After a long day in the class, Tetsuya opens the door of the student council's room to fulfill his duty as its newest secretary.
"Good evening Mayumi, vice prez, Rin-san and A-chan." Tetsuya greeted everyone with a smile.
"Evening Tetsu-kun." Mayumi greeted with a bright smile lighting up her face.
"Good evening Tetsu-kun." Suzune and Azusa greeted him back emphasizing on his nickname in a teasing manner. He just smiled and looked at them, "I actually like it."
Azusa and even Suzune gave a disappointed look which was rather funny. Mayumi and Tetsuya were trying their best to suppress their giggles. "Now now Tetsu-kun you can settle down." Mayumi gestured Tetsuya to sit down. As soon as he and other members settled down, they were broken out of their short comfort by their president.
"So as the recruitment week is upon us. Rin-chan I would like you to go through the budget and you can take the help from A-chan. Hanzo-kun and Tetsu-kun, you two have to accompany me to PMC's headquarters." Mayumi said in authoritative tone. Rest of them nodded their heads, and Suzune and Azusa began what they told to. Hanzo and Tetsuya got up and started to follow their president.
"Um why are we heading there Mayumi?" Tetsuya asked the said girl, who was leading their way.
"The recruitment week is a very hectic time," "Understatement." Mayumi didn't minded Hanzo's comment and continued her explanation, "So members of student council give a hand in patrolling the grounds."
"Patrolling, it does sound interesting." Tetsuya voiced his thoughts.
"You'll find out." Mayumi said thinking how she'll get Tetsu-kun to patrol with her.
"Is that sarcasm?" Tetsuya asked worried remembering Hanzo's comment about the week.
"You'll find out." Mayumi said with a teasing smile which was not visible to the Tetsuya as he was facing her back, but could tell she was teasing by her tone. He sighed and waved his head with a smile at her antics.
'I guess I'll just have to wait and see for myself.' Tetsuya thought looking in the direction they were heading.
Meanwhile in the PMC's headquarters, Tatsuya was surprised but nonetheless a bit happy to see his friend Shizuku in PMC's headquarters.
"Kitayama Shizuku, I have chosen you to be the second freshmen member of the PMC. Will you accept?" Mari asked the person she has chosen disregarding the school board's recommendation, Morisaki Shun seeing his behavior last week.
"I graciously accept your invitation, chairwoman." Shizuku says in her neutral expression. She didn't really have an interest in joining but decided to do so as she doesn't have anything else to do.
"Very well then, take your seat." Mari was pleased with the outcome and waited for her to settle down. "Since now as everyone is present here and settled down, I would like talk about the upcoming event i.e. the recruitment week. It is a highly chaotic event so there are always those who cause a disturbance every year. I want you all to be extra attentive when you go out on patrols."
Two minutes passed by in complete silence. Shizuku was creeped out by this silence so decided to break it, "Um… chairwoman why are you so quite?"
"Well I'm just waiting. They should have arrived by now." Mari replies eyeing the door eagerly.
"Who?" Shizuku asks not following a single word Mari said.
"The Stu…" Mari was distracted by the sound of the door opening and revealing three members of the student council. "Ah Mayumi now you show up. I started to wonder if you had ditched your duties and went on a date." Mari was clearly teasing as she said the last part looking at Tetsuya. Mayumi's and Tetsuya's face was red as they got what Mari was implying.
"No-not at all Mari. You know I won't ditch my duties to go on a date." Mari just smirked at Mayumi's defense, whose face became redder. Tatsuya and Shizuku really had to try hard to suppress their chuckle at the moment. PMC's boys and Hanzo were awestruck at Mayumi's reaction.
"I know." Mari says teasingly before she notices that two members of SC were missing. "But where are Suzune and Azusa?"
"That is the exact reason why we're a bit late. They are in the room completing the pending work of student council." Mayumi had come back to normal after the affects of teasing that were very much directed towards her.
"So we're going to have fewer hands this year." Two more hands in patrolling during this week were most welcome.
"But they might join us from tomorrow afternoon." Mayumi said in an attempt to reassure Mari.
"No problem, so we should go through what we'll be doing tomorrow." Mari said and turned around, "Alright everyone stand up and make a circle around the table and leave some gap for our guests."
Shizuku, Tatsuya and the rest of the PMC's members followed their chairwoman's order. Mayumi, Tetsuya and Hanzo joined them as well.
'Now we have settled. I have to make sure Tetsu-kun ends up with me to patrol the grounds tomorrow.' Mayumi thought to herself devising a way to convince others to let Tetsuya accompany her in patrols.
"Koutarou and Midori, do you want to patrol together as always?" Mari asks her subordinates.
"Yes" They both said in unison. They both were aware that their chairwoman was kind hearted to diligent people, an observation the first year trio made as well.
"Fine I have no problem with you two. Rest of you boys, Hanzo and Shizuku you all need to patrol alone as I myself will be doing so." Mari said without leaving any space for question before turning her attention to the two students left.
"And as for you Mayumi…" Before Mayumi could say anything, Mari brought her face closer to her ear and whispered with a sly grin, "I know you want to patrol with Tetsuya-kun tomorrow." Mayumi, embarrassed, gave a shock betrayal look to Mari who just ignored and continued, "You can take your Tetsu-kun with you for patrols." She said teasingly.
Mayumi was a bit embarrassed but nonetheless happy as Tetsuya with the arrangement. Shizuku and Tatsuya looked at their expressions and were genuinely happy for the two. As Tatsuya's suspicions about Tetsuya were cleared away by his sensei, he has been rooting for the two of them to get together.
-After school-
After school Tetsuya, Tatsuya and Shizuku joined their friends and went to a café. All of them have congratulated Shizuku for becoming a PMC member.
"So how was your first day? I've heard recruitment week is not a very nice time for patrolling." Mizuki said what she has heard from others.
"Really?" Tetsuya asked bewildered. He was completely oblivious about it. He knew that it was hectic courtesy of Mayumi. But he didn't exactly have much details of the event.
"Oh Really! From what I could tell, you are going to have a wonderful time patrolling Tetsu-kun." Shizuku said with a smirk "And as for how was my first day Mizuki, I had a wonderful time due to certain two students. Chairwoman was rather merciless to those two."
"It must be payback for that time at lunch in the student council. I honestly didn't had any counter today." Tetsuya sighed.
"Well well Tetsuya, I usually don't agree with that woman, but I guess this time she hit a bull's eye." Erika said with a sly smile.
"It really seems so." Miyuki gave a teasing smile remembering what she heard from her Onii-sama about his lunch with student council the other day.
"Erika, I guess it will be safe to assume saying that you and Leo getting together is no less than hitting a bull's eye." Tetsuya used Erika's metaphor against her.
"Tetsuya!" Erika and Leo shouted in unison showing their irritation which was from getting embarrassed by Tetsuya's remark rather than the remark itself.
"Jerk" "Woman" They said simultaneously annoyed at each other for being in complete sync. Rest of them, even Tatsuya, didn't tried to suppress their giggles escaping from their mouths.
"You know, as I've said before, dragged out romances are only good in fiction." Tatsuya advised after regaining himself.
"You really think so?" Honoka asked Tatsuya slightly tilting her head cutely. Even though Honoka was Miyuki's friend, she was still a little annoyed at her friend. After all she was possessive of her Onii-sama.
"I do. I can't believe that someone can be so oblivious of his own and other's feelings in real life."
"I don't want to hear this especially from you Tatsuya." Leo commented empathizing with Honoka.
"What?" Tatsuya asked still being as oblivious as before but Leo just shrugged his shoulders. So he looked at his sister for help who just averted her graze from her dear Onii-sama.
"Honoka sure has it tough." Tetsuya whispered to Erika with pity for the poor girl.
"Indeed." Erika can't help but agree with him. Honoka was completely head over heels for Tatsuya. "But I must say, you are quite good with counter attacks." She was annoyed but nonetheless amused by his quirky way of countering a teasing.
"I will take that as a compliment." He said with a charming smile. Erika just shook her head in amusement.
[The next day]
The time of the recruitment week has finally arrived. The members of PMC and Hanzo have started patrolling the grounds for any unwanted behavior. Mayumi and Tetsuya were currently in the corridor of the ground floor.
"So are you ready to see if patrolling is interesting or not Tetsu-kun." Mayumi said with a teasing smile and a wink.
"Well well, since I'm being paired with you, I have no doubt this will be fun." Tetsuya said wiggling his eyebrows with a small smile never leaving his face.
"I'm glad to hear that." She said appreciating his remark without averting her eyes from his.
'It seems whenever I'm with him alone, his teasing don't have the usual effect on me rather they make me dare challenge him for dominance. I like it a lot this way. Now come to think about it, it's been a few days since he learned about my family background and yet he still acts the same with me as before.' She thought to herself amused.
"Umm Tetsu-kun sorry to ask you all of a sudden, but I've been curious to know this since that day. But it seems I haven't been able to have some alone time with you."
"No issues. So what is it you've been curious to know?" He said seeming nonchalant but truth be told he wanted to banter or flirt, as some students watching them might say, with her.
"You know…" she was rather scared to know if his answer might change their special dynamic, they've had so far, forever. "You… have you checked about… the master clans that is?" She knew she was stuttering but she has to accept whatever answer he has for.
"Yes I did. Though, I just went with a brief description about them except Saegusas and Yotsubas, whom I got into little detail. Saegusas because I was genuinely interested in knowing about you. And Yotsubas because of your father's and that scion of theirs. What was her name again?"
"Maya" she was amused by him for speaking nonchalantly about the woman referred as the 'Queen of night'.
"Ah yes Maya. Her and your father's story. I'm sorry for your father had to go through that." He said apologetically.
"No need for it Tetsu-kun, you weren't even born when that happened." She said waving her hands to dismiss the talk about her father and his former lover turned mortal enemy, Yotsuba Maya.
'Alright this answers my first question. Now then most importantly, I wonder how he thinks of me after all of this.' She thought. "So Tetsu-kun, since now you know about my family, what do you think of me?" She asked shyly.
He found her action cute and said smiling, "I think of you as Mayumi, the student council president of First High and the very first friend I made here whose company I always find interesting." He gave a wink in the end to her.
"That makes the two of us." Referring to the last part, she gave him the look of genuine appreciation for the amazing way he gave the answer to her question kicking away all her worries about their special dynamic.
'If Mari or someone else would have said the same thing, I would have blushed furiously. He truly has a completely different effect on me and I can't deny that I don't like it this way. He is ever so lively.' She thought and then suddenly remembered the sad look that was reflected in his eyes for a moment when she first asked him about the story behind enrolling as a first year at the age of 17. She was curious about him and wanted to know what caused his eyes to bear the sad look, even though it was momentary.
"Tetsu-kun, I know it may sound rude to ask but could you tell me the reason behind enrolling as a first year at the age of 17." She asks carefully eyeing his reaction. "You don't have to tell if you don't want to yet. I could wait. You can tell me whenever you're ready."
'I know she wouldn't spread the word out but I guess it is still too early to tell her about that. I am sure it would blow up her mind. I can give her the basics which will be enough for now.' He thought to himself.
"Um… when I was eight, my parents – Shiba Takumi and Shiba Misaki – passed away in a car accident." Even though it was something he could tell, it was still hard for him to speak about his parent's death.
"Oh I am sorry to hear that." She gently brought her right hand to caress his cheek. She can't even imagine how much it hurt to lose one's parents and that too at such a young age.
"Anyways it was long time ago." He gave a small smile to assure her that he fine now. "And because of that, I was unable to come out of my house for a year and because of the timings of the gap, needed to repeat the year I was already in after 9 months. Hence losing two years of schooling."
"Because of psychological shock from your parents' death?"
"More or less." He said averting his eyes from hers. 'I can't really tell you that I nearly sold my soul to hell because of that if not for the Professor.'
"How did you came out of it?" She knew he was hiding something important but didn't pressed further. Still, she was rather curious to know about the person who helped him come out of that nightmare.
"Courtesy of a certain Englishman, who introduced me to the world of magic to bring me back from darkness and later on became my teacher." He told her briefly. 'I am sorry Mayumi, but I can't really tell you exactly how we came to meet. I will leave that for some other time.'
"If I ever meet him, remember to remind me to thank him." She has regained her cheerful attitude. And in all honesty, he was glad she did.
"Would do so. Though it seems less likely. I have no idea where he is or when he'll come back to Japan. Haven't seen him in years." He said nonchalantly.
"Is that so? I wonder what type of man he was." Though she said it to herself, it was clearly meant to be heard by him.
"You would be surprised. He is a great wizard unlike any in the world." He spoke proudly of his professor.
"Wizard?" she asks curiosity taking better of her as it was not common to refer someone with that term.
"He prefers this term over magician. Even I do so. It seems much cooler and classical than magician." He stated as it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Alright, but how can he be unlike any in the world?" She was very much interested to know more about his teacher.
"As far as I've learnt preparing for the entrance exam, you could say that he can do extraordinary magic that you've never seen before." He states making Mayumi feel bewildered at the revelation.
"Being his student, does that mean you could do what he could do?"
"You'll know eventually. After all I have no intention of leaving your side." He says with a charming smile.
"Obviously." She gave him a charming smile of her own. Their faces were close to each other and they stared into each other's eyes. They had obviously learnt a lot about each other today. They were broken out of their stance by a sudden scream that came from outside the window of corridor they were patrolling in.
"Ah it seems with you I have forgotten that we were patrolling for a little while." She says looking outside which was a mess of a crowd.
"That makes the two of us." He was looking out of the window and all his doubt about the rumors regarding the recruitment week were blown away by the sight in from front of him. "Mayumi, I believe we should head outside."
"Took the words right of my mouth, Tetsu-kun." She started walking in the direction of the door. "Follow me Tetsu-kun." He did what he was asked by his president and walked beside her.
-A few minutes ago in the grounds-
Tatsuya was patrolling around school grounds; he saw tents all around him, giving a festival vibe. As it was recruitment week, all of the various clubs were trying to attract new members to their ranks.
Just as he was beginning to hope his patrol would be without any incident, he noticed a familiar girl being fought over by the two clubs. 'These guys are relentless.' He exhaled a sigh.
"She wants to join our club you greedy bitch!"
"Us greedy? Please. She was trying to join our club you assholes!"
As Honoka was jolted back and forth between the girls fighting over her, one grabbed her uniform and pulled off part of her coat in the struggle.
"I don't want to join any of your clubs." She yelled and when the other girl accidently groped her, she screamed loudly.
Tatsuya leaped into action casting an oscillation-type magic to knock everyone off balance. He grabbed Honoka and assisted her in retreating between two school buildings.
Looking at her he thought, 'They did a number on you.' Honoka's jacket had been pulled off one of her arms. He noticed she was showing quite a bit of cleavage due to being pulled back and forth before.
"Turn around." She shouted as her face blushed bright red. He quickly did as commanded. He tried to think anything other than the body he had just seen. He succeeded somewhat. At least he wasn't blushing.
"Tatsuya-san did you see me?" She asked shyly.
'Lying would be the smartest thing to do, yes… wait; no she knows that I saw her cleavage.' He wasn't sure how he should respond. Turning around he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He wasn't able to say anything which was as good as confession.
"No! She pushed him and looked in the opposite direction. 'He saw my cleavage. He will never come to like me now and think of me as an unsightly woman.'
'I guess she is upset that someone like me saw her cleavage.' He thought a little sadly, without realizing. Otherwise he would have been surprised at himself to show an emotion. "I apologize Honoka; I didn't had any improper intentions."
She turned around to look at him. She has apparently gathered back her senses. "No need for you to apologize Tatsuya-san. You saved me back there. Thanks for that by the way. Just forget about all this."
"Right." He didn't have any problems with that arrangement. After all, it seemed a wise thing to do. An idea popped into his modified head so that he could make up for the inconvenience he has caused his friend.
"Would you like to accompany while I patrol the grounds?"
"Yes, I would gladly and I've no doubt that you'll protect me just like before." She said smiling widely at the thought of spending time with her Tatsuya-san but secretly hoped it that it won't turn awkward like before. He again without realizing showed a form of emotion as he gave a small genuine smile to see her happy.
Meanwhile, a little far away from them, two first year girls had been watching their interaction. They have apparently been together for a little while now.
"Honoka seems to have caught the jackpot. What do you say Shizuku?" The redhead said with a sly grin on her face.
With a beautiful smile Shizuku spoke, "I'm glad that Tatsuya helped her Erika." She was genuinely happy for her best friend.
"And they seem to be walking together towards the gymnasium." Erika said raising her eyebrows.
"I can easily tell that she is exploding from happiness." Shizuku saw them getting out of the sight.
"It is so obvious that she is into him, but he is most oblivious of the lot despite being one of the smartest students in the school." Erika spoke irritated.
"I suppose this applies on you and Leo as well, Erika." Shizuku teased the said girl.
"Shizuku!" Erika yelled. "Why do you have to bring up that jerk?" She was beyond irritated now. Shizuku gave her a knowing smile and then she noticed two familiar figures walking in the direction of the very same gymnasium Tatsuya and Honoka were headed.
"Oh that's the student council president and Tetsuya." Erika said noticing the two people not so far from them. "Oh hello Tetsuya and president." She greeted waving her hand to them but was met with no reaction at all.
"Fufufu… it appears the two of them are lost in their own little world." Shizuku said with a hand covering her mouth suppressing her giggles. But Erika didn't bothered to do so and chuckled softly.
The two said figurines, Tetsuya and Mayumi reached the gymnasium where Kendo club, Kenjutsu club and others were supposed to give demonstration. Tetsuya opened the door.
"Holy-molly!" He exclaimed wide eyed as he looked in front of him.
"What is it Tetsu-kun?" She asks before straightening up from the sight in front of her. Kirihara and few other Kenjutsu club members were unconscious on the ground and the one standing above them was none other than course 2 member of PMC, Tatsuya. Honoka and a Kendo club member, Mibu Sayaka, were standing not from the bodies.
"It appears we'll have to part here Mayumi." Tetsuya said in a serious tone.
"You're right Tetsu-kun. I will be needed as the president at the hearing. But I had a good time with you today." She gave him a wink.
"As did I." He gave her a warm smile and then watched her leave the gymnasium.