Mahou Sensou:Volume 2 Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Grade 1-C in Magic school

Part 1

Outside the hallway window, everything looked normal. Just like the Sakuraya Academy in Tokyo where Takeshi and his friends used to attend, the rooftops of the houses could be seen beyond the huge fence of the sports complex, and even further away, the silhouette of buildings of different sizes could be seen. Of course, if it was a high school built in the center of Tokyo, it had to be very similar to the previous one in every way. However, Takeshi was aware that all that was nothing more than a mirage projected with magic.

By mid-August, Takeshi along with his childhood friend Kurumi and his former classmate Ida, had completed the formal process of transferring to the Subaru Magic Academy.

At the beginning of the summer vacation, when Takeshi attended his previous academy to train at the Kendo club as he always did, he ended up bumping into a mysterious girl by chance. She was a student of the Subaru Magic Academy named Aiba Mui, who also happened to be a wizard belonging to <Wizard's Breath>. She showed up at Takeshi's school, because she was being chased by the <Ghost Trailers>, a rival wizards organization of <Wizard's Breath>.

Mui was injured, so Takeshi carried her and took her to the infirmary. While there, a series of events caused her to almost fall out of bed at one point. Takeshi tried to help her, but they ended up accidentally colliding their lips. Mui was so angry about it, that she inadvertently triggered magic that caused Takeshi to transform into a wizard.

Wizards, are people capable of using magical power which they can visualize in the form of particles of light. When a person is still in his growth stage, he is able to manifest his magical power by simply exposing himself to the magic of another person.

Having been turned into a wizard by Mui, Takeshi was caught in her crossfire against <the Trailers>, and consequently, his childhood friend Isoshima Kurumi and his classmate Ida Kazumi were also turned into wizards. Because of all the above mentioned, Takeshi and his friends had to be taken to the Subaru Magic Academy under the authorization of the headmistress, and it was decided that they would have to be transferred to that place.

While walking in a lonely corridor during the summer vacation, Takeshi looked at his hands. He still couldn't believe that he had become a wizard. Certainly his magic had been awakened. He didn't believe much in being tricked by his own mind and besides, everything he did actually happened, so the whole becoming a wizard thing wasn't a lie. He had traveled through a mirror from his world - which he called "Living World" - to the Subaru Magic Academy, located on a plane they called "Collapsed World". It was hard to believe that it was all just a dream.

Takeshi had already been living in the dormitories of the academy for two weeks. Every time he went to sleep, he feared that when he woke up, he would find himself in his usual room. But so far, that had not happened. There couldn't possibly be such a long dream, so what she was experiencing had to be reality.

When Takeshi opened the door to his classroom at the end of the hallway, a familiar face quickly turned to look at him. She was the only person in the classroom.

"Morning, Takeshi...."

"Morning, Isoshima...."

Kurumi was leaning right in front of the teacher's desk when she saw Takeshi she smiled. He smiled too and when he approached her, she stood up and stretched out her arms.

"Look, Takeshi. Now I have a new uniform."

Kurumi spun around and blinked happily.

"Oh, nice."

Since the Subaru Magic Academy uniform Kurumi wore was the same one Mui wore, he wasn't particularly surprised. It was a white short-sleeved blouse with navy blue stripes, a green checkered ribbon at the neck and a pleated skirt. Takeshi had also been sent to the dorm with his new uniform the night before, but he didn't seem to have any intention of wearing it yet.

Kurumi was standing in front of a desk, attentively waiting for Takeshi's opinion about her new Magic Academy uniform.

In Takeshi's eyes it was not much different from the previous one, but he was aware of Kurumi's feelings, so he replied:

"You are beautiful Isoshima.Whatever you wear will look good on you."

Takeshi gave with a smile and all, but Kurumi looked clearly disappointed.

"So it doesn't matter what I wear, huh?"

To Kurumi, hearing that was like telling her that everything she wears is the same, but obviously, Takeshi wasn't able to notice that detail. After a while, Mui entered the hall ahead of Ida who was peeking in at the entrance at the time. She had been staying in the dormitories and had come early to the academy to water the plants for the garden club. As she had just finished watering the plants, she was wearing a slightly wet uniform.

"Kurumi, your previous school's uniform was nice, but the magic academy uniform looks much better on you." Mui commented with a smile.

However, in response to Mui's smile, Kurumi made a disgusted face. Obviously, Kurumi didn't like Mui in the least, and much to her misfortune, they had both been assigned to the same room so they were now dorm mates. Previously, Mui was part of an elite group within the top class, which had been selected by the academy based on a score chart. However, because she ran away from the academy to look for her older brother who was rumored to have joined <the Trailers>, and also for turning Takeshi into a wizard and involving him in the feud, she ended up being demoted to the C class. The lowest of all. In addition, her private dormitory was taken away from her and she was moved to a shared one.

When Kurumi entered what was supposed to be her room, she almost had a heart attack when she found Mui there and realized that she would have to share a room with her. It was horrible to have to see her face at school, to someone he didn't like and now he would have to share a room with her. What bothered him the most, was that Mui didn't react to his provocations.

Takeshi saw Kurumi as someone quite interesting, as he had never had friends before and therefore had no experience dealing with other girls his own age. In the case of boys, it was worse because she would not even allow them to approach her. When she was an elementary and even high school student, she used to be constantly besieged by men of all ages. From students to mature, salaried men. Therefore, being a victim of harassment, she developed repulsion towards men. In the case of girls, it happened that she could not make friends because the others were always overwhelmed by her beauty and used to attack her and talk bad about her behind her back. However, ever since she arrived at the Magic Academy, Mui hadn't stopped trying to converse with her despite her hostility. That had Kurumi very overwhelmed and she didn't know how to act. At that moment the same thing was happening.

"I don't care what you say." Kurumi replied to Mui.

Despite being praised for her uniform, Kurumi looked away in disgust.

"But you really look good," Mui insisted crestfallen and then added:

"You are tall and thin and that's why the uniform looks perfect on you. I, on the other hand, am short and on top of that I think I'm shrinking more."

After listening to Mui explain her problems, Kurumi returned her gaze to Mui and replied:

"Well, I'm worried about being tall..."

"Huh? Really? But you look cool..." Mui replied.

"'Cool' is not a suitable compliment for a girl." Kurumi refuted.

"Huh? But being cool isn't bad at all, is it, Takeshi-kun?"

Takeshi flinched at that moment when he heard his name and replied:

"Huh? Aah yeah, that's right..."

Hearing that, Kurumi quickly asked Takeshi:

"Ta... Takeshi... Do you like girls who are cool?"

"Well, that's not what I meant..."

Mui had entered the conversation without Kurumi noticing and the balance had become strange.

"I knew it, Mui and Isohsima can become good friends," Takeshi thought.

He and Kurumi were childhood friends, but he was worried that she didn't have friends of the same sex. She said she didn't mind having more friends, but that wasn't true. When classes ended for the lunch break, Kurumi would always run to find Takeshi and stay with him for long stretches. Since she was a victim of a stalker and got Takeshi to become her fake boyfriend, her attitude got even worse, because whenever Takeshi was talking to his friends, even if they were boys, she would interrupt. Her friends had told her several times that she should make Kurumi see what she was doing. Many of them had been annoyed by her attitude.

As her childhood friend, Takeshi was happy that she trusted him, but he, too, liked to get along and talk with other people, and he wanted her to get along with Mui. However, the situation was critical, as no matter how hard Mui tried, Kurumi simply would not agree.

"It will take a while for Isoshima to open her mind," He mused.

Takeshi let out a faint sigh, which Kurumi immediately noticed with great astonishment and asked frontally:

"You seem to like 'cute' girls instead of just 'cool' ones, don't you Takeshi?"

However, it wasn't Takeshi who answered:

"For me, anyone would be fine..."

The classroom door opened and in walked Ida Kazumi, with his bristly blonde hair wearing a flashy T-shirt and his bag on his shoulder (which she possibly wasn't carrying anything as usual).

"I didn't ask you..." Kurumi exclaimed.

Ida shrugged his shoulders and replied:

"What's wrong? It's too early in the morning to be so grumpy. Although, angry girls are the ones I like the most."

"I don't mind that in the least." Kurumi reiterated.

Then Ida placed his bag on the seat behind the angry Kurumi and sat down. Almost at the same time, a supplementary class teacher entered the classroom through the main door.

"All right, I'll be with you today too. So let's start the class."

The teacher was a lady with short white hair.

During the summer vacations, Takeshi and the others were scheduled to take summer classes, and that day also had classes on the history of magic. The reason for that, was that the headmistress told them to take only the basic part of the magic classes that had been taught during the first term, in the form of supplementary classes.

It was already said that they would be joining the advanced course of the first year C class starting in September. Takeshi then took a seat and pulled out his new textbook on "History of Magic". Mui for his part turned at that moment towards the exit and said:

"Well, I think I'll head back to the dorms. Good luck, guys."

Mui waved her hand goodbye and Takeshi nodded and said:

"Yes, thanks."

"See you later..." Said Ida waving hand.

Only Kurumi didn't say goodbye to her and instead turned away.

Part 2

Summer vacation was over faster than expected.

"Last year, I had to kill time in the library when the dojo was closed."

Takeshi recalled in his room, as he contemplated the magical academy uniform he planned to wear the next day. His room was a double, but the left side of it was still empty at the moment. Ida was supposed to be his partner, but he decided that he would attend the academy from home due to the family circumstances he had outlined earlier. Therefore, Takeshi was alone in a double room. The new semester would start the next day. Takeshi didn't know whether he felt excited or worried. The only thing certain was that he felt uncomfortable.

"I don't think it's going to be that bad...", He thought.

However, Takeshi was relieved that he didn't have to go back home where he would have to run into Gekkou and his parents. Just thinking about how his situation was before arriving at the academy, his countenance fell. In his own home, Takeshi did not have the same value as outside. There, he was like air, like a shadow or a ghost. He lived even holding his breath so as not to disturb his family. But all that - according to him - was his fault and he couldn't help it. Two years ago, Takeshi had pushed his younger brother Gekkou into the road. It was possibly just an accident, though. To tell the truth, Takeshi didn't remember very well what happened in that instant, but what he did remember, was that just before that, he and Gekkou were arguing. Now, Gekkou's leg had an injury that would never heal. For that reason, Gekkou became a priority for his parents and Takeshi, on the contrary, became totally irrelevant. No matter how hard Takeshi tried to talk, he received no response. The cold silence he received in response became unbearable and therefore, he preferred to avoid his family altogether.

"I wonder what my family must have thought of my transfer?"

Despite everything that had happened, he did not speak to his family. It was an employee of the academy who came and told his mother and although he told that he would stay in the dormitories, she showed no reaction. With his father they didn't even talk because he was so busy at work that he could hardly be seen at home. As for Gekkou, she simply could not talk to him about the transfer or that she would be staying in the dormitories. She had time to tell him, but simply couldn't bring herself to do it. Thinking about the fact that he would be ignored as usual, that he was sure to receive a cold stare, made his heart freeze and so his voice wouldn't come out and his body was paralyzed.

"Maybe things will change after some time," Takeshi thought.

Even if Gekkou didn't forgive him, Takeshi had the expectation that his grudge would diminish.

"Gekkou is going to feel at ease now that I'm gone, and that's good."

While talking to himself, Takeshi arranged himself on the bed. Unlike his home, there he could hear both the voice and the noise made by other people coming from various directions. It was already ten o'clock at night and the dormitory supervisor had had to go to make a call because it was already bedtime and the students who had just returned from their houses to start the second semester were still chattering away in high spirits. Takeshi, for his part, had already gone out to greet his neighbors in the rooms on either side of his and those across the hall where he met someone who would be in his class, so he was relieved. Even knowing they were wizards, everyone there talked like any normal high school student. Although some seemed to be maintaining their firearms in their room and others had strange animal ears on their heads, other than that everything was normal.

Part 3

Summer vacation was over faster than expected.

"Last year, I had to kill time in the library when the dojo was closed."

Takeshi recalled in his room, as he contemplated the magical academy uniform he planned to wear the next day. His room was a double, but the left side of it was still empty at the moment. Ida was supposed to be his partner, but he decided that he would attend the academy from home due to the family circumstances he had outlined earlier. Therefore, Takeshi was alone in a double room. The new semester would start the next day. Takeshi didn't know whether he felt excited or worried. The only thing certain was that he felt uncomfortable.

"I don't think it's going to be that bad..." He thought.

However, Takeshi was relieved that he didn't have to go back home where he would have to run into Gekkou and his parents. Just thinking about how his situation was before arriving at the academy, his countenance fell. In his own home, Takeshi did not have the same value as outside. There, he was like air, like a shadow or a ghost. He lived even holding his breath so as not to disturb his family. But all that - according to him - was his fault and he couldn't help it. Two years ago, Takeshi had pushed his younger brother Gekkou into the road. It was possibly just an accident, though. To tell the truth, Takeshi didn't remember very well what happened in that instant, but what he did remember, was that just before that, he and Gekkou were arguing. Now, Gekkou's leg had an injury that would never heal. For that reason, Gekkou became a priority for his parents and Takeshi, on the contrary, became totally irrelevant. No matter how hard Takeshi tried to talk, he received no response. The cold silence he received in response became unbearable and therefore, he preferred to avoid his family altogether.

"I wonder what my family must have thought of my transfer?"

Despite everything that had happened, he did not speak to his family. It was an employee of the academy who came and told his mother and although he told that he would stay in the dormitories, she showed no reaction. With his father they didn't even talk because he was so busy at work that he could hardly be seen at home. As for Gekkou, she simply could not talk to him about the transfer or that she would be staying in the dormitories. She had time to tell him, but simply couldn't bring herself to do it. Thinking about the fact that he would be ignored as usual, that he was sure to receive a cold stare, made his heart freeze and so his voice wouldn't come out and his body was paralyzed.

"Maybe things will change after some time," Takeshi thought.

Even if Gekkou didn't forgive him, Takeshi had the expectation that his grudge would diminish.

"Gekkou is going to feel at ease now that I'm gone, and that's good."

While talking to himself, Takeshi arranged himself on the bed. Unlike his home, there he could hear both the voice and the noise made by other people coming from various directions. It was already ten o'clock at night and the dormitory supervisor had had to go to make a call because it was already bedtime and the students who had just returned from their houses to start the second semester were still chattering away in high spirits. Takeshi, for his part, had already gone out to greet his neighbors in the rooms on either side of his and those across the hall where he met someone who would be in his class, so he was relieved. Even knowing they were wizards, everyone there talked like any normal high school student. Although some seemed to be servicing their firearms in their room and others had strange animal ears on their heads, other than that everything was normal.

Part 4

Finally, the day of the opening ceremony which marked the beginning of the second semester arrived. When the ceremony held in the auditorium was finally over, Takeshi along with Kurumi, Mui and Ida headed together to what was to be their classroom.

Their teacher was a man who introduced himself as Hitouji Makoto, who Kurumi said she had seen before and that he was the one who took her to the magic academy the first time.

Hitouji-sensei was a man in his twenties who sported an okappa* style haircut, round glasses, an all-white suit and a scrawny physique. The four were led by him to the classroom, and when they arrived, the students who were already inside sat in silence and looked interestedly at Takeshi and company who were lined up next to the platform in front of them.

"Duty manager!" Hitouji-sensei exclaimed, calling one of the students.

That student gave directions and everyone stood up, bowed and then sat down again. Something that was done in any normal school.

"Well... starting today the second semester begins. Good luck to all of you and give your best."

After saying those words, Hitouji-sensei approached Takeshi and his friends who were still standing in front.

"On this day, I am going to introduce you to your new classmates. Let's see... let's start with the girl on the left.

The leftmost one was Kurumi.

"My name is Isohsiman Kurumi."

After Kurumi's expressionless and simple introduction, Hitouji-sensei frowned and asked:

"That's it? You won't say things like 'Let's get along! ok? or... 'Nice to meet you pyon~!'?"

Kurumi upon hearing such suggestions from Hitouji-sensei, looked at him with an expression of utter disgust.

"Eeeh... it seems like no. In that case, next please." The teacher continued.

Next to Kurumi was Takeshi.

"My name is Nanase Takeshi. Nice to meet you..."

"That's all you're going to say? Ah, since..."

Hitouji shrugged his shoulders at the unfriendly couple and continued:

"Well, the next one..."

Ida was next to Takeshi and at that point he had already attracted a lot of stares. His shiny, bristly blonde hair, his intimidating look combined with the fact that he was wearing his disheveled uniform despite it being the first day, were the reason.

"Is it my turn already? Well, I'm ida Kazumi. Nice to meet you."

He might have just been nervous, but Ida's gaze looked sharper than usual. With that look, he was observing the surroundings of the classroom so the expressions of the other students looked tense.

"Let's see, these three boys have just become wizards. So help them in any way you can. And now..."

Hitouji was confused by the tense classroom atmosphere, so he urged Mui who was the last one on the right.

"Aiba-san, please introduce yourself too."

"My name is Aiba Mui."

Mui greeted, and the classroom atmosphere changed immediately. Obviously her gaze was totally opposite to Ida's, so many turned to look at her.

"Some of you already knew this, but Aiba-san will be with us in class C from now due to certain circumstances. Obviously she is here since elementary school so she knows the academy better than you. Get along well and help each other in any way you can."

With a smile, Hitouji-sensei urged the four of them to take a seat in the back and started the class:

"Now, this second semester brings several important activities. We will not only study, but also, practice together so that your control over magic will be better than in the first semester."

Part 5

Takeshi and the others, joined the C class without any particular problems and managed to catch up with the lessons in just one week. That had all been thanks to taking supplementary first-semester classes during the summer vacation. But, in spite of everything, that was a magic academy had things that were not the same as a normal academy. During the morning they had normal classes with basic subjects and in the afternoon they switched to magic classes. Even though they had magic in their body, they had to learn many things to be able to use it.

First, they studied what magic was, then they learned how to activate basic magic, then the origin and history of magic, the tone of voice to use to use magic (that was learned in the study of enchantments). In addition, they learned about the relationship of magic with space-time within the subject called as: "Areas". Then they learned how to use magic in a complex way. They were taught about "Systematic Magic" which they were taught was different for each individual. After that, there were more lessons that were to be expected such as practical training to master magic and tactical strategy for combat.

As they had learned in the history of magic, the world they were in now was different from the "Living World" where Takeshi used to live. That world called "Collapsed World" in which they were now, was a parallel world that was created as a result of "The First Magical War" that took place at the end of the twentieth century. It happened when a <Ghost Trailers> wizard named: Ryuzenji Kazuma, was about to use his "Singular Magic" spell called <Last Requiem>, which would completely erase the existence of all ordinary humans from the face of the earth. But the wizards of <Wizard's Breath> and also of other communities, reacted earlier, and split spacetime in two in order to save the world. However, suddenly and as the name suggests, this new world collapsed due to the huge forced split in space-time. Even today, the collapsed world continues to deteriorate and only the city of Tokyo remains, which is also slowly deteriorating from the edges.

That first great magical war ended after the victory of <Wizard's Breath> along with the other communities that accompanied him. However, Ryuzenji Kazuma, leader of the enemy side <the Ghost Trailers>, disappeared and the post-war terrorist attacks continued for a long time more so, the wizards had to keep fighting for countless battles despite being tired. Until one day, there was an armistice pact between the two sides where an agreement was proposed: The war would continue only within the collapsed world and whoever emerged as the victor there would also gain the power to control the fate of the living world.

<Wizard's Breath> and <The Trailers> agreed so the war was continued only within the collapsed world. By the way, regarding Ryuuzenji Kazuma, leader of <the Trailers>, it is said that he has been asleep for 16 years as a side effect of having used an enormous amount of magic for his spell. However, the history of magic teacher, said that this was only a legend and that many wizards simply believed he was dead. Nevertheless, <the Trailers> maintained the doctrine of Ryuuzenji Kazuma, always trying to pass it on to the new generations.

<The Trailers> claimed that they were trying to change the world where, according to them, wizards were discriminated against and oppressed by ordinary humans. Takeshi didn't think the idea of improving the world for wizards was a bad one. However, it was not known if that was the real story behind it all. For, although the <Ghost Trailers> were trying to instill their ideals in kidnapped wizards, the other communities that claimed to be non-hostile also performed a similar act by stealing magic.

It was precisely because of this wizard hunting that Takeshi ended up becoming one. When he met Aiba Mui who was being hunted by them and after being exposed to her magic by accident, Takeshi was transformed into a wizard. Honestly though, the whole war thing was puzzling. He obviously knew what it was all about. As children they are taught in how horrific wars are and how devastating atomic bombs are, and the misery they leave in their wake. But all that felt like nothing more than ancient history. His student life had always been peaceful and he didn't feel related in any way to that war even after he had entered Subaru Magic Academy.

Even the next day, his morning had been quiet.

In the past, he had to get up in the early morning and rush off to school to join the kendo club training. But now, it didn't even take him five minutes to walk from the dormitories to the classroom. Besides, at Subaru Magic Academy, there were no club activities.

"A school with no club activities... that's really weird," Takeshi opined.

He had already adjusted to walking around the academy but since it was eight o'clock, there were still few students. Since he got up early to go to the kendo club, Takeshi got used to getting up early and by six o'clock he had naturally woken up. He ate breakfast in the dormitory cafeteria at that time to avoid the rush hour and quietly prepared to leave for school. At that moment, he heard voices coming from the gym which was very close to the student building.

"What is that?"

Takeshi walked over and took a look from the entrance.

Inside were dozens of students from the basic and advanced courses practicing their magic together.

"Morning training!!!?"

However, as Takeshi watched intently, he heard the voices of some girls and boys dressed casually instead of in uniform, who were hurrying through the crowd.

"Hey! You're late."

"I'm sorry!"

"Is not a big deal, just hurry up, we have to find a place for training."

They seemed to be a middle school girl, a high school girl and a boy who looked older than Takeshi. The three of them walked past him, and entered the gym.

"Looks like they have morning magic training."

As Takeshi watched, those three who had just arrived late, found a vacant spot right in the middle and set out to train.

"I wonder if Isoshima, Ida and I, can also come to train at this place?"

Takeshi, had not practiced kendo recently, and felt his body was atrophying a bit from the few opportunities he had had to move it. He had a great desire to train.

"I'll talk to Isoshima and Ida to see if we can come tomorrow."

"But can we come here alone like this without asking permission?"

As Takeshi shook his head in thought, magic particles flew around the gymnasium displaying a very peculiar panorama. Seeing a teddy bear walking all over the place was surreal enough, but then he saw a huge octopus suddenly appear, which exploded and scattered magic particles in all directions. He also saw a student losing her posture as she floated upside down in the air and screaming as she held her skirt so that it wouldn't flip over. Takeshi's eyes were fixed on what looked like a circus show.

Suddenly a voice called his name behind him, so he turned around quickly.

"What are you doing, Takeshi-kun?"

It was Mui and Kurumi standing in front of him.

"Mui... Isoshima..."

Since they were roommates, it was obvious that they went to school together. They both looked suspiciously at Takeshi who continued to stare intently into the gymnasium.

"Morning, Takeshi. what are you looking at?" Kurumi asked.

Then Takeshi smiled and said:

"morning, Isoshima. Come and look at this..."

"What is it?"

Kurumi stood next to Takeshi, and discreetly looked inside the gym.

"Wow! It's amazing!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's impossible not to stare." Takeshi answered.

"I wonder if it's Illusory Magic or Biological Magic?"

Surprised, Kurumi grabbed Takeshi's sleve and pulled.

Takeshi turned to look at Mui and asked:

"Can anyone come to train here?"

"Yes, Group training can be held here in the gym and also in the courtyard at this time and also after school."

"Huh? That's nice..."

Takeshi returned his gaze to the inside of the gym again.

Mui approached from behind and stood on her tiptoes so she could look between Takeshi and Kurumi. Realizing that Mui was shorter than them, Takeshi grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to stand in front of him. Mui blinked several times as she was grabbed by the shoulder.

"Hey, what kind of magic is that? I can do things like that too?" Takeshi asked, pointing to an elementary school boy who was doing somersaults while floating in the air.

Then Mui nodded vigorously with a flushed face and answered in a nervous voice:

"Y-Yes... That's basic magic, so if you practice enough you can do it."

Meanwhile, Kurumi who was fascinated by that view, finally realized how close those two were standing next to her and was dumbfounded.

"Hey, why are you two hugging each other?"

Takeshi and Mui were surprised to hear Kurumi's accusation.

"Huh?"

"W-we're not hugging each other."

Ignoring Mui who was vigorously shaking her head, Kurumi looked at Takeshi's hand that was still still on her shoulder.

"Takeshi! Touching her shoulder is sexual harassment."

"I see. I'm sorry I did it."

Takeshi quickly removed his hand from Mui's shoulder.

"Huh? D-don't worry. That wasn't harassment. You were gentle with me I'm sure of that. There's no problem at all." Mui replied.

Then, she raised her face and naturally her gaze met Takehsi's.

Suddenly, they both felt a sense of dread and quickly turned to look at Kurumi.

She was emitting a strange growl as she gritted her teeth. Her gaze lifted and her face looked like that of a buffalo cat and about to attack with her claws.

"Isoshima! Take off that face. It's really scary..." Takeshi exclaimed.

"T-that's right, Kurumi. This is not something that always happens. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Friends...?" Kurumi repeated.

The school bell suddenly rang amidst a tense atmosphere and Mui spoke quickly:

"Ah! Its time to go to the classroom. Today we have math. I'll go ahead, s-see you..."

Mui slipped out of the place when she had the chance. When takeshi was left alone with Kurumi, let out a sigh and said:

"What's wrong with you Isoshima?"

"It's just that girl was too attached to you." Kurumi murmured in a very low voice.

"It's alright. I won't touch her again. Happy?"

Takeshi raised both hands as he made that promise to her and although Kurumi still didn't change her terrified face, she finally nodded. Then Takeshi also said:

"Well, we should also leave for the classroom. Hopefully the three of us can come train together after school."

Takeshi started walking and Kurumi followed him.

"The three of us?" she asked.

Takeshi turned to look at Kurumi in a mysterious way and answered:

"Sure. You, me, and Ida too. It will be a group training."

"Ah... sure. Group training is fine."

Kurumi grabbed Takeshi's arm, and for some reason started smiling.

"You really are a rare girl" Takeshi commented.

Takeshi was confused to see that until a few moments ago Kurumi was very angry, but suddenly she had started smiling like nothing.

When they arrived at the classroom, most of the students had already arrived. Ida, however, was nowhere to be seen. He sat on the left side of Takeshi and on the right side, Kurumi sat and next to Kurumi, Mui sat and so the 4 of them were together. Takeshi was not so worried because Ida who sat by the window was always late.

After transferring, Ida was the only one who, unlike Takeshi and Kurumi, (who lived in the dormitories of the academy) had to come to class from home. Most of the students stayed in the dormitories, but Ida had a commitment to take care of her younger sister who was in elementary school, so he had to travel every day between the collapsed world and the living world just to be able to go to class.

Ida's mother was very dependent on him in that respect, because she worked as a nurse and her work schedule changed constantly. Perhaps because of that, Ida was very attached to his little sister and had become a complete "Sisicon" and therefore, ever since he transferred to the magic academy, he was always late. Traveling to the magic academy located in the collapsed world was possible with the help of a mirror. The academy had a long hallway with huge mirrors on the walls and all students going to class from home had to pass through it.

The portal could be easily opened from the living world by using the required magic on any mirror where the whole body could be visualized. In short, Ida could travel to the academy directly from the mirror which he had just bought and placed in his room, without even having to leave his house.

"Today we have sports class from the first hour, I would have been better off coming late." Kurumi commented as if she was amazed.

"Right. Sports class since morning and worst of all, it's swimming class." Mui replied.

Kurumi frowned as she was talking to Takehsi and yet, the one who answered her was Mui.

"The previous school didn't have a swimming pool." Takeshi said talking to Mui.

While he was talking to Mui, Kurumi who was sitting between them, leaned over to block the eye contact between them and said:

"Right. I'm so glad we didn't have a pool at our old school. This is awful. I don't like the idea of boys staring at me. But you seem happy, though, Takeshi."

Takeshi quickly shook his head while vaguely looking at Kurumi.

"It's not that I'm happy. It's just that even in this world the summer is hot and a dip in the pool doesn't hurt."

"Ah, I understand. It's annoying but, I can't deny that it feels great." Mui replied, butting back into the conversation and sympathizing with Takeshi again.

"Yeah!"

As Takeshi and Mui smiled at each other, Kurumi pursed her lips moodily and said:

"Well, I hate the swimming pool...!"

Just at that moment, the teacher in charge of the class, Hitouji-sensei, entered through the front door. Hitouji-sensei was not only in charge of them, but he was also a teacher in systematic magica and was in charge of instructing the students in the systemic magic he used. However, class C was different from class A and class B. In classes A and B, the students were divided on the basis of their systematic magics. But in clace C, all the students were in one group no matter what systematic magic they belonged to. That was because in clace C they spent most of their time teaching students how to stabilize magic, rather than teaching them how to use their skills.

"All right, everyone take your seats. Class is about to begin..."

When the teacher ordered them out loud, everyone rushed to their seats.

"Ida already taken too long," Takeshi thought.

Then he turned to look at the empty seat on the opposite side of Kurumi and caught a glimpse of some books sticking out of the compartment under the table. It was all the textbooks of the class that were stuffed in there in an untidy manner.

"By the way, I imagine he hasn't a bathing suit, but I don't think that's the reason...maybe he just won't come today?"

As he thought about that, Takeshi smiled to himself.

Part 6

During lunchtime, Takeshi was eating together with Kurumi in the cafeteria as they did every day since they transferred.

"Hey... I'm sorry to do this, but would you mind giving me your seat?"

The cafeteria was very crowded and there was no empty seat left. At that moment Ida appeared out of nowhere and had thrown his arm over the neck of a student sitting next to Takeshi.

The student looked up and when he looked at Ida, his eyes widened. He stood up, picked up his plate of udon and walked away. Then Ida sat down.

"Ida, do you realize it's already lunchtime?" Takeshi said.

Ida just laughed. He was carrying his bag in his hand, which indicated that had not yet passed through the classroom. Ida's appearance was so dingy that it didn't look like they were wearing the same uniform with Takeshi. As usual, he wore a T-shirt that was not part of the uniform and wore his bristly hair, shinier and more flamboyant than ever. By the end of the summer you could already see the roots of his black hair, so he had probably dyed it again.

"Well, it's just that after I took Futaba to school, I went back to bed and didn't realize I'd missed the time." Ida replied.

"Hey... Are you serious?"

"Easy, we'll go to the pool first thing, right? I don't have a swimming suit, though."

"I thought so..." Takeshi muttered.

Suddenly, Ida seemed interested in the surprised Takeshi's lunch, so he stared at it for a while.

"So there's curry on the menu today?"

Then he looked at Kurumi's food sitting in front of Takeshi.

"Fried chicken, huh?"

Kurumi frowned with displeasure.

"You usually bring a bento, don't you? Here, eat from my plate. We're out of time."

Takeshi invited him to eat from his food, but Ida shook his head and replied:

"Don't worry about me. I've already eaten, I'd better go ahead to the classroom"

"Try to get a swimming suit at the store."

"Sure, I'll see you later."

Ida walked leisurely through the crowded cafeteria. Everyone in his path, seeing his aggressive look and his blonde hair, get out on their own.

"I've been thinking that Ida-kun, he's changed a lot." Kurumi commented as she watched he walk away.

Takeshi burst out laughing after hearing what she just said.

"You're right. It's interesting isn't it?"

"I wonder if that won't be a problem..." Kurumi said letting out a sigh with a complicated expression.

Kurumi pondered for a moment and after chopping her fried chicken with chopsticks for a while, she offered it to Takeshi.

"Takeshi, don't you want some of this? I'll give you some..."

"Of course, I appreciate it."

Since Takeshi had his plate of curry with rice, he thought she would put the chicken on his plate, but before he knew it, her chopsticks reached his mouth.

"Come on, say: Aaaa..."

Takeshi was puzzled as she signaled him to open his mouth.

The problem was that all eyes in the place were on them, so Takeshi shook his head emphatically.

"H-Hey, Isoshima... don't do that."

"Ara, there's no problem, or is it?"

"Of course there is it!"

He was obviously aware that it wasn't right for a boy and a girl to do something so daring during a meal at school. Then Kurumi pursed her lips pouting while Takeshi shook his head with a completely flushed face.

"We're dating aren't we? If we don't do some of these things, no one will notice that we're boyfriend and girlfriend."

Kurumi resignedly placed the piece of chicken on Takeshi's plate of curry, while he kept shaking his head in embarrassment.

They were certainly pretending to others that he was dating, but Takeshi didn't want to show that they were an overly "lovey-dovey" couple. Therefore, at that moment he decided to mention to Kurumi, something he had been thinking over for a while:

"You're right, but... Don't you think it's enough already? We've transferred to a new academy, don't you think we can go back to being just friends?"

"Of course not!" Kurumi shouted quickly. "You didn't notice but, there's already a boy who approached me..."

"Huh? Really? Who was it?" Takeshi asked in shock, since it had barely been a week since school started. Kurumi lowered her gaze not knowing what to answer and said:

"Well... I think it was a was a second-year senpai..."

Kurumi didn't like being hit on at all and her expression was one of utter unhappiness so Takeshi was worried.

"did you reject him? ? If you want, I'll go with you so you can reject him properly."

"No! Don't worry about that... I can do it by myself."

At that moment Kurumi began to move some pieces of her fried chicken towards Takeshi's plate of curry and reiterated again that everything was under control.

"I see. You always get so popular, Isoshima. So we have no choice... We'll have to continue our business for a while longer."

After hearing what had happened to Kurumi just a week into her studies, Takeshi couldn't put an end to the deal.

"Okay. I'm sorry to bother you so much." Kurumi replied.

"Don't worry about it..."

Between the two of them, they had agreed to keep up the charade, until either of them found someone they really liked.

Just then, Takeshi looked up and found Mui sitting diagonally behind Kurumi. She was eating a flan, while talking happily with three girls who were eating at the same table with her. At that moment Takeshi started to wonder if Mui was also getting suitors. Mui looked very mature. She was intelligent and serious, but not popular. Her childish face was also charming.

At that moment as Takeshi stared at her, Mui moved her eyes and their gazes suddenly met. She smiled happily at him and Takeshi smiled back.

"What's wrong?" Kurumi asked as she noticed Takeshi's gestures.

Then he answered hurriedly:

"Ah... nothing, it's just that I see that you really like fried chicken..."

"…?"

She looked at him suspiciously and replied:

"Why do you say that all of a sudden? sorry but I like meat"

"No, no... I don't have a problem with that..."

"How strange you are, Takeshi..."

After that, Kurumi took a bite of her chicken.

Takeshi arrived at the classroom a bit overwhelmed after lunch, not knowing that there was business waiting for him there as well. There were four classmates gathered in a corner of the classroom. They had formed a circle and stood so close together that their shoulders were touching each other.

When Takeshi recognized one of his dorm neighbors among them, he exclaimed:

"Hey...! What are you doing? what are you looking at?"

The four seemed to have a handful of photographs in their hands and were looking at them intently, but when they saw Takeshi, the foursome went into overdrive.

"Goddamn it! Hide them, hide them!"

"What? It's Nanase!"

The four frantically tried to hide the pictures.

"Come on, take them out." Takeshi said, putting his hand out to prevent it.

"Hey, hold on..."

"Yeah, it's no big deal..."

None of them wanted to hand over the pictures, but seeing Takeshi's serious gaze, the four of them were afraid of him and started to take the pictures out of their pockets and from between the pages of their notebooks where they had hidden them.

"Are these all of them?" Takeshi asked in a stern voice.

In their hands they had placed a handful of about ten photos. Then one of the boys, with a panicked expression, noded.

Takeshi's hostility had impressed the neighbor in the front dormitory room.

"You're going to lose friends," the boy said.

Then Takeshi spoke seriously to them.:

"Isoshima hates this kind of thing. That's why I do this."

"Hey, but you're not her boyfriend. You can't do this."

When Takeshi heard that, he thought about it for a moment.

Since they transferred to the academy, no one knew anything about his relationship with Kurumi. It was logical for those guys, to think that Takeshi was acting weird.

"Good thing I didn't manage to put an end to our fake relationship," Takeshi He turned around and thought.

It seems that there was already a senpai trying to approach Kurumi and now he had found his own classmates doing that.

"Well, I have no choice."

Takeshi placed a grim expression and said:

"Isoshima is my girlfriend..."

The reaction of the four boys upon hearing such a statement was as expected:

"Huh? Really?"

"No way!!!!"

"I thought I had found the perfect girl!"

"I heard that they are even childhood friends... it makes me so jealous"

While the four of them were lamenting, Takeshi showed a bitter smile as a product of a complicated feeling.

At that moment the four of them handed all the photos to Takeshi.

"All right, here, that's all of them."

Takeshi received them silently, while another student handed him two more photos that he was still hiding in the back pocket of his pants.

All those were pictures that had been taken of Kurumi in her swimsuit. That day would be the first swimming class since the classes started and even so, there were already people who had taken pictures of Kurumi without her noticing.

At the Sakuraya academy they attended before, there were no swimming lessons so they didn't have to worry about such things. However, Takeshi was impressed by how much Kurumi charmed men, so he let out a deep sigh while holding the photographs.

Part 7

During the morning, the magic academy was no different from an ordinary academy. The classes were the usual boring ones like math or English, and the students acted like ordinary students.

However, in the evening just after noon, the atmosphere and style of the academy changed completely. The reason for all this was that in the afternoons, magic classes were taught exclusively. During the summer vacations, they had had magic classes but all of them had been only theoretical and they had not had the opportunity to put it into practice. It was because it was not allowed. Their control over magic was still unstable so they were instructed that they were only allowed to use it under the supervision of a teacher.

Also, for the first week after the opening ceremony, classes had focused solely on lessons in the history of magic, enchantment and tactical strategies so they hadn't even been able to see other students use magic.

But this day was going to be different, because the next class was practice. Takeshi was very nervous and had sat very stiffly in his seat. Thanks to kendo practice, he already had a very firm posture, but at that moment he had overdone it. On the other hand, Ida, who was sitting next to Takeshi, was leaning back in his chair and had put his feet up on the table at his desk. The teacher in charge of that class, was Hitouji-sensei who was also her teacher in charge. As soon as the class started, Hitouji-sensei called Takeshi, Kurumi and Ida to the front.

"Let's see... try to activate your systematic magic."

Takeshi immediately turned to look at the teacher when heard him say that.

The truth was that the last time he activated his magic, it had been during the battles he had in the summer and after that it hadn't happened again. Kurumi and Ida also looked confused.

"They didn't know how to activate his magic power? This is really weird... I remember asking Shirayuki-sensei to teach them the basics during the summer vacation."

Shirayuki-sensei was the teacher who had been giving magic lessons to the three of them during the summer, and as her name indicated, she was a lady with very white skin and hair.

"Well, it's true that she taught us magic but we didn't have any practical classes." Takeshi said.

Then Hitouji-sensei clasped his hands together and replied:

"Ah, I see. I'm sorry. It seems that we couldn't communicate properly. After all if we rely on words alone, the communication may turn out to be faulty."

Not understanding anything Takeshi and his friends looked at each other.

"I understand. I thought so. Then get out your 'Aspects'. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Yes."

Aspects were tools that wizards used to channel their magical power. They were something like the magic wands used by some wizards, who used to wave them. Just as the wand served to expel magic, the Aspect was a tool to concentrate magical power there and release it immediately. Takeshi had been taught about it over the summer. He was taught that basic magic could be used without the need for an Aspect, since to use it, it was enough to concentrate a little of that power in the palm of one's hand. This was possible because basic magic consumed very little magical power. On the other hand, magic belonging to systematic magic consumed large amounts of magical power and the Aspect was indispensable to be able to activate it.

The Aspects were different and varied according to the person. This was not chosen at will, but was chosen unconsciously. In general, an Aspect almost always turned out to be an object with sentimental value for the wizard.

Kurumi at that moment took out of the pocket of her skirt, a lipstick with butterfly patterns. Kurumi's systematic magic was Biological Magic. The choiced Aspects for those wizards using biological magic were often objects that were held in high esteem, the more esteem the object was held in, the more magical power it was capable of releasing. After Kurumi, Ida raised her right hand and said:

"My Aspect will be this..."

After showing it to the teacher, for some reason Ida showed his hand to his classmates as well. He was wearing an unpolished silver ring on his right hand which had a mysterious skull with an unusual design. In response, there was laughter all around.

"What's the matter? What's so funny?" Ida asked.

The teacher turned to look at Takeshi as he continued to laugh lightly at Ida who looked upset and asked:

"What will your Aspect be?"

Takeshi had nothing in his hands. Which indicated that he hadn't taken anything out.

"Well, you see, sensei... I still don't have an Aspect..."

Hitouji was surprised to hear what Takeshi said.

"Huh?"

Takeshi stared, and suddenly, magic particles sprouted in Hitouji-sensei's eyes and then immediately disappeared.

"Ah I see, that was it... You are an evasive magic user, aren't you?" commented the teacher.

For a second he thought it was his imagination, but Takeshi caught a glimpse of light green magic circles in the teacher's eyes, which clearly indicated that he had used his magic. However, nothing had happened.

"Looks like the professor used magic..."

No one seemed to have noticed and only Takeshi had that uncertainty.

"Or Maybe I was wrong."

Takeshi didn't feel he had fallen prey to some spell or anything like that, so he kept silent. Hitouji-sensei called Mui who was still sitting in her place and she approached the front immediately. Hitouji-sensei stood next to Mui and spoke to Takeshi:

"In your case, you have to be found an Aspect that is most suitable for you. I would like Aiba-san to go to the store with you and help you choose one. Do you agree with that, Aiba-san?"

Mui nodded and replied:

"Of course I do, Hitouji-sensei. Come on, Takeshi-kun!"

Immediately Mui left the classroom taking Takeshi with her.

After Takeshi and Mui left, Ida, standing next to Kurumi laughed and said:

"I hope those two don't get 'lost' on their way to the store."

Kurumi was not at all amused by Ida's comment, so she gave him a withering look and said:

"Keep quiet, foul-mouthed!"

"Oh how scary..."

"You're disgusting!"

Hitouji Makoto stood next to the angry Kurumi, and once again he used his magic making those magic circles appear again in his eyes which allowed him to read Kurumi's mind secretly and when he did so, the teacher was startled in horror.

Translator's Notes and References

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