Plotting the Downfall of Tradition

"We are all mourning the sudden, and completely unexpected passing of our President and CEO. Akira lead Imagination and Illusions Inc. to heights that many never thought possible - and yet his legacy will be further honored with the highly successful launch of the Sorcerers and Slayers trading card game. In the interim, I as Chairman of the Board of Directors and my esteemed colleagues, will take over the responsibilities that have been left in the wake of Akira's passing. Thank you for your time."

Haruto stated into several microphones that were positioned on a podium outside of the Headquarters Building for Imagination and Illusions Inc. in Tokyo, with Akio, Aoto, and Sota all standing directly behind them. They were all being represented on an NHK live broadcast the Kimi's parents were watching on the family television, which when Kimi noticed as she walked quietly down their Sapporo condo's carted set of stairs she made sure to keep her presence unknown as best she could. The last thing that she needed was her parents asking her about the Sorcerers and Slayers card game that she knew was far more than it appeared to be. Even with their memories wiped up until the day of her being transported to the Primordial Elemental Elder Realm - Kimi didn't want to be reminded of that place or those cards to any greater extent than she already was. 

As Kimi made her way down the stairs fully, she pulled up her thigh high school uniform stockings quietly, then making her way silently into the small kitchen and drinking her orange juice and taking the toast that was sitting in the toaster, ready for her, and putting it in her mouth, before putting on her shoes, grabbing her school bag, and heading out without altering her parents!

"If only they knew the truth - if only they knew that I've been made a puppet ruler in another world with an obligation to summon people like me from all across Japan to take part in an all out war in that other world, against their will. I'll break this dark cycle of tradition, I have to."

Kimi said to herself as she walked to school, all the while thinking about how she as going to bring down an otherworldly order that was far older than humanity itself! Then again, she had been made the Slayer Queen - made into the very character that she'd created - and she was even stronger now! 

The only power that Kimi didn't possess in that moment was paying attention to the fact that she'd once again, just made it through the gate of her high school as the gym teacher was closing it! Though this was simply due to Kimi being consumed with her thoughts of retribution and as she saw it: justice. Before long, Kimi had changed into her school shoes at her locker, and made her way to her classroom as she'd done so many times before - a routine so engrained in her that eve when she was distracted, she couldn't let go of the fundamental motions of her school ritual. 

As Kimi sat at her desk in the back left corner next to the window, her class's main teacher, Aoi, began her lecture for the day. 

"Good morning, class. Today, we're going to be discussing a comparative historical theme in terms of our own history here in Japan, and that of the West. That theme is the destruction of tradition, or otherwise the conflict of tradition against modernity."

Aoi said as Kimi suddenly perked up, going from looking out the window and listening passively, consumed by her thoughts of how to bring down the wingless dragons who ruled that other world, the Primordial Elemental Elder Realm, as well as how to reunite with Kana - to actively sitting at the ready to take notes and answer any and every question that Aoi would pose to the class!

"First, let's discuss the Haijo and Haito Edicts that followed the Meiji Restoration. What were they - and that did they each represent to the theme of the destruction of tradition, or otherwise the conflict of tradition against modernity?"

Aoi said as Kimi then immediately stood up and bowed respectfully, with Aoi, standing there in her typical business suit with a skirt attire, that day's being a navy blue skirt business suit with a typically waist-short jacket and a white blouse underneath. Aoi then nodded to Kimi, gesturing for Kimi to proceed in answering the question.

"The Haijo Edict was an order from Emperor Meiji early into his reign in the late nineteenth century that saw the destruction and/or disarmament and reuse of countless castles across the then-newly unified and Imperial Japan, in order to abolish the power and the legacy of power, of the Daimyo and Samurai classes. The Haito Edict aimed to further this goal by disallowing the carrying and possession of katanas in then-Imperial Japan at that time. Thus, they each represented the destruction of tradition by a key figure in power doing away with the old order in terms of class and power."

Kimi answered as she then bowed once more to Aoi and sat down. She couldn't help but feel a symbolic and thematic connection between these interconnected edicts and her own crusade to destroy the power of Haruto, Akio, Aoto, and Sota in the Primordial Elemental Elder Realm!

"Very good, Kimi. Yes - that is exactly what these actions of Emperor Meiji did, and that is also exactly how they are each thematically relevant to this lesson."

Aoi stated as she then thought for a moment, and shuffling through her lecture nots momentarily, she posed another question to the class - which she had hinted at. 

"In the West, the assassination of Julius Caesar at the hands of important political figures in the Roman Republic wielding daggers is a key focal point of their shared cultural and historical memory. How does this event connect thematically to today's lesson, broadly speaking?"

Aoi asked the class, with most of the students looking at each other nervously, trying to avoid being asked to stand, bow, and answer. Kimi however, once again stood up, bowed, and waited for permission to speak, which Aoi nodded as a signal of approval to do in that moment.

"The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC connects thematically with today's lesson, because the Roman political elites who assassinated him with daggers - represents the conflict of tradition versus modernity. Caesar wanted to rule as an absolute autocrat answering to no one, and his assassins wanted to prevent the rise of an autocracy, and thus seeing their actions as being in defense of Roman Democracy - with the former being seen as an unwanted modernity, and the latter as the desired tradition."

Kimi said before bowing and sitting down once more. She couldn't help but see herself in both sides of the conflict in the other world that she had planned: herself as Julius Caesar seeking to bring down an established tradition, with Haruto, Akio, Aoto, and Sota representing the defenders of tradition. 

Kimi spent the rest of the class passively but dutifully taking notes, knowing that she would have to go back to the other world that night, and knowing that she ha to plan the downfall of the Primordial Elemental Elder Realm meticulously, knowing that she couldn't afford to rush.