Chapter 3: Enrollment chapter III
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Tsugumi Rei."
Making his introduction as smooth as possible, Rei slightly bowed his head without breaking his expression.
"Woah, how formal. Anyway, same here. I'm Takahiro Kouta. Call me Kouta if you like."
The man named Takahiro Kouta said while extending his hand to Rei, forming that seemed like a handshake.
Though his eyes closely resembles a glare, it seems that he's somewhat easy going. Rei calmly analyzed the man as he shook Takahiro's hand firmly.
"I see. Then, you can call me Rei."
"I'll do that."
Rei let go of his hand and directed his line of sight towards the girl adjacent to Kouta.
"I'm Hassaku Tsukisaki. Nice to meet you. Just Saki is fine."
The mature woman with the shoulder-length hair introduced herself to Rei while smiling. It seemed that she's used to talk with men, based on her tone of voice and high-class mannerisms. She gave off an oujo-sama vibe.
"Err… Umm, I'm- I'm Itsuwa R-Rei… Nice to m-meet you…"
While the little girl with the same given name as Rei nervously introduced herself stuttering, it was the total opposite for the woman named Tuskisaki. Rei can't help but smile wryly since this wasn't the first time that he deal with this kind of behavior. He immediately remembered the white-haired girl that he saved that day.
His impression of them was neutral, though Rei evaluated their group's capability since one of them was related to the upper class of Magic society.
Itsuwa clan is a part of the current Ten Master Clans in Japan. Itsuwa Mio, being the only Strategic-Class Magician in Japan, is the sole reason why the Itsuwa clan still uphold its position as a part of highest eon for entire Japan. Her Magic could theoretically wipe out entire fleets of warship and submarines alike. By making a spherical depression with several kilometers of radius and a kilometer deep within the sea, it could suck up any fleets, or even an island, who planned to wage war against Japan. That's why her [Deep Abyss] was classified as a Strategic-Class Magic.
Even for Rei, who's never interested in magic, knew the name Itsuwa. He watch the news occasionally so Rei was familiar with a clan involved on protecting the security of the Japanese government.
Itsuwa Rei was on the branch family of the main house. Her father was the little brother of the previous head of the Itsuwas. In other words, she was the cousin of that Itsuwa Mio.
As for Hassaku Tsukisaki, even though Rei wasn't familiar with her family name, she was a direct descendant and the next heir of the Hassaku clan.
Hassaku clan was one of the families involved on researching magic which relate to the manipulation of the Four Fundamental Interactions (gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear, weak nuclear). Like the Yatsushiro Clan which is also part of the Ten Master Clans, they bear the name of 'eight' in the name.
The cold gust of wind felt awfully nice to Tsugumi Rei yet conflicting feelings was mixed to his senses as they gave him a warm welcome.
As I thought, giving an evaluation based on first impression was too much. Still, I can't involve myself with them…
For him, having friends normally was impossible.
His middle school days was by no means could be categorized as difficult nor easy.
Rei could do what he wanted on the past yet because of the unbearable weight he was carrying on his arms, he couldn't make friends easily. That factor weighing Rei down was a devoid of a particular emotion.
He never expressed himself fully in front of others, limiting his words of exchange to his peers.
Rei must never get too involved with other people.
That was the undeniable fact.
Since the experiment he was involved ten years ago had a price.
A price Rei could never reclaim―
"So, what are your specialties on magic?"
Kouta asked while smiling.
On the first glance, the guy named Takahiro Kouta was haughty, aloof and had a bad personality. Being misunderstood as a delinquent should be normal for him as his eyes' glare were too much imposing. But after having a conversation with him, one should re-evaluate his whole impression since he's excluding a different friendly vibe.
Impressions are a curious thing.
Sometimes first impressions are not permutable regardless of what you do, but other times a single sentence is sufficient to dramatically change an impression you held until this moment.
"Hey, isn't asking someone else that rude? No, that's illegal, right?"
The mature looking woman named Tsukisaki refuted as she slightly tap Kouta's shoulder.
"Ah, right… Ha ha, I forgot."
Looking at them closely, Rei could easily figure out that they are somewhat close.
"Oh yeah, I didn't really expect that you'll bring him here, Shion-san. You surprised me there!"
"Eh? Is that…so?"
"Yup, really."
Nodding his head, Kouta casually stuffed a rice ball into his mouth. The said food came from the newly-opened lunchbox Shion had brought.
Rei smiled slightly at this exchange of words. Even though feeling like somewhat out of place, he accepted the fact that he was currently having a lunch with them.
"Woah, this is good. Nice. Better than the Dinner Server."
Kouta mumbles that to himself and tried to reach for another rice ball using his other hand but was stopped promptly by Tsukisaki's hand chop.
"Kou, that's bad manners."
"Ah, sorry sorry."
Tsukisaki wiped the leftover grain of rice on Kouta's cheek with a flowered-design handkerchief. The gesture looked so refined that one would easily forgot to breathe for a moment.
"Seriously, what can you do without me being around?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Kouta replied with a smile as warm as the sun.
The two of them looked at each other with passionate eyes. For some reason, Rei saw flowers blooming on their background as they emit some lovey-dovey atmosphere. Tsugumi Rei immediately realized their relationship with each other.
They're going out, I guess. Nevermind suspecting the two, it was so obvious that anyone who spot them could tell that they hold special feelings toward each other.
"I think that we should just ignore those two… right, Shi-chan?"
"Y-Yeah. Let's do that."
The two innocent girls nod to themselves while blushing slightly.
As for Rei, he ignored them as he begin to munch on the handmade egg sandwich which was passed to him earlier.
()()()
After lunch, they tidy up the place and begin to make preparations to return to the classroom. Rei somewhat felt apologetic since he unexpectedly ate too much of what he had originally planned.
The pickled riceball was too tasty… He remembered the aftertaste without displaying the glee on his face.
After that, they went to return for their class without haste. On the way, Rei spotted an instructor with the name of Tsuzura-sensei, talking with an unfamiliar woman in front of the Magic Geometry preparation room. Every part of her solemn face gave off a stern impression, though with her tall frame and willowy limb, the word 'beauty' suited her just fine.
Tsuzura Kazuo, an instructor responsible for technical skills for Year 2 Class B, was a Magic Geometry instructor for the National Magic University affiliated First High. It was said that he was a prodigy on his career, a distinguished individual who obtained the rank of a professor at a young age.
The woman nodded a few times and then said her regards before leaving the scene shortly. Rei's eye met with her's, but he paid it as of nothing important. After that, the woman went down the stairs as if nothing happened.
"Hmm…"
The sudden leak of voice came from Itsuwa Rei. Shion followed up immediately after like she was expecting it.
"What is it?"
"I did not mean to eavesdrop, but to think they're already discussing about the upcoming Thesis Competition."
Rei wasn't a tad bit interested on the subject, but he decided to listen on their conversation.
"Huh? Isn't it too early for that? That's scheduled to be on between October and November, right?"
"That's right… I wonder what their topic is…"
Rei wondered on why these two newly high school students were well informed about these things.
Of course. It's because they aren't ordinary high school girls. They ARE also magicians so their choice of topic were about magic.
"Based from what we've heard, their topic could be… Um… something like, Automatic Plasma manipulation by using multiple layers of different High-frequency Vibration Magic, development of a Gravity Control-Type Magic thermonuclear fusion reactor and the application of Nuclear Fission Dispersal Type Magic for energy conversion… Though I'm not entirely sure about that."
Using her eyes to ask Itsuwa, who had nodded slightly in assent, Shion checked her own data terminal for possible information that could be found on her storage device.
Rei silently observed the data streaming from the screen of Shion's terminal as he listened to Itsuwa's reply.
"That's possible… Since those could be theoretically achieved by the use of multiple Compound Magic. It was said that Tsuzura-sensei's specialty was to use Compound Magic on different but precise situations… Also…"
Their conversation continued for a while without them knowing. As for the two in the front who didn't even bothered to hide their flirtatious atmosphere, they didn't mind the irritated gazes of the other people as they walked in the hallway with linked arms. Rei, who's slightly walking behind the four of them followed as he continue to listen about the magic theories the two was discussing.
()()()
By the time they arrive at the classroom, Nanase Shion suddenly realized that she hadn't spoken with Rei from the time they left the rooftop. She immediately approached the said person.
"Tsugumi-san… Umm, sorry for ignoring you up until now…"
"Not really."
At Shion's sudden apology, Rei calmly replied with a decisive answer. Their two expressions were like milk and coffee.
"Just a 'not really'… Tsugumi-san is completely lackadaisical about this."
Likely noticing her mood taking a turn for the worse, Rei quickly add in some comforting excuses that seemed like a justifiable reason.
"I don't really mind. Also, I was listening in to your conversation for a while. That was indeed informative for my part. Thanks."
Shion's euphoric mood swiftly turned to a whole 180 degrees.
"Really!? I'm glad… But next time, please join in on the conversation please. Another mouth stating different opinions are better than nothing, am I correct?"
"…Okay."
I'm not really informed about high-class and difficult magic, though I knew some because I need it against them.
Satisfied with that answer, Shion's mood had improved and she trotted her way back to her seat.
Rei could only sigh in defeat since he unintentionally got another one who's concerned about his actions.
I guess I should prepare myself for the near future. Rei thought as he picked up his data terminal from his desk and starts fiddling with it.
()()()
Later that night, Rei decided to stroll around Shinjuku. The time was 11:30 pm.
During the era of chaos several decades ago, Shinjuku was one of the towns that emerged as a widespread vermiculated ruins. Because of this, public order was on the brink of destruction, adding the fact that many foreigners had destructive activities happening inside the district. To compensate for this, the town was rebuilt with an idea of maximum surveillance for every crag and groove, especially the outskirts. With that, the present populace of this town was quite dense.
Wearing a black jacket with a corporate design and paired with rugged jeans, Rei looked like a delinquent that belonged to a B-grade movie of the early 20th century. He continued to walk on a slow pace, as if observing everyone who happened to walk past him.
The street was almost devoid of people, as if the shopping district several hours ago was fabricated.
"None here… I guess?"
One would wonder why a young man like Rei would make a decision to stroll around Shinjuku in the middle of the night. For normal teenagers, they should be on their respective rooms of their houses, either be sleeping or else, studying. Others may have some sort of a hobby or past time, but Rei was doing what could be considered as dangerous. Even if the current Shinjuku was like a den for chained beasts compared to the past, if it was approached anyway, one should be cautious like their life depended on it.
*batan* *batan*
A sound similar to an irregular beat that suddenly reverberated through the air seemed awfully familiar to Rei.
He approached the said sound. Walking slowly towards it, what displayed in Rei's eyes was a man getting beaten up helplessly by teenagers.
The group consisted of three guys. Comparing them to Rei, whose height was average based on his age, the smallest guy there was at least six centimeters taller than Rei. The others also had a larger frame than him.
The man, positioned like he's on seiza, yelped as he protected his head with his arms, while his body was getting plummeted by the three continuously. Soon, one of the guys got bored of the current situation and revealed a sharp-looking object that resembled a knife. It was a sloppy improvised cutter, which looked like it was made out of boredom.
The other two stopped their movements, as if understanding and agreeing at the decision of the guy with the knife. The smallest guy reached out on a plastic bag on the ground, took out two cans of beverages and passed the other can to the idle guy.
The one with the knife slowly approached the man like a panther dealing the finishing blow to a zebra in the eyes of Rei.
The teary-eyed man begs for his life pathetically, almost ready to lick the shoes of the carnivorous beast.
Getting fed up with the ridiculous scene in front of him, Rei decided to intervene immediately.
"Hey, isn't that enough?"
Like a naughty kid that was caught by his parents, the shoulders of the guy with the knife shook with surprise. His companions was also alarmed by his sudden appearance.
"Who's there!?"
Rei slowly closed in on the guy. Looking closely, the guy with the knife had his hair dyed with mismatching colors. Both his ears and his mouth were pierced with different set of earrings. The 'traditional delinquent' title suited the guy the best. As for Rei, they couldn't clearly see his face since its being hidden by his hood.
Finally―
"I know it's not good to pry unto other people's business… But, you should stop right at that point.
Murder comes with a price, you know?"
The knife-holding guy was taken aback, but soon acted haughty when he realized that Rei wasn't holding any weapon. The other two noticed that and jeered, as if realizing that they got the upper hand.
The force of one kick jostled the man onto his belly. His mauled body crashed to the ground. His upper body exploded with ever more pain than before.
With a triumphant smile full of ecstasy, the knife-holding guy clumsily pointed the dangerous blade towards Rei.
"I don't remember taking orders from you. Drop dead somewhere else, brat."
"Oh? Can't understand some easy logic? Got a screw lose or something?"
"Haaaah!? You've got a big mouth there! Hey, I think we should teach this champion of justice a little lesson."
All three of them guffaw gleefully.
"Heh. So much for the cowardice. So, a weakling need to team up with other weaklings just to beat other people up? Pathetic."
Rei expected for this outcome, that's why a devious smile floated on his face. This is it! This is what I'm looking for!
The grin was displayed for the three to see. Rei actually expressed himself solely for that reason. In other words, his plan was not to stop nor let the bastards go in the first place, it was to taunt them. His objective from the start was clear: To beat the shit out of them.
The other two hesitated a bit, but as soon as Rei removed his hands from his pockets, their hesitation turned into confidence. Both of them took out their desired weapons, the first readied a metal stick, the second prepared his tweezers. The knife-holding guy nodded to the other two, as if telling some sort of a code.
They slowly cut off the distance between them and Rei, as if preparing to surround and launch a pincer attack on three different sides.
"Oh my, aren't we energetic?"
As soon as Rei finished his sentence, the guy with the metal stick dashed towards him and swing his weapon on where Rei's head was currently staying. With leaning his body backwards, the stick brushed past through his nose. At the same time, both of the knife-holder and the tweezers guy went their way to attack the over-confident opponent.
Hey, they have a good coordination for a random thugs.
The tweezers guy on his right side moved slightly faster than the other one. Rei noticed the fact and took advantage of that. Using the back of his left hand, the thrust of the tweezers guy had been redirected to the place on where the attack of the knife-holding guy will arrive. Without breaking a sweat, Rei sweeps the legs of knife-holder by lowering his stance, taking away the knife holder's balance.
Having lost control because of the residual inertia, the tweezers made contact with the knife-holder's wrist inevitably. Soon, his mouth floated with some foam and the smell of urine permeates through the midnight air.
The guy with the tweezers was dumbfounded and took a full blow to the solar plexus. The force of impact made him fly several meters away.
"Fucker!"
The delinquent with the stick immediately recovered from this surprising turn of events and made a fast roundhouse kick. Rei evaded it and threw the same move against the delinquent, but it was skillfully blocked by the guy by crossing his arms.
"Not bad."
Rei honestly complimented the delinquent. As for a normal thug, one would not be able to block a surprise offensive kick like that.
"You little…!"
The tweezers guy helped himself up and threw something at Rei. It flew at a speed similar to a baseball, but Rei dodged it by nimbly shifting the weight of his upper body to the left. The guy with the stick didn't miss this chance. He hastily stomped his foot at full force, deciding to slam his large shoulders on the small frame of Rei's.
A large grin flashed out again on Rei face, telling the guy that he expected the attack. Using his left foot as the pivot point, Rei rotated his body to the side, evading the charge of the delinquent. Rei did not stop there. Using the torque he made by dodging, Rei connected his right elbow on the guy's back. The guy landed his face directly onto the concrete wall.
The impact was so intense, since the Rei's attack was the combination of his built-up momentum and the opponent's driving force. The delinquent didn't expect the counter, resulting to the loss of his consciousness.
"Hiiiiii!"
Regaining his weapon, the tweezers guy panicked and clumsily swung the toy on his hand without coordinating an attack similar to earlier.
Rei dodged all of the incoming hostilities and disarmed the opponent by hitting his arm with a right hook.
"Damn you―!"
The delinquent tried to retaliate by throwing a normal, weak punch. This was, of course, answered by a cross-counter to the middle of the delinquent's face. With his eyes white, the tweezers guy was finally down for good.
Too quick. I overestimated them, I guess…
Having his expectations betrayed, Rei decided to approach the beaten man but he noticed that the leader of the thugs had recovered from his extreme electrification.
Slowly, he decided to conclude this night's buffet.
()()()
"…Guhh."
That was the only noise the guy could make as he woke up from a phenomenon that seemed like a dream.
The knife he had made from scratch could not be found on his hands, rather, that delinquent had his whole body invaded with numbness. He picked himself up and sit on the spot. No, he can't even properly move his legs. Moving the muscles of his fingers little by little, he tried to grasp what's on his hand; the brandished improvised cutter.
He looked for his two friends who was always hanging out with him and immediately found on what they called as their remains several meters from him. He could not believe himself. The sight was too much for him to handle.
One had his nose broken and was extremely bleeding. The other one, whose only talent was fighting, had collapsed near a wall. Also, massive amount of blood were sticking through the wall.
An absurd scene.
"You've g-got to be kidding me…!"
*step* *step*
The sound of footsteps invaded his ears as he looked at the direction of the sound. What he saw was a grin that could be compared to an Asura.
Suddenly, he remembered what he was doing a while ago.
A guy they beat up several weeks ago showed up with another four looking thugs. They could easily realize that he's on for a revenge. After that, they begin the fighting against the other group.
The match was too one sided.
The recruited thugs run with their tails between their legs, leaving behind the idiotic man who desired for vengeance.
They beat him up casually. And, to make him remember not to mess with them again, he tried to give the man a wound or two, or just maybe, dispose of him entirely.
Then, for some reason, a hooded man suddenly appeared. He get taunted by him, lost his cool and went for the attack. Soon after, he lost consciousness.
They messed up. Pathetically.
"…Ah. W-What the hell… did you do to my friends!?"
As for this man who was confident about his fighting prowess, he never considered that the man standing in front of him was the sole suspect for what he could see as carnage. He averted his eyes on that possibility, deceiving himself that there are other people out there who secretly engaged his friends while he was unconscious.
The knife-holding delinquent forced his body to move. By biting his lips, he entered his usual stance of brandishing his knife against an opponent. He tried to dash towards the man but staggered unto the cold concrete he was laying earlier.
"Fucker!"
The delinquent tap his knee in order to set his senses straight.
"I'll kill you―!"
Before he could express his anger completely, a savage kick to the face shut him up. The taste of iron spread though his mouth, as he felt that one of his tooth flew out. As for the piercing on his mouth, it ruptured his lips as it contributed to the amount of blood entering his mouth.
"Guh! You―!?"
The guy raised his body and pushed him onto the wall. His face caught every punch unreserved, as if the concept of pity wasn't on the attacker's dictionary. Seeping the delinquent's morale and energy, tears mixed with blood run down through his cheeks. His fighting spirit had long been burnt out, the delinquent wished he had not wake up his body's sense of feeling. The searing pain that had been clawing through his entire being amplified.
"Aaah… Gaahh… Ple…ase… Sto…p…"
He could only plead for his life with a creaking voice.
()()()
Rei continued reward the man for his haughtiness, as he abstain from stopping himself from plummeting the face of the delinquent. He had no intention to kill the guy or whatsoever. What he desired was something else.
"Wha…"
The man whose was nearly killed earlier was stunned by this scenery.
"Mo… Monster!"
Rei stopped his movements and hold the collar of the delinquent with his left hand. He glared at him, as if saying that if he move, he would be the next in line. Of course, Rei didn't intended that kind of reason. What he merely did was to look on the man's eyes.
Little that he knew of what the face he was making right now.
A face devoid of emotion, yet had a large grin on his face.
The man perceived him as a monster, which Rei, of course, already knew.
I was already aware of that fact.
I've been this way because of them, you know?
It's just, it can't be helped, yeah?
Checking the delinquent's condition, Rei surveyed that he would soon lose his consciousness. He decided to help him get to the dream world but was stopped by a rugged voice.
"That's enough, alright?"
A silhouette approached him slowly from where he originally belonged.
The situation is way too similar, though the position are reversed.
The man saw Rei as the one who was in the wrong, and him as the person who was righteous.
Silly me…
The shadow hiding the man's face gradually lessen, and finally, it was exposed with the help of the luminescence of the moon.
This guy… I've seen him before.
"Are you gonna stop what you're doing, or I'll stop you with everything that I've got?"
Dropping what's on his hand to the ground, Rei stared at Saijou Leonhart silently while the delinquent's consciousness fades away to oblivion.
Finally, a fight scene. Please continue to support my work by leaving a review behind. Actually, I'm still not contented about the way I write on third person POV. Next update will be next month. Thanks for reading up to this point.