Reiji felt the barrage of a million drops assault his skin.

Pain ripped through his body again, with the worst of it concentrated in his eyes. His body convulsed, shoulders shaking. It took all he had to simply stand up, one hand on the wall to support himself, and his other pressed tightly to his eyes. He grit his teeth as another wave of pain shot through his head.

Damn.

He had overexerted himself.

Again.

He thought he had gotten better, but apparently not.

He stood in the shower for another ten minutes, letting the scalding water wash over his face and body. After what felt like an eternity, the pain in his eye began to ebb. He turned off the shower, and let the dampness drip off of his body. He stepped out and towelled himself off, then slipped back into his school uniform, the four petal emblem of Second High School adorning his chest.

"See you later Cho."

After waving to her classmates, Cho turned back to her desk to collect her things. Wheeling herself away from the desk, she picked up her school bag hanging off the side of her desk, and placed her books and notepads inside. In an age where everything could be done with a computer or terminal, pencil and paper were obsolete tools, but she preferred writing things down rather than typing.

She reached for her pencil but her wheelchair bumped into her desk, knocking it off.

Cho sighed and maneuvered her wheelchair into a position where she could pick it up. Leaning over, she strained her arms but her fingers barely brushed it. A bigger hand came besides hers and picked it up, and and placed it her own.

"Here, I think you dropped this."

Cho looked up; blank eyes stared back - or rather stared through her. The owner of the face held her gaze at her for a few seconds before looking away, discomfort evident in his posture. His height was slightly above average for Japanese standards, and the body beneath the uniform suggested a lean, but well-built figure. The pale, blank eyes were almost completely obscured by his long bangs, only peeking through when his hair swayed from his movement.

His figure was a sharp contrast to that of her own, with a slender figure that could be called almost frail. Her hair was pulled back in a small ponytail, bangs coming just down to her eyebrows. Reiji had once told her her eyes were bright. 'Like diamonds' were his exact words. She didn't think he could actually tell given his condition, but she still took the words to heart.

She giggled for a moment before catching herself. For as long as she knew him, Reiji had always felt uncomfortable in nearly every situation he found himself in, but she could tell that he was slightly less around her. Because of his situation, he had had trouble making friends in junior high; blindness was something that wasn't common, and so maybe that was what made them become friends so easily.

The cripple and the blind.

It used to be that she would be his eyes and he would push her around, but ever since he had regained his "sight", it was mostly him taking care of her.

She caught sight of a bright red spot in his left eye when he turned. Another hemorrhage caused by his practice. Cho frowned.

"You did it again? How many times have I told you? You can't keep forcing yourself like that! You're going to burn yourself out doing that. I've told you before, using incompatible magic will cause a backlash for your MCA (Magic Calculation Area)!"

Despite his blindness, Reiji was an excellent magic technician, able to use a wide variety of magic. However, she knew that any magic that was too complex caused him severe pain, several times causing him to pass out.

She knew his MCA was powerful, but from what she could tell by looking his magic, whenever he felt the pain it seemed like his MCA was rejecting the spell. She once remembered him describing the sensation as forcing the magic through his system.

Reiji took her school bag and slung it over his shoulder; he shrugged in response to her question.

"I can't improve if I don't push myself. Besides, I have you to take care of me if anything happens. Are you ready to go?"

She stared at him for a few moments before sighing and shaking her head.

"Dummy."

Reiji smiled softly as he took his place at the handles of her wheelchair, and together the two left the classroom. The hallways were still rather busy, with students talking in clumps, some leaving to go to club activities and others getting ready to face the cold walk to the bus stop.

The two stepped outside of the school doors and into the blustering chill of winter. Cho shuddered and involuntarily pulled her jacket closer around herself. She pulled out her CAD and activated a quick sequence she had stored specifically for winter, and the temperature in the small radius around her increased moderately. She could feel Reiji relax at the handlebars as the wave of heat encompassed him.

The two traveled in silence for most of today's walk. It was a trip the two had repeated over the years. Seasons changed and so did they, but the two had grown accustomed to the other's presence. Some days Cho would talk, and he would listen, or if he was feeling particularly chatty, the roles would be reversed, though that wasn't often.

"Hey, Reiji."

"Hm?"

"What do you think about the incident at the Thesis Competition?"

"Yokohama? It's all the school can talk about. No wonder, it's an international fiasco."

Cho clutched the hem of her dress in her hands.

"I'm just glad that no one from our school was seriously injured. The only thing I could think of was how easily it could have been Kyoto instead of Yokohama."

Reiji involuntarily tightened his grip on Cho's wheelchair. Yokohama. The reason for the changes in all the magic high schools recently. Nishinomiya was less than 40 miles away from the Kyoto branch of the International Magic Association. It had been a few weeks since the attack and what people were starting to call "Scorched Halloween". He was sure the surrounding area was still in disarray, maybe even Tokyo. He did know that First High had temporarily suspended school, but they had resumed recently.

He and Cho hadn't gone down to Yokohama for the Thesis Competition, but since next year, it would be held at the Kyoto branch, they would probably be in attendance. If such an attack were to happen…

"The sky is particularly beautiful today."

Reiji's raised a single eyebrow.

"...Can you describe it to me?"

A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"The sun burns bright, a lone candle in a dark room. It's rays streak the sky dashes of color in the darkness, and the hills glow with gentle light. Scattered throughout the open air are clouds, wisps in the air lazily moving across the breeze. The snowflakes are dancing in the wind, a waltz that is unpredictable, frantic at times, yet calming at sight of another sunset brings on waves of nostalgia of another time long gone...can you see it, Reiji?"

Her wheelchair stopped moving. A sad smile graced her delicate features.

Reiji straightened his back and looked up to the sky. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. The wind played with his bangs, momentarily revealing sightless eyes.

Somiya Hirokazu stood in front of his house.

After being discharged, he realized that no one would be waiting to pick him up, which meant he had no way of getting back to his house. He was about to hail a cab, and then he realized that he didn't even know his home address.

Amnesia...

He had hoped the voice in his head would share some more information, but it had been silent for the past few days.

...and I am going crazy.

What was he thinking, relying on a voice inside his head? He hoped he wasn't schizophrenic, but at this point, he didn't really know much of anything about himself, or who he was before that night. He had no choice but to go inside and ask a receptionist if they could pull up his information. Thankfully, the hospital staff were rather friendly, and after a few minutes, he was on his way back home.

Home.

Could he even really call this place "home"? And where were his parents? They should have been notified, so how come he hadn't even received a phone call or message?

There was no choice really, so this was the one place he could stay until he could sort things out. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, as he walked up to the front door. He distinctly remembered EMS breaking down his door to get in, but it would seem repairs were already completed. He reached down into his pocket and grabbed the house keys. Apparently this and several other items had been in his possession when he was taken.

Opening the front door he walked in; he took off his shoes at the front and entered the living room. Come to think of it, this was his first time seeing the rest of his house after finding himself on the floor of the living room. Everything was as he remembered from that night; the coffee table and chairs in the center, television on the wall. However, it would appear that someone had cleaned up the place, as the floor was spotless. He was surprised that in addition to the door, someone had come in to clean the place as well.

He walked around the house, getting his bearings. As he moved from room to room, bits and pieces of memory fell into place. It was his first time seeing everything, but somehow everything was familiar. He somehow ended up in his bedroom; he sat down on the edge of the bed.

He recalled Z's words. A compartment.

He turned to the dresser next to the bed, then pulled open the top drawer.

It was empty except for a single terminal that didn't seem to be on. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. It looked familiar, but it didn't give him the same level of comfort that he experienced as he had walked through the rest of the house.

He placed the terminal back in the drawer and closed it, before a wave of sudden exhaustion hit him.

A nap would be nice…

[...Hey!...Hello?...Yo, sleepyhead get up!]

A familiar voice caused Hirokazu to stir and wake. Groggily, he opened one eye, coming face to face with himself.

"Gwah!"

Hirokazu jumped fully awake, nearly falling off of his bed and onto the-

Looks like he was back.

He got out of his bed and took stock of his surroundings again. Z got up from his crouching position besides Hirokazu's bedside and walked away from him.

The space he had first met Z - his subconscious - was still a deep black, but there were several significant changes since his last visit. Firstly, and most obviously, was the appearance of furniture. Hirokazu examined where he had gotten up from, the bed he had fallen asleep in. It seemed to be tangible enough, compressing when he pushed down on the mattress. Even the sheets were still warm from when he had been lying in it.

This place keeps getting weirder and weirder…

[Care to join me?]

Hirokazu turned to look; Z was making himself comfortable, seated in one of the chairs surrounding the coffee table that had appeared. He sipped from a mug that had been sitting on the table.

Cautiously Hirokazu made his way over to the table and sat across from his doppelganger. The two simply sat in silence for what felt like a few minutes. Z put his mug down and folded his hands neatly on his lap.

[Told you we would meet again. I see you've managed to get out of the hospital without too much trouble. Though I do hope you can remember our address this time.]

"Why am I back here? How did I get back here anyway?"

Z made a series of 'tsk' sounds at the barrage of questions.

[I told you, I'm not sure how this world works, just that you'll occasionally fall in here. Not that I'm too disappointed. It was getting quite lonely in here by myself. Also, the compartment?]

"Still can't remember what it is, but it should be alright. Now can I leave? I have things to do and besides, it's not normal to keep talking to yourself."

Z burst out laughing.

[Normal? How do you know what's normal and not? No matter. You'll remember eventually...]

His eyes narrowed.

[...and believe me, it is in your best interest to make sure that no one finds what is in there.]

"How am I supposed to check? I don't even know what it is!]

Z sighed.

[I suppose it was too much to hope your memories would come back in less than a week…]

"If you want me to check, why can't you just tell me? Everything could work out perfectly if I knew what you know right now!"

Z's eyes glinted and Hirokazu involuntarily shuddered again.

[I suppose I am the bridge between your current...condition and your past life. However, I have my reasons for keeping you in the dark.]

"'Your' reasons? Aren't you me? Tell me what I need to know!"

[Getting a little angry are we now? I may be you, but I know enough about you that our goals are different. We are two in one. Right now, I'm here but one day, our places shall be switched.]

Hirokazu grit his teeth; he certainly was at a disadvantage.

[But for now, we have to work together. I can't accomplish my goals without you...for now.]

Hirokazu could start to feel the darkness begin collapsing around himself again, an indication that his time here was up.

Z flashed him a final smile before his figure completely dissolved into light.

Mugura Hana surveyed the school courtyard, bustling with activity.

Students were flowing through the school gates, clumped in groups of three or four, talking and laughing. With how normal they were acting, one wouldn't have thought that just a few weeks ago Japan suffered from what could have been called a terrorist attack.

She turned her attention to the school itself. So the matriarch wanted a eyes in this school, too. She wondered if she had already been replaced at Third. Who knew. Hopefully she would be able to stay here for a while; her time at Third High School had been too short. She would be sure to keep a low profile this time.

Second High School.

It was no coincidence that the head had sent her here so soon after Yokohama; if the Kanto Branch was liable to an attack, then Kyoto was just as vulnerable. And as Nishinomiya was a stone's throw away, she would also be able to keep an eye out for other "special students" at the high school, those like the Crimson Prince...or maybe even like her cousin. Though it was doubtful there would be another Strategic-class in all of Japan.

Hana glanced down at her uniform. Unlike the previous uniform she received upon her enrollment at Third, the sleeves of this one bore the four-petal insignia of Second High school.

Keeping her head down, she began walking again, entering the main building of the school. As a transfer student, she would have to report to the administrative office to receive her class assignment and schedule for the day.

Turning the corner, she almost walked into a girl in a wheelchair, a tall boy standing behind her, pushing the wheelchair.

"Excuse me! Sorry about that."

The boy merely glanced up, but his eyes were obscured by his long bangs. The girl in the wheelchair however, simply waved one of her hands and smiled in response.

"It's no problem! It's not the first time this has happened. Reiji is usually good about navigating these hallways, but it's not always easy."

She suddenly focused her eyes on Hana.

"Hm, I haven't seen you before. Are you new to this school?"

Hana internally cursed. She hadn't wanted to draw attention to herself, and here she was, already picked out.

"Ah...yes, I'm a transfer student."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Tachibana Cho, and this behind me is Nishino Reiji, we're both first years. I'm in class 1-C, and Reiji's in class 1-D."

"Ah, um...I'm Mugura Hana, also first year, though I can't tell you what class I'm in yet-"

"Oh! Sorry! I must have interrupted you on your way to the admin office. We'll let you be on your way then; I hope we can see you around sometime!"

She waved as the boy - Nishino Reiji - pushed her along. He nodded to her as well before moving on.

Hana continued on her way to the administrative office. She did not pass by many groups of students, as many of them had already gone to their homeroom in the few minutes left before the first bell. The few that she did pass by did stop for a moment to stare, but she made sure to not to make eye contact.

She found the office and stepped inside. Several school administrators sat at desks scattered through the room, and she was unsure of which one to go to to ask for class assignment.

"Mugura Hana?"

Hana turned towards the voice calling out her name. A young woman at the far end of the room waved an arm at her and signalled for her to come over to her desk. Hana picked her way through the desks and stood before the young woman. She had a mild smile on as she handed her several sheet of paper.

"This one will be the schedule for classes through the week, and this sheet has a list of the textbooks and materials you should have before the end of the week. Lastly this is a map of the school, just in case you have a hard time finding your way to your classes."

Hana checked for her class assignment, tugging on the sheet with her class schedule and scanning the top of the page. 1-C. The barest hint of smile tugged on her face; at least she would know one friendly face in her class.

"Thank you. Can you direct me to class 1-C?"

Hana glanced up from the papers in her hand to the administrator at the desk. She seemed lost in thought staring at her before snapping out.

"Oh! Of course! Forgive my staring, it was just that you reminded me on a competitor in this year's Nine Schools Competition...oh, what was her name? Shi..Shiba? Never mind that though, to get to 1-C you take a left here then…"

Hana swore under her breath again. Why did her cousins have to be so damn conspicuous!? First 'Inferno' with Ice Pillars Break, then that whole deal with the flying type magic during Mirage Bat, the Official Division of all things! It was making her job harder; how could she maintain her cover like this!?

She thanked the administrator and bowed slightly before leaving the office. She wandered through the hallways and managed to find the classroom without much trouble. She stopped in front of the door bag and papers clutched in hand.

What would her experience be here at Second be like? She honestly had low expectations considering her last high school experience, but even then, she had met someone who completely changed her world. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad...after all, the run in with that girl - Cho - hadn't been all that bad.

She raised a fist to knock on the door but the door slid open before she could. A middle aged man stood in the doorway and glanced at her briefly, but he soon turned and walked back to the teaching podium in front of the class and went straight back to teaching. She only caught a glimpse of his gaze, but her first impression was that his eyes were calculating and curious. Hana was unsure of what to do, so she lingered in the doorway momentarily before deciding to step into the room. It seemed the teacher was lecturing on something about the history of magic, specifically on Ancient Japanese Magic.

She moved her foot slightly but something felt...not quite right. Her gaze swept the interior of the classroom that she could see and the faces in the classroom before landing on a small black sheet of paper stuck to the wall near the baseboard with gentle glowing script written on it. Seeing that single one she looked up and saw another black talisman stuck to the wall in the top right corner of the entranceway.

She remembered the teacher's first calculating stare. He was teaching on Ancient Magic.

The teacher was testing her.

She wasn't strong in Ancient Magic, but she recalled the basics of talisman magic from her cousin. One of talisman magic's strong points was its ability to be prepared beforehand, hidden and activated as needed, which allowed for surprise attacks with superior power and consistency. She figured that if she simply destroyed the talisman the magic would deactivate.

She targeted the two talismans plastered on the wall and activated a small oscillation-type magic sequence, 'Ember' and burnt the two to crisps. She made sure to keep it small so as to not trigger the fire alarms. She stepped into the classroom and bowed.

Lifting up her head she caught the faintest hint of a smile on the teacher's face.

"...and as our new transfer student has demonstrated, destroying the talismans will in effect prevent the activation of the magic sequence stored in the inscriptions. And on that note…"

He gestured towards Hana.

"...this is Mugura Hana-san. From this day onwards, she will be part of class 1-C. She recently came back to Japan from a trip abroad and will continue her studies here at Second High. Mugura-san, would you like to say a few words?"

Hana moved to the center of the front of the classroom and bowed to the class. She caught sight of the wheelchair girl - Tachibana Cho - sitting in the back of the classroom near the sliding door in the back. Cho flashed a bright smile at her. Hana turned back to the class.

"My name is Mugura Hana. I look forward to being in your care." Not really. "I haven't been at school for a while…" because I've been handling some jobs for the family "...so please be patient with me."

Some of the boys in the class whispered to each other at her introduction.

Hey isn't she kinda cute?

Yeah, I can't wait to talk to her after class!

You think I can get her number?

You? Nah man. No chance.

Even some of the girls were conversing.

So pretty!

Somehow she reminds me of someone….

Oh! You mean that girl at the Nine Schools Competition!

At the murmuring in the room her gaze sharpened and she assumed a formal hauteur; her glare silenced the boys and quieted the females. She may not have her cousin's tendencies to freeze things over in distressing situations, but she could still silence a room with her frosty gaze should the need arise.

"Now Mugura-san, there's an empty seat in the back of the room, next to Tachibana-san. You can sit there and we'll adjust the seating arrangement later."

She made her way to the back and placed her bag down next to her seat. Cho turned to her with a bright smile on her face.

"I'm glad you got transfered into our class! I hope we can become friends!"

Friends…

The face of a certain green-eyed, pretty boy popped into her head. Friends weren't bad. In fact is was quite enjoyable. Hana let a small smile shine through her usually stoic expression.

"I hope you'll take care of me too, then. I look forward to being friends."

"Thanks for letting me walk home with you, Tachibana-san. I'm not very good with large crowds of people."

"Oh, it's no problem! And please, call me Cho. That's what Reiji calls me."

Hana glanced upwards at the tall japanese youth pushing Cho's wheelchair. The teen had said four words when he came to pick up Cho, and he had been silent since. He didn't even say anything when Cho had invited her to walk with them.

His fringe danced in the breeze, exposing pale, white eyes. Something about him made her feel...uncomfortable. She didn't know what kind of magic he was capable of, but the aura around him suggested he had formidable magic power. And yet...he didn't feel like a magic technician.

Reiji seemed to feel the gaze and pointed his own eyes at her. The unseeing eyes seemed to penetrate her being and stare into the depths of her heart.

"So, I know most of the class was curious, but we still don't know much about you! Where have you been? It's surprising that someone would transfer into a magic high school in the middle of the year. Did you attend one of the other high schools? Where are you living? What's your-"

The barrage of questions overwhelmed her. Appearance-wise, she looked small and frail, but it seemed that she had no shortage of energy as well.

"...Cho, you're making her feel uncomfortable."

The low voice of Reiji managed to momentarily halt the stream of words coming out of Cho's mouth.

"Oh! It's no problem, Nishino-san. I'll do my best to ans-"

"Reiji."

She looked questioningly back up at the boy.

"Call me Reiji. Cho seems comfortable enough around you, so the formality is unnecessary."

"Ah, ok."

Hana paused a moment.

"This is my first time at a magic high school." A lie. "My family sent me abroad to handle some business and learn some things from our contacts abroad." Half-truth. "Most my family lives around the Tokyo area." At least the main family and the head. "I've had some experience with magic, but there's still quite a bit I need to learn…" ...I could honestly learn more from nii-san, but oh well.

"I see! That's pretty neat! Are you living on your own?"

"Yeah, in Ibaraki."

"That's the direction of our houses as well."

"So we'll be able to walk home together everyday! Nice!"

Hana let another one of rare smiles show. Having a friend like Cho was different from her relationship with Masaki. Masaki made her feel like she had something to protect and be protected by. Cho made you feel all warm inside and made it easy to open up. Was this what it was like to have girlfriends?

"May I ask you a question, Cho?"

Cho nodded.

"Why don't you use an automatic wheelchair. Wouldn't it be easier if Reiji didn't have to push you around.?"

"Oh, I just don't really like technology. I'll use terminals and CADs when needed, but I do like to use 'old-fashioned' things, like my pencils and paper and even books."

"Ah...I see."

Hirokazu sighed as he walked home.

He had managed to get to school and pick up where he left off before the incident. Several classmates had asked him if he was ok, was he fully recovered, how did it feel to almost die - the teacher had smacked the guy who asked that pretty hard. He didn't realize how much he had missed and how much catching up he had to do.

So far since the last meeting with Z, he had been living a pretty normal life. No unexpected journeys to dreamland, no ambushes and no cops asking for more information. He wasn't even sure about the state of the investigation into his assault.

He only hoped that this would continue.

A shadow slipped through the trees, silently tailing the grey-haired boy below. He would be coming up on a deserted intersection soon. That would be when he made his move.

The figure played with the weapon in its hands. Soon.

The hunt would begin.

And the Hunter never lost its prey.

a/n

and so the main cast is finally assembled. reiji, cho and hirokazu are OCs i designed for this story, while hana was pulled out my other third high fic into this one. hope its not too confusing so far, mostly setup for now, but we should be getting some action soon...maybe.