Now we have the next chapter! Thanks for waiting and sticking around!

After the opening ceremonies, all the students were separated into their respective classes. Those who were "Blooms" were typically placed into classrooms with "A" while the "Weeds" were typically placed into classrooms with "E". Although the school dismisses the idea of "Blooms" and "Weeds" in public, the classrooms were separated at different ends of the school building. While this may have been a mere coincidence, there are strong suspicions that favoritism already exists within the school itself.

However, such matters appeared to be trivial to all the students, who seemed to have more or less resigned to "keeping to the status quo".

In the classroom of 1-E, several of the students were excited about entering a new year at such a prestigious school. Many of the existing students were either gathered together with their friends, or sat by themselves divulging in a book or checking the online records.

Tatsuya was sitting at his desk when Erika and Mizuki gathered next to him.

"Hey! Looks like we're in the same class!" The more outgoing of the two raised a hand to greet him while giving a smile. Her friend gave a polite bow instead.

"Seems so." Tatsuya replied.

"Hey, you have any plans after class today?"

"I thought I would just look over our options for the rest of the day. Depending on what First High has to offer for the first year students, I may just leave later on."

"Right, you have that younger sister of yours that you need to take care of…"

"You mean that girl who was the freshman representative this morning, right?"

The three of them turned their attention to the student sitting in the desk in front of Tatsuya. It was a young man who had a fairly "wild" hairstyle and a fairly broad build. While he wasn't exactly bad on the eyes, he seemed to be more like one of those "jock" or "brawn" type guys who didn't seem to care too much attention to their appearance.

"Sorry about that," he continued as he forgot introductions. "My name is Saijou Leonhart. But I don't mind if you call me Leo instead."

"Waaa… saying to act familiar with someone they just met…" Erika replied in an uninterested tone. "You must be a pretty lonely guy…"

Leo glared. "Shut up. It's nothing like that."

"Then why did you decide to speak to Tatsuya all of a sudden?"

"How come you seem so familiar with this guy when you just met?"

"We already met in the auditorium you idiot. We didn't need to try and force our friendship onto others either…"

"I'm telling you, it's not like that…"

A small line of sparks could be seen from their eyes as they continued to bicker back and forth. At that moment, Tatsuya recalled something else.

"By the way," he asked Mizuki, who turned to him in response. "Wasn't there one more in your group?"

"Ah, you mean Kaito, right? He's sitting in the back." The young girl with glasses pointed to the student with slightly tan skin, who was yawning as he seemed to have planned on taking a nap instead of focusing on the class.

"I see."

The bell rang to signal the entire class to take their seats. The door opened up as a young woman who had a mature look and her hair braided from the back, appeared at the front. This confused many of the students.

"Huh? Why is there a teacher here?"

"Isn't this supposed to be the class for 'Course 2'?"

"Then why…"

Although the term "class" was used, the Course 2 classrooms weren't supposed to have actual instructors teach them. Instead, the classes and lessons were done online and were actually more like "self-study". An instructor would occasionally come once in a while, but it is mostly to check up on the students and gather any papers and/or tests that needed to be turned in.

"Good morning everyone," the instructor spoke after everyone stopped whispering."My name is Haruka Ono, but you may all just call me Haruka-sensei or Ono-sensei." She gave a smile as she continued. "I have come here to inform you all that I am one of the many guidance counselors who are available to both Course 1 and Course 2.

Here at First High, we strive to help all of you succeed in your studies and in preparing for the future. That is why if any of you have any problems or concerns, we encourage you to come to us for advice, support, or even to have someone to talk to. We hope you all keep this in mind as you enjoy the first year here."

After giving a small bow, she left the room with a hint of allurement. Most of the students (mostly the guys) were excitedly talking about what just happened and the things they just heard. Tatsuya was not one of them, and simply went to check the schedule.

While it was an encouraging speech, there was no way to tell if it was the counselor's honest thoughts, or whether it was a speech to derive the students from negative thoughts. Either way, there was no need to dwell on it too much.

Miyuki had just entered the classroom marked "1-A". Her mere appearance had drawn the attention of practically everyone already in the classroom, both men and women alike. Their gazes were just slightly uncomfortable, but the young maiden had no problem ignoring them and going straight to her assigned seat.

"Hello there Miyuki-san."

Miyuki turned to see a white-haired boy with girlish features raising a hand to greet her.

"Etsu…san…"

"It's been a while since we last saw each other. You both doing fine?"

"Yes. Onii-sama and I have been quite well. What about you?"

"Oh, I've just been the same…you know…" Etsu's began to look slightly depressed. "I'm feeling just a bit more worthless each day… but otherwise, I guess I'm okay…"

"I see…" Miyuki gave a small sigh when another student came up to her.

"Yo! You're Shiba Miyuki, right?" The student who spoke was a young girl with green eyes and wavy black hair that seemed to extend just below her shoulders.

"Yes…"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aizawa Riko. Hope you don't mind if we became friends…" She extended a hand out to the young beauty, who gave her own hand to complete the handshake. As they shook, Miyuki noticed the bracelet hidden beneath the sleeves of her uniform.

"That's a nice bracelet you have there…"

The bracelet appeared to have been made of a rare metal, as it had a golden reflective surface. It had a rectangular-shape to it that seemed to have been no more than a couple inches in width. There didn't seem to be any unique patterns on it, but the slight scratches among the smooth surface hinted that this object was well cared for.

"Hmm? Oh this…" He held up her arm so that Miyuki was able to get just a slightly better from inside her sleeves. "Yeah, it was a gift from my dad. It's one of my most treasured things."

"I see. You must love him very much."

"Eh, he's a bit overprotective with me, and we had to move a lot before finally settling here. But I do think that this was a neat gift he gave me. What about you? How's the relationship with your dad?"

Miyuki's face stiffened. She was tempted to lash out verbally against her father, but she kept it in and simply kept silent. Riko seemed to have noticed as she gave an observant look.

"Nevermind, it seem like you have your own problems too…"

"Ah, that's…"

A young brown-haired girl with pigtails was watching the trio that just gathered together in the seat diagonally behind her on her right about two seats down. She felt a tap on her shoulder from the girl next to her, who just happened to be her best friend.

"Hey Honoka, it's your chance to try and make friends with your favorite idol…" the girl joked with a very "plain"-sounding voice.

"W-What are you talking about Shizuku? She's not my favorite idol!"

"Sorry, I suppose you wanted me to say your first love instead…"

"Shizuku!"

Although Shizuku didn't seem to show much emotion in her words, the meaning behind them were still clearly conveyed somehow. In this case, Shizuku was lightly teasing Honoka.

"But still, Miyuki is someone that you're really interested in, right?"

"That's true," The brown-haired girl was calmer as she continued. "After all, it's no surprise that she became the freshman representative as she had top results in nearly every entrance exam here. That, along with the way her magic seems so powerful, it would be surprising if you didn't find her amazing…"

"She has a brother, doesn't she?"

"Yes. I know that Miyuki's magic was very strong, but after seeing her brother perform…" She had a dazed look on her face. "I fell in love how his magic was used so beautifully. No extra psions used, no step was wasted, it was just perfect…"

Magic is used through manipulating Psions and Eidos. While only magicians were the able to see psions and eidos, like art, there were many different kinds of "appearances" for each "magic", just as there are notable differences between each artist's techniques when painting the same thing.

"Honoka…are you falling in love?"

"N-No! That's not it at all!" the girl waved her hands in a "shooing" motion, as if to knock the idea away.

"Well, maybe you would like to try and be friends with Miyuki before class begins…"

"R-Right! I'll go do that!"

She got up from her desk and went over to meet with the goddess-like being who was smiling as she spoke with the other two. Just before she got close enough to speak, Honoka, who was nervously thinking to herself, tripped over her own foot and fell flat on the floor right in front of the white-haired boy.

"Ow…ow ow ow…" she rubbed her nose as she felt very embarrassed for what just happened. At that moment, she saw the white-haired boy kneel down with a hand stretched out.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…"

She took his hand and he helped her up before letting go. Honoka noticed Miyuki looking at her, and felt her face heat up as she buried her hands in her face while she felt like she wanted to die at that moment. Embarrassing herself in front of the one person she hoped she wouldn't, she expected Miyuki to try and ignore her existence for the rest of the week.

"Excuse me…"

She removed her hands to see Miyuki giving a gentle smile. Not what she expected…

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-Yes! I'm perfectly fine!"

"I see…"

She glanced down at Honoka's uniform, which had some dust and dirt from the fall earlier. She held up her hand as a magic sequence began to activate. The group watched as the dirt and dust from Honoka's uniform had suddenly fell off and disappeared.

Honoka and Riko had openly shown their surprise while Etsu and Shizuku simply gave an interested look. After Miyuki finished, she gave a brighter smile to Honoka.

"There, that should be better…"

"U-Um…Thank you very much…"

Honoka was happy as she managed to get at least a little bit closer to Miyuki. But before they could make any further progress, the bell rang, signaling the students to head back to their seats.

As the lesson progressed, Honoka couldn't stop smiling widely throughout the entire lesson…

"Well, that was a pretty interesting class today…"

Tatsuya, Erika, Mizuki, Leo, and Kaito were all sitting together at the same table for lunch.

Earlier, they all managed to have a lesson on the origins of magic, how magic occurs, and their many uses (which overall would be considered more of a "review" than a "lesson"). They were taking lunch, but afterwards they were allowed to continue with their lessons, see some options about their future, or simply leave ignore classes for the rest of the day.

"They probably want to see if we could remember everything from the last couple of years." Erika pointed her fork at Leo as she spoke. "Of course, I wonder if a muscle-head like you would be able to remember anything that long…"

"Stop treating me likes an idiot! I might not be a genius, but I can still remember that much!"

"Oh really? Let's have a pop quiz to check…"

"Erika…please stop that…" Mizuki was acting as mediator while the two continued to bicker. Tatsuya and Kaito were eating silently while pretending to ignore the argument.

"By the way Tatsuya" Kaito said. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I was thinking about checking on my sister before going to the rest of the lessons."

"Eh? But you're pretty set on being a Magic Engineer, right?"

Skilled magicians in Japan are usually divided into three different groups. Government-afflicted, Engineering, or other. Typically, most magicians like those in Course 1, who are skilled in any kind of magic, are chosen or choose to work as government officials. Magicians were initially made as "human weapons", so they would usually be placed into either information-gathering groups, or fighting groups. While the risks are fairly high, the pay was quite good.

Engineering is usually meant to improve a magician's magic usage, discover any other ways to utilize magic, and to mass produce and maintain CADs. These are less dangerous than the first alternative, but nevertheless, it is still important.

The final option would be for a magician to try and find their own way of living. This route doesn't necessarily require magic, but it would be considered more of a gamble since a magician's choice in magic-related life is fairly limited.

"That's true, but I'm interested in seeing the resources that First High is able to offer in taking the next step. 'Luck favors the prepared' after all…"

"Somehow, I feel like you might be trying to be a bit of a smartass…"

"I didn't intend on such a thing. I'm sorry about that."

"Nah, its fine. I didn't really mean to sound like a jerk either…"

"Onii-sama!"

The group turned to see Miyuki walking over towards them happily. Following her were two more people. A white-haired young boy and a young girl with wavy black hair, both were wearing a face that seemed to show indifference even as they got closer to the group of "Course 2" students.

"Onii-sama, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting…"

"It's not a problem Miyuki. I hope everything went well?"

"Of course!"

"Tatsuya, nice to see you again…"

The white-haired boy raised a hand to give a casual greeting to the young man who was with his sister.

"Etsu. It's quite surprising to see you here."

"Yeah, apparently my parents decided to send me here while they worked overseas, so I was pretty surprised to see you both here."

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I didn't expect to meet up with someone familiar so soon…"

"Errr…Tatsuya?" Leo interrupted. "I think you should probably fill us in here…"

"Sorry about that." Tatsuya held a hand up to Etsu. "This is Etsu. He's a relative of mine and Miyuki. We last saw each other about…seven years ago, I think?"

"Yeah, a lot happened since then…a lot of things happened…" Etsu sighed. "But that's not important. It was nice to see Tatsu-nii again…"

"Tatsu-nii?" several members of the group gave a surprised reaction to this sudden change. Tatsuya simply smiled while Miyuki's face went slightly sour for a brief moment.

"It was a nickname he gave me a long time ago. To be honest, I was hoping that he would have stopped using it."

"I don't know," Etsu gave a doubtful response. "It's been seven years, but I still remember stuff like it was yesterday…"

"Ahem!"

The girl with wavy black hair had given a small cough to remind the others about her presence.

"Miyuki, you mind introducing me to the group here?"

"Ah, I'm sorry about that. This is Aizawa Riko. She's in the same class as myself and Etsu."

"Nice to meet you guys." Riko greeted the group in a very casual manner. "I hope you don't mind if we join you for lunch…"

"Are you sure about this?" Mizuki asked, referring to the difference in their uniforms. Most of the Course 1 students would commonly frown upon Course 2 students.

"Of course. I'm not really against the whole 'Bloom' and 'Weed' thing, but it's not like I really think it's a big deal either. We're all students here, right?

"That's true…"

"Miyuki-san…"

Turning to the source of the voice, the first group saw another group of Course 1 students gathered together near Miyuki, Etsu, and Riko. The one who spoke seemed to have been the light-brown haired boy who also seemed to have been the leader of the group.

"Miyuki-san, let's all go get lunch together."

Miyuki gave a small bow.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not really interested in leaving this table."

"Huh? But isn't it being taken by a bunch of Weeds?"

Leo, Kaito, and Erika glared at the group in response to the inappropriate term.

"I'm very sorry about this…"

"Oh, I see…" the boy nodded as he seemed to have understood something. "You just wanted to sit here instead of somewhere else." He gave an arrogant smile as he spoke to the group at the table. "Hey Weeds, get out of this table!"

"What the hell do you mean?!" Erika responded. "We got to this table first! Just wait your turns like everyone else!"

"What are you talking about? We're Blooms! We have the right to take over the spots that you reserves keep warm for us!"

"What was that?!"

"C'mon. You Weeds should be grateful that we Blooms are even talking your spots at all! A Weed is a loser who's just supposed to act as reserve anyways, so it's a good chance to understand what your futures are going to be like!"

It was true that Blooms are given priority and Weeds were considered reserves. However this only applied to school rankings and to fulfill the school's quota. Yet, it seems that the idea of "superiority" and "inferiority" had somehow adopted itself into the student's thinking.

"Why you…"

"Miyuki…"

Tatsuya had grabbed his near empty tray and left his seat.

"I'm already finished with lunch, so I will see you after school today."

"Alright then, Onii-sama…"

Leo, Mizuki, Erika, and Kaito all followed Tatsuya's lead, taking their own trays and leaving Miyuki, Etsu, and Riko with the rest of the Course 1 students. As they left, the three of them seemed to have slightly guilty looks on their faces, but these faces seemed to have gone unnoticed by the group that suddenly forced their way into them, save for two students, one whom they had met in the classroom just before class had began.

"Just get outta here!"

Afterschool, Tatsuya's group and Miyuki's group had gathered to walk back towards the terminals that would send each of them back home. The group of Course 1 students were following Miyuki like a large group of fans, and seemed to have demanded that Tatsuya's group leave. This led to a continuation of lunch, where Erika, Leo, and Kaito were acting like guards to Miyuki, who retreated back to her brother's side.

"You guys got some nerve telling us what to do when you're first-years like us!" Kaito was lashing out at the group of Course 1 students, several who looked at him with disgust as if he were a diseased animal.

"You Weeds don't seem to understand your place here! Miyuki-san should be staying with us Blooms!"

"That's right!"

"You got a problem with that?"

"Can't you guys see that Miyuki just wants to leave with her own brother?" Erika interjected. "She obviously doesn't want to be involved with you guys right now!"

The boy with light-brown hair made gestures like someone attempting to win a case in court as he spoke. "Miyuki-san has the right to do what she wants. However we all just want to get to know her better! That's all!"

"That's fine if she didn't mind, but she's obviously bothered by the fact that you people can't just leave her alone!"

"Onii-sama…"

"Don't say anything Miyuki. It's not your fault that this is happening…"

Tatsuya gave some comfort to Miyuki, who seemed apologetic to an accident that she felt responsible for.

"Besides, you people already spend a lot of time with her in class and at lunch. What's the problem with waiting for a day?"

"Shut up!" one of the Course 1 students shouted out. "You Weeds don't get to tell us Blooms what to do! We're superior than you in every way!"

"Maybe in some magic aspects," Kaito smirked. "But some of you can't say that in the looks department…"

The atmosphere quickly grew intense. The light-brown haired boy's face turned from rage to a crazed smile.

"Oh really? Why don't I just show you how superior we Blooms really are?"

His voice was calm, but there was an obvious anger coming from it. He reached into his pocket and took out a pistol-shaped object which activated a magic circle. Leo began to run towards the boy, but about halfway there, Erika had somehow sped instantly right in front of the boy and knocked the object right out of his hand.

"It's a lot faster to just interrupt the sequencing step instead…" She gave a confident smile as Leo crossed his arms.

"I'll admit that was a pretty good technique, but wasn't that a bit too close towards me as well?"

"Oh? I was sure you'd be able to handle something if I made just a small mistake…"

"Why you…"

Before the duo could go any further, the rest of the group of Course 1 students had suddenly activated their CADs and prepared to fire magic at Tatsuya's group.

"Onii-sama!"

Tatsuya held an arm up in front of Miyuki. He shifted his head to the side as incoming magic had suddenly knocked into a CAD, interrupting the magic sequence and nullifying the magic altogether.

"Hey! What are you guys doing in school grounds?!"

Three people ran over to check on the situation. One of them was a tall young woman with short black hair and a red band around her arm that seemed to hint at a disciplinary-like group. Another was a young man with spiky black hair and bangs at the front of his head. The third was Saegusa Mayumi, whom Tatsuya had met earlier that morning.

"Using magic to injure other people on purpose is serious violation to the rules! You better have a good explanation for all this when we take you down for questioning!"

All the students there were either worried, frustrated, or seemed annoyed by this sudden turn of events. However Tatsuya had suddenly walked up to the girl with the band (who was also the one shouting) and gave a slight bow before talking.

"Excuse me, I feel like I should apologize for letting the demonstration get out of hand…,"

"Demonstration?" the short-haired girl asked suspiciously.

"Yes. I was interested in seeing how the Morisaki family's 'Quick-Draw' technique worked, so I had asked for a brief demonstration. However the whole thing seemed to have become too life-like, and some of the students here, who had accidentally misunderstood the situation, decided to act in self-defense."

"Are you sure about that? I'm pretty doubtful about what you just said…"

"The girl whose magic was interrupted, was planning on using a flash spell in order to try and diffuse the situation. While somewhat dangerous for the eyes, it wouldn't have caused any injuries either physical or mental. I hardly believe that that would be under the lines of 'using magic with ill-intent'"

"Oh? Seems like you're good at distinguishing magic as well as manipulating words…"

"I'm not very skilled in magic much myself, but I'm quite confident in my eyes…"

The short-haired woman still seemed suspicious of Tatsuya, but she held her tongue as she couldn't deny what he said.

"Now now Mari…" Mayumi suddenly got in-between the both of them. "It seems like Tatsuya was able to explain everything that happened, and it looks like he's not going to complain, so let's just leave it at that…"

Mari sighed. "Fine, since you're the Student President…"

"Thank you Mari!" Mayumi turned to Tatsuya with a smile. "I hope we will be able to meet again…"

The group of three left, leaving the rest of them to grumble or quietly put away their CADs while adjusting their uniforms. Tatsuya was left with a small sigh.

The fact that the Student President would support his excuse meant that she wanted something in return. Based on what he heard, it probably was going to be troublesome for him later.

"Hey you, Weed…"

He turned to see the light-brown haired boy (whom he identified as part of the Morisaki family) frowning at him.

"I'm not going to thank you for what you just did there."

"It's alright. I didn't expect thanks in the first place…"

That was definitely not a lie. Being questioned by the student council might draw too much attention on the first day, and that was something he didn't want from the get-go.

"My name is Morisaki Shun, like you guessed. But I refuse to accept a damn Weed like you. Miyuki-san should be around Blooms like us!"

Shun had turned and left the scene, along with the rest of the group, who scowled at Tatsuya's group as they left.

"Onii-sama…"

Miyuki went to her brother and the rest of her new friends with an apologetic look. Just before Tatsuya was about to calm Miyuki…"

"Um…"

The girl whose magic was interrupted was standing near the siblings. She suddenly gave a bow to them.

"Thank you for helping me out!"

The girl did intend on using a flash spell in an attempt to calm the group. However most people would have probably thought she was lying, or jump to conclusions, instead of listening to her. Tatsuya, who was most likely considered a victim, was able to see her spell process and clear any doubts.

"It's no problem. You did have good intentions after all…"

"I'm Mitsui Honoka. This is Kitayama Shizuku."

"Hello." The girl next to Honoka greeted.

"I'm Shiba Tatsuya. And you know Shiba Miyuki"

"Right! We're in the same class!" She paused. "Um… if it's not too much trouble, can we join you on the way to the terminal?"

"Hm?"

Magic for Dummies! (Lesson 3 – The Eight plus Three basic types of magic)

The usual setting with the chalkboard with "8+3 Types" written on it, and Shiro, Riko, and Leo at the front as the leading figures.

Shiro: "Soryaaa!"

Shiro makes a throwing movement as a truck suddenly launches itself towards Leo, who crosses his arms as the truck suddenly hits Leo and crumbles before turning over and falling off-stage.

Leo: "What the hell man! What was that for?!"

Shiro: "A brief demonstration of what we're teaching today…"

Leo: "But I could have been seriously injured! What if I had to leave?"

Shiro: "It's fine. We're all pretty much immortal in this segment anyways…"

Leo: "You don't get it!"

Riko: "If the two of you are done joking around, you mind if we get to the important matter in hand?"

Leo: "But…I wasn't…"

Shiro: "Fine…"

Shiro snaps his fingers and a teaching baton appears in his hand.

Shiro: "So then, the Eight plus Three basic types of magic…"

Leo: "The Eleven basic types of magic?"

Shiro: "No, the Eight plus Three…"

Leo: "Yeah. Eight plus Three is eleven, so the Eleven…"

Riko: "No. Eight and three does make eleven, but that's not the case here…"

Leo: "Huh?"

Shiro: "Listen. There are four branches of classifications of modern magic, along with about two types per branch. The result is eight basic types of modern magic."

Leo: "Ok, I guess it makes sense so far…"

Shiro: "The eight types are

Acceleration - making an object speed in a certain direction,

Aggravation – a spell that puts pressure on an object,

Movement – similar to Acceleration but no intended direction and the fastest setting possible,

Oscillation – Repetition and Vibration,

Convergence – Focusing in a particular area,

Diffusion – manipulating atoms ions and molecules, usually to adjust temperature,

Emission – Discharging energy,

and Absorption – controlling how much elements and objects reacts."

Leo: "So that's eight. But then that doesn't explain…"

Riko: "However, there are three exceptions to these branches that are generalized classifications. Perception, Irregular, and Other."

Leo: "You mean Other and Irregular are different?"

Riko: "Irregular magic does not manipulate events, like the original eight. But it is still more specific than Other because it manipulate Psions directly. For example, magic that negates other magic is considered irregular since they directly affect the psions themselves instead of countering the events that occur."

Leo: "I see. Then the truck thing from earlier…"

Shiro: "That was to demonstrate Movement and Diffusion. Movement made the car rush, and Diffusion was used for your fortifying magic."

Leo: "Then the reason it's Eight plus three…."

Riko: "Because we have Eight main branches, and Three side branches"

Leo: "Now it starts to make sense…"

Riko: "Well hate to cut things short, but that's the only stuff we have today…"

Leo: "Eh? That's it?!"

Shiro: "Yeah, pretty much. So then…"

Shiro and Riko are waving goodbye as Leo looks around in disbelief.

""See you later""

"Huh? Wait…what?!"

Well, another chapter come and gone. Hopefully next won't take too long...