Start of Irregularity

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Honoka and Shizuku turned their heads and saw that it was an orange-haired girl who spoke, the latter's hand touching an empty chair. The flower emblem on her uniform indicated her to be a fellow Course 1 student.

"Oh, no," Honoka answered the question. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." She sat down before offering her hand. "Name's Fujimaru Ritsuka. And you are…?"

"Mitsui Honoka." The brown-haired girl accepted the hand. "This is Kitayama Shizuku."

The sleepy-looking girl nodded.

Their conversation was cut short by the start of the opening ceremony. Several individuals delivered speeches throughout the event, culminating with one given by the freshman representative, Shiba Miyuki, who was chosen for the position due to having the highest score in the entrance exam.

Once the event was over, the freshmen received their ID tags and thus, their first day at school was over; classes would begin officially tomorrow.

"Hey, girls, look!" Ritsuka said, showing her ID. "We're in the same class!"

"You're right." Honoka looked at her own ID, confirming it. "Quite a coincidence."

As the trio exited the building, heading toward the front entrance, they saw that the freshman representative was walking in the same direction along with a boy wearing the First High uniform.

"It's him…" The brown-haired girl said, pointing at the boy.

"You know him?" The orange-haired girl asked her new classmate.

"He's the brother of Shiba Miyuki, Shiba Tatsuya. During the entrance exam, he's capable of using magic so gracefully and efficiently. He's nothing short of deserving a place in a magic high school." She explained before frowning. "Yet why is he part of Course 2?"

"It's likely because he doesn't have a good practical score." Ritsuka guessed, put her hand on her chin. "My mentors always told me that it isn't uncommon for someone who excels on paper to have a problem putting their knowledge into practice."

"Indeed," Shizuku stated. "Practical exam has more weight in comparison to the paper test."

"I suppose…"

The next day, classes had indeed begun. The atmosphere was still quite relaxed though, so the freshmen were more focused on making new friends than preparing for their first lesson. That was definitely what was happening in Class 1-E.

"Erika, you…"

"Yes?"

The four students who were having a conversation – for a given value of one – paused and looked at the newest addition. Sitting behind Tatsuya's seat was a black-haired girl with a streak of red hair on the right side of her head.

"Did any of you call for me?" She spoke. "I heard my name – Erice – being called."

"Oh, n-no," Mizuki explained. "I said 'Erika', not 'Erice'."

"Ah, I misheard it then." The girl nodded. "Apologize."

"Nah, it's alright." Erika waved it off. "So, your name is Erice?"

"Utsumi Erice." She gave her full name. "And you're Erika?"

"Yep." The orange-haired girl grinned. "Chiba Erika, at your service!"

"What are you waiting for? Get to your seat."

The sudden interruption caused the group – along with the rest of the classroom – to look at the entrance. Much to their surprise, a teacher entered the classroom after telling them to return to their respective seats. Another thing that they noticed was that the teacher appeared to be a foreigner; not exactly a common sight in public, let alone in a magic high school.

Not caring in the slightest about the stare, the teacher went to the desk and activated his tablet. After a minute or two passed by, the students couldn't hold their curiosity anymore.

"Um…" Leo raised his hand. "Sir?"

"What is it?" The man replied, still focusing on his tablet.

"What is it that you're doing here, sir?"

"Did you not read your lesson schedule for today?" The teacher frowned; well, frowned deeper.

"N-No, no, that's not what I…!"

"What my friend means," Tatsuya came to the rescue. "Is that Course 2 students learn through the computers instead of an educator."

"Oh, that." He clicked his tongue. "Officially, both Course 1 and 2 should have received the same standard of education. Unofficially, the faculty doesn't have enough teachers for all of its students, so they focused only on Course 1. That, however, means that it's up to us if we want to follow that unofficial policy or not."

"Sir," Erika decided to ask as well. "What makes you decide to teach us rather than the Bl – the Course 1 students?"

"In the entrance exam, the practical part has more weight in comparison to the theoretical one. This reveals the objective of the curriculum of the First High." He explained. "There's not much that I could teach to Course 1, but that's not the case with Course 2. Many of you have written exam score that is comparable to or even higher than those who enter Course 1. My job, thus, will be to educate you in 'converting' this written score into a practical one."

The students became silent upon hearing that. The infamous reputation of the Blooms and Weeds of the First High was quite well-known. Upon finding out that they were part of the lower 50%, the boys and girls of Class 1-E – along with other Course 2 classes – had accepted that the education that they received would be inadequate.

As it turned out, that was not going to be the case.

"Oh, almost forgot," The teacher suddenly said. "Name's Waver Velvet. Let's hope that this isn't going to be a waste of our time."

When lunch break arrived, the group of new friends headed toward the cafeteria.

"Man, I know First High is an elite school," Erika commented, mouth full of food. "But this is absolutely delicious."

"Don't talk while you're eating," Leo lectured her. "What are you, five?"

"You're one to talk!" She retorted. "Aren't you currently talking right now?"

"At least I don't have food in my mouth!"

"Just kiss, will you?" Erice grumbled. "I swear, you two might as well be already married for decades!"

"Heck no!" "Absolutely not!"

"Ah, there you are, Erice! I have been looking for you!"

Once more, there was a new addition to the conversation. This time, it was an orange-haired girl, not unlike Erika. Unlike her though, the flower emblem on her uniform indicated that she was from not only a different class but also from a different course entirely.

"Ritsuka," The black-haired girl greeted her. "Do you have a good time in the class?"

"Eh," She shrugged. "The lesson is OK, but the students, well, I can only say good things about three of them."

"That bad, huh?"

"You two appear to be familiar with each other," Mizuki pointed out as the rest of the table stared at them. "Are you by any chance friends?"

"Nah," Erice replied sarcastically. "This Master of mine basically beat me up and then demanded that I become her Servant."

Considering her tone along with the giggle from the other girl, they believed that the former was just joking, though they were not sure why she was making that kind of joke of all choice.

"Brother!"

"What is it with people gathering at our table?" Erika commented. "No offense, Tatsuya."

The boy in question simply shrugged.

"Sorry, guys," Miyuki – the one who called her brother earlier – bowed to her new classmates. "Let's continue later. I want to have lunch with my brother."

"Eh?" One of them complained. "Miyuki, it would be better if you don't spend too much time with the Weeds."

"That's right." Another spoke up. "We need to draw the line between Course 1 and 2."

"What's with them?" Mizuki said, frowning.

Not wanting to cause any disturbance, Tatsuya decided to stand up and move away.

"Miyuki, you may take a seat here," He said. "I am already done."

It was an action that was followed by the rest of his friends…except for Erice who decided to remain alongside Ritsuka.

"Hey, you. You're a Bloom as well, right?" One of the Blooms noticed the flower emblem on her uniform. "You shouldn't sit with a Weed."

"I am sitting with a friend." The orange-haired replied before waving her hand. "Shoo, shoo. You're being annoying."

Erika, Leo, and Mizuki had to admit that seeing the gobsmacked reaction of the Blooms was quite an amusing sight.

Quite unsurprisingly, the clash between Course 1 and Course 2 students simply continued to escalate. The former kept rubbing their sense of superiority on the latter was more than enough to do that. It didn't take long for both sides to start throwing words at each other.

However, the clash ended up being much more heated than expected with one of the Blooms activating his CAD and was about to use magic when…

SLAM

"Ggh!" The sudden and unexpected attack caused the boy to collapse, his CAD falling from his hand.

"Whew, thank gods I arrived in time," Ritsuka said, wiping her nonexistent sweat, before turning to the Weed group. "You guys alright?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks…" Leo muttered before realizing who it was. "Wait, it's you?!"

"Ritsuka!" Honoka – who was part of the Bloom group – exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"Eh, don't worry. He's fine." The orange-haired girl said, pointing her thumb at the coughing student. "By the way, I have the Student Council President and Morals Committee Chief on my heels."

Many became pale upon hearing that and just as she said, both individuals arrived on the scene.

"I am Chief of the Public Morals Committee, Watanabe Mari!" The short-haired girl declared. "All of you, students of 1-A and 1-E, you will be inquired about the situation! If you persist, then I shall take you down with magic!"

The students looked at each other in panic. However, Tatsuya stepped forward, saying that it was all a misunderstanding and that Morisaki Shun – the knocked-out Bloom – was simply demonstrating his magic skill.

Obviously, Mari was quite skeptical of it.

"What do you think, Fujimaru?" She turned her attention to the girl. "You're the one who stops Morisaki. Was he a danger to his fellow students?"

"I can't know for sure what kind of magic that he's about to use," Ritsuka gave her opinion. "But if it is indeed a simple demonstration, Morisaki Shun is still guilty of terrible aiming."

Yeah, no way getting away from that, the older Shiba thought. While not all magic was dangerous, it still wasn't something that you just aimed at someone without a reason. If it was simply a demonstration, then the Course 1 student should have aimed his CAD somewhere else.

"Indeed." The chief nodded, turning her attention to the male student. "Hope you have a good reason for that, Morisaki."

As Mari ordered him to stand up, Tatsuya focused his attention on Fujimaru Ritsuka. Not only was she able to knock someone out by punching the solar plexus – indicating a familiarity with martial arts – but he also didn't notice her until the last second, much to his surprise. As Miyuki's brother and guardian, he made it his duty to be aware of any and every possible threat in the school.

And one just managed to pass unnoticed by him.

"…and that's how it goes," Ritsuka said before sipping on her milkshake.

"I can't believe I am saying this," Kadoc commented. "But you have it harder compared to me back in the Clock Tower."

"Eh?" Mash looked surprised. "But isn't the Clock Tower filled with 'elitist assholes', as you put it, Kadoc-senpai?"

"Yes, but that also means you're below their concern most of the time." The former member of Team A explained. "Unlike Ritsuka's classmates who seem to have quite a fragile ego."

Upon returning to her residence, the (no longer) Last Master of Chaldea immediately went to the cafeteria and ordered a big scoop of ice cream along with a milkshake. It was hard to say if she enjoyed them considering that she kept grumbling, something that caused her kouhai and her senpai to check her up.

"Anyway," She decided to change the subject. "What about you, Mash? How's school?"

"It's definitely more than I expected, Ritsuka-senpai." The Shielder said with a smile. "Besides of course the locals, there are also people from other nations, such as America, Britain, Brazil, and more."

"Well, that's international school for you." The white-haired man said. "It's a good thing that we could find one that's nearby."

"Is Japanese school really that bad, Senpai?" The purple-haired girl asked. "I mean, I know it would be nothing like what's shown in the manga or anime, but…"

"Look, Mash. To put it short, there's a reason that Japan – and East Asia in general – has quite a high amount of suicide among the students." Ritsuka explained with her rare serious tone. "As someone who grew up here, I know a trick or two to survive."

"Well, if you say so, Senpai." She became silent for a while. "So, can you say that you make any friends, Senpai?"

"I want to say that I am one with Mitsui and Kitayama, but considering the people that they interacted with…" The orange-haired girl gave a thought about it. "As for the ones from Course 2, I think it's more correct to call them 'friends of a friend'. At least for now."

"If there's anyone who can make friends from the unlikeliest of people," Kadoc stated. "It would be you, Ritsuka."

"Aw, thanks, Senpai!"

"That's not a compliment, by the way."

Here you go! Inspired by none other than the Moon Cell Irregular!

If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.

Review, please~