Mythia: Okay, I'm still alive. For now.

You know when life just stands in the way when you know you've gotta update? Talking to the authors out there. And the potential authors. I'm warning you of the future. Things will get tough.

Okay, here's when I actually do something original. XD

Lightning stuck in the Golden Academy. There, the students had abilities strong in elemental magic, emitting fireballs from their palms or flames in their hair. Maybe they stepped grass wherever they went. Perhaps they froze anything their fingers touched. It was possible of many other elements, such as silver, iron, or gold, to be powers of a number of the students there.

The most famous teacher there was Jirou. He went only by that name, and no one knew if that was his first name or last, or if it was one of them, they wondered if he had the other.

Did that make sense?

Well, Jirou was strict but kind. He spared his students from brutal punishment other harsh teachers would lash at them. At the same time, he made them learn hard and disciplined them well verbally.

All of the students focused on their main abilities, learning other abilities at a slower pace. By the time they graduated, their abilities have reached their peak. However, Jirou warned all of them three things with their powers:

One, he advised them that going past their magic limit could result in very dangerous consequences. He told them of someone who once went past their limit and exploded into nothing. They could end up the same as him, or lose their powers or weaken them permanently.

Two, they weren't to mess with time. Though the people who contain that ability were rare, they were never to use it. They were also never to bring anyone from the past nor future, turn something younger nor older, and NEVER should they ever train themselves with time abilities.

Let's pause the warnings for a moment to say something.

Jirou had spoken about the muses, the only beings that were allowed to take people back and forth in time. Their powers were limited, however, and very few people have seen them. They usually were ones with royal blood, or heirs to a rich company/kingdom.

Let's move on to three: they were never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER, EVER to create a human being with their powers. If they even manage to...they were to be one of the most powerful magic wielders they've ever known. No one has ever made a human being, so Jirou and the other wizard teachers feared of the possible aftermath.

So bottom line, they never taught their students about human creation. No one knew how it was done, so how could they teach?

No one bothered to try.

Until.

The.

Boy.

Goes.

Through that door.

"Kokonose Haruka, you're late."

The boy had his uniform messy with his shirt buttons on wrong and his tie loose, with his shoes untied and halfway on his feet. His hair was disheveled, and his wide, dark eyes scanned in his textbooks for a piece of paper in one of them, which he put in there as his study guide. His grip on them slipped, and because he had notes randomly put in his binders, they flew everywhere.

"Kokonose!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, grasping for the papers that were yet to fall to the ground.

As Kokonose picked up each paper, he heard voices. The quiet, hushed, mocking voices belonged to his classmates, some snickering when he wasn't looking, others frowning deeply at his clumsiness.

They've always said that he was born a failure since he could remember.

He had no courage to step up to them. He was a nice person, after all. Kind, considerate, innocent, clumsy, and harmless was he. Nothing else could describe him.

Only one voice wasn't heard. It was expected of the quiet girl in the back of the room, who rarely spoke. They said that if you heard her voice, you'd have to do everything she said afterward.

Why were those rumors spread?

She was a muse. A proud, intelligent, powerful woman was she, with sharp, always seemingly glaring eyes. Even her black hair held up in short ponytails or long pigtails were razor sharp, as if it was cut with a sword.

The room went silent when she stood up. Even the teacher zipped his lips shut, knowing what she was about to do.

The girl was Enomoto Takane, a muse with powerful rare abilities—time, music, and hypnotism—walking towards the figure picking up his papers anxiously.

When Kokonose sensed a looming figure, he assumed it was his teacher. He sulked, waiting for the punishment, but it never came. Slowly, his eyes dared to look up.

Their eyes met for the first time. "E-Enomoto-san?" He could barely speak because of his shock.

Without a word, Takane crouched down calmly and tore her gaze off of him, picking up a paper. Then two. Three. And all the while, Kokonose was frozen in place, unsure of what to say or do.

He shook his head, taking the papers from Takane. "Enomoto-san, there's really no need!" he exclaimed. "Please don't—"

Takane didn't say anything, and merely looked at him again when he closed his mouth shut.

The room still remained silent, as if time itself froze. Though, the clock still ticked, and that was the only thing heard in the room save the fallen papers being picked up and Kokonose's pounding heart.

Don't take it that Kokonose had a crush on Takane, because it's nothing of the sort. As far as he can remember, Takane has never helped anyone. And yet, she was helping him without a word uttered.

"U-Um..." The room was really getting awkward.

She stood up, and promptly shoved the papers to Kokonose, who managed to catch them before they fell again. "Ah, t-thanks, Enomoto-san!"

Takane was already sitting down in her chair. The classmates gaped back and forth at what just happened.

"...There's no need."

Now everyone's minds went blank. Takane just freaking talked!

This must've been the end of the world. And things went wild in Kokonose's head. What does this mean!? Does she like me, or does she hate me?

This is too confusing!

The teacher was the first one to recover his loss for words. Hastily, he returned the students' attention, and began the lesson.

Kokonose Haruka could not concentrate.

Ever since first period, his mind couldn't think of anything but those eyes that felt like knives stabbed at him and the icy feel of Enomoto Takane's fingertips touching him as she gave him his papers he dropped that morning.

He wondered feverishly what it meant.

As for Takane, she repeated the events as well. She was thinking that Kokonose would be undeniably shocked for all eternity whenever he saw her. Or maybe horrified.

Just because she looked scary, doesn't mean she actually was.

Takane glanced over as she headed for fifth period at the boy who tripped on his own shoe, needing a tall freshman to help him maintain his balance. "Seriously, you're my senpai!" the freshman groaned. "At least tie your own shoe!"

What the hell, Takane thought. Kokonose is a senior. He should act like one.

"I-I'm sorry!"

The end of the school day arrived. And as Kokonose was about to leave to do his homework in his dorm room, he was called by his teacher in third period to clean the room.

Sighing glumly, Kokonose dragged his tired body into the room, only to find the one person his mind went spinning for there.

"I'm assigned to clean this room with you," was what she said.

No, don't talk! It messes my head up...

Takane didn't spare another look at him, and picked up the broom. "I know you're good at your telekinesis," she spoke. "I'm not." She tossed the broom at him, hitting his head.

"Ow!" Kokonose winced, looking up at the girl. She was arranging the cabinets because her abilities to clean things weren't her forte.

Then why was she here? The teacher never picked her to clean the rooms...

Takane was a transfer student. She wasn't supposed to go into an elemental school, but everyone knew that she graduated music school two years ago, disguising herself as a regular non-magic being in Japan. In other words, she finished the course at the end of her sophomore year.

That left her to go to a magic school for element specialists. There were no schools for muses in Japan; those schools were very much farther away.

For a brief second, her eyes darted to Kokonose. He was moving the dustpan with his mind while taking the broom in his hand.

"Why can't you move them both with your mind?" she asked him. He jumped, and the dustpan barely spilled out its contents.

"Um, well...my arms are flimsy," he genuinely though sheepishly explained. "Maybe doing little things like using this broom will make me stronger. Ah, ha..."

It took a whole lot of strength for Takane to not deadpan. But for some reason, it sparked her humor. She didn't even know she had one since she came to Golden Academy.

"It'll take more than a broom to make you stronger."

They were silent for a long while after that.

Eventually, the silence was more that Kokonose could bear. It was insane enough that Takane spoke to him a number of times, but this drove him to the bone. "Enomoto-san!" he blurted out.

Takane twitched slightly. "Is there something wrong?" she questioned, her back turned to him.

"I'm just wondering...why are you talking to me today?"

Takane closed her eyes and thought. To be honest, she didn't really have an answer for that. It just felt a little less stiffening for her to talk to him. Besides that, he was a bit pitiful.

By a bit, she reconsidered it to be a lot.

"I'll give you a more prompt answer at another time," she finally replied. "If you want to be stronger, I'll train you."

"H-Hah?"

Training Kokonose was exactly what she did.

As Takane began to know Kokonose more, she noticed the little things about him. He was interested in the gold element, and gold masks. His muscles grew as he ran more and held more weights. His eyes seemed sharper and he became less clumsy.

And more...sexy.

He became popular with the girls before either of them knew it.

"Are you really Kokonose Haruka?" a girl asked in disbelief, her eyes pinpointed at his biceps.

"Um..."

Takane gave him a warning glance, and he surprisingly caught it over the swarm of girls and cleared his throat. "Ah, I mean, it's up to you if you'd like to believe in that."

Cue the fangirling. "KYAA~!"

Later on, Kokonose ran up to Takane, and barely broke a sweat as he would've sweated bucket loads before. "Enomoto-san!"

"Takane is fine. I've known you for a while now."

They have. It's been five months, and their senior days were wrapping up. It was March already for the two.

Takane herself has become more popular. She talked more, and her icy form melted considerably. She opened up to more people, and they were no longer afraid of her.

Inside, she missed those days a bit. It's been far more noisy now than it had ever been.

They sat on the school bench outside. "So, I've been thinking," Kokonose began to say, "my name is pretty girly, right?"

"I suppose." By that, Takane meant 'yes.'

"I want to have a different name," he suddenly declared. "Choose for me, Takane-san."

His appearance did not match his kind personality. That had to change.

Takane was quiet for a while. Kokonose was about to think that she wasn't thinking about his name, but then she spoke. "Saizo."

"What?"

"We use that warehouse near this school to train," she said. "Saizo means 'warehouse.'"

"Oh...sugee (wow)!" Kokonose stood up and stood up proud and straight. "'Kokonose Saizo.' I like it!"

"Live up to the title," she said bluntly, making Saizo stiffen. "Learn to act like a man."

"Eh? How?"

Takane didn't have to say much. "You know how to act in public by now. You act like a handsome gentleman, etc. etc. Now, let that be your main personality. Let that become you."

"Let that...become me?" Saizo thought about this. "But, Takane-san—"

"No. Be sharper. There's no '-san' in a man, unless you're going soft."

"Um—"

"No 'um' in a man."

"Stop it! I'm trying!"

"Don't say you're 'trying.' You better do it."

"Okay, okay!"

"And lastly, don't let a girl tell you what to do." She stood up and smiled a little. "Let's see how far you go, Saizo."

When muses graduate, they disappear into thin air. The students have learned that in textbooks about them, including Saizo.

But enough of that. His personality, because of Takane, had become a bit...narcissistic.

"Ore-sama does not need your help." (Note: 'Ore-sama' is a cocky way of saying 'I.')

"Oh? My hair, you say? You haven't realized, surely, that it's always been like this."

"It's refreshing, isn't it? Ore-sama has gotten a six-pack. Want to see~?"

The fangirl base accumulated greatly.

Now, back to Takane.

In her dorm room, Takane held a picture. It had her smiling, due to Kokonose's fingers pinching her cheeks. She was very annoyed at his antics back then, but now...she missed them.

Those little things they did, they amused her. When he had given her tea whenever he had her exasperated during training, she always thought that it tasted way too sweet. But now...she craved for it more than ever.

Whenever she made Kokonose run, he'd have these endless complaints and excuses, wanting to quit countless times. But Takane refused to let him go and be a wimp for all eternity.

Now? She kind of wished that he'd sit beside her during lunch like before. She remembered his genuine laughs and smiles. She could still feel his warm hands melt away her coldness.

He was like...a friend.

Takane was left with her pencil to talk to again, alone without a roommate, in the dorms. Yes, she did talk to pencils back when she was the Cold Muse, as the students used to call her.

Then, she wondered if there was even a little bit of Haruka left in Saizo. Sweet, funny, innocent, clumsy, delicate, pitiful Haruka. It left an imprint in her memories.

Saizo just left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Haruka."

"Oh?" Saizo turned to the girl glaring at him, her arms crossed and her expression sour. He smirked. "Ore-sama is no longer—"

"Stop it with the d* act."

His eyebrows shot up in amusement, as he feigned innocence. "What act? And must I ask, why have you not changed this whole time?"

"I have changed this whole time, you idiot," she hissed. "You however completely transformed. You hardly look like yourself just months before."

"Why of course, ore-sama has to look—"

"Shut up," Takane snapped. "Look at me, Haruka. If there's any of that person left inside you, tell him I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ever helping you become like this. You might be successful in life, which was what I originally wanted for you, but you've cut all ties with our friendship, disregarded it, and have completely forgotten."

"Ore-sama doubts that he's forgotten anything."

"Oh yeah?" She grabbed his collar and yanked him down, causing him to blink at the proximity. "I'm going to f*ing disappear when we graduate! I'll be a full-fledged muse, and we'll never see each other again. How about that, Saizo?"

She violently let go of him and punched his pretty face. The man just lightly touched it while mustering up a smirk. "I haven't forgotten about that."

"Liar. You're not sorry for anything, are you?" She didn't notice the tear slipping past her pale cheek. "I've regretted everything. If I haven't helped you that morning..."

Saizo didn't remember that morning.

She turned around completely, and ran. That's when she felt her whole body break down. Locking herself in her dorm room, she screamed.

Graduation came. And then, it passed.

The day after that, as Takane had said, she had disappeared. Saizo thought about that for a moment, before the memories all hit him like thousands of bullets.

He clutched his head, and ran out to the warehouse several days after graduation. He found that it was shut down. Shouting in agony, he tore everything inside apart, and turned some of the objects into gold just to punish himself, banging his entire body on the gold and punching it with bleeding knuckles.

"TAKANE!"

Eventually, he tried learning how to play music.

Saizo tried to train his fingers to any instrument. He tried taking music classes. Nonetheless, all attempts were futile; he just wasn't good at music.

You see, you can connect to muses through music. The music must have meaning and such for a muse to find you and speak with you.

The poor man couldn't see eye-to-eye on music, and threw the instrument he held on the golden ground of the abandoned warehouse where he stood. Making a throne for him to feel better, he sat on the gold.

Nothing was the same without Takane. That was a solid fact.

Saizo couldn't bring the dead back to life. That was forbidden and never done. However...

He considered for a brief moment of making a being that could play music for him. That'd be simple, right?

NO.

He could just get someone to give him music powers. Though, he knew it still wouldn't work because it had to be naturally done...

Saizo didn't tell anyone what he was doing. He only stayed in the warehouse for this, grabbing certain items in different places and experimenting on making the perfect musical being.

The thought of breaking a very strict rule made a part of Haruka shiver, but Saizo pressed him down and continued to work, work, work.

If this project was going to be done, he could see his best friend again. He'd say sorry, allow himself to be humiliated and slapped countless times, and spend the rest of his days with her because he was that willing to dedicate himself to her.

He didn't love her that way; Kokonose merely owed her more than what he could ever give.

Either way, becoming Saizo or not, he was going to find a way to stay in touch with Enomoto Takane.

Mythia: Sooooo...yay or nay?

If you can guess where I got the names from, there'll be cookies of your choice sent to you from America. :D And a bunch of anime drama CDs. Maybe if I'm that happy later on, I'll give you my extra copy of Sword Art Online anime CD. And Kaleido Star, yep, that can go.

Hm...you guys like some manga?

OK, moving on. Please tell me what you think might happen in your review. I want to hear what you're probably thinking right now. ;D

This isn't because I'm selfish for reviews, but I won't be updating until I get at least 5 reviews because I'm very busy and I don't wanna update when there's no one reading it and telling me what I can improve on or what I should just keep doing, what they want to happen, what they're thinking, etc. etc.

Thanks for reading! :)