Soooo, hello again, or if you are new to my stories, welcome! Have a seat, take a cookie and enjoy the ride, because this one will take awhile as it was my Nanowrimo project from last year, so it is over 50K long. Not the longest story I wrote but still. Also it might be just the first installment in a series - we will see.

Just some background information for better understanding:

The story is set in a world like ours just with added magic and less technology. The characters have differents backgrounds than in the manga because, well, Magic AU. I still hope they are not ooc and that their action are relatable given their new circumstances.

There are ocs in the story but they are antagonists, so they don't interfere with the relationships of the main characters.

I think updates will be once a week.

Now go, have fun and if you happen to leave a comment you will make me a very happy writer :-)

OooO One OooO

"Shinichi! Stop! Don't run that far ahead!"

A dark-haired boy turns back to his parents, still skipping from foot to foot, his face a beaming smile. His cheeks are red, both from running and a little from anxiousness, and in his hand, he holds a straight stick he has found at the side of the street.

Today is his day!

"Mom! I am already six years old. I know the way just fine on my own!"

His mother, Yukiko, giggles while her husband Yusaku just smiles at his son's antics. "Oh yes, you are such a grown young man," she teases. "But knowing that your head is in the clouds today, I think a leash could be helpful."

"Mom!" he complains but waits for them to catch up. She is right, though. Somehow. Just a little bit. Not that he would acknowledge that, and also, he has every right to be exited.

At the age of six, he is finally old enough to undertake the evaluation to be allowed to use magic and find out if he has a special ability. Offensive magic would be cool or maybe energy.

With a flourish, he swings his stick that poses as a wand and shouts his favorite spell.

"Fireball!"

A platinum white sparkle envelopes his 'wand,' and a fireball shoots out of its tip, dissolving a few feet from them.

"Woah!" Shinichi cheers, ignoring some irritated glances from other people that also walk on the busy street that leads to the center of Beika City on this hot summer day. "That was awesome, Mom!"

The sparkly white is his mother's signature color when she casts a spell. It also identifies her as a mage who has a special ability in the illusion magic section. All her spells take on this color matching the magic section the ability belongs to. For illusionists, that color can be anything from dark gray to very light white - everything is possible. The exact shade depends on the caster and, over time, becomes like a fingerprint. Those who know the mage well can even tell in what state of mind they are.

Children's magic is not evolved enough so that even if an ability is there, the color can't be distinguished yet. If they don't have an ability or their magic is still weak, their spells will always take on the color according to the magic section, but remain almost translucent. Purple for healing, yellow for energy, blue for defense, and so on.

What will his own special ability be? He is sure he has one. After all, both his parents are mages with powerful abilities. His mother is an actress, and her illusion magic helps her a lot with that, while his father is great at defense magic. His cerulean is as bright as his wit. Surely, Shinichi must have a wonderful ability as well, right?

"Kudou Shinichi! Do I have to arrest you because of illegal usage of offensive magic in the streets?" comes a deep male voice from behind that makes Shinichi jump before he recognizes the speaker as Inspector Megure. He turns around, giving the police officer his most innocent look.

"Whatever do you mean, Inspector?"

The stout man laughs and claps Shinichi's back with enough force to make him stumble a few steps.

"I heard today is your evaluation. Should you present an ability in the defensive or offensive section, I'll make sure to reserve a place for you in my team after your graduation."

Shinichi grins. Megure knows exactly that joining the police is Shinichi's goal after he has seen how his father helps them out. Though Yusaku never joined the force, Megure likes to prod his brain every now and then when they face a difficult case. As a mystery writer, Yusaku's wild imagination and deductions have helped them numerous times.

"Thank you so much," Yukiko says with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. She can already guess that troublesome times lay ahead of her should her son actually go through with this. She waves at Megure, takes Shinichi's hand, and begins to pull him along before he or his father can engage in one of those time-consuming conversations about detective work with Megure.

"See you soon, Inspector," Shinichi beams and decides to follow his mother obediently - for now.

Finally, the hall where today's event will take place comes into view. Right there, his evaluation will soon begin. They pass through the grand, heavy double doors and enter an atrium that feels pleasantly cool after the summer heat that burns down on the pavement outside.

"Good morning, Yusaku." A man in a midnight blue suit stands there and waves. He must be about the same age as his father, and Shinichi thinks he has seen him before visiting them at home, but he can't recall his name.

"Good morning," Yusaku answers and bends down to Shinichi. "I will quickly go over and greet my friend there, okay? He will be at your evaluation today as one of the witnesses. I'll be right back."

Shinichi watches him go and wonders if this man is an awareness mage. Awareness mages, as part of the natural section, cast spells that are some shade of green. Their feeling for magic is so fine-tuned that they can tell if a child has an ability even when they are still very young, so one is always present at an evaluation. If a child presents an ability, it can be boosted and supported to achieve maximum potential.

"Kudou-san, so good to see you. An important day, isn't it?" The female voice brings his attention to his mother, who now is talking with a black-haired woman. He is not surprised that everyone seems to know his parents as they are kind of famous.

"And you must be Shinichi-kun," she says with a smile, and her green eyes look him up and down. "My name is Kumoshiro Chiya, and it is my honor to be the awareness mage for your evaluation."

Oh, okay – so not the man, but this woman will tell him his ability. He is not sure why, but he had felt better about it when he thought his father's friend would be the one in charge. This woman has something about her that doesn't sit right with him, but probably those are just his nerves finally getting to him.

"Are you excited to get your own wand today?" Kumoshiro asks him, and he dislikes how she says it like he is a small toddler getting his favorite candy. He is six and hates to be treated like he is stupid, but he can't deny that yes, he is excited, so he simply nods his head.

A kid's magic isn't even enough to be used without a tool to aid. At six years, it has grown enough to be used with a wand to concentrate and channel it into a spell. After the evaluation, the child is gifted with the first own wand, the one used during the evaluation, and can now be taught how to use their ability, if there is one, in the best way. They will use the wand until they turn ten, then their magic is strong enough to be used without it.

"Alright, then come along. We are about to start."

Shinichi glances over to his father, who just comes back to them. Yukiko gives the mage he has spoken to a smile and takes her husband's arm. "And? What did he say? How did it go for the little prankster?"

Yusaku laughs as they follow Kumoshiro into a hall with high windows made of colored glass, giving the room a mystic feel. It is almost empty, allowing the young mages to cast spells without having to worry about destroying anything by accident. In the front is a small pedestal where another man is already waiting for them.

"Comes right after his father. He presented an ability for illusion magic, and I think next time they visit will be... interesting." He gives the man on the pedestal a friendly nod. This has to be the third mage, and he completes the committee for Shinichi's evaluation.

"Stand over there, please," Kumoshiro tells him and points to a round, floral mosaic on the tiles that is more in the back of the hall. A little nervous, he gives his parents a hug and walks to his assigned place, where Kumoshiro hands him a simple wooden wand. It is nothing special, just the standard wand that every child gets. Theoretically, they are interchangeable even after the evaluation. Still, the kids always find ways to make them their own, like adding a ribbon or decorating it with little glittering stones.

"Thank you," he says and watches how she returns to the pedestal where now all three witnesses are standing, while his parents take their places at the side of the hall.

From his father's books, Shinichi knows that in old times the two mages next to the awareness mage during the evaluation also had an individual task. One defense mage for security and one healer should a kid lose control over their magic, but as nothing ever happens nowadays because a six-year-old doesn't have that much magical power, they are more like additional witnesses, and their abilities vary. Back in the days, that has been different when magic was much more potent, but somewhere along the way, most of the ancient knowledge was lost, and mages changed.

Were they once capable of using all spells they learned at full force, today a mage only gets to be talented in one section, many not even that. Those can do basic spells to help with their everyday life, and it is convenient enough, but naturally, the more powerful mages play essential roles in society and politics.

And then there are people who can't use any magic at all. It doesn't happen often for a child to have no magic, and Shinichi never thought that he could be one of them, but now, his belief falters.

The wand lays heavy in his hand. For some reason, it feels uncomfortable, even though Shinichi has looked forward to this day for so long, made dry runs with his father for all the spells he wants to show off today.

It finally is his turn, but there is nothing left of his giddy nervousness. The kids who already had their evaluation told him how natural it felt for them, as if a spark flew through them into the wand, changing into magic. For him, it is nothing like this - no spark, no tickle, no nothing.

What if this strange feeling means that the wand is repelling him? But if there were anything wrong with his magic, surely Kumoshiro would sense that, right? He swallows hard when he sees that his father's friend gives him a firm nod as a sign to begin.

Uncertain, he looks over to his parents, who are giving him encouraging smiles. Seeing how proud they are and how they are cheering him on calms him down a bit. He turns to the three mages in front of him and takes a deep breath. He closes his eyes and concentrates.

For a moment, he can't find anything, and he bites his lip, trying harder.

There - is that his magic core he can sense?

It feels foreign but warm and kind of - reluctant? He coaxes, and it answers with a curious pulse. He thinks he can feel a trickle like the other kids mentioned flow to the wand. He pulls a bit stronger to be sure to show all his power, but the moment he begins to pull the trickle changes into a flood that overwhelms him, and when it reaches the wand, his magic is downright sucked out of him. He loses all feeling of control; his eyes shoot open and search for his parents in panic.

The last he can see is his father, casting a shield, his mother's fearful eyes, and a burst of blinding bright red, that swallows everything up.

OooO

Thirteen years later

Shinichi leans his head back and inhales the clear morning air while he searches his way through the early hustle and bustle on the market. He stops at a stall he often buys some baked goods from. Today the merchant offers his favorite and Shinichi's mouth waters.

"Good morning, Saido-san, one of your awesome croissants, please."

"Coming right up, Kudou-kun," Saido answers with a delighted smile and Shinichi watches how the man takes some rolled up puff pastry and casts a little spell to bake it fresh on the spot, making a little show out of it by letting the croissant take a few flips through the air to cool it off a bit before it safely lands in Shinichi's hands.

"One day, you will drop it if you are not careful," he laughs and bites into the crisp crust after he paid.

"Me?" Saido exclaims in played offense, knowing that Shinichi just likes to banter. "Never!"

Shinichi loves the days when he manages to get up early and gets to have a nice breakfast with his uncle Hiroshi before he has to head to school. Add a warm summer day with sunshine, a soft breeze, and his favorite croissant, and he is more than content.

Giving Saido a wave as he leaves, Shinichi turns a corner and walks into a quieter street as he likes to avoid the masses on the market, even though crossing straight over the place would be the shortest way from his home where he lives with his uncle to Teitan High, the school he attends and hopefully will graduate from this autumn.

Even though Agasa Hiroshi isn't his uncle in blood, he is what comes closest to family for him. He took him in at the age of six when Shinichi's parents died, and he had no one left to turn to. Shinichi is grateful that his former neighbor is now his caretaker because he would have been shoved into one of the group homes permanently unless they found a foster family for him. Not many people are eager to take a six-year-old into their household.

"Over there, it ran to the alley over there!"

With mild interest, Shinichi looks into the direction the shouting is coming from and sees a group of four boys around the age of eight, who run past him with their wands in their hands. He frowns. Groups like this never have anything pleasant in mind, and he follows the dreadful feeling in his gut and runs after them.

"At the dumpsters!" he hears a triumphant yell. He knows the area well and takes a shortcut to said dumpsters only to see how the boys have stopped a few meters from the alley he took and begin to fan out in a circle around the dumpsters, wands at the ready.

His eyes flick into the direction they are pointing at, and he sees a small, slightly ruffled looking cat with an arched back, bushy tail, and a sharp hiss coming from bared teeth.

He looks back to the boys, who haven't noticed him yet and sees the first sparks of a spell forming at the tips of their wands.

'Attack magic, sting spell,' he registers, and without thinking further, he flings himself forward, between the cat and the spells now sizzling through the air. He is hit by four small pangs of pain that, for sure, will leave some bruises.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" he shouts at the surprised kids in front of him. "How can you lift your wands against another living being like this?"

After a few stunned seconds of silence, the boy in the middle steps forward. He eyes Shinichi with a haughty expression and brushes back the fringe of his neat haircut with his free hand.

"And who are you to judge us - wand-breaker?"

His fellows begin to snicker, their tension quickly replaced with malice, and Shinichi's resentment for them only grows. So, they are some of those people who only see worth in how talented as a mage another person is. It's sad to see it in kids this young, but Shinichi gets confronted with this sort of behavior by all kinds of people. Even in his own class, there are some he knows who think lowly of him, but at the age of nineteen, they also know not to express their distaste too openly, as harassment is forbidden. What doesn't mean it's not happening anyway.

And this boy recognized him right away as non-mage - or achromatic, the usually used term, and much politer than wand-breaker - because Shinichi used his own body to protect the cat instead of simply deflecting the weak spells with a shield, what should be a piece of cake for any mage, even with a low power-level.

Wand-breaker.

Also, not the first time he got accused with this ugly word, used for achromatics as a cuss word. On the rare occasion that a child is not capable of any magic, the wand during the evaluation repels them. It breaks at their attempt, and they get classified as an achromatic. Even in this day and age, achromatics don't have it easy in life. People are trying to put a stop to the evaluation or at least make it voluntary, but the political system is slow, and sooner or later, people notice when someone never uses magic anyway because it is convenient and used everywhere.

They often have a hard time fitting in, as society is not made for them. Something Shinichi experiences at school every day, being one of the very few students that are not using magic. There is no separate system for them, and they mostly are dragged along through educational material they will never need.

Shinichi doesn't want to get into a petty argument with an eight-year-old, but letting them off the hook like that feels wrong, too. He looks down the street to see if there is anyone nearby he can ask for help because, honestly said, he has no way to deal with the four kids on his own.

The leader of the group sneers at him. "What? Going to report us? And who will believe you? Your word against the four of us and we are only kids," he says, giving his voice an innocent pitch at the end.

Shinichi's knuckles stand out white on his clenched hands. He hates people like this. How can kids so young be that vicious and calculating? "The evidence is right on my body where your spells hit me."

"Duh," a roll of eyes. "We were practicing at the dumpsters, and you stumbled into our spells, so sorry, big deal."

"You tried to hurt a cat!" He can't believe that they are so disrespectful for life.

"What cat?" the boy asks with a smug smile, and true enough, when Shinichi turns around, he sees that the cat took the chance to get away.

He swallows hard to temper his anger, simply turns and walks back the alley he had come from, ignoring the laughter and insults hurled after him. They looked like spoiled rich kids, and no reasoning from his side will change their attitude.

Annoyed and frustrated, he continues his way to school to meet up with his best friend at the gates, like every morning. Hopefully, she can lighten up his now spoiled mood again, because if anyone makes his days brighter, it is Ran.

OooO

Three people sit around the table; one woman and two men. Their expressions vary from concerned to brooding as their reason for meeting up like this isn't all that pleasant.

"Are you sure that we can't just tell the police and let them handle this?" The woman asks, and the light of the early sun briefly catches in her glasses, reflecting it onto the wall.

The older one of the men shakes his head and sighs. "Unfortunately, no, Jodie. We still don't have any evidence that would be enough for the police to take action. All we have are our suspicions and the knowledge that something like this has never happened before."

The disappointment in Jodie's face is more than evident, and he can understand her. James Black has been the head of Teitan High for almost four decades now, and he is proud of the accomplishments of his students and his loyal and competent teachers. Now, for the first time, he has to doubt one of them, and he hates the feeling of betrayal, churning in his gut. If it is true, then one of his best teachers is manipulating the annual tournament between the three magic schools in their country. Cheating to secure the win for Teitan five years in a row.

'What are you thinking, Amuro? '

Not that he minded winning or didn't believe his students were skilled enough to pull it off. Still, it is uncanny how the winner always belongs to the group Professor Amuro tutored for the competition every year. Also, it is unheard of one school winning more than three years in a row. The distribution of powerful and gifted students usually is more balanced.

"Why don't you just call him out?"

James turns his attention to the other man, who had mostly listened silently to their conversation like he always does. Akai Shuichi is a man of few words who prefers to take action after being sure that he holds all the strings in his hands. After his graduation, he had stayed as a teacher, and though he is stern, the students look up to him, as he is a powerful offensive mage.

James gives him a short look that says, 'You think I haven't tried that?'

"You know how he is," he adds. "He has an answer for anything and everything and can be sly as a fox. I asked him directly because I believe I owe a friend at least the benefit of the doubt, and he explained it all away with a smile on his face. But still…"

The nagging feeling had refused to disappear after his conversation with Amuro, and James knows that Jodie and Akai are feeling it, too. Something is going on behind the scenes, something that allows students Amuro favors to win. They need information they won't get directly - they need an insider, and they all know it from the mirrored thoughtful expressions on their faces.

"But wouldn't he figure it out right away?" Jodie points out. "After you asked him, he knows that you are suspicious, and he knows most of the student body, for sure the promising ones. Also, the graduates already chose their tutors for the finals and if they are participating in the tournament. A sudden change would be conspicuous."

Akai nods. "That's true. If suddenly a student would change his preference so close to the finals, I would be surprised, too. They chose their tutor after getting to know all the teachers and considering who fits their kind of magic best. Also, most teachers can't take more students under their wing than they already have without neglecting their supervising. It would need a good reason for a student to change tutors this late."

"I thought of - him," James says and slides a slim folder over the table to Jodie, who opens it curiously. She takes in the photo of the dark-haired teen, whose picture looks back at her silently with a steady expression in his bright blue irises. Her eyes skim over the lines below it, only to widen with recognition.

"Him? Are you sure? Isn't he the son of-"

"Yes, indeed."

"But the file says that he is not using magic in class and though he is none of my students, I don't think I have seen him do any spells during breaks either. Isn't he an achromatic? He wouldn't be able to participate," she says and slides the folder over to Akai, who reads it with a raised eyebrow.

The tournament is indeed for mages only. A fact James plans to change in the future as it is discriminating and outdated, but to manage that, he needs the heads of the other schools on board as well, which is not that easy.

Achromatics are always at a disadvantage, and there is no place for them in a magic tournament, but also mages with no special ability have no chance to participate as the available slots are naturally occupied by the most talented students.

James pulls the folder back to himself and smiles down at the photo.

"Let me tell you that this boy has never broken a wand in his life."

tbc