The second day of high school began just as ordinarily as the first had ended. After washing his face, Tatsuya headed downstairs to find Miyuki already preparing breakfast.

"Morning, Miyuki," Tatsuya said, "You're quite early today." Even the sun had not yet risen, and, even taking into account the time needed to clean up after breakfast, it was too early to head to school, whose classes began at eight a.m. sharp.

"Good morning, Onii-sama," said Miyuki with a smile as she adjusted her apron, "Please help yourself." She handed him a glass of juice and wordlessly took it back after he downed it in one gulp. She was very familiar with Tatsuya's routine. Just as he was about to say that he was leaving, Miyuki said, "Actually, Onii-sama, I was planning on going with you today." She turned around with a picnic basket full of the sandwiches she had made for breakfast.

"I don't really mind," Tatsuya answered, "But will you be going in your uniform?" Under her apron, Miyuki was already dressed for school, while Tatsuya was simply wearing a sweatshirt.

Miyuki nodded, explaining, "I haven't reported to Sensei about our enrollment yet.. and I can't even keep up with your training anymore, anyway, Onii-sama."

"Understood," answered Tatsuya simply, "It's not like you need to carry out the same morning training as I do anyway, Miyuki. Besides, Master will probably be happy to see you." After a moment, he added, "Although I hope he doesn't get too excited."

With a wink, Miyuki said, "If that happens, please protect me, Onii-sama."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

In the chilly air of the early morning, Miyuki was gliding uphill on a pair of rollerblades at around 60 kph, with Tatsuya keeping pace beside her on foot. With each step he took, it seemed as if he jumped off a magic circle that propelled him around ten meters forward, enabling him to run at such a fast pace.

Miyuki spun around and glided backwards on one foot to face Tatsuya, magic glowing around her rollerblades, "Should I slow down a bit?"

"No," replied Tatsuya casually, even though he was obviously not as relaxed as Miyuki, "Then it wouldn't count as training."

Both of them were training using a simple combination of motion and acceleration spells, with Miyuki's relying on her constant control of her spell and Tatsuya's relying on a reinvocation with each step he took.

At their speed, it only took ten minutes to reach their destination - the Temple at the top of a hill. However, this was no ordinary temple. It was home to the 'Practitioners of Austerities', or 'Soldier Priests'. Miyuki, having dispensed with formalities after being told several times by the head monk that it was fine, simply rolled straight into the Temple courtyard on her rollerblades.

Tatsuya, however, was met with a violent reception as soon as he entered the gates. Twenty of the middle- and lower-ranked disciples attacked Tatsuya all at once. It was not usual, but Tatsuya took it in stride. He deftly evaded their first strikes, seeming to predict every move they made, before going on the offense himself.

Having noticed the commotion, Miyuki stopped looking around for the Master to watch her brother worriedly.

"Miyuki-kun!" said a voice suddenly from right behind her, "Long time no see!"

"Sensei," said Miyuki, calmly turning around to face the smiling man dressed in a long black robe, "Please stop erasing your presence to sneak up on us like that. I've been looking all over for you." It was thanks to how often he did this that Miyuki was not the least bit surprised when he suddenly showed up behind her.

The man frowned as he shook his clean-shaven head, "Telling me not to sneak about, Miyuki-kun, is giving a tall order. I'm a shinobi. Sneaking about is what I do."

"In this day and age," countered Miyuki, "there is no such occupation as ninja. I wish you'd correct that as soon as possible."

"Tut tut tut," the monk clicked his tongue as he waggled a single finger back and forth, "Don't misunderstand by labelling us ninjas. We are fully legitimate shinobi. It's a tradition, not an occupation."

Growing exasperated with his rather rude behavior, Miyuki tried once more to convince him, "We respect your legitimacy, so please stop it with all the mystery. Why is Sensei so -" She cut herself off before she could finish the sentence with 'frivolous', sensing it would give him the win. She had learned by now that it was pointless to argue about these things with Kokomo Yakumo, a 'legitimate monk' as well as a self-ascribed shinobi, or rather a ninjutsu user.

Ninjutsu is a form of ancient magic, having been practiced long before magic became known to the world at large. However, the legends pertaining to Ninjas and Ninjutsu are only partly true. What legend calls 'transformations', 'shape shifting', and 'alchemy' are believed to be impossible, having been derived from high-speed movements and illusions.

"Is that the uniform of First High?" asked Yakumo, suddenly.

"Yes," replied Miyuki, glad to move on from that exasperating topic, "We had the entrance ceremony yesterday."

"I see. I see," muttered the monk, nodding as if appraising her uniform, "Hmm. It's nice." Suddenly he came closer, looking at her uniform up and down. "I knew you'd be starting school today," he said, his voice gaining momentum as he went on, "That brand-new green uniform, neat and clean, has a certain charm... almost like a flower bud that is about to open, a shoot about to sprout... Yes!" He nodded fervently, almost singing, while Miyuki slowly backed away from his increasingly uncomfortable level of excitement. "Moe!" He practically shouted, "This is truly Moe-"

Whatever he was about to say next was cut off as he spun around to block Tatsuya's chop to the head.

Not even breathing hard after successfully defeating all twenty disciples, Tatsuya had immediately come to his sister's aid. "Master," he said in his calm way, "You're frightening Miyuki. Could you please calm down a bit?"

"Not bad, Tatsuya-kun," was the monk's only reply, "Taking me from behind, I see." Still blocking Tatsuya's hand above his head, the monk lashed out with his right hand.

Tatsuya twisted out of the monk's grip in time to catch his fist just before it hit. In response, Yakumo used his momentum to somersault over Tatsuya, aiming a kick at the back of his head as he landed.

Tatsuya spun around to dodge the kick, unleashing his own at the monk who had just landed. The monk jumped back, out of Tatsuya's reach, but the gap between the two quickly closed, resulting in a heated back and forth.

The other disciples and Miyuki had formed a large ring around the two as they fought neck and neck. Miyuki's hands were not the only ones clenched in anxiety over the fast-paced fight.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

After the fight had ended, Tatsuya lay on his back on the ground, breathing heavily, while Yakumo sat next to Miyuki on the blanket she had set out for the sandwiches. The other disciples had already dispersed, leaving just the three of them in the courtyard. Miyuki offered a cup and a towel to the sweating monk, who took it gratefully.

"Would you like one as well, Onii-sama?" she asked Tatsuya.

Still sprawled on the ground, Tatsuya raised a hand in acknowledgement, "Give me a minute." After a few deep breaths, Tatsuya struggled up to his knees.

"Onii-sama," asked Miyuki worriedly, kneeling beside her brother, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tatsuya said, taking the towel from his sister and standing. He held a hand out to her to help her up as well. "Sorry," he said, "Now your skirt's all dirty."

"This is nothing," answered Miyuki, pulling out a thin, white mobile CAD that was fit to her hand. An intricate pattern of light glowed around Miyuki as she entered a pattern into the CAD, producing a thin mist around both her and her brother. After a moment, the mist dissipated along with the soft glow of the magic, and both Tatsuya's and Miyuki's clothes were as clean as if they had just been through the laundry. "Onii-sama," continued Miyuki, raising the basket of sandwiches, "Would you like some breakfast, now? You may join us as well if you'd like, Sensei."

Both the monk and Tatsuya were hungry after their training bout, and dug into the sandwiches. Miyuki sat next to her brother, pouring tea for him and handing him sandwiches when he asked for more. One of the monk's pupils did the same for Yakumo.

After wiping his mouth and hands on a towel, the monk leaned towards Miyuki, whispering loudly, "I probably would have lost to Tatsuya-kun had we been limited to martial arts only."

"I don't feel terribly gratified by those words," said Tatsuya with a sigh, ignoring the jealous looks the disciples within earshot were giving him, "Considering you just demolished me."

Yakima laughed, "Well of course, Tatsuya-kun. You're only fifteen! Had I lost to someone half my age, all my disciples would run out on me!"

At this, Miyuki joined in as well, "Onii-sama, you should be more honest with yourself. It's rare to be praised by Sensei, after all. You should celebrate a little."

"I think that would make me look a little like a prick, though," answered Tatsuya with a small smile, noticing the growing amount of jealous looks being thrown his way by the disciples around. Both the monk and Miyuki laughed in agreement, and the trio finished their breakfast lightheartedly.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

On the way to school later that morning, both Miyuki and Tatusya were sitting together in a two-seated Cabinet. Cabinets replaced the trains of the past, having been made more efficient and secure through updated technology. If one wanted, a single person could ride alone in a one-seated or two-seated Cabinet, but an extra charge is applied if two or less people opt to ride in a four-seated one.

"Onii-sama," said Miyuki hesitantly into the silence of the Cabinet, "The thing is..."

When she trailed off, Tatsuya looked away from the news flashing across his terminal and gave his full attention to his sister. It was a rare thing for her to speak so reluctantly about something.

"Yesterday evening," she continued after a moment, "I received a call from those people."

"Those people?" repeated Tatsuya, but quickly inferred about whom she was talking, "Ahh.. Did Father do something to anger you again?"

"No, it's just that," she paused again, "They have been celebrating my admission into school so vigorously, but, Onii-sama, have they really..."

Tatsuya smiled slightly bitterly as she trailed off again, saying, "It's the same as always."

"I see," said Miyuki quietly. The temperature in the car dropped at an alarming rate, frost already lining the windows even though the Cabinet had a perfectly functioning climate control function. Miyuki hid her face behind her hair, but Tatsuya could tell she was grinding her teeth together as she said, "It was foolish of me to even hope... in the end, they didn't even bother to send you an email. Those people are... Those people are-"

"Calm down, Miyuki," interrupted Tatsuya firmly. Shifting in his seat, he grasped both of her hands in his own and squeezed lightly.

Slowly, Miyuki relaxed and the Cabinet's temperature returned to normal. "I'm sorry," Miyuki said, her voice having lost it's cold edge, "I got upset."

Tatsuya leaned back in his seat, and clapped his hands lightly together, smiling at his sister. "It's fine," he said, brushing the matter off as insignificant, "I ignored Father's wish for me to continue with the company and instead chose to enroll in high school. I wasn't even expecting any congratulations at all. You should understand at least that much of Father's nature, right?"

At this, Miyuki's face darkened once more, but, this time, she controlled herself as the temperature did not drop again. "For my own parent to act so pathetically childish. It's infuriating," she said, "In the first place, if he wanted to separate me from you, he should notify me first, and then Aunt, but he doesn't even have the courage to do that! In any case, when will they stop thinking they can use you however they please? I mean, is it not common sense that a fifteen-year-old should enter high school?"

On reflex, Tatsuya's face went blank at the mention of his aunt, and gave a short, cynical laugh, "That's not exactly the case since there's no compulsory education. And both Father and Sayuri-san have approved my coming-of-age, so I'm sure they're just trying to find a way to make me useful. If they think they can indebt me like that, though, I won't go without a fight." Besides, even though he wasn't going to tell this to Miyuki, he would never leave his sister by herself even if someone ordered it.

"If you say so, Onii-sama," said Miyuki, nodding slightly.

Tatsuya breathed a slight sigh of relief when she signaled the end of the conversation. He feared she would paralyze the whole transportation system with her leaked magic if she found out that he was merely used as a piece of recovery equipment for research samples at the family's Magical Engineer equipment maker 'Four Leaves Technology'. With such vague referencing to his job, she should believe it was at least a half-way reasonable one.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

In first year class E, there was already clumps of noisy students forming as the kids made their way to new and previous acquaintances. Having no one he particularly wanted to talk to, Tatsuya walked up and down the rows to find his own seat and terminal. However, as his name was called from across the room, he stopped and looked up to see Erika standing behind her own desk and waving her hand.

"Morning!" she said, smiling vibrantly.

Next to her, Mizuki said much more moderately, "Good morning."

Tatsuya raised a hand in acknowledgement and walked over to the pair. The seats were arranged alphabetically, so Tatsuya was next to Mizuki.

"It seems we'll be seated next to each other this year, please to make your acquaintance," said Tatsuya to Mizuki, sitting down next to her.

Mizuki smiled lightly, saying, "Yes, I'll be in your care."

Erika, the only one who was standing, frowned down at the two of them. "For some reason," she said with her arms crossed, "I'm feeling left out."

Sensing an opportunity, Tatsuya looked at her with a deadpan expression, and said in his usual monotone, "Leaving Chiba-san out would be an extremely difficult matter."

"The heck is that supposed to mean?"

"Simply that your sociability knows no bounds."

The two stared at each other in silence, Erika glaring down at Tatsuya with her arms crossed, and Tatsuya gazing coolly back at her. Erika broke first, sitting down in her chair with a frown as Mizuki finally let go of the laughter she had been holding behind her hands.

"Does Shiba-kun actually have a bad character?" she asked as she laughed.

Ignoring her, Tatsuya set his I.D. card into the terminal and began an information check. Course regulations, disciplinary regulations, the curriculum for the semester, and more flashed across the terminal. After a moment, Tatsuya looked up to meet the eyes of the student sitting in front of him, who had spun around in his seat. The boy had light brown hair and a strong, rectangular face. His blue-green eyes were watching Tatsuya's hands with light fascination.

"It's not like I have a problem with you watching me, but.." said Tatsuya with the same voice and expression as he had used on Erika.

"Eh?" said the boy, surprised for a moment. "Sorry, my bad," he continued, "It's just that that's something pretty rare, so I ended up staring."

"Rare?"

"I'm pretty sure it's rare now, right? This is the first time I've seen anyone only using the keyboard for input."

Tatsuya nodded as he understood what the boy was talking about. "If you're experienced, this method is faster," he said, "Although between this, visual pointers, and neural assistance, it's also the least accurate."

"Yeah," said the boy, responding only to the first half of what Tatsuya said, "That speed is amazing! That should be enough to land you a job for a while, shouldn't it?"

"No," answered Tatsuya, shaking his head, "A part-time job at the best."

"Ah, is that so?" He said, then, as he realized something, "Woah, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Saijou Leonhart. My father's a half and my mother's a quarter so while I look Japanese, my name is Western, and my specialty is Convergent Systematic Reinforcement magic. My desired course is to hone my body and become either a riot police or a mountain corpsman. You can call me Leo."

Even though such a detailed introduction would not be common at a regular high school, Magic High Schoolers take classes that are specialized in a particular field. As such, Tatsuya did not find Leo's insertion of his hopes and dreams into his self introduction all that peculiar, but he did not feel like replying with his own.

"I'm Shiba Tatsuya. Tatsuya's fine," was all he said.

The boy was not deterred in the slightest. "Ok, Tatsuya," he said, "So what kind of magic do you specialize in?"

"My practical skills are severely lacking, so I'm planning on becoming a Magical Engineer." It was common for those not skilled in actually practicing magic to become Magic Engineers, or Magic Artificers. Instead of putting magic into practice, they are responsible for developing and manufacturing the machinery that amplifies, strengthens, and assists with magic. They are a step below Magicians in social standing, but, as they are in high demand, their income can surpass even that of a top magician.

"I see," said Leo, "No wonder you look so smart."

"Eh? What's this? Shiba-kun, you want to become a Magic Artificer?" cried Mizuki, but Erika stood up from her chair before anyone could respond.

"Tatsuya," she said, pointing her finger at Leo, "Who the heck is this random guy?"

Leo frowned at her abruptness, "Wha..? Calling someone 'random guy' all of the sudden? Not to mention pointing? How rude! How absolutely rude! This must be why you're not popular!" He finished with a petty smirk.

"The hell?" cried Erika. She strode forward, leaning over the boy, "The rude one here is you! Don't get stuck up just 'cos you're slightly good-looking."

"Looks are very important, y'know," Leo answered immediately, rising to his feet and thrusting his face towards Erika's. When standing, he was at least a head taller than her, but she wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "Although I suppose someone as sloppy and wild as you wouldn't understand," he added smugly.

"What's with that slang?" shot Erika, scornfully, "That kind of stuff is from the wrong century. Get with the times!"

As Leo sputtered for words, Mizuki and Tatsuya intervened before the fight could escalate.

"Erika-chan, please stop. You went too far," said Mizuki.

At the same time, Tatsuya said, "Leo, just stop. You're both wrong and anymore arguing would be pointless."

After a moment of tense glaring, the two muttered their consent and turned their backs on one another, pouting, leaving Mizuki and Tatsuya in the middle of an awkward silence.

Soon, however, the first bell rung, and everyone returned to their seats and fired up their mobile terminals to ready themselves for the lesson. Five minutes later, however, along with the class bell, a woman unexpectedly walked in, wearing a suit. She had light brown hair, similar to Leo's that was tied back in a thick, low ponytail, leaving a few bangs to frame her face. Judging from her large breasts, she was unmistakably a woman, but her earnest brown eyes and petite, round face made her seem young enough to be a student.

Schools with online courses dispensed with having a teacher always in the classroom with students, instead only deploying them during special occasions; hence everyone's confusion when the woman who was obviously not a student nor clearly a part of the school faculty walked in and set up a large terminal on the podium in front of the class. Then, she surveyed the students and smiled, "It doesn't seem like anyone is absent."

Louder, she said, with a slight bow, "First of all, congratulations to everyone for entering the school." Most of the students returned the bow out of politeness, even though still confused. Leo even muttered a thank you, but Tatsuya could only frown at her strange behavior.

Firstly, there was no need for her to look around to verify attendance. The I.D.s that each student put into their terminal would record seating status in real time. Secondly, there was no need for her to have brought in that large terminal. The school was riddled with Consoles. The teacher's desk that she was standing in front of should already have one built into it. And thirdly, was she even school faculty? This school did not employ homeroom teachers, and especially wouldn't for the second course students. There wasn't anything specially planned for today that couldn't be covered by a video or online tutorial...

"It's nice to meet you all," the woman said, breaking Tatsuya out of his thoughts, "I'm the integration counselor for this school, Ono Haruka. I'm here to establish a mentoring relationship with each of you in case anyone feels the need for counseling in regards to specialized aspects of your course."

Hearing her explain it so clearly reminded Tatsuya that he actually had heard something along those lines. Tatsuya had written it off as something unnecessary, but the counseling system was actually one of the selling points of this school.

"There are sixteen such counselors in this school, paired female and male, and assigned to one class in each grade," the woman continued, "Yanagisawa-sensei and I will be your counselors." At this, she stopped talking and operated the console on the teacher's desk. After a moment, the upper body of a plain-looking man in is late thirties was projected in front of the class.

"Good to meet you," the man said, "I am your counselor Yanagisawa. Along with Ono-sensei, I will be in charge of looking after you. I hope we get along."

At this, Ono-sensei once again stepped forward, saying, "Counseling is available through terminals, so you won't have to come to us directly. Communication is done through quantum encryption and the reports are stored through standalone data banks, so everyone's privacy is secure." As she spoke, she lifted the large data bank book, which Tatsuya had mistaken for an over-sized terminal.

"The school will fully support you all, so that each of you can live a fulfilling life as a student," she paused, looking around the room seriously before letting out a wide smile and finishing lightly, "As such, everyone, let's work hard together."

With that, all the tension leaked out of the room, leaving behind a refreshed and healthy atmosphere. Tatsuya was impressed at her degree of emotion control despite looking like she had barely graduated. If one spoke to her one-on-one, it would be easy to end up saying more than intended. While that skill to a degree is important for a counselor, this one had enough in her to excel as a spy, even. Tatsuya would have to be careful around her, he thought as she gave a small bow to her bemused colleague and cut the connection.

She gave a small cough and then continued as if nothing had happened, "By now, the school curriculum and guides on the facilities should have been sent to your terminals. After that, you will register for your electives, and that will be the end of orientation. If there is anything you don't understand, please use the call button. Those who have already familiarized themselves with the curriculum and facilities can feel free to skip guidance and proceed straight to registration."

After noticing something on the teacher's terminal, she added, "For those of you who have already finished registration as well, it is fine to leave. However, you may not leave after guidance has started, so if you wish to leave, please do so now. If that is the case, please do not forget your I.D. card."

As if waiting for these words, the sound of a chair scraping across the floor echoed across the room. A slender, nervous-looking boy stood up in the front-row window seat. He bowed towards the teacher's desk and left without looking around at all. Everyone stared at him as he left, but they soon returned to their terminals. It didn't seem like anyone else was about to go and Tatsuya didn't want to risk taking on all of those stares, so he remained at his desk, wondering what he could do to kill some time. After a moment, Tatsuya sensed a glance and looked up.

The counselor was staring at him from the other side of the teacher's desk. Even as his eyes met hers, she didn't look away. Instead, she flashed him a small smile.

What was that?

As if sensing his thoughts, her smile broadened before disappearing before any other student could take notice of it. Tatsuya frowned. He was certain he had never met her before, so why? Whatever had just happened carried an exaggeratedly secretive air about it, but Tatsuya could think of no plausible explanation. Was she just trying to tell him to relax? Or was she trying to take away is composure? There was no way she came to this class to hit on the students... right?

Before he realized, everyone else who finished their registration had left, and he was only broken out of his thoughts when a voice asked, "Tatsuya, what are you going to do until lunch?"

When he lifted his head, he saw Leo sitting in his chair backwards just as he had been before, resting his chin on his arms. Since every desk is equipped with a terminal, it was no longer customary to eat in the classroom. Despite the advancements in waterproofing and dust-proofing technology, it would still be a problem if a whole cup of soup was poured over one. Instead, most students ate in the cafeteria, or on the roof, or clubroom, or in the courtyard.

"I had been planning to go look through the reference room catalog," began Tatsuya, about to decline, but when he saw Leo's dejected face at his words, he added, "But, ok, I'l accompany you. What are you going to look at?" Since Magic did not become a full-fledged curriculum until high school, most student's knowledge came from public cram schools if they had magical aptitude. However, as incoming students are unfamiliar with some specialized curriculums and more complicated magic courses, they had the option of observing some of these classes in the next couple of days to see what path they would like to take.

Leo smiled, saying enthusiastically, "Wanna go to the workshop?"

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, asking, "Not the arena?" Leo had more of a lively outdoors air about him, more suited to the arena than the workshop.

"Well, you're not wrong," he answered with a grin, "However, reinforcement magic produces the greatest effect when combined with a weapon, and I want to be able to maintain my own weapons as much as possible."

It made sense. Leo wanted to be a riot policeman or mountain corpsman, where would have ample opportunity to use simple weapons such as shields, batons, and other machinery, all of which are easily compatible with reinforcement magic. He seemed to have a greater grasp of what he is capable of than he looked.

From the seat next to him, Mizuki piped up suddenly, "Umm... If you're going to the workshop, why don't you come with us?"

"Shibata-san," asked Leo, "You're also going to the workshop?"

"Yes," she said, more quietly now that everyone was looking at her, "I also want to be a Magic Artificer."

"Ah, I see," said Leo, coolly ignoring Erika who was once again glaring at him. Finally, she could take it no longer.

She stood, pointing at Leo and saying, "However you look at it, you're far more suited to physical purposes. Go check out the arena."

Despite having kept his cool under her glare, Leo frowned and shot back immediately, "I don't want to be told that by a wild animal like you!"

"What was that?" cried Erika, once again towering over Leo, "You didn't hesitate in the slightest!"

"Stop it, both of you!" intervened Tatsuya with a sigh, trying to cut off the argument unfolding at breakneck speed, "You've only just met today, right?" To be able to argue like this having just met a while ago, their compatibility really was something. And even Tatsuya's words were not enough to cut the rising tension.

"Heh," said Erika, crossing her arms, "You must have been a bitter enemy from a past life."

Leo smirked up at her, "You were some wild bear ravaging the fields and I was the hunter hired to get rid of you."

Erika clenched her fists, ready to start something, but Mizuki stood up suddenly, clapping her hands loudly between the two. "Alright," she said loudly, unlike her usual disposition, "Let's go. We're wasting time." She walked between the two, forcing Erika to take a step back and headed towards the door.

Tatsuya stood as well, saying, "Yeah, if we don't hurry, we'll be the only ones left in the classroom." He followed Mizuki towards the door. With their rapid-fire argument finally interrupted, Erika and Leo glared daggers at each other for a moment before turning their backs on one another in a huff and following the other two out of the classroom.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

"Onii-sama..." began Miyuki, grasping on the hem of her brother's shirt and hiding her face behind her face.

"Don't apologize, Miyuki," Tatsuya said firmly, "You aren't at fault in the least."

Earlier, Tatsuya and company had returned early from observing the special classes and were able to snag one of the four-seat bench tables before the rush had filled the cafeteria. Tatsuya and Leo had sat on one side with the girls on the other side, and were halfway through their meal when Miyuki and several of her classmates had shown up. To Miyuki, there was no question as to whether she would sit with her own classmates or Tatsuya: no matter what, she would always prioritize her brother.

But, despite everyone only being freshmen, her Course One classmates thought it would be unfit for her to sit with a group of Course Two students. They ended up ordering Leo, who had already finished his meal, to vacate his seat so one of them could fit in with Miyuki, Tatsuya, and the other two girls. Erika and Leo, with their personality as it was, were on the verge of exploding, and even Mizuki joined in to protest. Tatsuya finished the last few bites of his meal and ended the situation by insisting Miyuki and her classmates use their table. He and the still-fuming trio left after Miyuki apologized to everyone involved.

Tatsuya thought it was fortunate that his first friends had been Erika, Mizuki, and Leo, as they contrasted nicely to his cynic and moody tendencies. However, he knew that, if there came a choice between a confrontation and backing down servilely, those three would tend toward the former. Even Mizuki, as surprising as it seemed, had chosen to protest at the Course 1 students' display of extreme arrogance in the lunchroom. Tatsuya could only hope that there would be no more instances like this, where Course 1 students tried to assert their dominance over them just because of the prejudice in this school. After all, they were all just freshman. There wasn't that much of a difference between them after just two days of school.

However, during afternoon classes, they once again got into a verbal spat with a group of Course 1 students. They had all gone to watch the Student Council President Saegusa Mayumi at the shooting range during her practical magic class. President Mayumi was a once-in-a-decade prodigy at long-range precision magic and had brought many trophies home for the school. Naturally, the freshmen had all heard of it and wanted to see for themselves her magic in action. It didn't hurt that rumors of her coquettish nature had also been circulating.

Their group had gradually made it to the front row, but, after a while, a group of Course 1 students came and demanded their spots. Tatsuya, not wanting to stand out, once again peacefully brokered the situation, and they left without anything major happening.

With that incident out of the way, Tatsuya only had a bad feeling. After all, bad things come in threes, don't they? And, sure enough, after school, yet another incident began escalating between Tatsuya's group and a group of Course 1 students.

He and the group had been waiting outside for Miyuki, as he and his sister always went home together. However, when Miyuki appeared, a flock of Course 1 students surrounded her. Tatsuya saw some familiar faces among them, recognizing them as the same ones from the lunchroom earlier. Miyuki made a beeline for her brother, but one of the students stopped her, asking her to walk home with them instead.

At this, Mizuki could not stay silent. "Won't you all stop being such poor losers?" She spat out caustically, "Miyuki said she wants to go with her brother! You have no right to tear these two apart!"

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow at her phrasing. "... Tear us apart?" he muttered under his breath.

Miyuki, having been the only one to hear her brother spoke up, "Mi-Mizuki, aren't you misunderstanding something?"

"Is something wrong, Miyuki?" asked Tatsuya, wondering why she seemed so rushed.

"Eh?" said Miyuki, still stammering, "N..nothing! It's nothing!"

After watching the pair of siblings with too good of a relationship, Mizuki and the rest only got more heated up.

"Hasn't Miyuki treated you guys well enough already?" continued Mizuki with sound logic, "If she wanted to go with you, she would have said so!"

"We've asked her!" proclaimed one of the guys around Miyuki.

A female student followed suit, saying, "That's right! We're sorry for Shiba-san, but we just want a little more time!"

Leo gave a derisive laugh, saying, "That's just self justification. Find a better time for it."

Erika joined in, for once, a united front with Leo, "If you really had asked, maybe you would have had her consent from the beginning. You're in high school already. You should know it's rude to ignore her intentions and force your own on her without consulting her or anything."

"Shut up!" cried one of the male students, the most vocal of the group. Tatsuya remembered seeing him in the lunch following Miyuki around as well as once before when he had first met the Student Council President. "Another class," continued the boy loudly, "much less Weeds, has no right to interfere in matters concerning us Blooms!"

In response to the petty use of the prohibited term for Course 2 students, Mizuki reacted with logic, "We are all just the same: freshmen. You are Blooms, as you say, but, right now, just how are you any better than us?" There was a moment of silence after her words rang out across the courtyard as they thought of something they could use to counter her logic.

Finally, the unofficial spokesperson of the Course 1 students said, "If you want to know just how much better, I'll show you!"

"Hah! Interesting!" cried Leo, aggressively, "Then, by all means, show us!"

"Then I will!" The boy pulled out a small, hand-gun shaped CAD, pointing it at Leo. Despite magic being prohibited outside of supervised classrooms by the school and off-campus by the law, there was no rule against carrying CAD's outside of school. Students who had one usually left theirs in the office during school and picked it back up as they were leaving, so it was not unusual for him to be carrying one as it was after school.

However, the CAD the boy had pulled out and thrust toward Leo was a specialized one, which were generally used to invoke a few aggressive combat magic sequences very quickly as opposed to general CADs which were used to store a lot of smaller magic sequences. Furthermore, the speed at which he pulled the CAD out and aimed it at Leo made it evident that the boy was accustomed to fights between magicians. Furthermore, he was most likely from the Morisaki family, famous for their quick-draws. This could get very ugly, very fast.

As if thinking the very same thing, as soon as she saw the specialized CAD, Miyuki cried out, "Onii-sama!" Tatsuya, as well, reached his hand out reflexively, but, before he could do anything, the situation had been resolved already. Erika, with a baton that had suddenly appeared from nowhere, had knocked the gun from the student's hands. She casually swung the baton around, smiling nonchalantly.

"At this distance," she said, "It's faster just to move your body."

"I agree," said Leo, a little reproachfully as he rubbed his hands that had just barely missed being smashed along with the gun, "But you were planning on whacking my hand as well, weren't you?"

"A~ra," said Erika with a smile, "I wouldn't do something like that."

"Don't laugh it off so unnaturally!"

Erika continued laughing lightly, her mouth hidden behind her hand. "I'm serious," she continued, "I could tell wether you were going to engage or not. You seem like an idiot, but your arm speaks otherwise."

For a moment, Leo was speechless. Then, "...Are you making fun of me? You're making fun of me right to my face?"

"That's why I said you look like an idiot, right?" answered Erika with another laugh. Forgetting the tense situation, the two engaged in another comical argument.

However, they let their guards down too soon, as another Course 1 student began typing a sequence into her CAD, a generalized one this time.

However, before the sequence could be deployed, a Psion bullet shattered the sequence and a voice they all knew cried out, "Stop right there! Using attack magic on others for any reason other than self-defense is not just a violation of the school rules! It's a criminal offense!"

The Student Council President strode up to the group and the student who had been intent of attacking Erika with magic fainted into another student. Even in this situation, however, Tatsuya did not feel much severity coming from the President as she surveyed the stand-off. Even so, her Psion aura that was far beyond the average magician gave her an inviolable sense of dignity.

Another student, wearing an armband identifying her as the Public Moral Chief - the student security team - Watanabe Mari, said forcefully, "You are students from class 1A and 1E, aren't you? I will hear you out. Come along." Her voice was hard and even, matching the calm and capable face framed by her short, pixie-cut hair. She had her CAD out, with its activation sequence already deployed. All she would have to do is supply the necessary Psions and her magic would be invoked. It was not hard to imagine what any form of resistance would lead to.

While everyone else froze in the atmosphere, Tatsuya slowly and evenly walked up to Mari, followed closely by Miyuki. She eyed them quizzically. To her, they had seemed like uninvolved parties. Tatsuya took her gaze without flinching and stopped a respectable distance in front of her.

"We're sorry," he said in his usual monotone, "The prank went to far."

Mari's eyebrows arched up in surprise. "Prank?"

"Yes," answered Tatsuya in the same tone of voice, "Morisaki's quick-draw is famed, so I asked him to give a little demonstration for future reference, but it became too lifelike and got out of hand."

The student in question's eyes widened in surprise and the other students were at a loss for words. However, Mari quietly surveyed the scene, giving the two students who had tried to illegally use their CAD's a bloodcurdling look. Finally, she turned back to Tatsuya with a cold smile, "Then why did that girl from 1A try to use magic?"

"She was taken by surprise. Being able to start up activation processes as a conditioned reflex is truly worthy of a course 1 student," Tatsuya answered without hesitation in a tone that bordered shameless, but still with a deadpan expression.

"Your friends were about to be attacked by magic, and yet you still call it a prank?"

"Even if you call it an attack," answered Tatsuya coolly, "all she intended to fire was a flash of blinding magic. It wasn't on a level where it would have caused blindness or impairment."

"Hoou," breathed Mari in grudging admiration, "It seems you're somehow able to read the activation sequence before it is deployed."

The activation sequence is a large block of data used for building a magic ritual. By looking at the shape of the ritual, it is possible to attempt a guess at what kind of effect a magic will have, but the activation sequence itself is just a massive chunk of data information. Most magicians only interact with it in the subconscious. The act of reading the sequence requires the enumeration of endless strings of data, then producing an image from those in the mind, thus making it practically impossible for a third-party to actively understand the sequence.

However, Tatsuya dismissed the insane skill nonchalantly, saying, "I'm not good at practical magic, but I'm confident in my analyses."

Mari gave Tatsuya a look that was something between an appraisal and a glare, saying, "You're misinformation skills are also quite something."

"As my brother said," added Miyuki, bowing without a hint of deceit, "This was all really just a misunderstanding. We are very sorry for bothering you all."

President Mayumi also took this time to chime in, "Mari, it's fine already." Turning to Tatsuya with a smile, she asked, "Tatsuya-kun, that really was just a demonstration, wasn't it?"

Tatsuya furrowed his brows slightly, wondering when she had started calling him by his first name, but was not about to refuse her timely help. He turned to Mari with the same deadpan face that hadn't slipped at all during this whole incident and nodded slightly.

Mayumi gave a somewhat triumphant smile and said to the whole group, "It is not prohibited for students to teach each other, but, in terms of executing magic, you are prohibited from using it. You will learn this in the first semester. In terms of self-study in magic, it is best to refrain from practicing."

"Since the President said so," Mari added gravely, "I will refrain this time. But I don't want there to be a second time." With that, the two gave a slight bow to the group and turned to leave. But, after one step, Mari turned back around to Tatsuya.

"Your name?" she asked.

"First year class E, Shiba Tatsuya."

"I'll remember that."

Holding back is tongue after he almost instinctively let slip a 'no problem', Tatsuya swallowed a sigh.

After the officials had gone out of sight, the student who had instigated the whole mess gave a thorny glare to Tatsuya and said, "Don't think I owe you anything."

Tatsuya coolly returned the boy's gaze saying, "I don't think that in the least, so don't worry. What got you off was not my glib tongue, but rather Miyuki's sincerity."

Miyuki stepped up next to her brother, explaining, "I came along because, even though Onii-sama is good at talking people down, he has problems convincing them."

"Indeed," agreed Tatsuya with a smile at his sister.

Seeing the warm banter between the siblings, the boy's hostility faded somewhat and he introduced himself, "As you thought, I'm from the Morisaki house. My name is Morisaki Shun."

In response to the unspoken question, Tatsuya replied, "It's not really a big deal. I've seen plenty practice examples of the Morisaki quick-draw in visual materials."

"Now that you mention it," interrupted Erika, smacking a fist on the palm of her hand as she realized something, "I think I've seen them before, too!"

Of course, Leo couldn't let that opportunity go to waste. "You only just remembered that now, didn't you," he said, "As I thought, Tatsuya's on a completely different level than you."

"How patronizing," she shot back, "An idiot who tried to grab a Houki in the midst of activation has no place talking about levels."

"Huh? Who are you calling an idiot, Idiot!"

"Umm..." said Mizuki nervously, "That really is dangerous. Psions produced by another magician's activation ritual would cause a rejection in your own subconscious..."

Erika smiled triumphantly, "What she said. Got it?"

"What you did was dangerous, too," protested Leo, "Just using the baton, you'd receive the interference 1000 fold!"

"It's fine. This is shielded," answered Erika, waving her baton in his face.

As they finally quieted down, Morisaki and Tatsuya shared a glance without moving.

"I still don't acknowledge you, Shiba Tatsuya," Morisaki said, "Shiba-san's place should be with us." Without waiting for a reply, Morisaki left, the other Course 1 students having already dispersed a while ago.

"Suddenly calling me by my full name, huh," called Tatsuya to the boy's retreating back. Morisaki stopped for a moment, but didn't turn around and ended up leaving without saying anything else.

Beside him, Miyuki was frowning slightly. She had always worried that her brother's knack for making enemies was a disadvantage for him. But, still, she had had enough of Morisaki's prejudices.

"Onii-sama," she said to her brother, "Shall we head back?"

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Tatsuya. He was tired from all of today's needless theatrics. "Leo, Chiba-san, Shibata-san, let's go."

However, two of the class A girls from earlier were still hanging around. One stood in front of them, fidgeting slightly before bowing to them.

"I'm Mitsui Honoka," she said earnestly, "I'm sorry for saying all those things earlier. Thank you for protecting me. Although Morisaki-kun waved it off, it's thanks to Onii-san that this didn't become a huge issue."

Looking at her slight figure and hearing her earnest words, Tatsuya felt rather uncomfortable. "It was nothing," he said, "Although, please stop with the Onii-san. We're both first-year students."

She stood up, several heads shorter than Tatsuya, a strange conviction burning in her violet eyes. Her light brown hair was parted in pigtails, giving her a younger appearance, like she was barely old enough to be in her first year of high school. "I understand," she said, "Then, what should I call you?"

"Tatsuya is fine."

"Alright. And so, um..." she stammered, glancing to and away Miyuki as if trying to tell her something.

"What is it?" Miyuki asked, not unkindly.

Finally, Honoka asked with determined conviction, "Is it alright to together with you to the station?"

Seeing no reason to refuse, they allowed her and her friend, Kitayama Shizuku to walk with them to the station.

For some reason, however, Honoka felt the need to walk right next to Tatsuya, on the other side from Miyuki. Choosing to ignore his slight discomfort from being in between the two of them, the three of them were conversing easily.

"Then," Honoka was saying, "The one who assists with your adjustments is Tatsuya-san?"

"Yes. I feel most at ease when entrusting everything to Onii-sama," answered Miyuki proudly.

Tatsuya felt they were going to get some sort of misunderstanding, so he elaborated, "I just do a little bit of rearranging. Miyuki has amazing processing ability so there's not much CAD maintenance required."

"Even so," chimed in Mizuki, who was walking next to Miyuki, "You have to really know the device OS to even do that much."

Tatsuya shook his head with a light smile. "I don't have the skill to access CAD core systems. That's too much."

"Tatsuya-kun," Erika called from the back where she was walking next to Leo. Since he had agreed to let Honoka call him that, she had decided she could as well, saying that everyone else could call her Erika, as well. Mizuki also insisted they use her name, so everything became official pretty fast. "Could you also look over my CAD?"

"Impossible," answered Tatsuya immediately, "I have no faith in my ability to handle such a specialized CAD."

"Ah ha," said Erika, "You really are quite something, Tatsuya-kun."

"Why?"

"You realized this was my CAD," she laughed as she twirled her baton around her finger with the small strap attached to the bottom.

"Eh?" cried Mizuki, her eyes widening in surprise, "That baton's a device?"

Erika gave two quick nods in satisfaction, saying, "Thank you for your normal reaction, Mizuki. If everyone had already noticed, I would have face-planted!"

"Where is the system built in?" asked Leo, "From the feel of it earlier, it's not totally hollow, is it?"

"No luck," answered Erika happily, "Apart from the handle, it's totally hollow. It increases strength by using carved seals on the alloy. It's activated when I inject Psions in it. Reinforcement magic is your thing, isn't it?"

"If you do that, wouldn't it bleed a lot of Psions? You'd run out of gas pretty often, wouldn't you? Carved seals aren't very efficient, which is why they aren't used as often these days."

At his answer, Erika's eyes widened as she said, "Oooh, your field indeed. But, there's one more thing. Strengthening is only needed during expansion and at the moment of impact. If I limit Psion emission to those points, I don't waste too much. It's the same principle as Helm Splitter, after all..." Noticing the air of shock and amazement, Erika trailed off. "What happened, guys?"

Miyuki answered on behalf of everyone, "Erika, I'm pretty sure something like the Helm Splitter was classified as a secret or mystery technique. Knowing the details about that is far more amazing than just emitting a large amount of Psions."

"Both Tatsuya-kun and Mizuki-san are amazing, and now Erika-chan's amazing, too," said Mizuki faintly, "Are normal people rare at our high school?"

At Mizuki's natural remark, Kitayama Shizuku, who had been silent until now said matter-of-factly, "I don't think there are any normal people at a magic high school." It was an extremely precise remark, and the group fell into silence until they reached the station where they said their goodbyes for the night.