As autumn rolled in, faint breezes accompanied the rising morning sun. Yuuta Togashi stood on his apartment balcony overlooking the streets below, enjoying the day's first sun rays warm his skin. Yuuta sighed and took a moment to think about how he got to where he was now.
For the past year and a half, Yuuta had been going to school with Rikka Takanashi, a girl with a serious case of eighth grader syndrome. She claims to possess Tyrants Eye, from which she can manifest dark powers. She also claims that she uses all manners of magic in her day to day life, involving her slaying monsters and perceiving all of time and space with her all seeing Tyrants Eye.
Yutta and Rikka were fast friends, despite Yutta's desire to keep his history of having eighth grader syndrome forgotten. Keeping up with her was exhausting, but with Rikka in his life, no day was ever boring. Yuuta and Rikka would develop romantic feelings for each other, and after a heartfelt confession part way through their first year of high school, they became an inseparable couple. Sure, Rikka's chuuni demeanour is tiring, but it's still one of the things that Yuuta loves most about Rikka.
After taking a few more cold breaths of the cold morning air whilst thinking about his past with Rikka, the door behind him slips open. Yuuta turned around to see a drowsy Rikka standing in the doorway in her black and red striped pajamas.
"Yuuta, what are you doing?" Rikka said, rubbing her eyes. "Are you preparing your spells for the day's battles?"
"No, I just couldn't sleep." Yutta replied as if Rikka had asked a legitimate question. "I've just been standing here enjoying the morning air... and thinking about us."
Rikka blushed a little. She walked up to Yuuta's side and wrapped herself around his right arm, then leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"What were you thinking about exactly?" Rikka said as she smiled up at him.
"When I left middle school and started getting ready to start school here, I wanted to forget about ever having eighth grader syndrome. I wanted to forget about ever being the Dark Flame Master, about magic, about the Dark Flame Dragon, about everything." Yutta paused for a moment, as his middle school memories came back to haunt him. He shuddered then continued. "But when I made it to high school, and I got to meet you, and got to know you, and..." Yutta looked down, embarrassed. "...fall in love with you, I didn't want to forget it anymore. Because if I was never the Dark Flame Master, and I was never a chuuni, I would never have met you. And I never would have been as happy as I am right now." As Yuuta spoke those final words, Rikka tightened her grip around Yuuta's arm and blushed just a little more.
"Yuuta?"
"Yes, Rikka?"
"Stay with me forever." Rikka said, with just a small amount of hope in her voice.
"You know I will." Yutta patted her on the top of her head and smiled a very happy, genuine smile. As did Rikka.
"Now let's get back inside, Rikka. Or we might catch a cold."
"Mmm." Rikka responded. Then they both walked back inside, in each other's comfort, and got an early start on the day.
Yuuta and Rikka made it to school early this morning. As they were taking their shoes off in the entrance, they both saw Shinka Nibutani looking into her locker wearing a wooly, blue cat outfit. Yuuta greeted her.
"Hey Nibutani, what on earth are you wearing? Are you still in the drama club?"
"Oh, Morning you two. The drama club president said they were short a member for an exercise, so they asked me to come and I couldn't say no." Nibutani sighed as she straightened her outfit.
"Nibutani, have you assumed the form of Moloch, the frozen devil of the north winds?" Rikka asked, striking a battle pose.
"Honestly, she looks more like our cat Chimera to me. So, Nibutani, what are you supposed to be?" Yuuta asked inquisitively.
"This is just a random costume. It's more of an improv exercise than anything else, just with the twist of everyone having random costumes. I think I saw the prez dressed as a dog samurai or something."
"Be careful out there Rikka, he may mean to slay you with his magical, devil-slaying sword." Rikka said quite seriously.
"Yeah yeah. Ok, I'll see you guys in the club room later." Nibutani walked off to her early morning club activities, scratching at her back briefly.
Yuuta sat down at his desk in class just before morning lessons started. He got out his pens, notebook, and homework from the previous week, and as he was doing so, Makoto Isshiki patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Togashi, did you do the homework?"
"No, you can't copy me. I keep telling you Isshiki to just do it yourself or you'll never learn the material."
"But I had a good excuse, this time, Togashi. I had to go shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Yeah, shopping." Isshiki reached behind him and pulled a small leather box from out of his bag. Togashi waited and was interested to see what kept Isshiki from doing homework.
"It's a gift for Kumin-sempai."
"You still haven't given up on her?"
"Just look. This time, my true feelings will reach her I can tell." Isshiki lifted up the lid of the box to reveal a little cartoon animal figure resting on a cloud with his eyes closed. The box started playing a lullaby.
"Wow, it looks really well made, and the figurine looks like it was crafted by a master. Where does it wind up?" Yuuta asked.
"It uses batteries."
"This is really cool, I think Kumin would like it. How much did it cost?"
"I asked my dad to get it for me when he went on vacation around Europe. It cost the equivalent of about 15,000 yen."
"How much?!" Yutta shouted in surprise.
"Relax Togashi, it's all for Kumin and she's worth it." Yuuta sighed with exasperation and shook his head. After that the lesson started and Yuuta got himself ready.
Rikka opened the door to the club room to see Sanae Dekomori and Kumin Tsuyuri sat around the table talking.
"Master! You've back from the Realm of Madness! Did you find the ancient bloodstone?" Dekomori hopped up from the floor and stood in front of Rikka, expectantly.
"Shh, my servant. We mustn't let our enemies know we now have the bloodstone, or the might discover our plans." Rikka reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, red gemstone, speckled with all sorts of other colours, including blues, yellows, oranges...
"Do you have the others?"
"Mhm." Dekomori gestured over to the table, proffering an array of different gemstones of all shapes and sizes.
"Hello." Yuuta said yawning, as he stepped past the sliding door.
"Dark Flame Master, look. Our inventory is full of rare deathly artifacts!" Dekomori said, as she sat down with Rikka, who added her own stone to the collection on the table.
"Wow, I didn't know you collect gemstones Dekomori." Yuuta knelt down at the table and began to examine some of them."
"Heh heh heh, these are no ordinary gemstones, Dark Flame Master. Each any everyone has the power of the gods inside!" Dekomori handed a glossy, black stone over to Yutta.
"This should be of interest to you, Dark Flame Master. That one is the Stone of Hades. If you touch it before a battle, it will double your dark powers!" Dekomori grinned widely like she'd just unveiled some great knowledge on to Yuuta.
"It's a nice piece of onyx alright." Yuuta himself knew gemstones and some minerals from his days as a chuuni. He even still had some at home along with the rest of his old stuff.
"Ooh, this one looks cool, is it a fire opal?" Yuuta picked up the small, multi coloured gem that Rikka had set down.
"That would be the great bloodstone that Satan himself used when he deathly destroyed a hundred legions of angels in the first great magic war." Yuuta shone it up the light, to get a better look. It was a pretty stone, like something straight out of a catalogue or specialist retailer.
"Interesting, Dark Flame Master, that you would be drawn to my masters stone out of more than a dozen of my own stones. Your contract my be strong!" Dekomori grinned mischievously.
"Huh, this is your stone Rikka? I've never seen it before."
"The Priestess gave it to me before she left for the Vatican again."
"Oh, so that's why I've never seen it before."
"The Priestess didn't tell me what type of stone it was. How did you know it was a Fire Opal?" Rikka seemed curious.
"I used to have one just like that back in my middle school days. In fact, I might still have it lying around somewhere."
"That's so cool! You have to show me!" Rikka showed her excitement quite clearly.
"Yeah yeah, I'll look for it when we get home, ok?"
"Mhm."
At that moment, Nibutani slammed open the door and scowled fiercely at Dekomori.
"You, you little BRAT! I'm gonna make you pay this time!" Dekomori hopped to her feet and took a battle pose with her twin tails in her hands.
"Ah, you've finally come, Fake Summer. We shall finally have out battle to the death!" Deko swung around both her twin tails in wide arcs. Nibutani growled, and pulled out a plastic milk bottle from her bag, tearing off the foil from the top.
"Noo! Not the holy white water of death!" Dekomori ran around the room with Nibutani in pursuit. The table was flipped when Dekomori stood on it to evade one of Mori Summers lunges, sending gems and rocks everywhere. One flew and hit the now sleeping Kumin.
Thunk* "Rubies and Sapphires are not part of a balanced breakfast. Wheuu..." Kumin rolled over to her side.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Nibutani shouted, as she finally latched herself around Dekomori by the neck, and began to poor warm milk onto her unwilling, closed mouth.
"No, stop! You'll bring me to a fate worse than deathly death!" Deko struggled, pushing Nibutani's arm away to stop the flood of holy water. Nibutani staggered slightly, and the bottom of her foot managed to find a stray piece of quartz, hard.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Nibutani yelped out. She reached down to grab the foot she wasn't hopping on and inadvertently tossed the remainder of the milk all up her uniform.
"Ah ha! The Mjolnir Hammer is victorious!" Shouted Dekomori, after which she ran towards the door to flee from a sobbing Nibutani clutching at her foot. Dekomori didn't even notice Isshiki in the doorway holding the music box. Isshiki stumbled, and the box slipped from his hands and hit the ground, making a clunking sound, then it rattled as it bounced. Isshiki picked up the box gingerly and opened it. The small ceramic figure had shattered, and the music was now stuck on the same note.
"Kumin-sempai!" Isshiki ran down the corridor with the box in his arms.
"Nibutani, are you ok? Wait, what did Dekomori even do in the first place?" Nibutani's pain eased slightly, so she sat up.
"She filled that stupid costume with itching powder. Honestly, I humiliated myself in front of the whole drama club! I can't show my face there again!"
"Just go back and tell them it was all part of the improv. They might buy it."
"Yeah, I dunno. I'd rather not have to go to that stupid club anymore anyway."
"Yuuta, we need to go and buy black elixir, remember." Rikka reminded Yuuta.
"You mean curry ingredients silly." Yuuta chopped on top of her head.
"Ow. Yutta..." Rikka clutched at the top of her head, which had received the same hit before.
"Ok Nibutani, we need to go now. You sure you don't want me to get the nurse for that or something?"
"Don't worry about it, I can't go to the nurse stinking of milk."
"Alright then, see ya."
In the supermarket, Yuuta had to keep taking things out of the basket that Rikka was putting in there.
"Rikka, we don't need any of this. Seriously, we're here for curry stuff."
"But it looks so cool! I could use it in my next summoning ritual!"
"You can summon stuff on your own time but right now we need..." Yutta listed various items off his shopping list which they would both look for. Aside from Rikka putting the occasional exotic spice or fizzy drink in the basket, they were like a team.
"Yuuta, do you think you could teach me to cook?" Rukka turned to Yuuta, a little red, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.
"Ehh? Why do you want to learn to cook?" Yuuta looked interested and made Rikka fidget even more.
"I, ah, er, I want, er, to be able to make potions and cauldrons as powerful as yours, Dark Flame Master!" *Thunk* Yutta tapped the top of a head with a spice bottle.
"The cauldron is the pot, dummy, not what's inside. What's the real reason?" Rikka reddened up even more, blushing red like a strawberry. It took a while for her to get the words out.
"I, er, well you and Kuzuha are always making such nice meals for me, so I wanted to be able to do the same for you." Rikka looked away with embarrassment.
"Rikka, I would love to cook a meal with you. Shall we do it this Sunday?"
"Mmm!" Rikka perked up, now clearly full of excitement.
The two made their way through checkout, paid and headed home. They both went over their bridge, and both smiled as they looked down to their spot. When they got home Kuzuha was waiting for them.
"We're home." Yuuta and Rikka said together.
"Welcome back. Oh good, you've brought everything else, I got everything set up ready." Yuuta's sister took the bags from him and got to work in the kitchen preparing their meal. She seemed to enjoy it, so Yuuta didn't mind letting Kuzuha do it all her self most of the time.
"Rikka, could you come in here for a minute please?" Yutta called Rikka into his room, whilst rooting through his box. They had both just finished their baths and were getting ready for bed.
"Yeah?" Rikka poked her head through the gap in the door and made her way in when she saw Yuuta going through the box he keeps all this secret chuuni stuff in.
"I, I'm sure it was in here somewhere. Ah!" Yuuta pulled from the box a black bag. He stood up and tipped the contents into his hand, revealing a half dozen different gems, all colourful and beautiful. He picked one colourful red one from the pile and put the rest away. He handed it over to Rikka.
"This is my Fire Opal." Yutta said. Rikka looked down at it in her open palms, open mouthed.
"Ooo, it's just like mine, except..."
"Oh, that reminds me. I never gave you yours back." Yuuta pulled Rikka's stone from his pocket and dropped it into her hands next to his. They were both the same size. Perfectly smooth and spherical.
"Yours has lots of green in but mine has lot's of blue and yellow." Rikka said, inspecting the gems. After a while of rolling them around in her hands, Rikka picked up the blue and yellow one and past it to Yuuta. He looked at it for a moment.
"Huh, this one's yours Rikka."
"Mmm. I have yours and you have mine. I'll keep yours with me so whenever I see it I'll think of you. And you keep mine, and we'll always be connected." Rikka reached out with Yuuta's gem and clinked it against his.
"Huh, what was that?" Yuuta asked, puzzled.
"Now our gems are bound together, like our souls. As long as you have mine and I have yours, we can never be separated, in this life and the next, and we'll be together forever." Rikka looked at him, seriously.
"Rikka, I promised to you last night that we would be together forever and I intend to keep it. I will keep this gem with me where ever I go." Yuuta kissed the gem and slid it into his pocket. Rikka widened her eyes at this and blushed. She made a joyful smile, closed her eyes and kissed the gem in her hand, and put it into her pocket.
Rikka and Yuuta spent another moment together looking at the moon in the sky from the balcony, each holding each other's gems. Each looking down at their/the others gem every so often, then looking at each other and smiling. Yuuta put his arm over Rikka's shoulders, and Rikka wrapped her arms around Yuuta. They each took out their gems and held them to the moon, colours more vivid in their gems in the moonlight, dancing around like a light show. They looked at each other and reaffirmed their new promise to each other.
"Together forever."