"Is magic always THAT boring?" Kei whinned from her book.
"Yeah, I was expecting to learn something like a fireball, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat, maybe." Sumire said off-handedly.
"Well, Kaien could pull fireballs, and both Rin and Medea Kaa-san could too. As for the rabbit, well dad can do it, probably Uzume-Kaa-san too." I mused out loud.
"Is everyone in your family a wizard?" Kei asked in disbelief.
"Technically no. There are Magi, yes, also a Knight, A legendary erm, fallen deity (you just don't call Rider-kaa-san a monster... just don't), Aliens, a Vampire, well sort of," I spotted Ulf coming down the corridor, with Tamamo in toll. "Ulf, is your mom an Elf or a half one?" Ulf didn't deemed my question a serious one, or Tamamo's whispers were to distracting judging by his blush, either way the girls eyes focused on Tamamo's 'vulpine's features'.
"And she?" Kei asked.
"An aspect of Amaterasu, manifested as a Fox. My brother's girlfriend too." I chuckled.
"So he is into furry fetishes, hehe." Sumire asked from my other side. "What about you?"
"I think is better we go back to studies..." I try to keep Sumire-chan from teasing me even more.
"But I don't want to learn bounded-fields, I want to throw fireballs or such. What good would a bounded field do in a fight?" She asked.
"Well, Kaien, who uses fireballs for attack, have a bounded field of vectorial distortion for defense." I offered.
"Bounded-field of what?" Was Kei response.
"Vectorial distortion, like the one on page 937. His can distort the trajectory of projectiles and low powered attacks, so even if you shoot him with a sniper rifle from a 1m distance, the shot will miss."
"That is a useful trick." Kei said in awe.
"Hi, my lovely Ashikabi." Fuuko said embracing Kei by her neck. "Can you do any magic yet?"
"No, not yet. Can you release me? I don't swing that way."
"Yet." Fuuko corrected, lowering her hands to Kei's cleavage. "Never." Kei swatted the hand away.
"Oh, come on! Would it hurt to try?"
"Look, kiss is already awkward, I don't want to get physical."
"Girls?" I call my sister and girlfriend.
"You call that a kiss? Your lips barely touched!" Sumire said from my left.
"Girls!" They all looked at me. "Let's go back to studies please?"
"Aoshi-kun, you're no fun." Fuuko pouted.
"Pout if you want, I'm immune to your charms sis."
"Yeah, pft. Like you don't stare when I kiss Sumire-chan." I blush at the memory. Kissing, pfft. Is more like some twisted sexual hipnotic ritual designed to make a men's brain melt. And noses burst.
"Besides, I have a new student. Girls, Otouto, this is Yuuji-kun."
"Erm, hi." The blonde boy waved awkwardly, as much as I when I raise my hand back.
"Now play nice as both hareem members you are." Fuuko teased.
"Root hates me." I release a burst of the blue in my trashcan, making everyone in the room, except Fuuko-nee jump in surprise at my favored stress release method. Thanks, dad, for the reinforced trashcans. They're very therapeutic. "Since I have your attention, we're continuing this lesson in the training room 5." I leave taking deep breaths.
...
Training room five, or Reinforcement training room, had lots of scrap materials laying on shelves, as well as a empty space on the middle. I pick some things, and sit there in the floor, motioning them to follow. "I will be training you all in a very practical magic: Reinforcement. As it is," I show them a section of iron pipe. "one can strengthen himself," I bend the tube in an L shape, making their eyes widen. "objects," I touch a broken glass, them bring the makeshift club on it, but it doesn't smash, "or concepts." I pick a rusted knife, and cut a section of the same pipe.
"That is what I'm talking about!" Kei shout in glee. "Useful magic."
"But to strengthen something, you must learn to feel the object, then we learn analysis." I motion to the shelves of the room. "Pick any object, and focus your magic in it, getting a feel of its composition, structure and flaws." I point to the blonde guy. "You, whose name I forgot, come with me, we're opening your magic circuits,"I pause to think, then add: "if you have any." Both of the girls shiver at the memory of the method to bring magic forth, but he remains oblivious.
"Name is Yuuji Arihara. Look, pal, I'm as much uncomfortable with this as you, but your sis explained this Ashikabi stuff to me, and it seems serious. I won't say I will love you, god forbid, kill me if I ever..." He shuddered, and so did I, "but we could be friends."
"Ok, will you spar with me?" I ask.
"Sure." He shrugged.
The following fight, or better yet asskicking, left my taller foe stretched in the floor, black eyed and bruised. "I will take a page of uncle's book: Want to be my equal, then work for it. Until then, I'm your better, and you will listen to me." I towered over him, daring him do disagree.
His face hardened, nad he oppened his mouth but thought better, and nodded. "Sure, sempai." He made a face. "Now what?"
"We are opening your magic circuits."
"Huh. Circuits? Am I sort of a magic computer?" He asked in confusion. Then in pain. "And, do you have healing magic? I kind of need it.." He wobbled a bit after getting up. Weakling. I can take ten times that punishment and keep going, and I'm between the weakest hitters on my age.
"Sure, mongrel." I suppress a smile. I always wanted to say that!
"What?"
"Nevermind." I picked my cellphone, and dialed Keiko's number. "Hello sis. Can you give me a hand at activating someone's circuits?"
"-someone's else call, Karin!" Came the voice in the other end. "Hi Ao, how can I help you?" She amended in a sweet tone.
"I asked if you can give me a hand at activating someone's circuits?" I suppress the urge to sigh.
"Sure, where are you?"
"Training room 5."
"Be there in 10 minutes, just finishing a gun's disassembly. Ja ne."
I turned to Arihara. "Rest a bit, my sister is coming to finish your initiation."
"Are you guys some sort of sect? I mean, how many 'sisters' and 'brothers' do you have? And Initiation, rules of secrecy, emegency codes..."
"Oh root!" I sighed. "I have one father, 22 mothers, 10 brothers and 17 sisters. We are a big family, and as such we need special rules. As for the codes, try to say: 'We have a humanoid Alien with moderate injuries needing treatment' in less than 3 secs. And that is not the longest one."
He just nodded dumbly.
"Hi! I'm here!" Keiko skipped step to our direction.
"You look happy, did you got a new toy?" Fuuko asked.
"Yep a PGM Hecate II. Its second hand, but I'm cleaning and repairing it. I was going to disassemble it to reinforcement anyway..." She was giddy like a schoolgirl. I was considering a visit to uncle Shiki, or Fuyuki house.
"Is that some sort of motorcycle? The name sounds familiar..." The wanna-be mage asked.
"If it's familiar, you're watching too much war movies. It's a gun. A big one." I deadpanned.
"You mean a shotgun? Aren't guns Illegal in Japan?" His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Shotgun?" Keiko laughed, the assumed Lecture Pose 8, or product exposing pose as Karin would say. "This," She drawed her Citori from between her cleavage, making his eyes go wide (I'm not sure of the reason, and sure don't want to) and held it in one hand presenting it to him. "Is a shotgun. A Hecate, is bigger, more powerful and awesome than some little hunting toy..." She blushed and wavered while delivering her little speech, while Arihara was turning blue at the implications.
"And SHE is the one going to make me magic-able?" He turned to me, "You're leaving my life in the hands of a freaking gun psycho!" Keiko was still in cloud nine, oblivious of this little exchange, much to his luck.
"Being a magus means putting your life in the line. If you want to be a frisky flashy wizard, go to Hogwarts with the other wand wavers." No, I was not happy when 'Pothead', as Dad called him first, winged Aya. Nor am now.
"Huh?" Was his 'eloquent' response. It figures.
"Believe you or not, there are lots of places in this world that normal people don't see. Secret societies living right below you 'muggles' noses, yet you think you're in charge of the worl-I started to lecture, but an explosion from the Girl's sides interrupted. "What happened Fuuko?" I snap at her.
"Relax, bro, we're ok!" Came my sister's response. "But Sumire exploded an old pot."
"They're practicing analysis! How on earth did she exploded anything!"
