Chapter 4: Clash
A/N:
(.Y.) boobies... :)
yo wys guys, just read the chapter and end A/N, you don't need to look up. Just don't look up at all, that's just my brain degrading to them same as a 12 year old childs.
After School, Tatsuya went to the Student Council Room with Miyuki. Miyuki and the others did their own work, while Mayumi and Tatsuya sat in the main conference table. Obviously near each other, since there was no point in keeping distance. Although, Miyuki did have an eye out to see what they were doing.
"So, let's get started, Tatsuya kun will address any points from the course 2 student point of view is that alright?" Mayumi asked.
" Just going to say this before this begins, if I participate in this debate, me joining DC will have no meaning." Tatsuya told her.
"and why is that?" Mayumi asked.
"if the point of me joining the DC was to get at the very least the course 2 students freshman to like me, then this will essentially turn me into an enemy to all course 2 for siding with you." Tatsuya explained. " Not to mention the course 1 students will think I serve them and that will essentially run down a very bad path." Tatsuya told her. Mayumi just slapped his back.
"aw, don't worry Tatsuya kun, if need be, I'll protect you." Mayumi told him trying to reassure.
"I don't trust you. You are the type of person to throw me into those situations to see the best reaction." Tatsuya told her plainly.
"no I wouldn't." She defended herself.
"yes you would."
"you would." Ichihara backed.
"why are you even lying?" Mari asked.
"no offense senpai, you would though." Miyuki dealt the finishing blow.
"ok, you can't, lie you would be at least a bit interested." she told them," besides what type of person do you think I even am?" Mayumi asked pretending to be hurt.
"devil."
"demoness."
"witch."
" Saegusa Kouichi's spawn." Tatsuya told her last.
"well the last one is kind of true. But am I supposed to feel offended?" Mayumi asked.
"you are." he added. After a bit more banter and jokes, they decided to focus on work but after another half an hour it didn't work. Tatsuya's words were too bold and didn't cut any corners, Mayumi used the emotions of the listener to sway them to her side.
"Ahh, Tatsuya kun, stop being so blunt." Mayumi said as her chin crashed onto the desk.
"I swear he's going to make them cry if he goes out like this." Mari sighed.
"better make them cry than have them act in an insatiably stupid manner." Tatsuya replied. Miyuki giggled.
"Nii-san, try to talk like you do with Okaa-sama." Miyuki advised.
"that is impossible, I don't care for them the way I care for haha-ue." Tatsuya immediately retorted.
"oh the amount Okaa-sama would give to hear those words." Miyuki casually shrugged. "you know what, just replace everyone's faces with Okaa-samas." Miyuki told him.
"... that wouldn't be advisable." Tatsuya told her, "that would mean my listeners will all be experts of mind games and mental interference magics. Nothing I say will affect them." Tatsuya told her.
"alright enough. you know what, Tatsuya let's take a breather outside for a second. And get some coffee or something." Mayumi asked him.
"why, we literally have dispensers literally a few steps away from us." Tatsuya asked.
"but we need to plan properly, just come." Mayumi said as she tried to drag him out of his chair.
"it's going to come out of my pocket anyways." Tatsuya sighed.
"Nii-san, why are you worried for a coffee, you are earning more than enough to feed a family of 18 people." Miyuki asked.
"wait, Tatsuya's rich?" Mari asked.
"what? Going to dump your beloved Shu for money?" Tatsuya instantly fought back. Mayumi started laughing.
"bite me. I would never do that." Mari told him. In the end, Mayumi managed to drag Tatsuya out before he started having a cat-fight with Mari.
"Sigh, so where are we going, Mayumi senpai?" Tatsuya asked. Mayumi smiled, happy that he remembered to call her by her first name.
" mm... how about that place?" Mayumi pointed towards a cafe, with a beautiful interior. The seats were made of polished wood with red cushioning, the tables made of the same wood. Giving it a feeling as if people are within nature once again. Tatsuya and Mayumi took a seat in one of the more inside tables, they sat on opposite sides.
"hello sir and madam, what would you like to have?" a waitress came and asked. Before Tatsuya could speak, Mayumi spoke for him.
"2 darjheeling teas please and 1 red velvet cake." Mayumi ordered, "what cake would you want? Tatsuya kun." Mayumi asked smiling pretending as if nothing happened.
"I don't want tea, I want co-" Tatsuya was about to say.
"you had enough coffee for the day, you'll overload on caffeine." Mayumi told him. Tatsuya once again gave up, hoping to conserve the little amount of energy he has left after dealing with Mayumi for an entire afternoon.
"you know what? Whatever, can I have this cake?" Tatsuya pointed towards a cake on the physical menu but hid it from Mayumi. The waitress giggled.
"you two are a very cute couple. Please wait a bit and I'll be back shortly with your order." she said as she left. Mayumi's cheeks burned red.
"w-we aren't a-a couple." Mayumi told the waitress who only smiled brightly.
"that's what they all say, before eventually, the start going out." the waitress smiled and left. Mayumi was still blushing hard, she looked up to see Tatsuya staring at her.
"w-what?" Mayumi asked.
"you looked cute that's all." he calmly told her. This just caused Mayumi to blush even harder.
'hawawawa, I didn't know Tatsuya could say things like that... not that I mind.' Mayumi thought.
'well... I'm at least trying to keep her happy, that's progress?' He wondered. Since he had chosen the most hurtful path for her, he thought it to be the best to treat Mayumi the best way he could so that the pain after rejection would not be a lasting effect. Logically speaking that is.
Soon, the waitress came back with their orders.
"alright I got a better idea." Tatsuya suddenly brought Mayumi's attention to him, "you do the speech mainly, but whenever they use a flimsy excuse, I'll just go and let it rip." Tatsuya told her.
"so you are aware, you're being harsh." Mayumi asked him.
"I know. But I won't stop," Tatsuya said as he narrowed his eyes, an overwhelming sense of anger leaked out of him, strangely however, he looked more calm than ever, as if he was used to all of this kind of thing. "I gave her a chance, I told her not to do other's bidding. If she wants to chase her delusion of equality, then I'll just have to eradicate it." Tatsuya sneered. Mayumi shivered in her place.
" you seem a lot more... expressful in this case. Just don't body them too hard okay?" Mayumi asked him and he nodded. They had their plan set in stone and were ready to act.
The Next Day
The debate started off with Mayumi more or less logically disproving them. As Tatsuya had suspected, all of their reasons were weak, circumstantial evidence, and things that the school simply could not be responsible for.
"Then President, that the treatment of the course 2 students is fair as it is? Are you saying that we deserve to be looked down upon all our time?" a student asked. Mayumi was about to make her way to the podium to respond, but Tatsuya cut her off.
"that question was bs, time for me to step in." he told her, she nodded. People were surprised to see Tatsuya get up on the podium. He looked around, a few course 2 students seemed nervous as their debate was going nowhere.
" I would like to address that question. Mayumi senpai, has never mentioned anything about the current issues being alright. However, you have nothing concrete. What do you want changed? What do you think is unfair? Club budgets, I know for a fact that the budget is based on meritocratic achievements of clubs." Tatsuya began, " If you yourselves don't know what is going wrong how can you ask her to solve your issues? Are you 6 years old, or just mentally disabled? Think about it, what have you done to say that you deserve more respect? The discrimination is 2 sided. There is no way that you can say, no course 2 student has thought of all course 1 students as people who look down on them. I agree, there are many who do look down on people like me and other course 2 students... but what have you done to change that?" Tatsuya asked. Countless whispers started spreading throughout the hall, he was not holding back.
The student that just went up looked incredibly angered.
"I have one of the lowest practical scores even amongst Weeds, so I polished my knowledge. I have a sister who is the honour students, comparisons are like day and night. I am still here, I fight back when someone looks down on me for who I am. So let me ask you again, what is it you want? Because as long as you ask others to do things for you, you will be looked down upon. You want equality? Stop being delusional, equality is non-existent in the world, realise that. Accept your weakness and grow up." Tatsuya told them all. As he finished a moment of silence passed, and soon people started clapping. Both course 1 and course 2 students couldn't hide the astonishment at his outburst.
'he would've sounded a bit more realistic, had his voice not sounded like a robot.' Mayumi nervously laughed. She went up and gave the speech based on the terms, 'blooms' and 'weeds'. Both Tatsuya and Mayumi had earned undeniable respect, however, as she finished her speech an explosion went off and a gas bomb entered through the window. A lot of the students wearing egalite wristbands tried to act, but the DC all apprehended them.
"Saegusa senpai!" Tatsuya said aloud as he covered for her and Hattori came up and threw the gas bomb outside.
"aw, I liked it better, when you call me Mayumi." She whispered.
"it was a slip of tongue, seriously, you're dragging me out alone way too much." Tatsuya told her but she only sighed. A bunch of masked men burst in through the door.
Tatsuya pointed his gun at the people that came in and fired a barrage of shots, obviously, he couldn't use his normal power so he just used magic bullets to get them.
"Watanabe senpai, I'll leave Saegusa senpai to you." Tatsuya told her.
"h-huh? Where are you going?" Mari asked confused.
"there are more enemies all around, I'll go and take care of those needed." he said as he started running. Miyuki, Erika and Leo followed. They ran out and stood behind a wall.
"there is so many of them.."
"they aren't all normal students, they are terrorists." Tatsuya told them.
"so we don't have to hold back?" Erika asked.
"unless they are normal students, go at it." Tatsuya told her. He spun his head to an empty spot. "who's there?" he asked. Soon, the counselor, Ono sensei walked out.
"Ono sensei?" Leo asked confused.
"this is a distraction, the main force is already inside the library." Ono told them.
" what are they doing there?" Leo questioned.
"they are probably after the classified Magical documents." Tatsuya told him and he was about to head off but Ono stopped him.
"wait, I have a favour to ask of you." Ono stopped him, "Mibu, please give her another chance. Until a couple years ago, she behaved perfectly fine, but her course 2 status has been haunting her." Ono told Tatsuya.
"Naiive." he straight up told her, Ono looked down.
"oi, Tatsuya that was a bit rude." Leo told him.
"there is no hiding the truth, I gave her hints to drop out of Blanche. I told her there was no such thing as equality as long as we're humans. I even told her that I admired her devotion to improvement, I advised her to not let others control her." Tatsuya told them, Ono's eyes could not leave the ground, she couldn't look at him. "It seems she prefers to chase the blind ideology of fair treatment. This was her choice, now she'll pay the price for it." Tatsuya finished as he ran off. Everyone but Ono ran after him. Leo went to fight the people ahead as Tatsuya, Miyuki and Erika headed to the library.
"two by the staircase, one by the plane of the second floor. Three in the control room." Tatsuya said as he reopened his eyes.
"wow, with you here, ambushes have no meaning. I would not want to fight you." Erika praised and then ran off to fight the 2 by the staircase. "I'll handle these ones, you go and deal with the control room people." Erika told him. Tatsuya leaped off to the second floor as Miyuki also followed. Soon he burst through the control room door.
"That's as far as you go." Tatsuya said as he entered the room.
"Tatsuya kun?" Mibu asked surprised. Tatsuya fired his gun at the recording cube and hacking terminal.
"why? What's wrong with trying to remove discrimination? I'm sure you got compared to your talented sister alot. I am sure that you got unwarranted hate. I'm sure everyone looked down on you." Mibu lashed out.
"last time I checked, hacking into national property and stealing secret magic data has no correlation to eliminating discrimination." Tatsuya plainly responded. "but truly it is a pity. As I suspected you did not take anything I said to heart." Tatsuya sighed.
"I feel sorry for you senpai." Miyuki began, "I don't hate my brother, nor do I look down upon him. Even if the entire world tried to go against him, me and my mother will surely stand by him. Because we know his worth. We know and acknowledged him. We aren't the only ones either, many people know the true strength and ability of my brother. Are you telling me, no one in your life ever acknowledged you?" Miyuki asked.
" As I said before, I admire your desire to let magic not be the only thing that defines you. But you let others cloud your judgement, ultimately you never realised. You are the only one letting magic be the benchmark for you. There is no one who looks down upon themselves for being a 'weed' than you. I told you didn't I? You are worth more than magic, I acknowledge your being, but it seems you still couldn't see the truth." Tatsuya calmly told her.
"Mibu, use the ring." one of the men shouted as they threw a gas bomb. She listened and used the antinite to "stop" Tatsuya's magic. Tatsuya regardless beat them down with ease. Mibu ran past them downstairs.
"don't bother, Erika is still down there." Tatsuya told Miyuki as she tried to go after Mibu.
"Nii-san, you're kind after all." Miyuki said with a giggle. Tatsuya pat her head and went out after Mibu. He stayed by the top stair case and watched the fight between Erika and Mibu unfold. As Erika spoke and hopefully broke Mibu out of her delusion. After Mibu was defeated, she got taken to the school infirmary. By the entrance, the DC officers successfully stopped Tsukasa from leaving the school.
Infirmary
"Tsukasa senpai convinced everyone to stand up to magic related discrimination. He even convinced me to go to the Blanche branch station, apparently his older brother manages the Japan location." Mibu explained how she had been coerced into joining Blanche. "after I joined in my first year, I got discriminated against for being a course 2. I once saw Watanabe senpai correct some people in the gymnasium, so I asked if we could practice. But she treated me coldly and told me to fight someone on my level." Mibu said depressed.
"and of course, the source just had to come to you, Watanabe senpai," Tatsuya sighed.
"hey, don't look at me as if I did something wrong. I remember what happened and I did not say that. I told you, 'with my mediocre skills I wouldn't amount to much, you should fight someone on your level.'" Mari corrected.
"eh Mari? She's better than you?" Mayumi asked confused.
"well, sure with magic I was better, but Mibu practiced only swordsmanship, I wouldn't be a match for her." Mari told them.
"w-what? S-so I wasted an entire year, h-hating myself just because of a simple misunderstanding?" Mibu asked herself as tears came falling down.
"Mibu senpai, I wouldn't call your year a wasted one."
" Tatsuya kun?" Mibu asked eyes filled with tears.
"after fighting with you, Erika admitted that you are undoubtedly like a whole other person than before. You improved because you didn't let your grudge weigh you down, you didn't drown in hatred either. You fought and improved, in my part of the speech today, out of all 2nd course students, you were one of the few exceptions to what I said. You worked your way up, you just haven't been able to see it properly." He told her. Her eyes flickered and wavered.
"Tatsuya kun, can I ask you a favour?" Mibu asked, "Please.. don't move for a bit." she murmured. She soon began bawling her eyes out, Tatsuya complied with her request and didn't move.
A bit later...
"Now, the question is where are all the rest of the Blanche members." Tatsuya asked.
" Tatsuya kun, you intend to fight them?" Mayumi asked.
"that's incorrect." Tatsuya pointed out, "I plan to obliterate them." he corrected.
"it's too risky for a student, let the authorities handle it." Mari told him.
"and let Mibu senpai be taken to court?" Tatsuya asked. Juumonji narrowed his eyes.
"I see what you mean. We can't let the authorities handle this, but we can't just ignore it either." Juumonji said aloud. The situation made it a must that the students themselves act. "Still, me, Saegusa and Watanabe are not going to risk the students lives over this." he said adamantly.
"Obviously, I wasn't going to ask for assistance."
"You plan on going alone?" Juumonji asked.
"Not my first reckless ride, won't be my last either." Tatsuya told them.
"No. There is no way I'm letting you." Mayumi said in a panicky way. Tatsuya's eyes narrowed.
"you aren't going to stop me because no-one besides me knows the location of their base." Tatsuya responded.
"Tatsuya kun, if you're doing this for me don't bother. I'm fine, I'll only receive a punishment." Mibu grabbed onto his sleeve. he looked at her.
"don't get me wrong, I won't let you get into trouble." Tatsuya reassured her, "but the reason is completely different. They dared to try hurt Miyuki and the people close to me. No way in hell, are they going to see tomorrow. It doesn't matter who it is, anyone that dares to interfere in my life, will be promptly removed. Even if I have turn everyone against me." Tatsuya said as he released an immense amount of killing intent. Leaving no room for arguments.
"Don't worry, I won't die that easily." Tatsuya told them.
"Tatsuya." Mayumi called out forsaking the kun, "If you go, I won't let you just pretend as if everything's fine. Do you think we are weak? We can handle them." Mayumi insisted.
"I'm not underestimating you in the slightest." Tatsuya said as he turned to them, "I'm fulfilling my duty, your duty is to protect the students of this school. My job is to immediately kill all my opponents." he told her. "I won't let you taint your hands as well." He said with a serious expression.
"you are a student of this school." Mayumi insisted.
"Saegusa." Juumonji interrupted, she looked at him as to why he stopped her, "Shiba. Are you 100% that you will be able to handle them alone?" Juumonji asked.
"eh? Juumonji senpai are you actually considering his choice?" Leo asked.
"Shiba, you are hiding more than anyone could guess, I'm hoping I will be able to get my answers from the source directly someday?" Juumonji asked. Tatsuya let out a smile.
"I won't die. There, one secret, but you'll have to figure the rest by yourself." Tatsuya said with a smile, he opened the door to reveal Ono.
"e-eh? I guess trying to hide from the student of Kokonoe sensei was impossible huh?" Ono said rubbing the back of her head.
"if you don't want to watch your students die, you will not tell them the location." Tatsuya warned her before leaving. The room remained in silence, as people tried to sort out what just went on until...
"well then shall we get going as well?" Miyuki asked with a smile.
"e-eh huh? Where are we going?" Mari asked confused.
"my house of course, he was lying. Besides him, the original person who found the location of the Blanche Headquarters was our mother." Miyuki said with a smile.
"y-you don't mean..." Erika began.
"yep, we're going after nii-san." Miyuki revealed and suddenly Mayumi let out air she didn't know she was holding in.
"he's not gonna like that you know." Mari smiled.
"Oh don't worry, he won't mind. He was trying his best to keep us away, but let's be honest... he didn't sound very realistic." Miyuki laughed.
" yeah, gotta give it to him though, sounds so bored and uncaring every single time while, he goes onto say threatening or even inspirational stuff." Leo praised and they all laughed save from Juumonji.
Soon, Kirihara had joined them after requesting Juumonji to come.
Shiba Residence
"Okaa sama, I have returned." Miyuki said as she entered the house.
"ah, Miyuki, Tatsuya just burst out through the door with the new CADs he modified do you know where he wen-" Miya was saying but as she came to see a lot.
"excuse us for the intrusion." they said bowing.
"O-oh don't worry. Miyuki you should've told me if you were bringing friends over." Miya told her. She looked at them, "ara, Mayumi chan. How are you doing nowadays?" She asked singling her out.
"I've been doing well, how have you been?" Mayumi asked with a smile.
"oh more or less fine." Miya responded, then suddenly her cheerful mood changed. She looked at them with sharp eyes, the gentle smile was replaced by a confident yet mysterious one. No-one could tell what she was thinking, or what her true intentions were whenever they saw this face. "You know, your brother has requested personally to not give you guys the location of the base. What makes you think I'll just readily hand it over?" Miya asked.
"You should be able to tell already, you wouldn't just find out about their location. You don't do half-baked jobs. Okaa-sama, do you think anyone here would get hurt so easily?" Miyuki asked.
"..I'm not worried about anyone getting hurt, after all, as long as he is there, no-one can die without his permission." Miya smiled, "Tatsuya almost never makes requests nor does he ever ask to be spoilt. This was his first request in God knows how long, I wouldn't be a good mother if I tell you guys now will I?" Miya asked.
"but Tatsuya going alone is risky isn't it?" Mayumi asked. Miya shook her head.
"I know for a fact, that he won't die. So I'm not worried." Miya responded confidently.
"Ms Shiba, please. Our School was attacked by Blanche today, we won't just quietly sit and watch him fight alone. I ask you, as the acting head of the Juumonji clan, please tell us the location." Juumonji said while bowing. Mayumi soon followed suit and then everyone else. A few moments of silence passed, it was excrutiating, this was their last chance to fight.
"sigh, I can't win against you can I?" Miya asked, "fine I'll give you the intel. But in exchange, you guys now owe me a favour, my dear son is going to furious at me." Miya said in a depressed tone. Mayumi instantly brightened up.
"Thank you so much." Mayumi said cheerily.
'As I thought... what a lady he has attracted. She's such a head strong person, no wonder he has difficulty dealing with her. Well, not that I didn't want to see what happens.' Miya internally giggled in an evil manner. It seemed that old habits die hard, and in her case this was particularly true.
Miyuki and the others had gotten intel and decided to attack, since Tatsuya wouldn't just wait around. Juumonji got an armored truck and as they approached the building, with Leo's 'panzer' they burst through the main entrance. It was eerily quiet even though they just bust in straight.
"they are probably waiting inside." Miyuki said.
"wait, where's Tatsuya?" Mayumi asked. Miyuki became a bit hesitant.
"probably... also inside." she responded. They went in through the main doors, the empty factory was dead silent. The dark halls created a sense of foreboding, and the walls stained with dark patches immediately sent off alarms. They began to run around as they occasionally came across a couple or more bodies. All of them efficiently killed with either a headshot or a shot straight through the heart.
"AAAAHHHHHH," they heard a scream from one of the room. Panicking they all ran towards it and slammed the door open.
"Tatsuya kun!" Mayumi shouted as they opened the door, but nothing else escaped her throat. None of them could say anything after looking at the scene before them, even Juumonji felt off put with the view in front of him. The evening sunlight leaking through the high windows revealed the interior. The empty room had nothing special, however, in the middle was a ring of corpses, all bloodied and dismembered. Broken up guns surrounding them, the blood splat around everywhere. In the middle of it, Tatsuya stood, his white coat stained with deep marks of red. He held an purple haired man wearing glasses by the throat essentially choking him.
"hm.. so she did tell you guys the location." Tatsuya said aloud in a low voice. He turned to reveal hollow deep blue eyes, that shook most to their core. "Kirihara senpai, here. I'll let you deal the blow to him." Tatsuya said as he chucked Tsukasa Hajime towards them. The man's eyes were shaking with absolute horror, they seemed as if they had been to hell and back.
"p-pl-please, g-get me a-away from that m-m-monster." he begged. "I-I swear, I-I won't do anything b-bad again, I promise we'll leave J-Japan." he swore.
"your promise holds no value. You're only acting like that because you have no choice." Tatsuya said coldly.
"y-you demon, w-what are you? An-antinite can't stop y-your magic. Y-you read and cancel other spells... th-that's too abnormal. N-no one is born l-like that." Tsukasa said in absolute fear.
"cancel... spells?" Mayumi repeated shocked.
"Tsukasa Hajime," Tatsuya called out drawing everyone's attention, "you manipulated countless people, drew upon the weakness of the young. So many people suffered because of you, you showed no pity." Tatsuya began, "there is an order to everything. You, a weak man, who has dared to subvert the natural order, have been sentenced to judgement. If I am a demon, then it's my job to drag you down to hell and make you pay for your sins." Tatsuya said menacingly.
"T-Tatsuya, it's enough now. Just hand him over to the police." Mari said hesitantly.
"Kirihara senpai, are you going to do it, or do I need to do it myself?" Tatsuya asked ignoring Mari's plea.
"Tatsuya kun." Mayumi said as she ran and hugged him. He finally looked away from Tsukasa and looked at Mayumi.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"stopping you from unecessarily killing another person." Mayumi replied, she looked up at him with teary eyes filled with feat. She was afraid, but she still chose to move, to stop Tatsuya from losing control. For a second Tatsuya's eyes softened, he gently pat her head, which gave her the hope that he listened to her. However...
"AAAAHHHH," Tsukasa cried out, Mayumi looked around to see, a red patch and his hands missing. Blood pouring out as the wound soon got closed by another shot of Tatsuya's CAD.
"sigh, there. He won't be able to use magic anymore. You deal with him then." Tatsuya sighed. "Miyuki, can you get rid of the blood on me?" he asked.
"of course, nii-san." she replied with a smile. What scared them the most, was how the two of them were so nonchalant about things, they treated it as if it was just an everyday thing. Miyuki cast her spell and got the blood off of Tatsuya.
They soon called the authorities, and imagine the surprise on their faces when they come to see, the leader of Blanche begging them to be saved from Tatsuya. Thankfully, Fujibayashi came as well, so she secretly panned everything out. They took him and left Tatsuya and the others standing there.
"Thanks guys, couldn't of done it without you." Tatsuya said with a bored tone once more.
"oh yeah sure, we really helped out by watching you practically torture someone." Leo rolled his eyes. They laughed a bit, happy to see Tatsuya back to normal.
"Shiba." Juumonji called out, " Assuming I don't underestimate Blanche, the fact that you single handedly wiped them out without so much as a scratch, it makes no sense how you're course 2. Have you been hiding your abilities from the school?" Juumonji asked. Tatsuya shook his head.
"the school results are true, those are my true abilities." he told them, "but that is only according to the way the school tests them. No one is going test combat ability, psion count, and the speed of processing. Those aren't tested, hence my practical score came out low." Tatsuya explained.
"Ya know, I can see things now. Tatsuya, you really didn't need our help." Erika said in a slightly saddened tone.
"I think you guys have it wrong, I didn't reject your help because I wanted to vent." Tatsuya responded.
"yes you did." Miyuki corrected immediately.
"cough, ok maybe a bit." Tatsuya replied as they giggled. "but the main reasons were first, every soldier had antinite rings. Magic wouldn't of been viable for most of you. Second reason was because of the attention a larger team would draw. I killed the ones in the halls to the point no one even knew I was there." he explained, "plus. Although all of you guys are strong fighters, we haven't fought together before, our coordination would be off the balance and that could potentially lead to someone getting hurt." he explained.
"so... you were telling us to not come after considering everything?" Mayumi asked, he nodded in response.
"well whatever. I wanted a good fight but I guess I'll have to sit tight for a bit." Leo shrugged.
"aw, what a good doggy, want a biscuit?" Erika teased.
"what did you just say?" Leo asked. And they started their bickering. Needless to say, they all went with several thought filling their heads.
A Few Days Later...
"Mibu senpai, how is your recovery coming along?" Tatsuya asked. He was standing in a hospital room, Mibu sat on a bed wearing hospital robes and in front of her, he put down a basket of fruits.
"yeah, I'm getting better. The wound from Erika san wasn't really that bad, but the doctors said I should remain a bit longer so that they can properly check the lapses in my memory." Mibu replied with a smile.
" I see, Tsukasa Kinoe san must also be here for the same reason." Tatsuya added, "due to circumstances, it seems that no-one from the school will be punished for this incident."
"really?" she asked shocked to hear all their acts will go unpunished.
"yes, that's why, you won't be investigated for being an insider either. It'd be the school's responsibility, so they want to cover it up." He explained. Mibu bore an uncomfortable face, which he didn't miss. "So, when will you be discharged?" he asked changing subjects.
"around may I think." she responded.
"I see, please do tell me the exact date, so that I can come and congratulate you." Tatsuya requested with a small smile. Mibu looked at him with wide eyes before giggling a bit.
"seems like you were worried for me..." she said, she looked down, her cheeks flushed a bit pink. "Tatsuya kun... Can you hear me out for a second?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm here to listen." He responded.
" Throughout the past few days, I've been thinking. How one incident changed my life so drastically. Kirihara kun, turned out to be mad at me that I lost my way, but you were the first one out of everyone." she told him, Tatsuya more or less guessed what she was going to say so he prepared himself, "while others were more or less confused about what to do, you were the one to be completely honest with me. That time we talked with each other, it felt like you opened my eyes, the words that you said still waft around in my head. I think it was from then, that I started suspecting my own actions, doubting myself if what I was doing was truly to get rid of discrimination. Overall, you were considerably effective on me, you acknowledged me even when I acted in an unacceptable way. You truly believed that I could change, and I think it was thanks to you and Erika san that I truly realised... that I was wrong." She explained. Then her cheeks rosened more, as if the temperature in the room had increased.
"I-I think that's why, I had this sort of feeling, that I need to change and you were my prime example. But along the way, I think I fell for you. I know you might not be able to accept that, and I can understand if you do-" Mibu was saying but Tatsuya cut her off.
"That's not the case." he interrupted, " there is no reason as to why I should no accept you for what you are. When I said I admired you, it was the truth." he added, Mibu looked at him blushing with wide eyes, "however. It is true that I cannot reciprocate your feelings." he bowed. And it all felt like it came crashing down for Mibu, she felt a pang of pain in her chest, but deep down she knew that it was going to be this way.
"But the reason is completely different than you think." he added grabbing her attention once more.
"w-what... do you mean?" she asked in a confused voice.
"I...cannot tell you. I'm not allowed to. But at the very least, I can say this. You are a very kind and attractive person, never let others judgement weigh you down and never waver from your path. Now, if you'll excuse me." Tatsuya said as he bowed and left through the door.
Although, Mibu felt down for being rejected, she suprisingly couldn't bring herself to feel bad. She couldn't shed a tear and all it served to do was amplify the curiosity within her mind about Tatsuya.
'Shiba Tatsuya... just who are you?' she wondered as she bit into an apple from his basket.
In May...
Tatsuya, Miyuki and Erika walked into the hospital lobby to see Mibu and Kirihara talking.
"Oh, isn't that Kirihara senpai?" Miyuki pointed out.
"yeah, apparently he's been coming every single day." Erika replied.
"huh, didn't know he was that diligent." Tatsuya shrugged. Erika glared at him.
" Why aren't you surprised? This is why Saya gave up on you." Erika taunted him.
"By Saya, do you mean Mibu Senpai?" he asked.
"yeah, we became closer during her stay in the hospital." Erika responded.
"Mibu senpai." Tatsuya called out. Mibu and Kirihara turned to see the 3.
"Tatsuya kun." Mibu said aloud, on the side, her father turned around to face her direction.
"Congratulations on being discharged." Miyuki said as she handed her a bouquet of flowers.
"Hey, Saya, say what made you jump from Tatsuya to Kirihara senpai?" Erika asked. Mibu blushed.
"Eri-chan?"
"If it's by looks, I think Tatsuya wins by a long shot." Erika smirked.
"You really are a rude woman" Kirihara called out. Erika pat his shoulder.
" Senpai, the face isn't everything to a man." Erika comforted while teasing him.
"you really wanna make me cry?" Kirihara asked angered.
"excuse me, are you Shiba Tatsuya?" Mibu's father came asked him. Tatsuya turned to face him. "do you mind if we have a word over there for a bit?" he asked. Tatsuya complied.
"My name is Mibu Yuuzou, I'm Saya's father. Thank you for saving her." he said while bowing slightly.
"Oh I didn't do much really. The ones who really saved her are Kirihara senpai and Erika." Tatsuya told him. "I only reprimanded her."
"Still, I heard from her how much your advice and words meant to her. I was a failure of a father, I knew her magic wasn't progressing as well but I hadn't noticed how much that really affected her, I couldn't reprimand her." he added. " You might not believe it, but she says she's been dawning up on the realisation ever since you had a chat at the Cafe? She still to this believe you to be her saviour." he thanked him.
"I didn't do all that much. Please don't worry about it." Tatsuya reassured him.
"Another thing, all though she doesn't know the full thing, I heard about it from Kazama." he said, and instantly the air changed, Tatsuya's eyes sharpened." mm, you are exactly as Kazama described." he praised.
"you know of Major Kazama?" Tatsuya asked with a low voice.
"we were mates in the barracks, although I left the military quite some time ago." he informed him, "that's why as a side, I thank you for taking revenge on those terrorists. I know if it's you, you wouldn't show any mercy." he realised his mistake, "ah, I apologise I didn't mean to offend you. I know your circumstances are quite tough. I also had realised that my daughter had fallen in love with you. But now, that I look at her with Kirihara, I truly must thank you for letting her down gently." he once thanked.
"Please do not worry, on the contrary I feel bad that I could not give a heartfelt response." Tatsuya admitted. They talked for a bit before they decided to part ways and Tatsuya returned to the group.
"Oh Tatsuya kun, what did you and father talk about?" Mibu asked.
"ah nothing, turns out he knew someone that took care of me in my younger days." Tatsuya told her.
"really?"
"the world's small isn't it?" he responded.
"by the way, Kirihara senpai, how long have you been in love With Saya for? Erika asked.
"why does that you rude woman?" Kirihara snapped back.
"That's right Erika, it doesn't matter for how long. All that matters is that Kirihara senpai is head over heels for Mibu senpai." Tatsuya smiled.
"Shiba, you too?!" Kirihara shouted.
"I mean, you were so worried about Mibu senpai that you were listening in on us when she was telling us about blanche by the infirmary." Tatsuya smirked, "you really thought I wouldn't notice?"
"you!"
"oh? This isn't something I knew about." Erika smiled in an evil fashion. Kirihara started chasing Erika. Tatsuya signalled to Miyuki to leave with him. They left the hospital.
"Nii-san, you really are too playful." Miyuki giggled, "I have to say, you have changed a lot since entering high school. I would've never imagined, that my Nii-san would actually make so many girls fall for him. You're such a heartbreaker aren't you?" Miyuki asked.
" It's not intentional. I almost felt bad for rejecting her before." Tatsuya replied.
"but doesn't that prove, you're changing?" Miyuki asked, "you started feeling slightly stronger emotions than before. Sure, it's not strong enough to be called love or rage or hatred, but surely you can call it better than what it was before."
"Maybe." was all he answered. ' but who or what is causing me to change this quickly? Will this even be a good thing? I mean besides controlling me, taking my emotions away was to stop me from blowing the planet up as well. Now that the restraints are loosening, how will they hold the demon back?' Tatsuya wondered.
A few days later...
In the darkness of the night, at the kyuuchouji temple, orbs of fire wondered the skies. Amongst the darkness, Miyuki, wearing a tight black bodysuit, jumped high into the sky and hit the orbs. Yes, this was quite moe. But Kokonoe won't say that, unless he wants to get hit on the head by Tatsuya.
She was practicing for the mirage bat event. As she finally landed down. Tatsuya's smile wavered and he turned towards the trees.
"Who's there?" he asked into the silent woods.
"Hey, Haruka kun." Kokonoe waved. Soon Ono Haruka walked out.
"I didn't think I would be noticed by sensei, let alone you, Shiba kun." Ono responded.
"if you want to trick him, rather than removing your presence, you need to fabricate them." Kokonoe advised.
"I see, I learned something new."
"why is Ono-sensei here?" Tatsuya asked.
"no need to be wary, she is my student." Kokonoe scratched the back of his neck.
"sorry for the disturbance, seems like you were practicing for Mirage bat." Ono pointed out. "Shiba san, are you participating in the Nine Schools Competition?" she asked. Before Miyuki could respond, Kokonoe beat her to it.
"bingo, Miyuki is going to participate in the Mirage bat and ice pillar breaking competitions." Kokonoe said proudly as if he was talking about himself.
"my, doing two events in the first year. Congratulations." Ono praised.
" can you answer my question?" Tatsuya asked.
"Haruka kun, would you mind?" Kokonoe asked
"even if I did you'd tell them after I left anyways." she shrugged.
"Haruka kun, is a police certified investigator of the public security agency." Kokonoe revealed.
"two years ago, I trained under Kokonoe sensei for a year, so I guess you're my senior here." Ono told them.
"considering that, your concealment was commendable." Tatsuya praised.
"it's my special magical trait."
"I see, you're a BS magician."
" I don't like that title." She huffed, "Shiba kun, the fact that I'm an investigator is top secret, I hope you keep it to yourself." Ono warned.
"sure, in exchange, if a group like Blanche starts to develop, you tell me their locations." Tatsuya negotiated.
"It's fair trade then." Ono smiled.
The Next Day
Tatsuya and Leo and the other boys in E class had football/legball (idk why they call it that but ayt) after an overwhelming victory of 9-2, Tatsuya and Leo walk up to their classmate, Mikihiko, who they thought was good at it as well.
"nice play." Tatsuya said.
"you were good out there, Yoshida." Leo praised.
"you too." he responded.
"uh, this might no mean much from me but that was unexpected." Leo responded.
"Mikihiko, I don't like being called by my surname." he told them.
"alright then, you can call me Leo."
"can I also call you Mikihiko? Of course, you can call me Tatsuya as well."
"Ok Tatsuya." Mikihiko responded. "actually I've been meaning to talk to you for a while."
"What a coincidence, me too." Tatsuya added.
"Now I feel left out." Leo sighed.
"you're imagining things, I've been meaning to talk to you too." Mikihiko told him. Was this out of pity? Or did he truly want to? I guess we'll never know.
"it's rare for people to have the patience to get along with Erika after all."
" That's a bit harsh." Leo looked sideways. Tatsuya noticed Erika and Mizuki approaching.
"Mikihiko, did you know Erika from before?" Tatsuya asked.
"No-well..."
"Kind of. Miki and I are childhood friends so to speak." Erika said barging into the conversation. "But he's been avoiding me the entire time we've been here." she turned to face him. Leo and Mikihiko blushed.
"E-Erika what're you wearing?!" Mikihiko asked.
(Remember guys, due to changes in social expectations, it became the norm to be conservative and remain chaste, or virgin until marriage.)
"The traditional girls PE clothes." she replied pulling on her shirt.
"is that so? Your spats have a unique design." Tatsuya pointed out.
"they aren't spats."
"but they aren't underwear either right? Unless, you're an exhibitionist." Tatsuya replied.
"they are called bloomers."
"sounds like 'brooms' did you use to wear while cleaning?" Tatsuya asked. Obviously, he knew what they were, he was just having a bit of fun.
"I told you, it's girls PE uniform." she insisted.
"bloomers? Are they those things from the age of immorality, when middle school girls got paid by middle aged men to..." Leo tried to say, but got kicked in the shins by Erika. Everyone but Tatsuya was blushing quite a bit. Leo crumpled to the ground with a groan of pain.
During Lunch, Tatsuya and Miyuki were having it in the Student Council Room where Mayumi was speaking about the nine school competitions (NSC)
"the thesis tournament, is research based, but the competition held in summer is based on sports and magic usage." she explained. "of course, the school's reputation is on the line, so participants are chosen based on abilities."
"is that why the student council is deciding them?" Miyuki asked.
"the main participants have been decided by Juumonji kun but the problems are the engineers." Mayumi sighed.
" we still don't have enough?" Mari asked.
"from 2nd years we still have, A-chan and Isori Kei. Sigh, if at the very least, Mari could maintain her own CAD."
"that's a really big problem?" Mari looked sideways.
"hey, Rin chan, will you become an engineer?" Mayumi asked with a smile.
"impossible. With my skills, I'll most likely get in the way of Nakajou san and the others." Shizune replied.
Tatsuya tried to quietly take his leave before anything annoying happened. Unfortunately, Azusa noticed him.
"um, wouldn't Shiba kun be alright? He does manage Miyuki's CAD." Azusa asked. Suddenly all attention was on him.
"yes." Mayumi shouted.
"No." Tatsuya responded.
"nice idea, How did I forget about that?" Mayumi pointed at Tatsuya.
"Bad idea, why did you remember that? Actually why did I tell you that?" Tatsuya responded.
"because, you can hide nothing from me." Mayumi grinned.
"no, it was because you wouldn't stop pestering me about my private life after I knew you for just 4 days." Tatsuya corrected.
"same thing." she shrugged.
"how thoughtless of me." Mari said.
"when are you actually thoughtful?" Tatsuya immediately retorted.
"hey, hasn't this guy been a bit too mean to me?" Mari asked.
"maybe it's because, everything that could've went wrong for me, went wrong because of you?" Tatsuya asked.
"hey, name one incident that was caused by me." Mari challenged.
"me joining the DC, having to get involved with Mibu senpai and Kirihara senpai, then the blanche charade. and now this?" he counted out. "besides, in the past has there even been a year 1 technical staff?" Tatsuya asked.
"There's a first time for everything." Mayumi clasped her hands together.
"it's to get rid of the stigma." Mari added.
"being either progressive you two may think that, but I am a first year, on top of that a course 2 student." Tatsuya pointed out.
"and on top of that, you are the guy that single handedly wiped out Blanche." Mari piled on top.
"combat and techincal abilities don't mix." he retorted. "I already have a bad reputation. Trust is fundamental between a user and engineer, if half of the people assigned to me don't trust my actions, it'll only lead to disaster." They were left in worry, what he said was undeinably true they couldn't refuse that.
"I'd like you to maintain my CAD during tournaments." Miyuki stood up. "Is that not possible?" Tatsuya couldn't really respond.
"that's true right? Having a deep affection for your engineer is important right?" Mayumi smiled.
'this...imp.' Tatsuya thought in his head.
"careful though, if there is too much deep affection, your hubby will be stolen." Mari grinned. Mayumi blushed.
"h-hubby? What are you saying, Mari." Mayumi turned from side to side.
"alright, there will be a preparatory meeting after school." she announced.
"can you promise me, I won't have to buy you snacks or something afterwards?" Tatsuya asked.
"no promises, cash only." Mayumi joked.
"wow, imagine the Saegusa eldest daughter selling herself for sweets and pancakes." Tatsuya teased.
" H-hey don't make it sound so weird." Mayumi blushed and turned sideways.
Later, while the others were working. Tatsuya was reloading his silver horns into his holsters. Azusa seeing this went up to him.
"you brought your silver horns today?" she asked.
"I bring them everyday, I don't feel comfortable without having weapons at my hands." Tatsuya told her.
"that's... not a good habit." Mari said from next to Mayumi.
"besides, I bought a new holster, so I'm trying to get used to them as quickly as possible." he said as he pulled on the leather straps. Azusa's eyes started glittering.
"can I see them?" she asked. Tatsuya stared amazed and then smiled.
"of course." he replied as he handed her the holster.
"wow, it's the genuine silver models. How do you keep getting these things so early?" Azusa asked.
"that's my secret to keep and for you to not worry about." he told her. Not that she minded, she was too busy looking at the fine details by now.
"the admirable Silver sama." she said as she rubbed her cheek against the holster, Miyuki made an error making alarms go off at her terminal.
"It's rare for Miyuki san to make errors." Azusa pointed out.
"It must happen occasionally." Tatsuya put his holster back on and put his coat over it.
"I wonder what type of person Silver sama is." Azusa asked aloud.
"are you curious?"
"of course I am, I mean it's that Taurus Silver. The genius engineer, who specialised software for CAD development worth 10 years in 1 year and found an actual usage of loop casting." Azusa praised.
" I didn't realise you thought that highly of him."
"hey, Tatsuya san, what type of person do you think Taurus Silver is?" Azusa asked.
"well... I think he might be a japanese youth like you and me." Tatsuya replied and once again, the alarms of Miyuki's desk grabbed everyone's attention.
'Coincidence? hm... gonna have to poke him for that one.' Mayumi decided. Miyuki's repetitive errors were confusing, Mayumi being the ever cunning one didn't fail to notice how the coincided with Tatsuya's talk about Taurus Silver, specifically when he would mention specific details.
"Eh? You think he's japanese?" Azusa asked. She hadn't expected that sort of technical prowess from a youth of Japan.
" he works for Four Leaves Technology (FLT) which is a Japanese company," Tatsuya told her. Obviously, he wasn't going to bait himself out, he took Miyuki's errors as a coinciding detail that acted as warnings when he was about to reveal too much. Thankfully, most of the people in the room seemed oblivious... except one. Tatsuya turned around to see Mayumi looking at him with a evil smile, which literally screamed 'I'm planning something.' and much to his dismay, he would be right. He mentally started preparing himself so that this secret doesn't leave his mouth, no matter how much she pouted or tried.
"by the way, A-chan? Didn't you need to finish an assignment before the end of lunch?" Mayumi asked. Azusa looked at her for a second, before realisation dawned upon.
"President!" she said in a pleading tone. Mayumi let out a sigh.
"I'll help you out a bit. What is the task based on?" Mayumi relented, Azusa's eyes shone like gems, she brightened up at Mayumi's agreement to help, Tatsuya however, was still busy preparing his things so he didn't really care, he kept an ear open to listen in on the conversation though.
"It's about the three weight based mysteries. I have understood why we haven't been able to use gravity based magic within a thermonuclear reactor, and the development of perpetual motion device based on the model of unlimited inertial expansion. But I don't understand why we still haven't been able to achieve flying magic." Azusa explained the issue. Hypothetically speaking, flying would be possible in pen and paper, the processes were simple enough to overwrite the previous magic sequence. However, according the research it hadn't been successful.
"To fly effectively and do all the processings, each time the magic must be piled upon each one, which increases the needed phenomenon-interfering magic each time, so you can only hope for 10 layers at a time. That's why flying is considered impossible. Technically speaking, casting new magic would require to cancel the previous spell and that should be enough." Azusa asked.
"but if it's that simple, then someone must've figured it out by now. It seems similar to Zone interference." Mayumi put a finger on her lips wondering about why it was unsuccessful.
"The reason for it is quite simple actually." Tatsuya jumped in bringing their attention to him," whether it is cancelling the previous spell or surpassing the boundaries of the 10 viable layers, each takes a separate amount of time. For example: if you were to be ascending and would want to travel horizontally, you would need keep the ascension value to 0, however if you cancel that you will automatically start descending. Which means that each layer would be fundamental for you to stay in mid air." Tatsuya explained. Every single one of them listening carefully and in amazement.
"Two years ago, in England they used the concept you are talking about to carry out an experiment, however, it ended in failure. Not that they mentioned the reason." Ichihara informed them. Mayumi turned to Tatsuya. He looked at her and sighed, her eyes were practically begging him to spill his knowledge even more.
"Sigh, the fundamental premise was flawed. In other words the scientists were delusional." he told them.
"Eh? In what way?" Mayumi asked.
" A magic sequence cannot affect another magic sequence, that goes the same for Xone interference. The logic stands in every single setting to the point that not even Counter Magic would follow that. The scientists who carried the research out must've had the wrong idea about the basis of Counter magic." Tatsuya explained.
As if timing with his explanation, the lunch time bell went off. Azusa had missed her assignment finish time.
After School…
The three representatives, Juumonji, Mayumi and Mari were sitting in front of the NSC participants.
"The student council, recommends Shiba Tatsuya to the engineer team." Mayumi announced. Unsuprsingly, this elicited whispers.
"A course 2?"
"But he's part of the DC…"
"Does he know how to maintain a CAD?"
They were words filled with doubt but Tatsuya didn't mind it. For them to underestimate him wasn't something that he didn't expect.
"Seems some of you aren't convinced with it." Juumonji sighed. Immediately everyone went silent. Juumonji Katsuto was a man of little words, but when he spoke, everyone paid attention. He was a natural born leader.
"Then why don't we put his skills to the test and have him maintain a CAD? I can be the guinea pig if you want."
Tatsuya didn't appreciate Juumonji calling himself a guinea pig, it didn't portray a sense of trust, although he didn't feel too offended. He knew Juumonji meant no harm, it was just the way he addressed the issue. However, that didn't stop people from rejecting the idea.
"That's dangerous. If the results are subpar, minor injuries would be the least of your troubles." a student called out.
"Then, since I selected him, I'll do it." Mayumi volunteered.
"No, please allow that duty to me." Kirihara told her as he stood up.
They went to the CAD maintenance room.
"So the task is to transfer Kirihara senpai's settings into a competition use CAD, but I am not allowed to tamper with the sequence itself correct?" Tatsuya confirmed. He sighed and turned to the screen.
"Is something the matter?" Mayumi asked.
"I don't recommend transferring settings between CADs of different specs, but oh well, guess we'll go safety first." Tatsuya shrugged. Mayumi gave him a confused look. After Kirihara's settings were scanned, Tatsuya told him to take the headset off. Then in a furious flurry he started typing away. Mayumi was fully distracted by the speed of his fingers tapping away, clicking on the keyboard.
"What is he doing? Keyboard only in this day and age?" A student asked.
"Oh? A full manual management? No wonder he said safety first." Kei praised.
"Hey Kei. Is that rare?" Kanon asked and he nodded.
"Not only is it rare, it's extremely impressive." Keri said loud enough for everyone to hear. "What he is doing is something not many in the world can hope to do. He is literally scanning the settings, which are millions of numbers,and then adjusting them to suit the lower spec CAD so as to it causes no lashbacks on usage. That is incredibly useful, because not only does it ensure that there is 0% chance of errors happening, but at one point if someone reaches a skill level like him, it takes less time doing this than a typical adjustment." Kei explained.
After a final click, Tatsuya told them it's done.
Kirihara used his spell, rank B lethal spell, Sonic Blade. A flurry of numbers came out quicker than he was used to, the orange glow covered his sword. Kirihara could only stare at his sword with wide eyes.
"Oh my God…. this is so much better than I knew this spell to be." Kirihara said aloud, everyone stood shocked.
"What do you mean Kirihara?" Juumonji asked.
" I can't f-fully explain it, but this spell seems to be efficient and not only that it seems stronger too." Kirihara explained.
"Well it seems that he has some skill." a person shrugged.
"I recommend Tatsuya san to be part of the engineer team. The skills he has shown is very advanced and as Kei san said, very few people could hope to achieve that level of efficiency." Azusa praised.
"Well yes, but that doesn't matter if the result is subpar." another person shrugged.
"Then how about you let me hit you with this spell? Then we can talk about subpar." Kirihara asked threateningly.
"The level of Kirihara's CAD is higher than the ones reserved for teachers. For him to not only not notice any differences, but rather feel it to be better is extremely valuable." Hattori praised. "President, I strongly support Shiba's inclusion in the engineer team. Everyone is going to work hard in the NSC, now is not the time to be picky just because the people cannot handle the fact that Shiba's skill are superior to them." Hattori bluntly put forward. People wanted to retort, but obviously they couldn't. Because it's Hattori, the vice president, what can they say to him?
"But I do have one question, Shiba, how did you make the spell better without tampering with the sequence?" Kirihara asked confused. Tatsuya closed his eyes and sighed internally for the umpteenth time. He could… not tell him, but then the people will think he's talking crap. Or he could tell him, but then the hunger to expose Tatsuya's secrets inside Mayumi will only get stronger.
"Normally, to use the B rank lethal sequence you would type in the numbers and then the sequence will progressively act upon the blade. That made the blade itself slowly get more realistic almost how you heat food. By cutting out the progrssive part and making the change instantaneous, it increases efficiency." Tatsuya explained.
"What about the fact that it seems stronger as well?" Mayumi asked with a glint of curiousity in her eyes. Tatsuya gave her one of his typical looks of, I don't want to answer your question.
"If I answer that question, no more snacks after school today." Tatsuya told her, the people stood confused.
'Eh?' they all wondered. Mayumi pouted.
"Come on quench my thirst for knowledge, mr know it all." Mayumi teased.
"I'm not a bank, why do I need to quench your thirst for knowledge and then buy your ice cream. Money doesn't grow on trees." Tatsuya replied. They all just watched their interactions, the two not noticing that they had gone off into their own worlds until, Juumonji cleared his throat.
"Don't forget we are still here." Juumonji reminded them and Mayumi blushed upon realisation. Mari made sure to remind herself to tease her about this, while the other people just watched the scene in confusion. It seemed like a father telling his daughterthat she wasn't allowed a snack in exchange for something to teach her the worth of things. Maybe it was that.
"Sigh, the increase of power was a result of lower specs. Due to the lower specs, I had minimise the features a bit, it doesn't affect your performance, since all I did was take away the unnecessary amounts of psion you were leaking and thanks to that, your spell will not only last longer but will also be a bit stronger. Had this CAD been of a higher level, the B rank spell could've even changed to A rank lethality." Tatsuya finished his explanation.
They all listened in shock, there was no doubt in between.
Afterwards, everyone had left, but Tatsuya quietly sat in the chair.
"When will you leave?" he asked aloud. His target was obviously none other than Mayumi, who was standing there with a smile on her face.
"Do you hate spending time with me so much?" Mayumi asked pretending to be sad.
"No, I don't. You're quite an enjoyable person." Tatsuya honestly responded. Mayumi was taken aback by the answer, since she expected him to sigh and then say some other stuff that she normally wouldn't pay attention to. But this… couldn't be ignored, she blushed.
"But as much as I like to do that, I'm pretty sure, me denying you ice cream would essentially draw everyone's attention. I'm sure there is going to be a couple of people watching out for you outside now." Tatsuya told her with a smile. Her eyes widened, as realisation dawned upon her.
"So, that was your plan!" she shouted, neither angry nor jarred, but she pouted nonetheless as she had literally walked into his trap. Tatsuya got up and poked her cheeks to deflate them.
"Hey!" she called out blushing.
" alright fine, this time is the last one before the NSC alright?" Tatsuya asked. "Little imp." he added.
"Excuse me?" She asked flustered.
"What? Hurt by the truth in that name?" Tatsuya teased.
"H-hmph, not in the least. But it is a bit rude." Mayumi huffed. The name wasn't something new to be fair, she had been called devilish before, but no-one called her little imp before. Not to mention, it sounded like he didn't just say that to mess with her, he sounded like he was actually going to call her that from now on.
"Oh I forgot that you're from the ten master clans. Forgive my rudeness, eldest daughter of the Saegusa clan, Saegusa Imp Mayumi." he replied.
"It's not a middle name either. What is this?" Mayumi asked childishly before she started giggling, Tatsuya had a smile that he wasn't conscious of plastered on his face.
They went out to hang out for a bit. Mayumi herself had noticed that she had become more conscious of Tatsuya as a man. Specifically, a man she was greatly interested towards. Unfortunately, she had yet to confirm they were romantic attractions, she took almost every chance to spend time with him to find out more about him, although she had found it to be the hardest challenge she faced.
His borders were drawn clearly and whenever Mayumi tried to tread past that line, it was wandering into the darkness. She had no way of knowing where to go, where she was headed, she couldn't even see the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. But it wasn't as if she was completely unsuccessful. She had learned a decent amount about Tatsuya, although not too much but enough to be considered friends in normal eyes. She took this opportunity to bring up lunch time issues again.
"Miyuki san, was making a decent amount of errors today.." she commented with no particular context. Straight off the bat, Tatsuya knew not to say anything, he knew this was coming, he just… prayed that she forgot it. But who was he kidding, this is Saegusa Mayumi for God's sake. She wouldn't do something as careless as forget something.
"It must happens sometimes." Tatsuya replied.
"Hmm… by the way, you seemed quite knowledgeable about Taurus Silver today, do you perhaps know about him?" Mayumi asked. This was a pretty safe question, it incited no particular reaction and allowed her to learn more.
"Well, I do use specifically his equipment. Quite a lot." Tatsuya replied. A short and sweet response, not too much but an answer that satisfies the question.
"Oh? I didn't know you liked his weapons. But I could've sworn they are custom made, how did you manage to get ahold of them?" She asked. There that was a dangerous question, which could lead up to suspicions and clues that he didn't want to leave. Tatsuya maintained his pretty fuck-boy face otherwise, known as the poker face.
"I took part at an experimental experience. The reward was to get them." Tatsuya lied. He didn't want to reveal the truth. This was something he had to defend no matter what, Mayumi being the nosy type, he expected her to eventually ask about his correlations to Silver Taurus. Of course, he would deny them, you can't just expect him to go, 'yeah actually, I am Silver Taurus.' because that will raise hell since he doesn't know if Mayumi can keep a secret.
"Is that so? I don't remember hearing of an experiment." Mayumi replied in a rather cynical fashion. She had already noticed that he was hesitant, Tatsuya had clearly put up his defences. But this only spurred Mayumi on further even more, the reason being simple- when someone is desperately trying to protect something, it's more important.
However, they had been going for a while. They had reached a cafe, where she had ordered a parfait and Tatsuya got a black coffee, her extreme attempts at trying to get him to spill the beans with his connection with Taurus Silver, but he had shut down her approach in every way possible. Even the elder daughter of the Saegusa family would run out of patience, she had intentionally dodged the main question to get him to slip up, but so far Tatsuya had either responded with one word answers or very vague and calculated ones.
"Enough." she slammed her hands on the table lightly, "What is your connection to Taurus Silver?" Mayumi cut to the chase. Tatsuya wouldn't say this time was the most productive, but he couldn't lie that he enjoyed the mix of facial expressions she showed as her levels of frustration rose.
"...nothing." he replied. He gave her a smirk which practically screamed 'I've won' and Mayumi well understood it, because she showed to him many times himself.
"This….will not be the end of it, I will find it out." Mayumi challenged. She wouldn't go down without a fight, now that Tatsuya decided to get haughty with her.
"You know what? We've spent the last… hour and half of me denying you answers, and I'm starting to feel bad for you so I'll at least give you a hint." he told her, a new light of life entered Mayumi's eyes as if she hadn't given up yet.
"Hurry up, tell me then." Mayumi asked excitedly. Tatsuya smiled.
"Good luck, my little imp." he said as he pat her head, Mayumi's first reaction would be to blush, except he left her question unanswered. Then a sense of dread began to crawl into her mind.
'No…. I did not just get played right?' she thought in disbelief. Yet, the smug smile that told her to eat shit was clearly there, the pity he never shows suddenly appeared. Now there was no more doubt in her mind. She stood up.
"Y-you….. Please tell me that wasn't the hint." she asked, still grabbing onto the faint hope that he wasn't a devil, but his smirk never left.
"Wow, truly the daughter of Saegusa, so bright." Tatsuya replied. He got up and grabbed the bill, of course he would pay but he turned back to her.
"Mayumi senpai… there are somethings in this world you are better off not knowing. Things that if you come to know, nothing would be able to save you. Ultimately, what Taurus Silver makes is CADs, a medium for magic. It says nothing on the capacities and capabilities. Remember that." he said as he got up, he saw her slightly teary eyed. Normally she would've pouted childishly, but it seemed Tatsuya had gone too far this time. "Sigh, fine. A hint is that you'll probably find something, somewhere and sometime that can act as a clue for my connection to him, during the NSC. Happy?" he asked her. It seemed that she didn't believe him.
Now Tatsuya was truly believing that he had taken the joke a bit too far. She was more despondent than usual and didn't even care for his clue. Now Tatsuya wasn't one for bold moves, but he would get her attention. He slowly, lifted her neck to make eyes contact, he put his finger under her chin and slowly raised her head. She stared directly into his eyes.
"I swear to whatever my useless life is worth, I didn't lie about that hint. So stop crying okay?" he asked. He had expected a meek response but in contrary she seemed to get even angrier.
"What do you mean useless?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"Why would you call your life useless? After all the skills and abilities you've shown and the many more you're probably hiding, how could you call your life useless? Do you not value it?" she asked a bit angered. Tatsuya on the other hand gave a small heh.
"I guess I was wrong, since Lady Saegusa has taken an unnatural interest in my life, surely my life is worth something." he responded. She pouted once more.
"Mayumi. My family name makes us distant." Mayumi insisted. Tatsuya had commenced walking by now, and waved without looking back.
"Well, see you in school, Mayumi senpai." he said without turning back.
A/N: and that's a wrap. Sure, Tatsuya could've been a bit OOC, because normally he wouldn't be so rude or wouldn't be messing with Mayumi so much, but I guess I wanted to make my version a bit more playful. You have no idea, how dreadful it feels to re-tell the story, changing it to my version every part, but well, I need to at least get the Thesis competition.
If you think my writing changed midway through the reason is quite simple, I did change a bit from less dialogue to more descriptions and explanations so that the pace is slowed down a bit.
Bless.