Chapter the Twenty-First

Yayoi wandered through the halls of the academy, peeking into people's rooms. While most would think of this as a creepy hobby, to Yayoi it was a necessary task.

She had to meet the brand-new wizards, after all.

The first room she stumbled across was what was once Azusa's room. Inside was a girl who looked a bit older than Yayoi sitting on the bed. As Yayoi watched, the blue-eyed girl neatly tucked some blue hair behind her ear and proceeded to stare at the floor. Yayoi slowly slid inside.

"Excuse me!"

The girl on the bed squeaked in alarm and jumped to her feet, startled, then relaxed when she saw Yayoi. "H-hello. I'm sorry, you startled me…"

"Sorry," Yayoi apologized. "I'm Takatsuki Yayoi, the light wizard. Are you our new water wizard?"

"I guess." The girl smiled sadly. "I'm very sorry about your loss. That must have been horrible…"

Yayoi's bright grin wavered. "It was," she admitted. "But we have you now, so it's OK. What's your name?"

"Mizutani Eri," the bluenette answered. "It's nice to meet you."

"U-uun~! Welcome to the academy, Eri-san! You'll love your teacher, Chihaya-san. She's really pretty and nice."

"Really? I was worried. I thought since she's the Ice Mage, she would be cruel."

"She's only cruel when you get on her bad side. But she loves her academy, so it's alright." Yayoi took a seat on the bed beside Eri. "Are you worried about making friends?"

"A bit," Eri admitted, squirming. "B-but I have Ryo-san, and now I've met you, so I think I'll do fine."

"Everyone here is very welcoming," Yayoi assured her. "They might seem mean, but they're really quite sweet. We just need to worry about our training."

"That's very assuring," Eri sighed. She looked up at the ceiling and smiled. "Yayoi-san, what is this academy about? I don't know much about it. All I was told is that I have the ability to become a great wizard."

"I'm still learning too," Yayoi said honestly. "But NamukoAcademy is a really wonderful place. It's all about nurturing young wizards to become something great. Or, at least…" Yayoi trailed off. "I don't want to scare you on your first day."

"Please tell me!" Eri begged, turning to look at Yayoi. "I want to know what I'm training for! I don't want to be in the dark…!"

Yayoi paused for a moment before she told the story. "Well, there are these really horrible people we're fighting. Lately they've been getting stronger, and they're trying to kill us all. So we have to kill them first."

"Enemy wizards?"

"Uh-huh. But they call themselves 'witches' or 'warlocks'."

"How…how many?"

"Three." Yayoi paused, then smiled. "Two."

Eri cocked her head.

"The Flame Witch, the Shadow Warlock, and the Ice Witch. They're all really strong. But for some reason…I think the Ice Witch is on our side."

"Really? Is she good?"

"Actually…she's the best," Yayoi elaborated. "Even better than Chihaya-san."

"Wow…!" Eri gasped. "Y-Yayoi-san! A-are you positive this person is our ally?"

"Kinda," Yayoi sighed. "It's hard to explain. She's a difficult person to figure out, but I think I understand her feelings. She could still kill us if she felt like she had to, but I don't think she wants to."

"What is her name?"

"She's the dark copy of Makoto-san."

"Makoto…" Eri trailed off and her eyes widened. "O-oh no, Ryo-san is training under Makoto-san…!"

"Don't worry!" Yayoi insisted. "This Makoto-san is really nice. It's her dark copy that gives us problems."

"I'm confused," Eri complained.

"So was I when it was explained to me the first time," Yayoi agreed. "It's hard to understand. The mages can probably explain it better than me."

Eri nodded. "I'll be sure to ask Grand Mage-san about it."

"That's a good idea." Yayoi bounced to her feet and bowed low. "Eri-san, it was wonderful to meet you! I'm going to go meet the air wizard now!"

"Yes, it was wonderful meeting you too." Eri smiled, then her smile faltered. "Ah, Yayoi-san…!"

"Yeah?"

"The mage that came to collect me…Ryo-san's cousin Ritsuko-san? She said I have…Rune Eyes, I think it was. What does that mean? Do you know?"

"Rune Eyes are kinda like special eyes that can boost your powers and give you special abilities no other magician has," Yayoi explained. "You get them when your eye color matches up to your element. You're the seventh magician in the world to have them."

"Only seven…?!"

"That's what I thought too!"

*.*.*.*

The door to the Wind Mage's room slid open, revealing Yayoi in the doorway. Makoto looked over from her place in the corner of the room and smiled.

"Hey, Yayoi! Did you come to meet Ryo? He's a cutie, huh?"

Yayoi stepped inside the room and surveyed its inhabitants. Yukiho was seated on the bed, her arms crossed. She seemed to be pouting about something. Her back was turned towards Makoto, who was stationed in the corner with her arms around an unfamiliar person that may have been either a girl or a boy. Makoto was guiding the hands of the unfamiliar person as though trying to teach them something. The person just stood there blushing like crazy, muttering the occasional request.

"I thought it would be fun to meet all the brand-new wizards. I just finished meeting Eri-san, and I remembered hearing that one of the wizards was air, so I came here," Yayoi announced. "Hi, Yukiho-san."

"Hello." Yukiho nodded curtly at Yayoi and returned to her pouting. "Makoto-chan, if you're about done…"

"Hang on, Yukiho. He's almost got it. Focus, Ryo. You have to focus on your power. We both know you have it."

Yayoi stepped further into the room. "Um, Makoto-san—"

"Hush," Makoto ordered. "Now, Ryo. I need you to focus, alright?"

"I-it's hard to focus on my powers when you're hugging me like this," the person she was coaching (who was probably Ryo, Yayoi realized) squeaked.

"Oh, really? …sorry." Makoto removed her arms from around the person and stepped back. "Ah…let's just take a break for now. Yayoi, this is Ryo. Ryo, that's Yayoi. She's the light wizard."

Ryo bowed. Yayoi waved.

"Nice to meet you, Yayoi-san," Ryo said brightly. "How long have you been training here?"

"A few months," Yayoi answered. "Nice to meet you too~!"

Makoto nodded and glanced over at Yukiho. "Yo, Yukiho. Why're you pouting so much?"

Yukiho lifted her chin and pursed her lips.

"…did I do something wrong?"

Yukiho nodded.

"Oh, for crying out…OK, NOW what did I do?" Makoto went over to try and ease Yukiho out of her subtle disapproval while Yayoi stared at Ryo, trying to confirm his/her gender.

"…is there something on me?" Ryo asked, seeming slightly unnerved by Yayoi's staring.

"…Ryo-san, you are a boy, right? Makoto-san kept saying 'he'."

Ryo seemed to brighten up. "Yes, I'm a boy."

"You look kinda like a girl."

Ryo drooped. "…I know."

"Sorry," Yayoi added. "It's just, when I look at you and Makoto-san, I can't help but wonder why you don't look like your own gender. Is it genetic or something?"

"It's my dad's fault," Makoto called.

"I have no idea why it happened to me," Ryo admitted. "But it's horrible most of the time."

"Sorry," Yayoi repeated.

"I should be used to it, anyways." Ryo smiled. "Did your mage give you the day off?"

"Not the day. But she said I could go meet everyone because I was curious."

"Ah. She seems kind."

"They all are." Yayoi glanced over at Makoto and Yukiho, who will still having a quiet disagreement. "I should probably get back to Miki-san. It was nice meeting you, Ryo-san~!"

"Nice meeting you too, Yayoi-san," Ryo exclaimed. He bowed again. Yayoi bowed back. "…are those two going to be like that for long?"

"Please just tell me what I did wrong!" Makoto pleaded. "You know I'm bad at picking up hints!"

"If you can't figure it out, I won't tell you!" Yukiho decided, looking away.

"Are you mad at me because I was ignoring you for Ryo?" Makoto asked suddenly, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

"Yes! That's why I'm upset." Yukiho turned back towards her and seemed to brighten up a bit.

"Gee, sorry, Yukiho. I guess I just got a little excited that they trusted me with another student." Makoto giggled. "We'll train together from now on, alright?"

"Y-yes! That sounds like a great idea, Makoto-chan…!"

"Great! Let's get back to it, then. Both of you…oh, Yayoi, you're still here?"

"Huh?" Yayoi blinked. "Sorry, should I leave?"

"If you don't mind." Makoto flashed her a grin. "If you're here, your adorableness might cause distractions."

Yayoi blinked again, then smiled when she realized she'd just received a compliment. "OK. Thanks for letting me drop in."

"No problem. And tell Miki I know it's her that keeps sending me anonymous flowers."

"OK~." Her meeting-time over, Yayoi turned and skipped out the door, closing it smoothly behind her, then skipped off to find Miki and resume her own training. She was glad to have new wizards, especially wizards that seemed like so much fun.

No matter what, she would work for the good of her academy. NamukoAcademy would never fade away. Not when there were so many dedicated magicians working to protect it. Nothing could ever tear it down. Not even Turiavita.

Wasn't that true?

Pushing this thought to the back of her mind, Yayoi plastered a wide grin on her face and wandered into Miki's room. There would be time for doubt later. Now was the time for strength. Now was the time for fun.

"Oh, Yayoi, you're here! Ready to keep training?" Miki exclaimed upon seeing her student.

"Makoto-san said she knows it's you sending her flowers."

"She figured it out?! …well, darn. Oh well." Miki blinked. "Yayoi, you seem really happy today. Like, happier than usual."

"I guess that's because I am happier than usual." Yayoi grinned. "I dunno, I'm just really excited all of a sudden. I'll be sure to put all my joyful energy into training today, Miki-san!"

"That's a great attitude! You ready to get started, then?"

"Yeah! Let's do it, Miki-san~!"

"Great! Here, Miki wants to try a sparring exercise with you…"

Yayoi nodded exuberantly and prepared herself from her training, the hope and joy she felt in her heart keeping her powers stronger than ever. And as she worked, there was only one thought on her mind…

NamukoAcademy…will never fade. Because I'll protect it.

((Random A/N: This chapter includes the 100th page of this book when on Microsoft Word. Woot woot! I've also broke 20 chapters which was my minimum. I think this was the last filler chapter before the HUGE battle that marks the end. Doesthat count as a spoiler...?

Whatever.

I'm so excited, you guys. Once again, I haven't gotten reviews in ages, it feels like, so if you have time, energy, and desire, I'd love one. But I won't say something like "REVIEW OR DIE" or "Please review my stuff like now lol!" because that makes me sound pushy. So if you want to, go ahead. I'd like it, but I won't require it. Do I make ANY sense to you guys?

Aaaanywho, I love you all for reading this, thanks to all the followers/favorite...ers...and bye.))