>Every half-year, during Homecoming in A-term and Sanity Week in C-term,
>the Institute Duelists' Society held an open house, wherein the Castle's
>doors stood open (albeit not literally, at least not in C-term) to anyone
>who cared to stop by.

If they really wanted to show away and be all fancy about it, someone could probably grab one of those low-strength shield generators they use in docking bays to keep atmosphere (and heat) inside ships while still allowing sufficiently dense objects to pass in and out. Then they could hurl the doors wide even in the dead of winter, be all dramatic about it. :)

>The club's officers were on
>hand, ready to explain to any curious individuals exactly what it was
>the Society did, and why, and are they insane to let you
>do that, and so forth.

In any other setting the answer to that would be a resounding "Hell yes they are." And even in Known Space the answer probably has a number of wry qualifiers like "Well, it doesn't do much for our insurance premiums, we'll tell you that much."

>Sosuke leaned toward Kaname so the younger students wouldn't hear and
>asked her, "What is their usual rate of recruitment?"
>
>Kaname wiggled her free hand. "Well, they don't really have formal
>recruitment per se, but if you split between the scouting and
>personal recommendations Lins was just talking about, versus the
>open-house applicants and challengers making the grade, you'd be
>looking at a sixty-forty split."
>
>"Do you attend these events regularly?"
>
>"Well... yeah, I'm usually here," Kaname said. "I mean, Lindsey and I
>have been friends since before either of us came here, and since I
>became an RA there's usually a few kids on my floor who want to check
>it out. Besides, I mean... " She shrugged. "It's not my own scene,
>exactly, but it is pretty cool to watch."

This whole exchange is really, really clever from a writerly point of view.

The first time I read through it I was like "Oh, standard infodump for benefit of the readers, using Sosuke as an in-universe proxy." And it's pretty good as just an infodump.

Then I read it again and realized "Sosuke has just gathered valuable intelligence as to how often completely un-vetted people show up with deadly weapons to try and fight their way into the local paramilitary organization. He has also determined how often Kaname is physically present on the premises when that happens. And he did both those things under the guise of idle curiosity, thus not reminding his protectee that he isn't precisely JUST her friend; he's there to die for her if he has to, a fact that he knows freaks her out."

Sosuke is smarter than he acts.

>The smaller door inset into one of the Castle's great doors opened at
>their approach, and they found themselves beckoned into the entrance
>hall by the distinctive figure of the Society's faculty advisor,
>Professor May, bundled up in the kind of parka that made him look like
>he might be setting off for an expedition to Ice Planet Hoth.

Ice Planet Halloran V sheds a single tear at being passed over in favor of it's flashy older brother Hoth yet again. :)

>Kaname sighed and flicked him painfully on the nearer earlobe with a
>fingernail. "Ow!" he cried, startled, and took his hand out of his
>coat to cover the offended part.
>
>"Spirit, stand down, you imbecile," Kaname snapped. "That's
>Sergei, he's not going to bother anybody unless they make trouble."

A bit unfair on Kaname's part, given that Sergei is a giant damn tiger, although she's had a long day.

I question just how well his company briefed Sosuke on this assignment before inserting him. Sergei's presence on campus was the subject of significant legal wrangling, and he has a paper trail that's part of the public record that is a mile long. "There's a huge neotiger that belongs to one of DSMs alums and it will show up semi-regularly" is something you'd imagine made it into his dossier, assuming competence on the part of Sosuke's employers.

Although I'll also note that part of me has been wondering for awhile now if Sosuke is a total decoy and Melissa and Kurz, the ACTUAL bodyguarding team, are hanging out in the background doing a much, much better job at the whole 'covert' thing than he is.

>Sosuke nodded and replied without evident irony, "I know, I've seen
>New Century Zatōichi. That will be satisfactory."
>
>I can never tell whether he's messing with me, Kaname mused as
>she followed Kate into the library.

Oh, Kaname. Kaname Kaname Kaname.

Sosuke doesn't mess with people. It's part of his special brand of what I'll choose to call "charm."

>"She is plainly a far superior combatant to Miss Yumemiya,"
>Sosuke went on, "but does not wish to humiliate her unnecessarily.
>Very interesting."
>
>And so much for insight, Kaname thought with a mental sigh,
>then told him, "I think you'll find that's generally how normal people
>roll."
>
>"I sincerely doubt Miss Pond is normal people, Miss Chidori,"

Ouch. You just got burnt by Sosuke Sagara, Kaname. When that happens one needs to seriously reconsider their choices in life.

>replied, not taking his eyes off the duel, "but you were right about
>one thing." He glanced at Rory Williams, who still held Amy's jacket
>and sword as he watched, then returned his attention to the duel.
>"She clearly does not need a bodyguard."

This seems like an odd thing for a professional soldier and at least semi-competent bodyguard to say. Just because someone is a total badass doesn't mean they don't necessarily need a bodyguard. In fact, being a total badass is likely to INCREASE your need for things like bodyguards and food tasters; there's a reason viking kings had house carles.

>"Ah," Sosuke mused. "That explains the lack of proper defensive
>features," but before he could elaborate on that, Kaname had stepped
>on his foot.

Man, two burns in one day. Sosuke is on FIRE.

>whatever happened to them as adolescence did its terrible, wonderful
>thing, she could always count on Corwin to just... be Corwin. And not
>whatever it was that so many other boys turned into when the hormones
>started flowing.

Let's be fair, Kaname. You probably know more than a few ladies who also turn into crazy people when their body decides "today is a great day to flood myself with natively-made chemicals!" One of your fellow RA's is Natsuki Kruger, for heaven's sake. :)

>"Oh." She tilted her head and regarded him curiously. "Who are you
>marrying?"
>
>Corwin gave her a wry look. "Kaname. C'mon."
>
>"What?" Kaname glanced to her right; a few yards away, graduated
>Duelist VP Utena Tenjou stood talking with Amy about something. "But
>- "
>
>Corwin nodded, smiling. "Yes."
>
>"And - " Kaname began.
>
>Corwin nodded again. "Probably."

"So who won the pool?"

"Kozue and Chip split. You'd think other people would have had money on 'harem', but no, it was just them. Hell of a payout, too."

"Do NOT let Kozue plan your bachelor party."

>Corwin laughed. "Yeah, OK, what's the deal with that?"
>
>Now it was Kaname's turn to look a little sheepish as she explained
>why she had a bodyguard - or at least why, insofar as she even
>knew why, she'd elected to put up with it for the time being.
>Lindsey arrived for the end of the explanation, enough to know what
>they were talking about, and agreed with Utena's observation that the
>situation was just the tiniest bit wack.

Okay, time for me to put my killjoy hat on for just a second.

I know that, at the meta-level, a big part of why Kaname is still in the dark about this is because it also leaves the readers in the dark until a huge, awesome reveal comes along.

But it's starting to fray a little bit around the edges. Kaname is the scion of a family that has a lot of pull in the galaxy and is friends with people who have even more pull, and given her family history it seems like she'd take threats to her well-being rather seriously. But both she and her mother seem... rather blase about the whole thing. Even if Kaname isn't the type to ask other people for help except in dire extremes (advice yes, help no) you'd think Miranda would have gone "Huh. Someone paid money for a mercenary to attach himself to my daughter, who won't tell her why, or why she might be in danger. And he's doing stuff like bugging her room. Maybe I'll make some calls and find out if some people want to hurt my family that I don't know about. Then I can tell Kaname and she can be prepared."

For that matter, you'd think Corwin might think along the same lines, although obviously Kaname is not his daughter.

Anyway.

>Shizuru smiled coyly. "I'm more than sure, President Fett. As you can
>see, my paperwork is all in order..."

That's Shizuru for you. The world could use more people who understand the sublime beauty, and terror, of a properly filled-out form.

(cr10 says that her penmanship is EXQUISITE.)

>Kaname stared. "Man, having this open house on Alumni Day was SO not
>fair," she muttered underneath the more excited murmurs that were
>building among the students. "What next?"

Several students have already implemented step 1 of their Zombie Apocalypse plans. You know. Just in case.

>"Wait, is that a glaive or a guisarme?"
>
>"Does it matter?"
>
>"It's a voulge, you dopes."

"Again I ask, does it matter?"

"It matters because it means I'm technically correct! The best KIND of correct!"

>The main strengths of a weapon like Shizuru's were, oddly, also its
>main drawbacks in a situation like this. Its length and heft gave it
>terrific reach and striking power, but they also made dueling with it
>a bit like barrel rolling an airliner: technically possible, but way,
>way off-label. It was a weapon of war, designed mainly to cleave in
>half the skulls of people standing ten or so feet away, not one
>intended for personal combat - particularly personal combat in
>which killing one's opponent would be frowned upon.

In particular, it might bear mentioning that generally speaking, polearms are usually meant to be used when you're standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a whole bunch of other people who ALSO have polearms.

What's running through Sosuke's head right now is probably something like "Survive the initial swing. Once inside her guard, secure the weapon and proceed with CQC. She's taller than me; this limits my takedown options. Sweep the legs."

(I like to imagine Sosuke lives by the Code of the Sniper: "Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.")

>For Juri's part, she had all the room she could possibly have wanted,
>but Shizuru's constant motion kept her in constant motion as
>well, leaving her little time to consolidate her position or form
>elaborate strategies, much less put them into action. She could cut,
>thrust, back away, and try new angles more or less at will, but if she
>had tried to parry a weapon like Shizuru's conventionally she'd have
>lost her blade, and possibly a few fingers, so she needed all
>that mobility.

Juri may want to look into some manner of cuts-through-anything weapon, is all I'm saying.

>Corwin, Kaname, and Lindsey, who had taken their time and stayed out
>of the crush on the stairs, arrived as the mob was breaking up. Most
>filtered out in the wake of the departing pair, apart from Kaname's
>group and the various Duelists, who still stood around in little knots
>talking about all the excitement. Off to one side, Sosuke returned to
>his earlier study of the Wall o' Weapons, his face in a thoughtful but
>largely unreadable frown.

Sosuke has a hard, hard job. But he perseveres!

>"Wow," said Corwin. "One petal, did that even happen in the
>old days?" he mused to Utena. "What would that have meant?
>Anthy's still engaged to you but has to do Shizuru's laundry for a
>week?"
>
>Utena laughed. "We'll have to ask her when she wakes up." She looked
>at her watch. "For now, we've got just enough daylight to get in a
>little more sledding."

Man, who needs DAYLIGHT? Night sledding is the third best kind of sledding!

(Second best kind of sledding: drunk sledding. Best kind of sledding: drunk, night sledding.)

>"She's enjoying this," Corwin observed as Lindsey trotted over to
>round up the sprogs.
>
>"Yes, yes she is," Kaname replied with a sigh.

Lindsey may not be as cute as Kyoko, but she makes up for it in other, thoroughly enjoyable, ways.

-Merc
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