Chapter 27.1 The Journey      

We changed our clothes and hairstyles in the first town we came to. And if there were no problems with clothes — the mall is our everything, but with haircuts we were stuck as long as it took to buy clothes for both of us and also to have lunch.

When I myself on the question of haircut, threw the word "tennis", and the process went, but mom is stuck, in addition, and the stylist long, long clucking around, all persuading not to cut mom's braid almost to the waist.

Good thing, the lenses bought in that shopping center, the usual shade for the Japanese — brown, and this deep dark shade of hair, and their length looks too good with lilac, "mystical" eyes. In the end, I left the salon tired and irritated, with the ordered image of "Captain America", even clothes in the same American style. And my mother got a stylish hairstyle, with long, slanted bangs that merged into one long strand on the left side, and a slightly shorter parting at the back of the head. It certainly looks chic — a businesswoman's hairstyle. We then boarded a shuttle bus where we slept. For the next three days we traveled to Kyoto.

I had never spent so much time on a bus before. Let me remind you that I lived for a short time with my relatives in Ukraine. So the best roads there are hardly up to the standards of the roads people travel on everywhere in Japan.

That's why I don't think I could endure three days of traveling on the murderous roads in a "so-so" class bus, when even after traveling in an "excellent" class bus I was sore and aching. But I'm not complaining, I'm just sharing my experience, preparing for future hardships those beings who will be able to capture my thoughts and memories from the Great information field of the Universes (I wonder if such a thing exists?).

In general, I had no plans to go to Kyoto at first. I wanted to lay low for a few months somewhere on the islands, or closer to China, and accordingly through their territory somewhere farther away — it would just be time to think with a sober head.

But my mother stuck to her horn and literally demanded that we go to Kyoto. The fact that Kyoto was the residence of the imperial family and one of the largest branches of the Chancery didn't bother her. I even wanted to twist her and pull her in the other direction.

But when I came up with a plan (a couple of hours) and decided to proceed, I was easily (!) twisted, read a long lecture on the subject of "You must obey your elders, respect your parents, and you must not raise your hand to women and children" while lying on the grass by the river, and was only released after four hours.

A second attempt sent me into the river... about twenty meters from the shore... and the rivers, damn it, in Japan are not all deep, and even with a lot of shoals... in short, I limped on the flight and hissed through my teeth curses. My sullen, terribly displeased look, but obedience, and the blooming look of my mother — amused many on the way, and in line, I heard a father scare his son that if what — also put a black eye, because he got it.

 Yes, yes, I had a black eye on half my face and a long abrasion on my cheekbone. Oh well. Anyway, at the end of the fourth day of our escape, we got off the bus in the ancient city of Kyoto.

A hot bath and a soft bed reconciled me to this world and its injustice for the next ten and a half hours, and the "ungrateful woman" who tried to wake me up could not even approach me, for she was a barrier.

I woke up in the best of moods: I had slept in a normal bed, not a clan bed — a mixture of a stool and a blanket, I HAD SLEEPED!

I'm rested, my head is calm and clear, I can feel the Brothers somewhere nearby (I have to think of names for them!), I have magic with me, and the background in Kyoto, as it turns out, is very intense. Grace...behind the barrier my mother is trying to say something, but I can't hear.

 I got up, stretched, yawned, and took a shower. I hung the barrier on the lanyard of my talisman amulet, so no matter where I move, there is peace and quiet in the sphere of two meters around me, no one can touch me. I came out of the shower in an even better mood, because magic can be used in a VERY wide spectrum, and all sorts of tools are unnecessary when a mage or witch needs to comb her hair, dry herself, or do something else small.

The main thing is self-discipline and the ability to direct thoughts-emotions in the right way. Little magicians call it "spontaneous release", but with age you can learn to use it, even to organize micro-emotions at will. I got dressed, still under the stern gaze of the "silent" mother, who tried to reach me a few more times, and smiled broadly at her, and left the room.

 Yesterday at the reception they said that the hotel has a good restaurant, so we will go there: I — blooming and smelling, in front, and my mother — frowning and irritated, two steps behind. By the way, I cured my black eye and graze with a potion from my "personal first aid kit". I removed the barrier only when we were at the table.

A pretty, really, really pretty waitress came over and shot her eyes at me on autopilot. It was interesting to see how dissatisfied my mother was when she ordered purely national dishes, and I — Italian cuisine, and even with pomegranate juice, which I had literally been dreaming about for the last few years.

— And? — the much younger and prettier woman started to burn me with a look.

— Hmm? — I raised an eyebrow in question, enjoying a salad with lots of cheese and olives.

— What was that?

— A barrier? — A feigned confusion, obviously.

— Wasn't that enough for you to add something? — the young woman began demonstrating with her fists.

— No way, I'm picking up the cherry with my fork. — I was tired then, I didn't notice. Now I'll be covered by a barrier in no time, you won't get it. — I smile.

— The barrier can be broken. — The woman narrowed her eyes.

— Of course. — I nod calmly. — But what's to stop me from making several of them, in layers, and updating them? Yes, that's what I'm saying. So let's make a deal. — I smile broadly, because I'm sure she won't freak out in public. — So why did you try to wake me up?

— You sleep too long, you don't warm up, you don't meditate at dawn! — The finger was pointed at me. — How can you become a worthy heir of our clan?! — There's a lot of indignation.