Chapter 7: First Impressions
[Outside Minori's Office]
"So this is it, huh?"
Standing in front of the large door that would lead them into the principal's office were Nagi and Takeshi, with the former glaring annoyingly at the wooden door. It was bad enough that they were bombarded by students crowding around them after every corner but what really ticked Nagi off was that Takeshi had no idea where he was going. Since it had been years since the man had stepped into the academy, his memory of the school layout was pitifully bad and because of that, they had spent the last half an hour cruising around the school in circles. It was only thanks to Nagi asking one of the female students, who was more than willing to lend a hand, where the principal office was that they made it at all.
Nagi then side glanced at the embarrassed Takeshi who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Oh come on now, don't look at me like that. We made it here eventually, didn't we?"
"...Whatever" Not wanting to waste anymore time, Nagi reached out for the door handle and right before he could open it to walk inside...
"Sensei!?"
A boisterous voice came from behind Takeshi as the duo both turned their heads to see a rough looking man with spiky orange hair and a somewhat muscular build stand there dumbfounded. The most noticeable thing about him was the white headband he wore on his forehead with a strange symbol that looked like a cross.
"Oho! It's been quite a long time, Gen!" Takeshi brimmed as he made his way over towards his former student who had always had an incredible talent for creating new Maken.
"S-Sensei, what are you doing here?" Gen wasn't expecting his own sensei to show up now of all times as he shook his hand.
"I thought it'd be nice to pay you all a visit; having walked around the school for a bit has brought back some nostalgic memories"
"Oh I see..." Truth be told, Gen was planning on heading over to the Oyama Dojo to discuss with his former sensei about the movements of Kamigari along with the development he had made with creating a new type of Maken. Well, this saved him quite a bit of time so he wasn't complaining.
Gen's eyes then traveled to the peculiar man standing in front of the principal's office with a neutral expression.
"Who's that?" Gen asked.
Takeshi knew he was referring to Nagi and merely pointed over his shoulder. "An old friend of mine, I came with him"
"An old friend of sensei's? Hmm..." Gen studied Nagi's body from top to bottom and tried to search his memory for any encounters with this fellow. He wasn't having any luck as he was certain he had never met him before, which was odd for him considering he knew most of his sensei's old contacts that worked for either Tenbi Academy or Yomatsuri.
"Do you plan on staring at me all day?"
Nagi's voice snapped Gen out his analysis as he scratched the back of his head. "Ah, sorry about that. It's nice to meet you; I'm the famous Maken smith and one of sensei's former students, Gen Kagayashi" He walked forward and reached out for a handshake. "Nice to meet you"
Though he was still annoyed at someone staring at him for the eighteenth time today, Nagi curtly nodded as he grabbed his hand and faintly smiled. "Likewise, I'm Nagi"
Gen momentarily flinched as he didn't expect Nagi's grip to be so strong while placing his hands on his hips. "If you're an old friend of sensei's, were you also a student of his?"
Nagi snorted. "As if that old man could teach me anything worth crap"
"Oi!" Takeshi retorted as he glared at the chuckling Nagi while Gen had to hold in a laugh at Nagi's bluntness towards his former sensei. That was definitely new; he had never seen anyone get Takeshi so worked up before like that. His interest in finding out how he was connected to his sensei definitely rose with that little exchange.
Clearing his throat, Takeshi picked off where Nagi started and grabbed the door handle. "It's about time we head inside, don't you think?"
"Then hurry up and open the door" Nagi complained impatiently.
Nodding his head, Takeshi turned the handle and the three of them walked inside to meet the dignified appearance of the principal of the world's most prestigious training facility for element users... or not.
"L-Let go of me Aki, just one bottle won't hurt!"
"No! It's been years since we've seen sensei and you want to welcome him by being drunk!?"
The three men found themselves staring disbelievingly at the scene before them; two women, who were lying on the floor in a comprising position where one of them was mounting the other, both struggled to tear away a bottle of wine from the other. They both weren't even aware of the three gentlemen standing in front of the door and continued their little dispute.
Gen face palmed as he watched two of his closest friends act in such a manner. "...What the hell are they doing?"
"Looks like some sort of foreplay. Should we stop them?" Takeshi rubbed his chin while continuing to stare at the engaged duo.
"Screw that, let's see where this goes" Nagi admitted with an amused grin, not complaining in the slightest about watching two busty chicks go at it.
Takeshi and Gen traded blank looks between each other before nodding at Nagi's logic. As men, interrupting this would be shameful.
"Damn it Aki! I said let... huh?" Minori, who was beneath Aki stopped for a moment and looked towards her office door, her eyes widening in horror at who was standing front of her.
"Hm? What is it, Minor...eh?" Aki Nijou, the school nurse and another member of the original Maken Ki questioned as she followed Minori's eyes which led her to the door. Her eyes befell the figures of her former sensei, one of her closest friends, and an incredibly handsome young man she had never met before.
The bottle that was between them dropped to the ground with a loud thud before an awkward silence enveloped the room.
"...How long have you guys been there?" Minori asked horrifically.
Gen sighed as he scratched his cheek. "Long enough for sensei and our guest here to get a good view of you two almost making this story r rated"
Aki's face light up like a cherry as she just realized what kind of position she was just in while Minori's eyebrows twitched in annoyance.
"And why the hell didn't you say anything!"
"We were enjoying the view" The three of them deadpanned immediately.
"Forget what you just saw!" Minori and Aki both screamed at the top of their lungs.
[A Few Minutes Later]
"Please forgive our unsightly appearance, sensei" Aki gracefully placed a tea cup on the table before she bowed respectfully towards the now sitting Takeshi who merely waved his hand in the air.
"No worries, I quite enjoyed what I saw! Hahaha!" He laughed merrily as Aki couldn't hide her flustered face from how she had been caught in such a position in front the boys. Why was she always ending up in situations like these!
Gen, who was leaning against the couch that was opposite of Takeshi glanced at Minori who was putting away the bottle of wine behind her desk. "You called both Aki and I over here to tell us that sensei's visiting and yet you try to get drunk before he arrives? Seriously?"
"Lay off me" Minori stuck her tongue out at him. "It almost worked too. I just didn't expect Aki to get here so fast..."
Aki huffed as she placed both of her hands on her curvaceous hips. "Of course I would!" She then took a seat opposite of Takeshi and crossed her legs while brushing a strand of her cerulean hair out of her eyes. "I thought it was an emergency"
Gen nodded. "I even took a shortcut to get here but I wasn't expecting to meet up with sensei. It took me by quite surprise"
After Minori had placed the bottle behind the desk, she walked back over towards her couch and sat down next to Aki while crossing her legs as well and laid back to get comfortable. "In any case, it's great to see you again, sensei"
Takeshi nodded as a warm smile enveloped his middle aged face. "That it is, I see that you've grown up quite splendidly" He then turned to Aki with a less than innocent grin, eyeing the woman's immense cleavage that barely contained itself in her blouse. "Especially you, Aki-chan"
"Oh stop it sensei, you're making me blush" Aki giggled, clueless towards the perverted gaze that Takeshi was giving her.
While Gen sighed and Minori grinned at their exchange, the principal's eyes then wandered over to the figure of Nagi who was standing a few feet away from them, staring at a picture of the old Maken Ki group in their youth.
Nagi wasn't sure why but looking at the group photo absently reminded him of the photo he had taken with the members of the Ala Rubra. His fondest memories always consisted of his old comrades and that photo was the only thing that tied them together, to remind them of all the grueling and dangerous battles they had been through.
"I wonder how all those guys are doing right now..." Nagi was completely oblivious to the focused gaze that he was getting from the principal.
"So that's sensei's guest..."
In all honesty, Minori was utterly in the dark about what kind of person this guest of her sensei's was going to look like as Takeshi was middle aged so anyone who he knew as an "old friend" surely must have been similar in age. Yet, Yuuka had mentioned that the guest was "far too young" to be considered an old friend which led Minori to believe it could be a middle aged man who looked young.
Having said that, this man standing only a few feet away from Minori couldn't possibly be as old as her sensei as he was clearly in the prime of his youth. Minori had met a lot of men over the course of her life (some she wished she could forget) with only a few of them making enough of an impression on her to remember their faces and names. The impression she got from this stud was that he was no ordinary individual and was someone she needed to keep her eye on, especially since for reasons she couldn't fathom, not a trace of element could be sensed on him.
She looked over towards Aki and Gen who were also analyzing Nagi and concluded they must have been thinking the same thing.
Deciding it was time to break the ice, Minori grinned towards Takeshi. "Hey sensei, don't you think it's about time you introduce us to your guest?"
Takeshi, who had been cheerfully drinking the tea that had been brewed for him nodded and turned to Nagi. "Oi Nagi, come over here for a second".
"Hm?" Nagi stopped staring at the picture and looked back at Takeshi with a distant gaze. "Oh sure" He closed the distance between them and sat down next to him.
Takeshi was a bit suspicious of what Nagi was doing staring at the picture but shrugged before turning to the anxious figures of his former students and smiled. "I'd like to introduce you three to an acquaintance of mine, this is Nagi. He's come here from overseas to visit this school".
"I had no idea sensei knew people from outside of the country..." Minori admired as she turned back towards Nagi who noticed her gaze.
Nagi gave a curt nod as a small grin graced his lips "The old man here wouldn't shut up about you guys so I'll admit, I was curious to meet all of you".
Takeshi huffed in a proud manner. "Well of course, these three are some of my finest students who have also become quite proficient in their specialized fields".
"Hmm..." It was now Nagi's turn to examine the three individuals in front of him as his eyes wandered from one to the other. None of them looked particularly strong or intimidating in the least so he wasn't all that impressed. Though to be fair, he couldn't judge a book by its cover as he himself was a prime example of that.
Minori's curiosity towards Nagi began to rise as she noted how casually he spoke towards her sensei without any honorifics despite being the youngest one here. "So you're Nagi, huh? Well, as the principal of Tenbi Academy, it's my honor to welcome you here! I'm Minori Rokujou!"
Aki followed her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Aki Nijou. Please enjoy your stay here and if you are need of a check up, feel free to come and see me"
Gen grabbed his bicep and produced a smirk. "You've already met me but if you're in the need for a Maken, look no further than this genius Maken smith, Gen Kagayashi! Since your sensei's old friend, I'll even cut you a discount!"
In the face of the three excited adults who were all brimming with eagerness to make a good impression of their sensei's friend, Nagi glanced at Takeshi who looked like he couldn't have been prouder than his students than he was now. To see them grow into such fine adults must have been such a wonderful feeling for him.
Nagi's eyes moved between all three of them until it fell short of Minori who raised her eyebrow at the younger man's gaze. A wicked smirk appeared on her face as she unfolded her legs and bent over, allowing her ample cleavage to be exposed outright in front of both her sensei and Nagi.
"Hm? What's wrong? You see something you like?" Minori teased as she could read most guys like an open book and assumed he was probably fascinated by her enormous bust. Ordinarily, she'd send whoever was staring at her or Aki's breasts sent flying but since this was sensei's friend and also quite the hottie, she didn't mind teasing him a bit.
"This woman is seriously the principal? There's not a single thing about her that fits that word" The fact that Minori was wearing an orange track suit and had her legs spread wide open didn't improve her status in Nagi's mind as he seriously wondered how this woman became a principal.
Based on Nagi's experience at Magician's Academy, he expected the principal to be some sort of fossilized grandma with a dignified appearance and the aura of a wise person... but was met with a completely different reality. He turned to Takeshi sitting next to him and pointed at Minori with a baffled expression.
"I can understand those two over there but are you sure this tomboy looking drunkie is the principal?"
"Come again!?" Minori rocketed from her seat and slammed her leg on the coffee table, glaring daggers at Nagi's neutral face. Not only had this punk completely ignored the view she had oh so graciously she had given him, he was dissing her!
"M-Minori! Calm down!" Aki ran up to her best friend and tried to restrain her as the red haired woman looked ready to throw down right there and then.
Gen, who had been initially shocked when he heard Nagi say that, had trouble covering his mouth from his laughter. That was the first time he had seen someone talk to Minori like that during their first meeting and he couldn't deny it; it was hilarious. Whoever this Nagi was, he was already beginning to like him.
"You sure do say whatever you want..." Takeshi had grown accustom to Nagi's bluntness towards others so he was the most lax in this situation. Not to mention, Nagi clearly had no respect for those older than himself as Takeshi had never heard him address anyone, himself included, with an honorific.
After Aki had somehow managed to calm Minori down, she heavily sighed as she slumped back into her seat and gave a troubled look towards Nagi. "Please Nagi-san, you should watch how you speak towards Minori. As you can see, she has quite the temper"
Nagi's eyes transferred over to the pleading nurse and he grinned happily, an act that caused Aki of all people to faintly blush at his pleasant smile. "Yea I figured that much, I was just teasing her"
"T-Teasing!? You damn brat...!" Minori held back the urge to sock Nagi right in his jaw before she huffed and sat back down. Just who did this kid think he was!
"Now now, let's not get ourselves worked up. I came here to discuss something important with you, Minori. It's about-"
"Kamigari, right?" Minori cut him off as she crossed her legs and folder her arms with a serious expression.
Takeshi grimly nodded. "Yea"
Both Gen and Aki looked concerned on the matter while Nagi had a confused look on his face.
"The hell's Kamigari?" He thought absently.
"Ever since the death of Ouken Yamato, we've pulled all our resources into finding Yamato Takeru. Naturally, the tricky bastard isn't making things easy for us" Minori sneered.
"I'm aware that Yomatsuri is also taking part in the investigation. Have they sent any agents here to assist you?"
Minori briefly nodded at Takeshi's inquiry as she picked up a folder on the table and slid it over towards Takeshi who examined its contents.
"Aomi Koshi and Aomi Kai; the two of them were recommended highly by the executives due to their past experience dealing with Kamigari. At the moment, they're patrolling the school and helping to set up for the Himekagura Festival. Not only that..." Minori scratched her cheek. "Otohime has declared war against us and has put up Yamato Takeru's whereabouts if we can win against her elite squad of former Tenbi students"
"Hoh..." Takeshi wasn't aware of that as he just recalled the incident in the gym that had that girl Kim and Isabella worried. "Is that why the gymnasium looked busted up?"
"Yea, those idiots broke through the wall instead of using the door. Repairing that stuff isn't cheap y'know!" Minori complained.
"I see..." Takeshi rubbed his chin as he looked at the photographs before directing his eyes towards Minori. "What about Akaya and Venus Academy?"
Before Minori could respond, Aki was the one who chimed in this time. "They've also been contacted and were willing to help. Unfortunately, most of them have been assigned as bodyguards to the higher ups of Yomatsuri".
"Yea..." Minori was a bit annoyed that Aki had interrupted her but dropped it soon afterward. "Aside from Celia and Minerva, the rest of them are too busy to lend a hand."
Gen held up his hand. "Wait, don't forget Akaya. He's been assigned to assist me in my research for a new type of Maken so he'll pop up around here sooner or later"
Takeshi looked pleased with the news as he smirked. "Well how about that, I guess I'll be having a reunion with all of my students, how nostalgic!"
Aki and Gen smiled warmly at their sensei who hadn't changed a bit while Minori also widely grinned but stopped when she took in the face of the bothered Nagi.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing really" Nagi scratched his cheek in an innocent manner. "I've just been wondering about what this Kamigari thing is that you guys have been talking about"
"...Hah?"
Not just Minori, Gen and Aki were baffled at what Nagi had just said while Takeshi face palmed at Nagi's own comment. It had just occurred to the dojo instructor that because Nagi was from another world, there's no way he would know what they were discussing.
"Crap..." He instantly regretted not preparing for this situation as he watched Minori suspiciously look at Nagi.
Minori's eyebrows rose as high as they possibly could as she studied the clueless expression on Nagi's face.
"...Is this guy for real? How could he be an old friend of sensei's and not know what Kamigari is?"
Nagi looked around the room at the mystified expressions he was getting and scrunched his face in a displeased manner.
"Why the hell are you all staring at me like that?"
"Eh? Uh no it's just... you were just joking about not knowing what Kamigari is, right?" Aki surmised as she put on a troubled smile.
"No, I'm dead serious. Is that some sort of secret club?"
"..."
Immediately, three sets of eyes befell upon the panicking Takeshi as their faces screamed "Explanation, now!".
Takeshi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as his mind went into overdrive trying to fix his current predicament. He then scooted over towards the startled Nagi and whispered in his ear.
"Idiot! Now that you've gone and said that, how am I supposed to explain this!?"
"What are you mumbling about now, old man?"
Takeshi's patience was at an end as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "That's your from another world, what else!"
"..."
No one in the room said anything as the gravity of what Takeshi had just blurted out still hadn't processed in their minds.
"Ah..." Takeshi had just realized what he had done and slowly turned his head towards his students who gave their sensei their own bewildered expressions.
"Sensei... what do you mean by "another world"?" Minori asked out of the blue.
"W-What are you talking about, I never said..."
"No, you definitely said that, sensei" Aki butt in as she had regained her composure and looked at her sensei with a hardened look that Takeshi had never seen before.
"What's going on, sensei? You two have been hiding something from us and I think its about time you tell us" Gen demanded.
Takeshi was beginning to feel the pressure of their words, swiftly glancing at the yawning Nagi who didn't look bothered in the slightest, as if the fact that his existence as a world traveler meant nothing to him.
Takeshi heaved a stressful sigh and resolved himself to come clean. "Alright, you guys win" He then turned to Nagi. "Is it alright for me to tell them the whole story?"
Nagi looked at Takeshi as if he was an idiot. "Hah? Go ahead, I don't care"
A vein popped in Takeshi's head at Nagi's response. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier! I've been trying to keep that a secret this entire time!"
Nagi shrugged. "I never told you that you couldn't tell people, now did I?"
"That's...! Damn, fair enough" Takeshi couldn't refute that claim as he had made that assumption on his own.
Minori was beginning to lose her cool once again as she impatiently stomped her feet. "Can someone explain to me what's going on!?"
Takeshi grabbed his tea cup and took a sip before he turned to his three former students, hoping he wouldn't regret what he was about to say.
"You guys wanted to know so I'll cut straight to the point; Nagi here actually comes from another world".
[Western School Grounds]
Preparations for the festival were progressing smoothly all around campus, with some classrooms even finishing their booths earlier than anticipated. Because of that, it was allowed by the Student Council that any classrooms that finished before the deadline were granted permission to open up early and get a head start on the others.
On that note, there was one booth outside of the school that many brave male students had flocked too that was operated by none other than two members of the Maken-Ki.
"You sure you want to do this, big guy?" The confident voice of Azuki Shinatsu spoke with her arms crossed as she leaned against her stand. "This is your last chance to back out now"
"Fat chance! When I win this, I'll be getting more funds for my sumo club!" A large, obese man proclaimed with the ferocity of a lion.
"That'll only happen if you can beat me, and I'm not going to hold back!" Akaza Chacha, the energetic dark skinned woman was smiling as usual but in her eyes she too was burning with determination.
At the moment, Chacha and the sumo wrestler were currently gripping hands as the theme of the booth they were standing in was "Arm Wrestling". The rules were simple enough; if you could best either Azuki or Chacha in an arm wrestling contest, the student council would fulfill one request that you had, though there were restrictions on what a person could ask. Regardless, with such an alluring prize at stake it didn't come as a surprise that the booth was incredibly popular.
Unfortunately for the customers, their chances at beating either of them was a dream that just wasn't meant to be.
"Ready..."
"Set..."
"Go!"
The sumo wrestler threw everything he had into trying to best Chacha but to his horror, the girl in question just kept smiling at him with her bubbly face and in a split second, ended the match by slamming her hand down on his, shattering the table they were playing on as well.
All of the bystanders watching presently gulped internally at seeing a man who weighed no less than three hundred pounds tossed aside by a woman half his size as if he was a feather.
"What a plot twist" Azuki spat sarcastically, collecting the festival ticket from the "corpse" of the sumo, adding it onto the huge pile of tickets she had already gathered.
"Alright, that was challenger number 62" Azuki glanced over towards the obviously intimidated challengers who assumed they could win against Chacha eventually if she tired herself out. "Anyone else have the balls to challenge us?"
"I-I'm out..." One of the boys in the back claimed as he began to walk away.
Another one agreed as he too followed. "Same here, those girls are monsters"
Soon, the crowd that they had built up began to disperse as Azuki shrugged her shoulders. It took longer than she expected but in the end, most of the guys in the school were complete wimps.
"Aw, no more fun for me? Why are they all leaving?" Chacha pouted as she was bummed that her fun was over.
Azuki stretched her arms high in the sky and yawned. "We can't help it if we're too strong for those small fry" She then looked at the mountain of tickets she had gathered and beamed joyfully. "At least we were able to make some good profit from those idiots. Not to mention, running this booth was extremely cheap as all we needed were some tables, saving us even more money!"
"You sure are cheap Azuki-chan" Chacha smiled in a awkward manner as she watched her friend laugh maniacally before turning her attention to the figure of one of her friends frantically looking around the school campus. "Hey... isn't that Himegami-chan?"
Azuki had stopped counting her money and joined her friend in observing the troubled blonde. "Yea I think it is. What's she doing?"
"Where'd that guy go! When I find him...!" Himegami was a sight for sore eyes as she looked ready to deck the next person that she saw straight in the face. As she looked over in several directions, the dreadful memory of when she encountered the mysterious crimson haired man who had gotten a full view of her panties plaguing her ego. Though she said that, she was unable to rid herself of the shade of pink in her cheeks as she felt highly embarrassed from that little encounter . She didn't know why it bothered her so much, those perverts Takeru and Usui were always somehow getting full shots of her underwear but she let them off with a simple punishment per usual. Yet for some reason, having that guy get away with not only seeing her underwear but also being able to knock out her treasured shikigami was unacceptable.
"Oiiii! Hime-chan!"
"Huh?" Himegami paused for a second as she turned to the right to see Chacha waving at her with that usual stupid grin on her face while Azuki casually waved.
Himegami snorted. "Oh it's you two..." She soon made her way over towards the booth and side glanced the body of an overweight man only wearing a fundoshi. "I take it this was your handiwork?"
"Yup Yup! It was me!" Chacha admitted enthusiastically.
"We're running our booth here and had an arm wrestling contest. You wouldn't believe how much we've made!"
Himegami crossed her arms and flicked her ponytail, seemingly not interested in the dealings of the "dummy duo". "Is that right...?"
"By the way Hime-chan, where are you going in such a rush? I've rarely seen you look so bothered before" Chacha asked with a face full of curiosity and anxiousness.
"Oh..." Himegami's foul mood from earlier returned as she huffed in a displeased tone. "I was just looking for someone" She then turned to Azuki. "You haven't by any chance seen a guy with crimson hair and wearing a brown cape?"
Azuki cocked an eyebrow at such a question and shook her head. "Nah. Someone like that would definitely stick out around here"
"Tch..." Himegami clicked her tongue at having no luck finding a good lead on the man as Chacha and Azuki traded confused looks at one another. Suddenly, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head, Azuki smiled devilish at the startled Himegami as she rubbed her chin.
"Oh I get it... you must have found a hot new transfer student that caught your eye, huh?"
"Hah!?" Himegami shouted unintentionally at Azuki's ridiculous claim as she then turned to Chacha who also held a similar expression.
"Hime-chan's got a boy she likes! Tell us! Tell us!" Chacha was practically jumping up and down as she pressured the startled Himegami who was flustered beyond belief.
"How did you idiots possibly come to that conclusion!" Himegami stomped her feet on the ground and glared at them.
"You don't have to be shy, is he cute?" Azuki asked with a wide grin.
Chacha held her chin as if she was deep in thought. "Hmm, he must be if Hime-chan is interested in him. I'm more curious to know if he's strong, strong men are the most attractive after all"
Azuki nodded. "Can't argue with that, I'm tired of dealing with the wimps in this school" To the two of them, the criteria for their ideal males were one's who were strong and reliable. Looks came as a second priority.
Himegami would have further rebuked the dummy duo but heavily sighed and dropped it; realizing wasting any more time with these two would probably make her lose brain cells. "Look, just let me know if you see him. And to answer your question, no I don't like him, is that understood?"
Azuki and Chacha didn't look like they believed Himegami but nodded anyway. "You can count on us"
At that moment, a group of female students were seen walking by the trio and began murmuring among each other.
"Hey, did you guys hear the news? Alot of the girls inside the school claimed they saw this insanely hot guy walking with one of the school's old instructors" A girl with lavender colored hair gossiped towards her friends, causing Himegami's ears to spike up immediately.
"Yea! I heard about it too! They say he's got beautiful crimson and dark hair and wears this really cool cape! I really want to see him!"
"It's him!" Himegami practically soared towards the gossiping girls who all shrieked in surprise at seeing the blonde student council member in front of them, looking none too happy.
"H-Himegami-senpai!? C-Can we help you?" The lavender haired girl tensed up even further when Himegami approached her and in one swift motion, grabbed her shoulders.
"That guy you were just talking about, do you know where he is now?"
"U-Uhm..." The lavender haired girl had no idea why Himegami was so aggressive in finding that guy but knew better than to go against one of the wishes of a member of the student council. "From what I heard, he was heading to the principal's office with one of the old teachers"
Himgami slowly let go the girl's shoulders and produced a malicious grin. "The principal's office, eh? Kukuku, you've got nowhere to hide now, Nagi!"
With that, she bolted off towards the school's entrance, leaving all those present baffled towards what just happened.
"So... what was that about?" Azuki asked her friend.
Chacha was equally as clueless as she scratched the top of her head. "I dunno, Hime-chan was definitely acting weird" A grin then formed on face. "This guy she's looking for must be really special! I wonder what he's like to make Hime-chan act that way?"
Azuki couldn't deny that notion as she too was beginning to get interested in what kind of man could have gotten Himegami so riled up that she'd chase him all over campus. Having said that, Azuki's mind was then drawn towards the duel between Otohime and her squad that would take place tomorrow. She clenched her fists tightly and smirked, the excitement of the festival beginning to boil her blood.
"I just can't wait till tomorrow; this year's Himekagura Festival will definitely be one for the record books"
[Back At Minori's Office]
"...And that's the whole story"
After Takeshi had finished explaining to his former students about what really happened and that Nagi was not of the world they live in, the room had gotten eerily quiet as no one said anything. Minori, Gen, and Aki were all trying to make sense of what their sensei had just spoken to them and had their jaws hanging open.
Nagi was the only who didn't seem to care as he just laid back against the couch he was sitting on and looked around the room to occupy his attention.
"So, what do you think?" Takeshi asked out of the blue to no one in particular with a serious expression rarely ever seen on his face.
Unexpectedly however, an eruption of laughter followed the silence as Minori began to laugh uncontrollably while Aki was trying to hold in a giggle.
"Hahahaha! Good one sensei! You almost had us fooled for a second there!" Minori howled, banging her hand on the desk.
Aki still held her charming smile as a few giggles escaped her mouth. "Really sensei, you haven't changed a bit"
"Huh?"
Takeshi wasn't expecting... this as the two girls continued to snicker, not aware that Gen was the only one who wasn't laughing and looked as if he was seriously trying to believe what his sensei had said was the truth.
Nagi was beginning to get annoyed as a vein popped in his head. "What the hell's so funny?"
Minori began to calm down as she slumped back into her chair, a wide grin on her face. "You guys could have at least come up with a better story than that. Come on, do you honestly expect us to believe that this guy magically came here from another world by some magic portal? How gullible do you think we are?"
Takeshi couldn't argue with that and ordinarily, would have sided with Minori ten times out of ten. However, the evidence of Nagi being of another world was clear enough simply based on how he arrived in their world; a black hole appearing in the middle of the sky was no simple occurrence. Not to mention, his ability to use what called "magic" was something Takeshi, who had battled many element users over his lifetime had never seen. His lack of knowledge regarding "Elements" and "Maken's" was also a factor to consider as well. "Minori, I usually would agree with you but-
"Sensei, I know you're usually a joker but please try to take this seriously. We'd like you to tell us the real reason why-
"What are you, some kind of retard?"
That surprisingly rude comment that cut off Minori mid sentence came from none other than Nagi who was gazing at the woman with a condescending look. Aki and Gen shivered as they felt Minori's rising anger and took a few steps back from their quick tempered friend. Takeshi was of the same train of thought as drips of sweat fell from his forehead at seeing Nagi's... lack of tact.
"What... did... you... just... say?" Minori slowly turned her head towards Nagi who didn't even flinch in the eyes of such an intimidating glare.
"What, you deaf now too?"
"That's it...!" Minori's patience was at its end as she rocketed towards Nagi and was dead set on punching him straight to heaven before the hand of her sensei obscured her view. She stopped frantically and directed her gaze towards the man who's facial expression was apologetic.
"Please calm yourself, and while I apologize for Nagi's rudeness, you don't need to blow a fuse every time someone pisses you off; I see that part of you hasn't changed over all these years"
"But sensei, you can't just expect me to let this slide! Who the hell does this guy think he is, where are his manners!? Don't you think your friend should learn how to respect those older than him?"
Nagi snorted. "You can't earn my respect by some crap like that"
"Why you...!" Minori looked ready to go at him again but was taken off guard when Nagi crossed his legs and looked Minori right in the depths of her eyes.
"The old man here is telling the truth, I am from another world. Now, whether you want to believe that or not is up to you, I don't care either way." He then smirked as he caught a glimpse of the tongue tied Minori who hadn't interrupted him yet. "I just find it hilarious that you call yourselves this guy's students yet doubt his words"
"Of course we'd never doubt sensei! You just can't expect us to believe a ridiculous story like that, can you!?" Minori had bent forward now as the ferocity in her eyes continued to grow.
"Why not?" Nagi deadpanned.
"Huh? Well, uh..." Minori awkwardly scratched her cheek as she tried to counter Nagi's claim but was getting nowhere.
Nagi then turned his attention towards Aki who flinched instinctively. "And what about you? Do you doubt your own teacher's words?"
"E-eh? M-Me? Well I... I would never believe Takeshi-sensei would ever lie to us when it came to important matters but..." She glanced at her former instructor who only smiled back at her, not offended in the slightest by his student's lack of sincerity in him.
Nagi frowned at the woman's indecisiveness while directing his attention to the last individual, Gen. "What's your take on it, headband?"
Gen didn't answer immediately before he closed his eyes and thought about it for a minute. After a few moments, he opened them again. "...I believe you"
"Gen!?" Minori shouted in disbelief as she rose to her feet while Aki had a surprised look on her face.
"Look" Gen started as he turned to his two fellow faculty. "We all know that Sensei is a joker but do you think he would joke around about something like this? I think it's because we haven't seen him in such a long time that we've forgotten how honest sensei can be"
Minori held a skeptical gaze towards Gen before she looked back at Takeshi with a sorrowful expression. If there was anyone who respected and thought highly of Takeshi, it was Minori by far but at the same time, she couldn't deny that sensei's childlike personality had begun to change how she took his words. It was even hard for her to tell at times when Takeshi wasn't kidding around.
"Besides, the fact that I can't pick up a shred of element on this guy and that the disturbance yesterday matches exactly with when Takeshi told the story should give us enough proof of his origin"
Aki suddenly sprung to her feet and bowed swiftly. "Please accept my apologies sensei for doubting you, I meant no disrespect"
Minori looked begrudgingly towards Nagi who teasingly produced a smug grin towards her, earning an annoyed twitch from the principal before she too bowed as well.
"Forgive us, sensei"
Takeshi's response was instantaneous. "There's nothing to apologize for girls... especially considering the great view your giving me now, hehe" Takeshi's eyes were perversely ogling the extraordinary cleavage of the bowing Minori and Aki.
"Sensei!" Aki screamed in embarrassment as she sat back down and huffed in the other direction while Minori produced a hardy laugh.
"Consider that our apology gift" Minori grinned widely as the atmosphere around them had definitely changed for the better as laughter filled the room.
"But still..." Minori's eyes quickly darted to Nagi who cocked an eyebrow. "I can't believe you called me a retard! How rude can you be!"
"Hah? I called you a retard because you doubted the old man; as his students, shouldn't you know him well enough to tell when he's being serious?"
"Well..." Minori felt a bit shameful that she didn't know her sensei as well as she thought she did but couldn't deny the truth in this man's words. Still, it didn't mean she was okay with him being so rude and she made a mental note to give him a punch later.
Gen coughed. "In any case, shouldn't we now discuss how Nagi was able to come to our world?"
Nagi shrugged. "I'm as lost as you are there buddy, one minute I'm in a battle with a rival of mine and the next, a black hole appears in front of us and poof, I'm here"
"How bizarre..." Aki theorized as she placed a hand on her lips.
Minori sat back down and cast a gaze towards Takeshi. "I'm more interested in this thing you call "magic". Is it similar to elements, sensei?"
Takeshi shook his head. "They run on the same principle I suppose but the fundamentals are noticeably different" He then nudged his elbow into Nagi's rib cage.
"Hm?" Nagi lazily responded.
"Care to show them an example?"
"What for?"
"Just do it, it'll help us"
Nagi contemplated it for a minute before curtly nodding. "If you say so"
He raised his index finger and as Minori, Aki, and Gen got closer, they all jumped back surprised when they saw a spark of lightning emit from his hand and continue to circle around his fingers.
"Wow~!" Minori expressed childlike curiosity at seeing such a sight while Gen and Aki were of the same notion.
"Is this really that fascinating? It's just basic lightning magic"
"Lightning...magic?" Aki repeated as she too was fascinated.
"Yea, magic is composed one of the many elements that exist in the world. Any magician who's trained in lightning based spells can do this in a heartbeat. Of course, you need someone of my skill to pull it off with this much swagger"
"Yea yea" Takeshi rolled his eyes at Nagi's ego.
Gen had decided to come a bit closer and narrowed his gaze. "And you're not using a Maken for this? How is that even possible?"
"It seems that the magic that Nagi uses doesn't require the use of a Maken to utilize any of the elements. It's quite handy; in fact it was even able to repair the hole that Nagi made in my garden when he crash landed"
Minori was surprised. "Well damn..."
"Nagi-kun, do you have a way of getting back to your own world?" Aki asked with a concerned look in her eyes.
Nagi shook his head. "Not yet, that's the only reason I came to this school. The old man here said I might be able to find a Maken that could take me back to my own world".
"A Maken to take a person to another world? Ha, I doubt that. Not even the power of the original eight Maken have the ability to do that" Gen announced.
Nagi frowned at that piece of news as his leads towards heading back home were slowly dwindling.
"Just great, now what I'm supposed to do?"
As Nagi thought deeply on his next course of action, Takeshi had uncrossed his legs and sat straight, surprising his students.
"Truth be told, one of the reasons I came here today had to do with Nagi getting involved with Kamigari"
"What do you mean sensei?" Minori asked with a worrying feeling at the back of her head.
"Alright, I'll just come right out and say it. I want Nagi to join the battle against Yamato Takeru and Kamigari!"
"Hah!?" Minori had gotten up once again with an exasperated expression while Gen and Aki both looked surprised.
"Sensei... are you serious?" Gen asked.
"Completely, having him on the team would be a great asset"
"B-But sensei, you can't just ask some random person we've never met before to join us!"
Takeshi cocked his head. "And why not? Last time I checked, I was one of the temporary leaders for Yomatsuri so I have the authority to enlist whoever I deem worthy"
"Grrr...!" Minori held her tongue at that fact.
"Besides, aren't you all short staffed right now? We were going to start recruiting anyway, I'm just making it easier for you"
"Even still..." Minori turned to the lost in thought figure of Nagi who didn't seem to be paying attention and watched her sensei defend him. How could sensei trust someone he barely knows so quickly?
"How do we even know if he'll be useful? We're not dealing with any organization here you know, it's freaking Kamigari! He would need to at least be an A ranked ability user to even be considered"
When she mentioned that, Takeshi almost doubled over from laughter, causing the confused woman to cock her head. "Sensei?"
"You don't have to worry about that, I can vouch for Nagi's strength. After all, he bested me in a one on one confrontation"
"What!?" The three faculty members knew how skillful a man that Takeshi was and so to hear that he was bested was quite the accomplishment.
Nagi noticed the three sets of eyes gazing at him with amazed expressions and scrunched his face. "The hell you all looking at, huh?"
Gen and Aki were both quick to back down against the glare Nagi was giving them while Minori on the other hand could feel a surge of excitement well up in the bottom of her stomach. A chance to meet a man who her sensei respected and had such fighting power that wasn't allied with Kamigari was quite slim so she couldn't screw this up. This was her chance!
"Heh, if that's the case... you wouldn't mind if I verified your claims then, sensei?"
Takeshi faintly noticed the glint of ferocity in Minori's eyes and looked at her uncomfortably. "What are you getting at?"
Minori pounded her palm with an open fist as she glanced at Nagi. "It's simple; Nagi and I are gonna mix it up and we'll see if he's good enough to make the cut"
Chapter 7 is done, longest one so far.