Let's take a moment to talk about a phenomenon known as "Chuunibyou," which in Japanese translates to "Middle School Syndrome," or "Eighth-grade syndrome." You had probably had Chuunibyou when you were younger, or perhaps you had a friend who had it, or maybe you have it right now. Consider a point in time when you thought you were different from everyone else. It could be as simple as an inflated ego regarding your own intelligence or mannerisms. Or a more extreme case, maybe you thought that you had magical powers of some sort or that your ordinary life was in a dystopian society that only you knew about and that every day was filled with thrilling battles on the edge of death. This is what we refer to as "Chuunibyou."

Chuunibyou occurs around puberty, usually upon discovering that your childhood fantasies don't match up with reality. From fairies, aliens, time-travelers, espers, evil syndicates, and the heroes who fought said evil syndicates, we grow up around these kinds of entities as a sort of the second family. Then, when we find out that said family is just a bunch of words and pictures, there are two standard reactions. The first is to break down everything that we know and build a new perspective from scratch through trial and tribulation. The second is to double, triple, and quadruple those fantasies in delusions and then insert oneself into them. And thus, Chuunibyou. Once the shock and delusion fade, usually at the end of middle or high school, most adults and older teens find crippling amounts of embarrassment when thinking back to their chuuni phase. And who wouldn't?

At least… that's what everyone is led to believe.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, for I have yet to introduce the hero of this story. His birth name is Yuuta Togashi, but, for much of his life, he bore the moniker and matching clothes of "Dark Flame Master." A heroic and overly edgy facade that became the talk of his school life from 4th to 8th grade. Upon being "cured," he transferred to another school where there was no one to find out about his bizarre and fatally embarrassing delusions. And the Dark Flame Master was no more.

As of now, our brown-haired hero stood out on the balcony of his home apartment, putting away the boxes containing his past. Diaries, model weapons, fake magic items, and what would be otherwise classified as toys, all linked to memories of powerful cringe and like those memories, the boxes were sealed shut with duct tape and left where they would never be found. It was a late evening on the culmination of summer when the heat had given way to a humid breeze hanging in the air.

It was then when a length of hardware store rope softly descended from the upstairs balcony, much to Yuuta's shock and surprise. And just as abruptly, there was the sound of someone struggling, and a figure started clumsily descending the rope. Yuuta blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things when one of the stranger's stocking-clad scrambling feet wildly kicked him in the face.

"Ow!" he winced at the pain before grasping the person's legs without thinking. As they gently rested upon the railing, he looked up and locked eyes with the stranger. It was a girl, about his age, with one piercing blue eye and another covered by a medical eyepatch. Her short blue hair rested in bangs on the top of her face. With her youthful appearance and frilly black dress, Yuuta couldn't help but think she was kinda cute.

"Did you see?" she said. Her voice was shrill but sharp, like a fine blade.

"Huh?" his eyes wandered down to her skirt before he realized what she meant. "Ah! No, nothing!"

"Do you want to see?" her voice softened. There was something about the way she was looking at him. As if she was trying to look inside of his very soul.

"Huh?"

"Hey, big brother!" Yuuta's little sister Kuzeha called out from within the apartment. "What are you doing back there?"

"Kuzeha? What-" In the moment when he turned to see who it was, the girl had vanished. Gone, like a figment of the imagination, in fact, Yuuta wondered if that might just be what she was. After all, what kind of girl goes around climbing down balconies with a rope?

"Wow, that's a whole lot of stuff you got here, big bro." Kuzeha walked out to examine her brother's mess. She snorted as she picked up a very impractically designed jagged sword that was too big to fit in the boxes. "Didn't you spend a whole weekend doing weird poses with this thing and then pretending to fight-"

"Hey, don't touch the Termination Breaker Sword-" Yuuta paused and slapped himself across the face. "I mean… that."

She giggled at her brother's flustered expression and his instinctual use of English.

"Anyways, what are you doing with all of this, Dark Flame Master?" Kuzeha mockingly laughed as she put down the sword.

"Don't call me that! And for your information, I'm putting the past behind me once and for all," Yuuta said. "First chance I get, I'm sending all of this to the dump and dropping anything relating to my old self forever."

"Sure, though it doesn't look like you're gonna shake that melodrama anytime soon."

"Hey!"

The next day, Yuuta's mother drove him to the train station. His new school was a lot further away than his old one, as he had intended. If even a single rumor about his Eighth-Grade Syndrome got out, then that would spell doom for any chance of a normal social life he currently had. Regardless, he now had a longer commute as a result.

I've been thinking all summer about this, and I've decided on a set of goals I want to achieve over the school year that will hopefully make my past irrelevant to anyone who might find out about it. First, I want to make at least five friends. Second, I want to pick up a new hobby to spend time on besides games and manga. Third, and the one I care about most, I want to have a high school romance. Especially after how disastrously my last crush went… I'll do better this time. Now I must find the girl of my dreams! Or if not the girl of my dreams, then cute's is alright too-

"OOF!"

Yuuta was so caught up in his past that he didn't notice when he accidentally bumped into someone. There was the sound of papers being flung into the air and fluttering about. As he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with a gorgeous orange-haired girl in the female version of his school uniform.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? I'm sorry, I've just been so distracted-" he paused. He was pretty sure he'd heard various objects being scattered by the impact, yet her bag was completely sealed, and not a single bit of debris was to be found.

"Oh no, don't worry about it!" the girl smiled awkwardly. "I really should've been looking where I was going. First day jitters, am I right?"

The two of them shared a short laugh as they dusted themselves off, and she continued her way.

No way… not only a cute girl but one with a great sense of humor and personality? And she goes to my school as well? This must be my reward for accepting normality! Thank you, universe, I will not squander this opportunity!

Just then, he gasped. The same girl from last night was also standing on the platform, eyepatch and all. Only this time, she was wearing the same school uniform. She noticed him looking at her and smiled as if she knew something that he didn't. His thought was interrupted when the train suddenly arrived.

The girl reached out her hand just before the doors opened before giggling at herself and striding in.

It can't be a coincidence… Was she really at my apartment last night? Cause if so, then either she's a total weirdo, or our first meeting had some bizarre circumstances.

Wait a minute… I MISSED THE TRAIN DANGIT!

After running all the way to the school, Yuuta miraculously made it to class in time. As he had hoped, he didn't recognize a single person around him. Good, everything was going as planned.

Taking a seat near the middle of the classroom, he noticed the pretty orange-haired girl from before sitting a few seats in front of him.

No way… this really must be fate!

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking behind him, a tan black-haired boy was giving him a friendly smile.

"Hey there, got any extra lead?" he said. "I forgot to bring extra."

"Oh, sure," Yuuta handed over a small capsule of graphite.

"Thanks. Say, what junior high did you go to?"

"Hishiyama Junior High, you?"

"Tenshigorubu. Isn't that place really far away from here?" the boy leaned in.

"Yeah, I transferred here to get… a change in perspective," Yuuta chuckled. "That's why no one from my old school is here."

"You too, huh?" the boy said. "Then I'm glad I met you since I don't know anyone here either. I'm lady-killer Makoto Isshiki; nice to meet you!"

"I'm Yuuta Togashi," he replied with a smile. His first normal friend.

Progress on goal #1: ⅕

"So, Yuuta, what do you think about the girls here?" Isshiki leaned in.

"Eh? Girls?" Yuuta said.

"Yeah, quite a selection of hotties if I do say so myself," he eyed the various females of the class. Yuuta couldn't help but glance towards the redhead from before, chatting with some other girls near the front of the classroom.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that" Yuuta said, letting out a dreamy sigh.

"Oh, you like Nibutani?" Isshiki followed his eyes. "She's pretty popular with everyone, romantically and platonically, and she's class representative. She's not really my type, but I can see why you might have trouble keeping her eyes off her. Though if she's what you're going for, you better be able to beat the competition."

"Is that so?" Yuuta smiled and relished the moment. This is it! No more weirdness, no more chuunibyou, just normal high school antics. It's just smooth sailing from here!

Poor Yuuta. For those of you familiar with this type of story, you would know that he had just unintentionally raised a major flag.

"It's you, aren't it?" Yuuta heard a voice behind his back. A very familiar one at that. "I was hesitant at first, but it seems there's no doubt that you're the person I've been looking for."

Yuuta slowly turned around and confirmed his dreading suspicion. Eyepatch girl again.

"Do you know her?" said Isshiki.

"What? No, I've never seen her before in my life!" Yuuta said.

"That's a lie, but never mind that," the girl closed on in his desk. "It's of most importance that-HNNNGG!"

She suddenly doubled over, grasping her eye in pain.

"I-inconceivable! I knew I was getting an abnormal reading from you before, but this is unlike anything else! How many months… no... years ago was this meeting been set in stone by the hands of fate."

"No way, she's confessing to you! Ack, so jealous!" Isshiki grasped the air in frustration, but he still smiled with pride at Yuuta, who started to grasp what was going on.

No… don't tell me… this is…

"The resonating of my eye is stronger than anything else I've experienced… this must be…" the girl said, straining to stay on her feet.

…Chuunibyou

"My eye! My eye!" she exclaimed before promptly collapsing in front of Yuuta. The concerned boy stood up from his seat as she looked up from her squatting position. "My eye…" she let out a whimper.

After that series of events, the teacher asked Yuuta, for whatever reason, to take the girl to the infirmary. As if making things worse, the nurse was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's see… ah, here we go." He took a small bottle of clear liquid from the shelf. "You should be fine with some eye drops. We should hurry; we don't want to miss the entrance ceremony today."

He handed the bottle to the girl. She stared at him as if trying to observe something. He figured it was about time he started asking some questions.

"Were you on my balcony last night?" he asked. She nodded. "What on earth were you doing there?"

She glanced to the side before facing him again and pointed her eyepatch.

"This cursed eye resonated when I found you and again when we met today. Coupled with the fact that I encountered your unusually high AP, this is no coincidence. You and I have known one another, perhaps in a previous life. Regardless, you possess great significance in the oncoming events. That is why I sought you out."

As I assumed… she's a bigger chuunibyou case than I was.

"Well… that was completely unintelligible," Yuuta said. "Let's start at the beginning. What's your name?"

"The universal entities recognize me as the 95th holder of the Eye that once belonged to the Wicked Lord Shingan and the only self-aware Nemah in existence. But, if you're asking for the name I was assigned at birth, it's Rikka Takanashi. Pleased to meet you," Rikka bowed dramatically before let out an eye drop on her finger and touched it to her tongue before wincing. "This flavor… this must be holy water. I assumed that it was becoming harder to find in the modern-day, but it seems that it has changed form. For our protection, it shall be sealed." She closed the cap tightly.

"For goodness' sake." Yuuta sighed. "Let's just head back to class… I don't even want to know what you were talking about when you mentioned AP or whatever."

"AP stands for Ability Power," Rikka answered his non-question. "A measure of a being's capacity for outputting raw power in the form of magical abilities. That brings me to my first question. Who are you really, Dark Flame Master?"

Yuuta froze in place as he was walking towards the door.

"What… did… you… just… say?"

"Dark Flame Master?" Rikka said, staring at him with a neutral expression. "Are you surprised? One of the abilities of my Wicked Eye is to know the True Name of anyone that I see, among other things. What confuddles me is why your race is that of a human, while your AP is 500% higher than normal humans."

"Forget that!" Yuuta frantically closed the distance between them. "How did you find that name?"

"Hmm? You don't believe me?" Rikka almost looked surprised, as if anything she had said was in the ballpark of reasonable.

"Of course not! Someone told you, is that it? Or maybe you've seen me before? Answer me!"

Rikka sighed nonchalantly.

"A typical human reaction… and quite frankly you seem embarrassed about- "her eye widened. "Hey… that's it! How did I not figure it out before?"

"I said, ANSWER ME!" Yuuta forcefully covered her uncovered eye with his hand and pulled her head back.

"AH! STOP! I can't see!" Rikka cried out. "I heard you and your sister talking last night!"

"Eh?" Yuuta's eyes widened.

God… dangit… KUZEHA!

He dropped Rikka, who brushed her hair out of her face.

"Listen up! You can't tell a soul about that, got it?" he said, sternly pointing a finger.

Rikka shook herself off and adjusted her collar. Or rather, she seemed to intentionally mess it up.

"I see. I should've foreseen this, but it seems you've been chuunirized." She slapped her fist into her open palm with resoluteness.

"Chuunirized? Wait, forget that I mean about my cringe elementary-school delusions!" Yuuta said. "All of that crap about being Dark Flame Master and the warlock of the Black Flame Dragon stuff. If anyone finds about that-" Yuuta felt a column of dread fall upon his consciousness like a stone pillar. "-then I might as well say goodbye any chance of being treated like a normal human."

Rikka watched him with a puzzled look before she spoke up again.

"Why on earth would you want to be a normal human?" said Rikka.

"Because I am a human, and you are too, so start acting like it!" Yuuta crossed his arms. "I am done with all that junk about being a magic-user or whatever! I am, absolutely, 100%, with no reservations, done!"

"What if I could prove you were wrong? Would you listen to me then?" Rikka said. Yuuta sighed.

"What? Are you gonna show me a magic trick or something or-"

"Arcane Distortion!" Rikka suddenly posed while stretching an arm out towards Yuuta Shonen-style.

"Are you even listening?" Yuuta said.

"You couldn't sense my Arcane Distortion? Of course, a Nemah as great as yourself would require a far stronger seal than the standard-issue one… wait, I'm getting something… an even more powerful AP in your right arm! I'm getting… 700… 800… no-900… one thousand? Not even demons can reach that level of power… No way… it can't be."

"Oh, save the drama, I already know how you-HNNNG!"

Yuuta grasped his right arm as a pulsing ache shot through it and proceeded to fade.

For Pete's sake… now I'm getting arm cramps? This day just couldn't get any better!

"As I feared, the Dark Organization has created a seal of altered past events that suit their purposes and then pulled it over your memories to hide the truth. My Arcane Distortion was enough to wake the Black Flame Dragon's hibernation, which easily has enough strength to break the seal… but if it breaks it before you do-" Rikka's eyes filled with horror. "-you will be incinerated where you stand! I must de-chuunirize you before that happens!"

"Oh, quit playing around," Yuuta sighed. "It's just a coincidence; you didn't make my arm cramp. Besides, most people get over their Chuunibyou nonsense once they graduate middle school. Shouldn't you have already figured out that you're just as normal and human as everyone else and that your Wicked Eye is completely fake?"

Rikka said nothing, then she suddenly smiled.

"Then perhaps, you would like to have a look at it."

"Excuse me?"

"My cursed eye." Rikka stood up. "But beware, once the seal of false memories has been pierced by what you will see, there's no going back."

Wait a minute… there's no way…

"This is your last chance," Rikka said. "You can take the door, and the story ends. You go back to your day and believe whatever you want. Or you can take off my eyepatch, see the Eye of the Wicked Lord, stay in the land of Nemah, and I'll show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, the Wicked Eye offers the truth. Nothing less."

Yep… that quote is from the Matrix. But… what could she be talking about? There's no way she actually has powers, right? Right?

Wordlessly, he stepped forward and lifted the eyepatch from Rikka's right eye. Then, the abyss stared back.

To start off, Rikka had two different eye tones. Her left eye, the one usually shown, was an ocean blue that looked normal and even kind of pretty on her. But her right eye, the one covered by her eyepatch was bright yellow, almost gold as if a pineapple-colored star was lodged into her eye socket. And unlike her other eye, this one shimmered in the sunlight as small drifting fragments danced about it was like watching glitter suspended in water. But the most unusual thing was that it glowed. A bright, almost blinding light extended out from Rikka's eye. It was beautiful, it was terrifying, it made perfect sense, it was ridiculous, it was absurd, it was genius, it was a thousand more adjectives that scattered throughout Yuuta's face as he stared into the abyss of swimming gold. There were images, tinted yellow images, that flashed before him. So many things, so much to see, yet all contained within a single eye.

Naturally, the human brain could not process everything it perceived at once. So, it reacted as it always did and made Yuuta look away in anguish. Rikka replaced her eyepatch, once again hiding her cursed eye.

"Oh my, is that the time?" her eyes widened. "Darn… alright, find me after school. Until then, you must not let the dragon overpower you, no matter what, or our world as we know is doomed."

And with that, she left the room.

So, what just happened? Well, I met a girl with S-class chuunibyou who also has a small galaxy in her eye.

No, no, wait, that doesn't make sense at all! I know! It must've been an eye contact! Yeah, that's it! She was wearing one of those eye contacts that made your eyes look super weird. Nothing magic or nonsensical or inexplicable here! Just an absolute weirdo. End of story.

It was not the end of the story.

Yuuta made to the entrance ceremony and listened to Nibutani's speech. Just as she was finishing, another pain surged through his right arm. He fought to keep himself silent. Another cramp. He thought. That was the second time today.

He felt another cramp during homeroom and another at least once per period. It was starting to get even more painful. The issues began when he attempted to get to know Nibutani a bit better because, well, he had successfully interacted with two new people today, so why not try his luck a little bit?

He headed over to her desk after he finished eating lunch and took a deep breath.

"Hey, Nibutani-ARGH!" he grasped his arm. That certainly got her attention.

"Huh? Is something the matter?" she glanced at him.

"Uh, it's just… I mean, I have… there's uh… you look… I have to go, bye!"

Yuuta: 0. Black Flame Dragon: 1.

After class, Isshiki opened another conversation with Yuuta.

"Hey, dude, some of the other students and I are gonna go grab a bite to eat after school. Do you want to come?"

"Huh? Are you inviting me?" Yuuta's eyes widened.

"Sure! You in?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course, I'm-KYAAACK!" he winced and massaged his forearm.

"Eh? You, okay?" Isshiki said, glancing at Yuuta's right arm.

"Yeah… it's just… this is has been happening all day for some reason."

"Weird… your arms look kinda red…" he extended a hand to grasp his arm before jumping back in pain. "Yowch! That's hot!"

"Hot? Why would it be hot?" Yuuta raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, but you should probably put some ice on that once you get home. And maybe see a doctor," Isshiki said.

"Yeah, good point." Yuuta let out a disappointed sigh. "Sorry, I won't be able to make it."

"Don't worry about it; it'd be a huge downer if your arm kept hurting like that anyway! I'll make sure to invite you next time."

"Good point. See you tomorrow?"

"You know it!"

Yuuta: 0. Black Flame Dragon: 2.

Once school was over, Yuuta put his arm in his pocket as he walked to the train station. To his surprise, Rikka was sitting on the bench close to the stairs.

"You have arrived," she said.

"Only because this is the train station," Yuuta rolled his eyes. "Wait, how did you know that I wasn't going to find you after school, as you said?"

"I used my Eye of the Wicked Lord to see into the clear future, wherein I would meet you here instead of outside the school. It's my most powerful ability; I can know what is about to happen with 100% accuracy."

"Oh really?" Yuuta raised an eyebrow. "Fine, then tell me what I'm about to say next."

Rikka concentrated on her eye for a moment before speaking.

"You will exclaim that something makes no sense, then realize that the opposite is true."

"Okay, that's just nonsense…" he paused. "Alright, you had me there for a second, but there's no way you can actually tell the future."

"Okay, fine," Rikka said. "Your arm will hurt again during your second line after this."

"So, by that logic, you could win the lottery every time by looking for the correct number," Yuuta said. "Or you could always win Rock-Paper-Scissors."

"While that is true, I try not to use this ability to see the far future," Rikka said. "For if I ever predicted an event that I did not wish to happen… then there is nothing I can do to stop it. My fate will have been sealed as soon as I saw it through my cursed eye."

"Yeah, that's fine and dandy but-OWCH!" Yuuta grasped his arm, pulsing with even stronger pain than before. It was getting hotter, warmer.

"The Black Flame Dragon grows stronger…" Rikka tapped her chin. "And you haven't de-chuunirized at all. This is not good at all."

"Again, with that crap? Can't you talk like a normal human for three seconds- "

Rikka suddenly pulled out a long length of cloth bandage.

"Thankfully, I have prepared for this exact situation, and obtained this from the infirmary."

Before Yuuta could protest, Rikka swiftly wrapped the fabric around his pulsing right arm, just like his old persona.

"There we go. That should keep the dragon in check for now, until you can tap into your full power as the Dark Flame Master."

"Oh, cut it out with…" Yuuta stopped and felt his arm. It ceased to pulse, much to his relief. "Hey, it stopped hurting! Thanks a lot, Rikka. Wait, what are you doing?"

Rikka finished concentrating once more.

"I was checking the direction of your intentions. It seems that you're my new downstairs neighbor."

"Yeah right, you found that out last night," Yuuta said. "Wait, when did you move in? I thought an office lady was working upstairs."

"I moved in the day before yesterday. Touka Takanashi is my older sister."

"Oh, so it's that type of situation," Yuuta nodded. "That's actually the most normal thing you've- "

"That situation, of course, is a ploy. Touka is the high priestess of the Invisible Boundary Line administration, as well as an associate of the Chuunirization Project. Her power is so great, that not even I, an exceptional warrior among the unstoppable Nemah, can defeat her." Rikka's eyes wandered downward. "That is why I sought you out, Dark Flame Master."

"Don't call me that,"

"With our powers combined, we can defeat Touka and find the Invisible Boundary Line, obtain the Exalthumanemah, and de-chuunirize the entire world! But yes, for now, we attempt to pass as a pair of human siblings."

"Well… that was unintelligible," Yuuta said. The two of them walked up to the vending machine.

"Want a drink?"

"Hold on a second…" she raised her arm and concentrated. "Rikka Takanashi, Wicked Eye holder 95, requesting access to Arcane Bureau Service 16: 1x Mana Potion. Entering passcode, up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, insert coin…" she snatched the coin out of Yuuta's hand before slotting it into the machine. "B, A!"

As Rikka received her drink, Yuuta glanced behind him to see the train leaving behind them.

"Mana potions are critical for any spellcaster's daily routine, even if you only cast one or two spells, being caught without any mana could spell doom for even the strongest NemaaaaaaaaaHK!" Rikka yelped as Yuuta grabbed her from behind and gave her a double noogie.

"The is the second time you made me miss the freaking train!" he exclaimed. To both of their surprise, the screen on the machine lit up with the image of an anime girl.

"Congratulations! You received a free drink!"

Rikka promptly assumed a confident pose.

"See, this is the power of the Eye of the Wicked Lord!"

"Nice try, you were just as surprised as I was. Future sight my ass…"

"That's not how it works!"

Eventually, the two of them made it to the apartment building. Yuuta was relieved to finally be rid of Rikka when…

"Hey! Big Brother! I need your help!" his little sister called out.

"Huh, what could that be about?" said Yuuta.

It turns out that the moving company for Rikka's apartment had arrived before her, and thus all her belongings were left in Yuuta's apartment instead.

"I see… now that I recall… the High Priestess instructed me to be home by three-o-clock, but an interference from the bureau-OW!'

Yuuta casually whacked her upside the head before she could say anything more about chuuni.

"Who's this, big brother?" Kuzeha asked.

"Takanashi's little sister, the two of them live above us now," Yuuta said before turning to the somewhat high stacked pile of boxes in the foyer. "Anyway, what is all this stuff? It can't be just your belongings…"

"Where is it, where is it?" Rikka frantically searched through each box. "Ah, Schwarzsech Prototype MK II! There you are!"

From a box, Rikka produced a fancy-looking pink retractable umbrella.

Wow, she even gives her umbrella a ridiculous name… not that I'm surprised.

"Do not be fooled, Dark Flame Master, this umbrella contains the spirit of a powerful demonic entity inside that I call upon when-KYAAA!" Yuuta grabbed her ear.

"Don't call me that around here!"

"Dark… Flame… Master…?" Kuzeha's eyes went wide

"Hey, this isn't what you- "

"I mean, I didn't completely phase out the idea of you relapsing, but I'm still kind of surprised given how sure you sounded this morning."

"I'm not relapsing at all!"

"Oh yeah, then why are you wearing that silly bandage again?" Kuzeha said. "And don't tell me you got injured, there's no way that- "she said as she ripped off the bandage before anyone could stop her.

"Wait, don't- "

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Yuuta screamed and started rolling about on the ground. "My arm, my arm, my arm, my arm!"

"Oh jeez, he's even worse than before," his sister remarked.

"Kuzeha! I'm not joking, I'm actually in pain here!" Yuuta said, writhing in agony. It felt as something was tearing about his arm from the inside.

it felt like his arm was on fire as it pulsed with something that didn't feel like blood.

"Dark Flame Master, hang on in there!" Rikka panicked and drew another bandage out of her skirt. She tightly and swiftly wrapped it around his arm, numbing the pain.

"Jeez, Louise…" Yuuta rolled his wrist around a bit. "I'm definitely seeing a doctor after this."

"This more than a human doctor can deal with," said Rikka. "I fear that the bandage won't last for more than two hours."

"Whatever you say," Yuuta shrugged before his eyes landed on the pile of boxes. "Come on. Let's get this stuff to where it belongs."

"It'll be a lot faster if you use the Incarnate Hoard technique!" Rikka announced.

"Sure, whatever."

The two of them spent the next couple of hours moving all the boxes into Rikka's apartment. Mostly because Yuuta would have found it painful to watch her move them by herself, but also because it distracted him from his arm, which was starting to twinge even with the bandage.

Yuuta was starting to get the feeling that there was some hint of truth in Rikka's insane ramblings. But surely, there was a better explanation than there being a dragon in his arm. Besides, brainwashing was cheap writing 101, it's the easiest way for an author to get away with all kinds of things. But that was irrelevant, his chuuni phase was over and that was final.

Once they were done moving the boxes, Rikka ended up joining Yuuta and his family for dinner, for some reason.

"So, you're Takanashi's little sister?" his mother said. "I must say you're pretty cute! Say, you better keep an eye on her, Yuuta."

"Do I even want to know what you're talking about?" said Yuuta.

"Speaking of eyes, is yours okay?" Kuzeha asked.

"Only a Nemah or Exalt can look into the Eye of the Wicked Lord, through which I possess the power to battle against the forces of darkness."

"You don't need to explain every ti-OWCH!"

The Termination Breaker Sword which Yuuta had taken to the balcony before, whacked him in the face. Looking downwards, he saw his youngest sister, Yumeha, clumsily wielding the item in her small hands.

"Disappear!" she exclaimed, mimicking her brother's catchphrase.

"Hey, cut that out. You know you shouldn't go through other people's junk."

"Eh? But it's really cool!"

"It's not cool! Yuuta retorted, but Rikka's eyes went wide.

"Yuuta, you never mentioned that your younger sister is a natural-born Nemah!" Rikka said before turning to Yumeha. "Listen, child, your AP is greater than your entire family combined. Come to my apartment directly upstairs, and I'll teach you how to harness and utilize your power so that one day you might surpass even myself!"

"Really? That sounds fun!" Yumeha smiled brightly.

"Oh, and bring the sword, we might need that."

"Good grief, now my little sister is being taken over by the chuunibyou." Yuuta sighed.

That night, Yuuta headed out to the balcony to finally be rid of the boxes of his past once and for all, minus the sword which Yumeha had firmly claimed for herself.

"Maybe once I get all of this trash out of my life and out of my mind, my arm will stop hurting," he said to himself. "I swear… from day one this whole Dark Flame Master thing has brought me nothing but trouble. What was I even thinking getting into all this junk?"

"Junk?"

Yuuta turned around and saw Rikka trailing behind him. For once, she almost looked hurt by his words, her blue eye pointed towards the ground.

"You really think all of this is trash?" Rikka reached into a random box and pulled out a toy pistol.

"Of course, nothing but a bunch of painful memories and pointless junk," Yuuta stated.

"…This was the weapon you used to finish off the Witch of the Highlands," Rikka said before going to another item. "And this is the jar which once contained an evil genie. The blade that was used in the blood contract to summon Bahamut, whose spirit now rests inside this jacket…"

"And the amulet that can grant a person a single cursed wish…" Yuuta glanced at the jewel in her hand. "…I won't deny that I'll miss them a bit, but it's just not healthy for me."

"It is. Just like how important it is for you to be de-chuunirized."

"Rikka, it's not real, okay? None of it is. Even if my arm does hurt, that doesn't mean there's a dragon inside. Just a stupid kid's game…"

"Yuuta…" Rikka took a few steps forward until she was right behind him. She was truly begging with him. "Please… just give it one chance and I'll change your mind. I promise."

Yuuta still had his back turned to her. He picked up the roll of duct tape. He stopped and let out an annoyed sigh. That unusually cute voice she was using… is this what they call gap-moe?

This girl… is going to be the death of me. Screw it, she went through all this effort, and the least I can do is humor her.

"Fine…" Yuuta swiftly turned on his heel and struck his favorite pose. "Be enveloped in the flames of darkness and disappear!"

Rikka yelped and jumped back, and for a moment Yuuta thought she was playing around.

Until he saw his hand.

A surge of heat exploded out from the edge of his elbow and blasted out his palm. He could see it, a blazing inferno of dark purple flames bursting forth in an almighty plume of raging hotness, blinding light, and powerful force. Rikka whipped out her umbrella and shouted

"Schwarz Shield!" throwing the open shade to guard against the flames. Instantly, a scarlet magical circle appeared across the surface, deflecting the flames to all sides. Once the spots cleared from Yuuta's eyes, he saw Rikka lifting the umbrella, revealing a big smile.

"I imagine right now; you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?"

"Again, that's from the Matrix. Also, WHAT THE ACTUAL FU- "