flickered into being briefly. "I got tired of it about three days after I started school, but there wasn't much I could do," she said with a practical shrug. "Until. . well, this year I did something."
And had she ever done something. Starting at the beginning of the year, using graffiti in the restrooms (girls and boys, which had taken some sneaking), on a few desks in classrooms of every grade, and the back wall of the school, she'd started planting rumors that there was a ghost haunting the school. Apparently, a fourth grade boy who had been a favorite target of bullies had died over the summer, and Nancy carefully encouraged the people who repeated gossip to her, until everyone was convinced that he'd come back, vowing revenge against the bullies.
A lot of the bullies had been so freaked out, they'd convinced themselves they were being haunted. But not Johnny. So on Halloween, Nancy goaded him into getting detention. And while he was locked in the room all by himself, she had been hidden in the supply closet, ready to put on a very convincing poltergeist act.
"The light switch was easy; I can flick light switches in my sleep. So that and slamming the blinds closed and flinging books and papers around, that was all easy, but I couldn't do more than two things at once because holding the desk and chair down so he couldn't get up was hard. I was too tired to do it anymore after about five minutes, so when he started running I just kept the door latch from turning while I made it look like someone was walking towards him across the tiles." It was obvious she derived a great deal of gleeful satisfaction from the memory.
"That's the biggest thing I've done deliberately, sir. But please don't tell Omi-poppa!" Nancy begged. "I'd be grounded until college."
Nagi was impressed in spite of himself. That was a very creative solution to a problem--any other child would have succumbed to the temptation to simply beat up the bully directly. He knew he would have. The girl seemed to have a natural talent for subterfuge, which would probably stand her in good stead as she got older.
Suppressing a grin, he instead nodded solemnly. "I promise I won't tell. So you were holding the desk and chair down...did you ever try to pick them up? Or to pick up Johnny?"
Nancy shook her head almost violently. "NOsir! No doing new stuff to anything alive! Not EVER!" Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. "And it's easier to push down, than to 'lift'. I could probably have held down Johnny too, but not for five minutes." Biting her lip again, the little girl admitted reluctantly, "And I didn't want to 'lift', because if I do too much, I get really really tired, and sometimes I can't not fall asleep. Falling asleep in the supply closet would have been stupid."
Mental note: go buy some weights. He needed to do some practical testing of her strength limits. He knew what *he* could do at her age, but Nagi had learned long ago that he couldn't use that as a benchmark for other telekinetics.
Setting that aside, he nodded at her answer and rummaged through his bag. "All right. Can you lift this, then?" He placed a hand-sized rubber ball in front of her.
The little girl gave Nagi a slightly incredulous look, but managed a polite "Yes sir." Mentally gripping the ball, she lifted it to eye level. "Would you like me to do anything with it?"
Inside, she was trying not to be insulted. Hadn't he seen her lift the lid of Boris' cage? Hadn't he seen her moving dishes? Biting her lip, Nancy reminded herself of all the times Omi-poppa had managed to make her look foolish, because she got her pride in a snit.
"No, just hold it steady, right there." Nagi reached into the bag again, and brought out a second rubber ball, almost identical to the first except for color. He set it between them. "Now lift that one too."
Relaxing and grinning a little as she figure out what the test was actually about, Nancy took almost all of her attention away from the first ball, and lifted the second up, stopping it about two inches away from the first, and exactly the same height from the ground. Frowning briefly, she told herself that the two balls were ONE thing, and that she only had to hold them up ONCE.
Nagi nodded, closing his eyes momentarily to concentrate on how she was handling the balls. It was sloppy--he could feel a bit of the excess pressure against himself--but sufficient. Opening his eyes, he pulled another ball out of the bag. "And this one."
Nancy obediently lifted the third ball, and the fourth. By the fifth one, she was having a hard time not looking bored, and had stopped treating the raised balls as a single object. Instead, she was holding them all separately, just to have something to do.
Raising an eyebrow, Nagi decided to up the ante a bit. Nancy was a bit more powerful than he had thought--he could feel the excess telekinetic energy ruffling the ends of their hair.
"Good. Now move that one there--" he pointed to a spot in the air, "-that one over there, and that one up there." The spots were more or less randomly chosen. He was pretty sure she could move the balls as directed--he just wanted to see if she would do them individually or all at once.
His rather bored-looking pupil sat up a little straighter, and nodded. None of the balls so much as wobbled when she did. Because Nancy was frustrated with how basic everything was -- she wanted to do new things, like trying to move things far away, or that she couldn't see! -- she got her new 'assignment' out of the way all at once. With a brisk, hard tap, she sent the three chosen balls zipping away to their new locations as fast as she could make them move, yanking hard to stop them dead in the water where she'd been told to leave them.
Watching the balls move, then looking at the impatient expression on the girl's face, Nagi pushed it further. "Now move those there--" he pointed to a spot behind her head, "--one behind the shed, one behind the tree, and one underneath that shrub--but still in the air, mind." All of those locations were out of Nancy's line of sight--it would be interesting to see how she handled this.
Bouncing slightly, the little girl practically beamed. She'd spent a lot of time sulking in her rooms lately, and out of boredom had put in even more practice than she would have anyway. Maybe her sensei was asking her to look farther away than she'd had room to try, in her rooms, but he wasn't really being specific, either.
Absentmindedly holding the balls she wouldn't be working with in place, Nancy made a mental note to practice holding a lot of different things at once. She didn't want to get tripped up that easily, after all! Then she closed her eyes and 'reached' back until she found the shed, following the walls around, power trailing like an absentminded hand along the paneling. 'Marking' the spot with a glowing x on her mental map of the area, she slipped her attention sideways and poked at the shrub until she found space big enough to hold the ball that didn't have a branch sticking through it. Again she marked the spot.
Still inexperienced, the young telekinetic had moved a bit slowly, but she'd seemed sure. Now all that was left was Nagi's instruction to place a ball behind the tree at his back. Looking completely innocent, Nancy 'reached' out towards the trunk, clearly intending to treat the obstacle the same way that she'd treated the shed. Surely it was just a moment of absent-mindedness that led her to reach along the most direct route, sending a trail of telekinetic energy directly along Nagi's ribs in a spot where most people were highly ticklish.
Nagi flinched and squirmed uncomfortably as the telekinetic touch trailed across his side. Her control was getting worse, the more things he threw at her to do. Unless...he narrowed his eyes. There was really no way to tell if that was an accident--or not. Unless it happened again.
Trying not to giggle, Nancy bit her lip and hastily looked like she was concentrating hard. She wasn't really worried, however. . she 'knew' where the five spots were, and moving these lightweight rubber balls was easy. Almost casually, she shoved the toys, to get them moving.
Everything was fine until the first ball reached the point where she couldn't see it. She hadn't really been paying attention, so when she suddenly 'lost' it, the little girl didn't have a sense of where the edges were, to find it again. Wincing as it hit the ground with an audible plop, rapidly followed by three more in quick succession, she hastily focused on the only one still in the air, the ball destined for the shrub.
Scowling fiercely, completely ignoring Nagi -- and everything else around her -- in order to focus all of her attention on her last target, the young telekinetic slowly moved it forward, then back a little, rocking it back and forth along the line where she started to lose control. Why does being able to see it make a difference? she thought, with more than a little frustration. It's still there. . . Tentatively, she held the little toy still and closed her eyes, probing around the edges of it until she had actually mapped out exactly where it was. Then she tried to roll it forward, relying on that sense of boundary. . . but as soon as it started moving, her grasp on it went fuzzy.
Not having to open her eyes, she knew she'd just lost this one, too. "MOU!" Opening her eyes again, she glared fiercely at the ball lying on the ground.
As expected, moving five balls out of her line of sight was too much. Nagi had to credit Nancy with trying, though--she didn't give up as soon as she'd lost the first ball, which was a good thing. That tenacious nature would help. Skills could always be practiced. Motivation couldn't.
'Reaching' out, Nagi gathered up the balls and brought them back over. Finding them was easy, given the amount of power Nancy had pushed around while trying to handle them. Once all five balls were sitting back on the ground in between them, he looked over at the annoyed little girl. "Let's try it again, but with only one ball this time. Keep the other four in the air, and try to move the fifth behind the tree." The tree was close enough that she wouldn't lose sight of the ball until the very last minute. It would probably help.
"Yes, Naoe-sensei," Nancy said automatically, glaring at the balls. They shot into the air, and she shoved four of them aside and left them hanging. It was the fifth that got her attention. Staring fixedly at it, not even blinking, she 'felt' around its surface until she knew where every speck of dirt it had picked up was. Closing her eyes, she patiently mapped out the entirety of the space between herself and the tree, on the plane the ball would move through, and then went around, and did the same thing behind it.
Keeping her eyes closed, the little girl gingerly shoved the toy forward, trying to roll it forward based on her slightly hesitant sense of its relation to the ground, instead of imagining grabbing it with an imaginary hand and carrying it somewhere else.
The wind picked up in the backyard, ruffling through hair and making leaves rustle overhead in reaction to the sheer amount of pressure Nancy was building in her effort. Nagi had to do a hasty check of the area--and once satisfied that no one was doing anything suspicious, build a light shield to contain the energy that Nancy was throwing around. Thankfully he only had to contain the stray spikes of pressure she was letting slip, and not a concerted effort; it allowed him to keep a closer eye on what she was actually doing.
And what Nancy was doing was apparently an oddly supported 'push' with her power, sending the ball rolling in the air. And it DID roll, on top of the invisible surface provided by her TK--before momentum overtook her grasp and the ball rolled off the 'edge', dropping towards the ground.
'Grabbing' the ball vexedly as it started to drop, Nancy was vaguely aware that she was doing something wrong. There was too much 'stuff' around. . . 'Holding' onto the toy, she started carrying it in the same sort mental grasp she was used to using, going slow.
I know the trick is 'knowing' where it is, in relation to things, when I can't see it anymore. I just know it is! But I guess I still have to hold it. . . Nancy concentrated on keeping track of where, precisely, the ball was, both her sense of 'grasping' it, and her vague understanding of where it was in relation to the ground and the tree it was approaching.
Given that she still wasn't used to looking at things this new way, the effort was a bit of a strain.
Nagi frowned. As a new teacher, he had no idea how much in the way of reserves Nancy had. She was healthy, and well-fed, but still...she was wasting a great deal of energy as she fumbled her telekinetic grip around the ball and the tree. He didn't want to interrupt her in the middle of the exercise, but it might be time for a water break after this.
Nancy was able to get the ball around the tree this time. Opening her eyes, she started to smile triumphantly. . and then looked almost ready to cry again when the sudden mental conflict between her eyes (which couldn't see the ball) and her shaky telekinetic 'sense' (which knew right where it was, dammit!) made her drop the toy again. "Tsatskele!" the little girl spat venomously, hands clenching into fists as she glared at the tree trunk by Nagi's head.
"Calm down," Nagi said mildly. "No one's expecting you to learn all of this on the first try. And you did actually get around the tree that time." He handed her the water bottle and a piece of fruit, then took an apple for himself. He crunched into it, allowing the girl time to regain her composure.
Nancy obediently took the offered item, expression still thunderous. After drinking, she bit savagely into her pear, gradually calming as she chewed. By the time she was reduced to worrying at the stringy core, she was frowning thoughtfully at the tree.
"Why should it make a difference if I can see it or not?" she said irritably. "I know where it is anyway!"
"Do you?" Nagi looked amused. Holding out the partially-eaten apple on the palm of his hand, he lifted it with his power, sending it whizzing up into the foliage of the tree.
"How far is that apple from the ground? How far from the tree trunk? Where are the three nearest branches? How many leaves are touching it?" He leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head, looking faintly sardonic. "Do you know that?"
Glaring at him, Nancy practically flung her own power after the apple, although she reined it in when the tree branches shook. Taking a slow, careful breath, she 'found' the apple, then started pushing out.
"It's. . this far from the trunk," she said slowly, measuring with her hands. "There's a branch right behind it, about three inches back, and one a foot underneath. And when the wind moves the whippy branch to the left, it's closer, but the fork in that underneath branch crosses this far away," and she moved her hands closer together to indicate it. "Um. . ." her words were coming slower now, her shoulders drooping. "It's three times as tall as me, off the ground." Yawning enormously, she added, sounding a little bit smug, "And there were three leaves touching it, until I knocked one down."
As the little girl spoke, she'd started listing to the side. She barely caught herself with one hand as she started to fall over.
Giving her an firm telekinetic push to help her stay upright, Nagi straightened up again, and let the apple drop back into his hand. "Good. But you didn't know that when I did it, did you?" He fastidiously picked a leaf off of the apple before taking another bite. "Once you get used to it, you should be able to tell me where things are without even trying. Just like I can tell you that your father is three and a half feet from the back door, and about to come out to get you." Or yell at me, one of the two, he thought ruefully.
Given how fast Omi opened the door on the heels of that pronouncement, three and half feet was probably a conservative estimate. He crossed the yard to their spot by the shed quickly, although he was smiling faintly when he arrived.
"Excuse me, Naoe-san. I expect you would have liked longer for your first lesson, but I must cut this short." Kneeling in the grass by Nancy, he rested a hand lightly on her shoulder, discreetly checking her pulse. "This one still has math homework to do tonight, and it doesn't look like she'll be good for thinking much longer."
Nancy swayed slightly under his hand, and looked up at him. Remembering what Naoe-sensei had said, about needing to ask Omi-poppa what he thought about things, the words went straight from inside-the-head voice to outside-the-head voice.
"Omi-poppa," the little girl asked, very quietly and unhappily, "are you going to send me away with Naoe-sensei?"
"What?" he said blankly, staring at his daughter, shocked. "NO! Certainly not," Omi said vehemently. "You're my daughter, Nance! Anyone, anyone tries to take you away, they're going to have the fight of their lives."
If the thought of Nagi conspiring to take off, nine year old in tow, wasn't so ridiculous he'd have been yelling furiously at the man. But this, Omi had to admit, must be coming straight from Nancy's head. Somehow. He pulled his daughter into a tight hug, shooting Nagi a bewildered glance.
Nagi just gave him an equally baffled look of his own. What the....? Thank God for the small favors, I guess. The concept of trying to deal with this kind of thing 24/7 was enough to make him seriously consider taking a vacation. A long one. In the Himalayas, or somewhere equally inaccessible. Raising his hands helplessly, he shook his head, trying to indicate that he had NO idea where that idea had come from.
Nancy was so tense she was trembling, and lay stiff and resisting in Omi's grasp. Refusing to meet either man's eyes, she said miserably, "But you said, my Talent's too much for you to handle, any more! And you asked Naoe-sensei to come. . ."
Closing his eyes, Omi bit his lip hard. Fuck. Speaking quietly and carefully, the young man tried to repair the damage he hadn't even realized he was doing. "Nance. . . you know I kept you, when I found out you'd been named my ward, because you were a telekinetic, and I knew I couldn't abandon you to people who wouldn't understand. I bet knowing that hasn't helped lately, huh? But when I adopted you, it was because I love you. Your mother leaving you to my care was the best thing that's ever happened to me. You have green-hazel eyes, and freckles, and a sneaky brain, and telekinesis, and you're my daughter. That's who you are. You're powerful enough now that I can't fumble my way through teaching you any more, and I can't promise to be able to fix things when you get in over your head. So I asked someone who could, to come help, because you need that. But it doesn't make a damn bit of difference in how much I love you!"
Suddenly feeling like an intruder, Nagi averted his eyes, trying to give them at least the illusion of privacy. Nancy's fears were not all that unusual, and if he'd had more experience, he supposed he would have picked up on them...but the plain and simple fact was that he didn't. And the tack Tsukiyono was taking with her was equally alien, the stuff of TV shows and other people's lives, not his own. It was...uncomfortable, to be confronted by that much open caring.
If the tack Omi was taking was making Nagi uncomfortable, it also wasn't noticeably soothing the child's fears. By now she was curled up in a miserable ball in her father's lap. "I know you love me," she whispered. "But you could stop, if I started scaring you. Naoe-sensei says you're not scared of him. . . but he's not always here. And he knows how to control his Talent. I could mess up and hurt you. If I'd taken your air away, you could have died!" The little girl's voice had been raising in pitch and volume as she grew more upset, and Nagi could feel the dregs of her power sluggishly stirring the air.
Omi didn't have that warning, but he recognized exhausted hysteria when he saw it. "Yes, you could have," he said matter-of-factly, in much the same tone he would use to say that she could get on the computer, or take Boris out of his cage. "So what?" The shock of that had Nancy gaping at him. "You're not exactly special in that regard, chibi. Over a quarter of all house fires are started by children, usually by accident. When you let a child into your home, you accept that they are by default inexperienced with the world, their own abilities, and how those things can intersect, and that it can be lethal."
Nagi listened in silence, firming up the shield he'd put in place for their training. He doubted she had the energy left to do anything that the neighbors would notice...but emotional outbursts were notorious for tapping hidden reserves in telekinetics of any age. Besides, any reassurances from him at this point would be useless--it wasn't his love Nancy was scared of losing, after all.
By now Nancy was staring at Omi with a blankly suspicious look on her face. She started wriggling determinedly until her father had to let her go, backing away until she knelt on the ground a short distance separated. "You don't sound scared!" The little girl sounded accusing.
Baffled, Omi shot another glance at Nagi, but no help was forthcoming from that quarter. ". . I'm not, particularly, Nance." Sounding tentative, he asked, "Why, should I be?"
Looking back over at them, Nagi raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Isn't that what you wanted?" he asked without moving.
Frustrated, Nancy said plaintively, "But if you're not scared of me now, I'll have to wait, and wait, until you are. And I won't know when it will happen, just like I didn't know mo" Suddenly she stopped speaking, swallowing the last word and staring fixedly at the ground, face very red.
Frowning, Omi realized that something important was going on here, that he was missing. Shifting so that he was in a more alert and prepared position, he leaned forward a little. "Like you didn't know what, Nancy?"
Talk about an emotional minefield... Nagi debated about saying anything, but when Nancy hesitated, he decided to give it a shot. Hopefully his attempt wouldn't blow up in his face.
"What did you do to make your mother scared of you?" he said neutrally.
"I don't know." The little girl's voice was agonized, and far too quiet. Looking ready to cry again, she whispered, "I don't remember. It took a long time, until I figured out that she had been taking me somewhere, to leave me. I wish I could remember. Then I'd know not to do it again!"
Eyes widening, Omi rather helplessly tried to decide which thing he needed to deal with first. "You never told me, Nancy," he said quietly. "I didn't. . chibi, I'm sorry. I'm sorry your mother didn't understand, and that she was afraid. That's a horrible thing to have to carry." Gently reaching out, he started rubbing her back, soothingly. "But I swear I'm not going to walk away. I knew about telekinesis before, remember? And Naoe-san and I didn't always..get along. At one point, he got a bit overzealous and almost put me through a wall. I know, Nancy. I really do. I'm not scared now, and I'm not going to start being scared later."
Nagi arched an eyebrow. Overzealous? Tsukiyono, if I'd wanted to put you through a wall, there would have been no 'almost' about it. He wisely refrained from saying that out loud, however. Instead he commented, "Tsukiyono-san doesn't run away from things, Nancy-kun. I don't believe he'd run away from you either." Weiss was always stubborn that way...
Nancy opened her mouth to say something, and swayed slightly as whatever it was became a yawn. Shaking his head slightly, Omi leaned forward and picked her up as he stood. "I think I'll be writing a note excusing you from that math homework, chibi. Come on, let's soak for a while so you don't stiffen up overnight. And try to stop worrying. I'm Japanese; if I kept the little barbarian brat who disdains tea, I'm not going to be put off by a little thing like esper powers!" His tone was light, but he was holding the little girl tightly. She in turn had her arms wrapped around his neck; that last comment sparked a sleepy giggle.
Glancing at Nagi, Omi raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to soak as well, Naoe-san? I kicked the water heater up a few notches when the lesson started."
"That sounds very nice, Tsukiyono-san. If it won't throw your dinner schedule off?" Nagi idly gathered up the stray ball behind the tree as he spoke, dropping it into the bag with the others. He wasn't sure how much cooking was actually involved in the elaborate dinner preparations Tsukiyono had been involved in, but a good long soak sounded wonderful. He hadn't done all that much work, relatively speaking, but all the free-floating angst had taken its toll in stiffened muscles.
Omi shrugged as best he could and started for the house. "I'll take the roast out, and let it stand; it will turn into sandwiches readily enough. The chopping you saw earlier was for tomorrow night, so I don't have to worry about anything for this evening."
"All right, then." Nagi climbed to his feet and dusted off his trousers, then gathered up the bag and remaining fruit. He followed Tsukiyono inside through the back door, closing it behind them with a touch of power. Toeing off his shoes, he asked, "Would you like to have some family time before I come down?" He had no idea whether Nancy would need any more one-on-one time with her 'Omi-poppa', but he wanted to offer them their privacy if it was needed.
Omi grimaced faintly, but jogged Nancy to get her attention. "We talking more things out now?" The little girl shook her head back and forth for a bit, then stopped. "I don't wanna think anymore, Omi-poppa, my head hurts."
Half-smiling, the young man looked up and caught Nagi's eye as he pulled off his daughter's shoes. "Sounds like a no on that one, Naoe-san." Omi couldn't quite hide his relief. He knew that it would all come up again, and probably again after that, but he could dearly love some time to think about things first!
The corner of Nagi's mouth crooked up in a bare, lopsided smile. "Fair enough." It looked like he wasn't the only one relieved to not have to deal with overwrought emotionalism for the rest of the evening. Though in all fairness, Tsukiyono probably knew what he was getting into better than Nagi did. "Let me put this away, then, and I'll join you." He didn't think he needed to keep a watch on Nancy--the way she was acting, she was far too tired to accidentally damage anything tonight!