Who should Tatsuya end up with?

[Zuruumi]

Then it leaves only harem ending . Well ok, I know this has propability infinitely close to zero and if there wasn´t some incredible plot twist that would make it into somehting having sense it would spoil the series. Well, it would be interesting anyway.

[Karu]

Frankly speaking...
Tatsuya needs someone with a strong personality to bring out his character... To make him feel exasperated, alive & human...
In that case, Mayumi is the best candidate...

Honoka is the candidate that had been sort of "endorsed" by Miyuki as she knew about Honoka's confession in "Summer Break" of Vol 5 but didn't object to it in any way. Honoka also knows about Tatsuya's emotion defect but is willingly to accept it & help. More ever, she has the Elements Bloodline which might or might not come in handy in the future depending on the author.
HOWEVER, she...
Just doesn't give me the impression that she will gel well with Tatsuya...

So in the end... I have to support Mayumi...
And if it isn't Mayumi, then i would rather have option "He and Miyuki spend the rest of their lives by each other's side (not "that" way)"...

[maqhusson]

I'm also leaning towards the Mayumi end. Miyuki is nice and all, but Mayumi seems to be the one that is closest to Tatsuya after Miyuki in the novel. He has trouble dealing with her, and she him, but I still get the feeling they enjoy each other's company, especially Tatsuya because of how he treats her normally compared to most other people. Also, the two suitors (Itsuwa and Juumonji) aren't to Mayumi's liking, nor do either seem yo have as warm a relationship with each other as Tatsuya and Mayumi seem to have.

I also personally just like Mayumi's quirkiness, she's a refreshing character for me in the series, especially in her interactions with Tatsuya.

I would maybe root for Lina, but the author doesn't really make them seem as suited to each other as Mayumi x Tatsuya in my opinion. If Miyuki and Mayumi end up losing, then maybe Lina if and when she comes back and gets closer to Tatsuya.

[Imladir]

I'm all for Mayumi too.
Don't take me wrong, I love Miyuki. I do.
But even if I understand how she came to love her brother that much (near death trauma, all-powerful saviour, etc.), I'd love nothing more than see her less extreme in that regard.

I like Luna but I don't feel she'd be right with Tatsuya. Maybe for a short time, but nothing serious. Whereas with Mayumi, I think they could have a nice and long story.
Even if it's a shame Tatsuya can't love anyone except Miyuki, he can still feel at ease or have affection with/for someone else, that's not too bad either. And it can be the start for something more, after all, even if his capacity to feel a lot of emotions was removed, nothing says he can't reconstruct those.
The humain brain / psychee is very adaptable...in the right conditions.

For Honoka, I don't know... She seems a bit too bland (that's probably a much too strong wrong). Tatsuya needs someone very strong (psychologicaly) to overcome is inability to love, and Honoka is nice, lovable but she doesn't seem right for him.

Erika is a good friend and Tatsuya would never do this kind of thing to Leo (and I'm quite sure Erika wouldn't like Tatsuya trying anyhting with her anyway)

[nr42]

Am I the only one who dislikes Tatsuya x Mayumi purely on the grounds of originality. I really like her and if her family circumstances were any different I'd be all for it, but as it stands that would make Mahouka the zillionth story where the romance is just a Romeo and Juliette rip off.

[Psion]

Mayumi is the one that is most obvious to me; however either Pixie or Maya are also possibilities IMO.

Edit: As for the Romeo x Juliet comment; I am not sure that analogy really works.... We know the Saegusa aren't real fond of the Yotsuba (though if they take moves against the Yotsuba, then you can be sure the Yotsuba will respond which the other 26 (28-2) families will undoubtedly respond to by allying themselves with the Saegusa; this is a reality that both sides no doubt realise... and we can see that from the interaction of Kudou and Saegusa) but I dont think the Yotsuba really care about the Saegusa either way. Its kind of like the relationship between the Saegusa and the Shippou.

[Zuruumi]

I wouldn´t say it is the same as Saegusa x Shoppou. I think Saegusa have nothing against Yotsuba personally, they just hate them getting even more power (as do the other families). As long as Yotsuba get in the line (which they won´t do out of their own volition of course) and get weakened to the state of having only comparable power with the other 10 families, they will be content. Saegusa for the time being only fear that Yotsuba will get even stronger and by that manage to gain all the power and unvritten rights that the 10 families have for themselves, thus they are trying to cause harm to Yotsuba or restrict them somehow, but they would do the same if for example Ichijou got too strong. On the other hand Shippou just have one-sided grudge against something Saegusa did.
Also, the other families wouldn´t propably all aly against Yotsuba, most likely they would only silently support Saegusa at most, while trying to let this two families weaken each other, as they are both a bit too strong.

By the way, I don´t think the Romeo + Juliet comparison works there. The most likely case where Tatsuya + Mayumi get together is that their families force that on them, or in their own plot to do something or other about the situation, it isn´t likely to get into the situation where both Saegusa and Yotsuba try to stop them and they elope because of their love. In the first place, I think Saegusa might even support this, as this would give them a way to controll (or at least highly influence) the (presumably) strongest Yotsuba (Tatsuya) and drive a wedge into Yotsuba (as Miyuki would hardly go against Tatsuya in their possible confrontation), while they would only have to use Mayumi, which although is talented is hardly so important.

[nr42]

But that's even more boring and unoriginal! Two rival families and then they fix everything with a marriage.
And that would make it sad for Mayumi, because if the marriage is arranged, then Tatsuya doesn't really care about her.

[ergoGnomik]

Well, actually I didn't vote, but I'd say nobody. And I do not think that this *should* happen, but I think it *will* happen. It is not in Tatsuya's fate, at least not in the timeframe of the three school years planned for the light novels. But I have to admit that with Mayumi they would deserve each other.

But let's go with the recent off topic subject of the relation between the Saegusa and Yotsuba families. I think the content of Volume 5 gives you a lot of material to base quite interesting speculations on the motivations of both parties.

Some facts first. Saegusa Kouichi and Yotsuba Maya was an engaged couple. There happened that kidnapping incident in which Kouichi lost one of his eyes and his bride to be and Maya lost the capability to bear children and seemingly part of her humanity. It is also a stated fact that although Miya somehow managed to "repair" the broken soul of her sister, Maya could never forgive Miya for using mental interference on her.

Now let's try to deduce some possible motivations. The Yotsuba called off the marriage to hide the shame of Maya being "broken good" and of course they did not tell the reason to the Saegusa. Kouichi may have concluded that not being able to save his bethrothed made the Yotsuba despise him, and that's why they took away his girl. This kindled a wish for revenge in him, that's why he is trying to compete with and best the Yotsuba. The Yotsuba is not interested in his "childish" antics, they only want to defend what's theirs. Maya also had a wish for revenge on Miya, that's why she made her conduct the artificial magician experiment on Tatsuya. Unfortunately, the experiment resulted in creating a "monster" which is too good to waste and to dangerous to leave it alone.

Now let's return to the question of why nobody? The countries are in an arms race to "produce" more and more, better and better magic users. As Tatsuya's genetic material includes those genes that inhibit him from using magic properly, he is necessarily excluded from the "breeding" program because it cannot be guaranteed that this problem won't be inherited in his descendants and bearing defective magicans is a waste of resources, no matter how inhumane it sounds. This is an additional reason why they are not considering Tatsuya being one of the Yotsuba; he is not only a subpar magician but just as Maya someone incapable of producing descendants with strong magic capabilities.

[cassoult]

Voted for Miyuki. My second choice would probably have been a tie between Lina and Pixie.

As much as I love Mayumi, her character development has been fairly removed from Tatsuya's, and currently, I can't see her feelings reaching him any more than Honoka's do. It doesn't help that her interactions with Tatsuya have been far less interesting than before in these last two volumes (which I put down to her increased feelings for him) and that she has had other possibilities introduced for her. As for an arranged marriage, I don't see much point to it. Mostly because I just don't see a huge inter-family feud. Sure, Koichi has a thing against the Yotsuba, but there's been no indication that other members of his clan feel the same way, or that the Yotsuba have it in for the Saegusa. What's in it for the Yotsuba, or for Tatsuya himself, in his entering an arranged marriage with Mayumi?

[Zuruumi]

I never said that it is propable as things are now, but only that it is more propable than Romeo x Juliet setting.
Also to

Now let's return to the question of why nobody? The countries are in an arms race to "produce" more and more, better and better magic users. As Tatsuya's genetic material includes those genes that inhibit him from using magic properly, he is necessarily excluded from the "breeding" program because it cannot be guaranteed that this problem won't be inherited in his descendants and bearing defective magicans is a waste of resources, no matter how inhumane it sounds. This is an additional reason why they are not considering Tatsuya being one of the Yotsuba; he is not only a subpar magician but just as Maya someone incapable of producing descendants with strong magic capabilities.

Tatsuya isn´t untalented as magician, but his magic calculation area is completelly dominated by his two main magics (whether this is true is a question, but Miyuki says so in Yokohama disturbance chapter). Therefore his children might also inherit his abilities (decomposition and regrowth) or they might not inherit them, but in that case they would be capable of using conventional magic, as nothing would block that. Therefore both scenarios seem good and should not prove to be a waste of resources.

Also, I completelly agree that the possibility of him ending up with someone in the timeframe of the 3 years is quite unlikely, but if we go further down the road...

Also:

Unfortunately, the experiment resulted in creating a "monster" which is too good to waste and to dangerous to leave it alone.

Tatsuya was a monster from the beginning, this just added a small part to that. His basic Monstrous abilities were there even before the experiment.

[nr42]

Tatsuya isn´t untalented as magician, but his magic calculation area is completelly dominated by his two main magics (whether this is true is a question, but Miyuki says so in Yokohama disturbance chapter). Therefore his children might also inherit his abilities (decomposition and regrowth) or they might not inherit them, but in that case they would be capable of using conventional magic, as nothing would block that....

I don't think the Yotsuba see it that way, which, in turn, makes it likely for the Saegusa to see it the same way. Now I know you'll counter by saying that having a Strategic Class magician in the family is beneficial for the Saegusa and that Kouichi might want to have grandchildren with these abilities. But the thing is this would taint the bloodline of the Main House with people with bad magic skills (to the outside world), which is an embarrassment. Why else wouldn't the Yotsuba have a special laboratory making Tatsuya clones and crossbreeding him with others?

[Zuruumi]

I think Yotsuba are a bit special in their perception of this. Well anyway, as for the clones, it was mentioned somewhere in the book, that clones do not possess the same level of skills as their reference material, and I don´t think the same principle as for Sakurasou (I propably wrote the name wrongly, but I stil don´t remember it, sorry) would work there for many reasons, the main being, that he is a guy. As for him having children, first - he used to be too yung for that, second Maya is fearing him as is, it would be even worse if she had number of them, third, where the hell is she supposed to find the other to the pair? It would have to be someone with exceptional skills for it to work, but there aren´t many girls in the yotsuba clan, and the ones there are are a bit too close relatives. If Tatsuya was a girl it might work to just get some good guy, but to get a woman wishing to bear the child is harder.

[maqhusson]

I don't think Tatsuya can be considered as sub-par. It's been mentioned many times throughout the novel, but Tatsuya is only sub-par according the modern magic standards because of his inability to use conventional spells, but that doesn't mean his magical ability itself is sub-par. It's been mentioned a few times that his psion count is very high, and by the old standards he would be considered a top-tier magician. The only thing that makes him seem sub-par is his overwhelmingly strong magics that dominate his magic calculation area, but his magical power itself doesn't seem to be inferior. Even his friends realized that the current system to calculate magicians' ability does not do Tatsuya justice, and that's without knowing the true nature of his abilities; I'm sure if the other clans found out about Tatsuya's true abilities, they wouldn't think he's not a top-tier magician.

[Psion]

I think it depends on the point of the union.

Pairing for Affection
If it is for mutual pleasure and comfort, the number of choices are constrained to those that Tatsuya has demonstrated manifestations of what might usually be considered affection, Miyuki is of course the first that springs to mind; but over the course of the LN, he has come to demonstrate behaviours that are more readily associated with affection towards a more significant number of females - typically those that might be considered as somewhat innocent, guileless or whimsical at times (this is potentially because they are closer to the concept of 'younger sister' which Miyuki as his sole target of affection is categorised as - if you find this assertion baseless consider when Shizuku apologises to him in Col 12 Chap 1), as such this grouping may potentially have expanded to a significant number of other potential pairings.

Pairing for Bonds (generally this would mean marriage, because such bonds heavily emphasise a more formal union of parties)
Another possible reason for the union would be peace or unity between some faction that Tatsuya is involved with and another faction; this is an incredibly traditional way to go about securing peace, because it has a relatively sound track record. So perhaps to secure relations between factions within the Yotsuba he might be paired with a branch family member, or perhaps the Yotsuba, the Shiba or even Tatsuya's own growing circle might seek to improve their relationship with another powerful family (if targeting magical power the Saegusa family seems quite plausible, or for magical influence then there are the Kudous, potentially they might target economic power and seek union with some family like the Kitayama's, or perhaps they will seek a more visible national influence through the police and military ties of the Chiba), then there is even the chance that the Japanese government might require that he marry in a certain way, such as to improve relations with another power (though given that there are few true royalties in MKnR, this option seems far less unlikely)

Pairing for Offspring
And of course there is the reason of passing on the genes. Given the fact that magical ability was naturally recessive in him, it is entirely possible unaltered offspring or clones of his would also have recessive ability. It is important to remember that before miya ripped out a chunk of his mind, he was a magical dud; not merely the type of 'irregular' that is not recognised according to international magical testing standards - but an actual failure. We know genetics can influence the way that magical abilities manifest in practitioners (not merely limited to the extent of their capabilities but also predisposition towards certain types of magic), however it is not entirely certain what the origin of Tatsuya's own inability was.

While we cannot be entirely certain that an inability to use magic is the result of his genetic composition as opposed to his psychological composition, however if his genetics are a factor, this predisposition towards an inability to use magic (which in his own case is an active trait) may well be inherited by any natural offspring and any clones. In this respect from the point of view of breeding a superior magician, there is a chance that his genes could be a double edged sword - doubtless his genes include a significant number of highly desirable predispositions, however if that comes at the chance of a diminished likelihood of magical ability manifesting then it becomes a matter for careful scrutiny. He currently has incredibly useful magical abilities and his genetic composition likely involves a significant number of predispositions that would be useful in magical endeavours; no doubt there are those who would be willing to make such an investment (either in terms of cloning, forced breeding etc) indeed as a strategic class magician it is implausible that the government will not require that he have children.

Also the age he would have to be before his genetic material could be harvested is measured in weeks after conception, not years after birth, so he isn't too young for that.