And so it was the next morning that the siblings woke up. They still had the next few days off (owing to the nature of the Blanche incident affecting the whole school) in addition to requesting some extra days off before to cope with the 'trauma', so they proceeded to test their magic in their private test-space in the basement of their house. As expected, Miyuki had to learn and get used to the various intricacies of both Decomposition and Regrowth, in addition to the access that Elemental Eyes granted its users.
Tatsuya had modified Elemental Eyes when he gave it to Miyuki- making it far more versatile than it already was. Naturally, he did it on his own as well, which allowed him access to more information (from further back than 24 hours) from the IDEA (Information Dimension). It now also allowed for passive detection at distance- something Tatsuya had wanted for a long time now.
Tatsuya, on the other hand, was more comfortable using normal magic (due in part to his second Magic Calculation Area). Both siblings still had a proclivity and slight affinity for Vibration-type magic, but in general, their skills matched. And while Miyuki was a decent Magic engineer, as she was limited to what she knew, she wasn't as impressive as Tatsuya in innovation- the Loop Cast was his design entirely- on the software side anyway.
By the time they returned to First High, nearly a month later, the two were more familiar with each other's abilities. So it came as a huge shock to everyone else in the school when Tatsuya topped the school in all three leaderboards almost instantly, despite his entrance exam result. This led to Tatsuya being interrogated by the staff, since they suspected cheating.
And true to form, the stress-induced improvements excuse was accepted. Of course, they'd cleared it with Maya prior to making the excuse, promising an explanation after the Thesis Contest/Conference [1] since they had exams followed by the Nine Schools Competition or 9SC and following that was preparation for the Conference, which he felt he was going to be asked to join in on, despite the representatives already being decided.
Since Tatsuya's abilities made a drastic improvement (in public eyes, no less), there was no choice but for him to be transferred to 1-A under an exception due to his high grades. Coincidentally, one Shun Morisaki may have been one of the top 4 performers of the Course 1, but his unreported actions still reached the school authorities' ears, which made him the unfortunate one to be demoted to the second course. This, in fact, may seem light, but it was thinly-veiled appeasement towards the Second Course after Tatsuya's skills improved, making the discrimination seem stupid, after their tacit approval of said discrimination… so one can imagine the resulting humiliation and insults that he'd have to endure. However, that would only take effect after the 9SC, and was to be a secret until the end of summer vacation.
Once Tatsuya heard about this arrangement frm teh school authorities, he promised his friends and soon-to-be former classmates: Leonhart Saijou, Erika Chiba, Mizuki Shibata and Mikihiko Yoshida, that they wouldn't be forgotten that easily. Given that Miyuki and her friends: Honoka Mitsui and Shizuku Kitayama, were Course 1 students in class 1-A and they were already close, there was no reason to worry anyway, but a bit of reassurement went a long way.
As a result of that arrangement, Tatsuya wasn't considered for any Rookie player positions in the 9SC, much to Miyuki's chagrin… however, he was recommended for the Engineer's position. How this came about was rather funny.
It was lunchtime at the Student Council Office, and First High's Student Council President Mayumi Saegusa- one of the recently confirmed 'anchors' (and wasn't Miyuki a bit miffed about it, since they confirmed 3 within their friend group alone), not that she knows or would need to know yet, given she's a daughter of the vaunted Saegusa Clan- was lamenting the lack of engineers to the rest of the members present and lunching with them, consisting of Mari Watanabe, the Public Morals Committee Chief, Suzune Ichihara (another 'anchor', who was secretly formerly named Ichihana- an Extra whose number was stripped due to the nature of their magic being forbidden for non-medical uses), the treasurer, and Azusa Nakajou, the secretary, when Tatsuya, unknowing of his own folly, drew attention to himself by announcing his leave from the room.
Let it be known that Suzune had vehemently, yet politely refused the position of engineer earlier due to being on the management side of things.
Azusa, noticing Tatsuya, and remembering the fact that Miyuki mentioned having her CAD adjusted by him on the regular, pointed him out. Naturally, the power of the siblings' relationship meant that any resistance Tatsuya put up was pointless.
Afterwards, after Azusa finished geeking out over Tatsuya's new CAD holsters (making Miyuki commit a few errors on the machine due to her amused paranoia), she was reminded, and thus she asked for assistance for, her assignment, on the Three Great Weight-based Magic Puzzles… which led to a discussion on why the issue of Flight remained unsolved. Tatsuya answers why it remains undone, cementing his position for the present people.
Normally, only those of the upper years would be considered, but now cognizant of the fact that Miyuki's CAD is personally managed by Tatsuya, Mayumi recommended him. Naturally, there was resistance to this… which is why we see Tatsuya currently at a CAD adjustment terminal in school.
"So, the task set out for me is to take the data from Kirihara-senpai's personal use CAD and port it to the CAD approved for competitive use, without making any changes to the Activation Sequences. Is that right?" he asked Mayumi and Katsuto Jūmonji, the Club Federation Leader.
The two of them nodded to confirm the task. "Kirihara-senpai, this is just to confirm, but your personal CAD has higher specs than the competitive one, yes?" The one that was asked just now, one Takeaki Kirihara, nodded bemusedly. Seeing that, Tatsuya sighed and shook his head before he began working on his task, commenting thus,
"This is a reckless order and I really cannot recommend doing so for various reasons… but I have no choice. Safety shall be my highest priority." As he worked at- normal for him- breakneck speeds, after getting data from Kirihara, his keyboard-only habits, which was actually fully manual fine-tuning of the data, impressed those who knew what he was doing- including one Kei Isori, but the riff-raff around him were the majority and thus they mocked him. The adjustment was completed and tuned in short order- around 6 minutes at maximum.
When Kirihara used the tuned CAD, he reported that there was no discomfort or difference in the activation of the magic. The earlier mentioned riff-raff were critical of Tatsuya's seemingly pedestrian skills, only for one Hanzo Gyobushōjo Hattori to reassert that the skills that were shown were far too advanced for high schools, especially since the source was a higher-specced CAD than the one that had been used just then, which is why Tatsuya was accepted with the endorsement of the 9SC Committee formed. Though the official announcement was a few weeks away. It was funny how easily Hanzo had been supporting Tatsuya, given his easy mocking of Tatsuya's appointment to the Disciplinary Committee… then again, that duel must've broken his naïve superiority.
That night, Tatsuya and Miyuki got a call from Maya. Tatsuya had earlier informed her of his appointment to the team.
"Good evening, Tatsuya-san, Miyuki-san." Maya purred on the other side of the screen, something akin to adoration and lustful love in her voice when addressing Tatsuya. Given Seiichi had confirmed that Maya would be one of their 'anchors', they weren't entirely surprised at the emotions she showed.
"Good evening, Honoured Aunt." they replied in unison, though Tatsuya was a second faster in responding. They didn't miss the flash of anger at Tatsuya's addressing her as aunt, though they wondered how they'd missed it before.
"I must say, I'm rather surprised at the speed at which you're gaining attention, Tatsuya-san. I imagine that this is something new for you?" She asked, amused. Behind her, Tadanori Hayama stood silently, not reacting at all.
"Not really. I had been recruited to the Disciplinary Committee under similar circumstances. Also, it would seem that the eldest daughter of the Saegusa has her eye on me, though she isn't aware of it herself." Tatsuya replied, revealing a small smile at the thought. Since their previous call a month ago, he'd noted the increasing feeling that each of his currently recognized 'anchors'- he'd have to find a different term, anchor seems too impersonal- evoked in him.
"I see… This might be good… Tatsuya-san, I think you don't need to worry about applying yourself more. If you find yourself thrust in to compete as a substitute, I would be displeased to see you lose. For that matter, as long as you don't reveal military secrets, it's no issue to flaunt your skills to the world… As it currently stands, you can now truly claim the Yotsuba name, after all." Maya ordered. In truth, she was kinda hoping to make him as happy as possible- what mother wouldn't want her child happy?- but his own innate power was too high to allow that. Now that Tatsuya was somehow showing emotion for other people, she would be happy to give him his own harem, since Miyuki was indispensable to him. It did help in her revenge, in any case.
Even if she'd have to stay far away from him, which hurt the romantic in her, since she was his biological aunt… they were fated to be star-crossed lovers, even if he did develop feelings for her in return. Which is why it shocks her to see him smile warmly at her… as warmly as he usually smiles at Miyuki.
"Miyuki remains my highest priority, and for reasons we can only speak of in your private office, you take second place, Aunt Maya." he tells her with the conviction he usually shows only in regard to Miyuki. "Regardless, your will be done, I will not dishonor the Yotsuba, even if I can't lay claim to the name just yet. However, I believe you'll face stiff opposition to making me a full Yotsuba member, given my circumstances." he cautioned.
"You leave that to me- I hardly believe the others would want to face either of us in a battle anyway…" Maya airily responds, elated at that confirmation that he sees her as the second most important person in the world- a recent development, to be sure, but there is no reason not to be orgasmic at it all the same. Though she is miffed that the reason is still something that he's steadfastly refusing to explain outside the Yotsuba residence. Still, a dutiful mother and woman knows how to support her son and lover fully. Recognizing him an official Yotsuba was but something that he deserved as his birthright either way. With that, she made her farewell and cut the call.
[1]: Honestly, the Thesis Competition is more of a scientific conference anyway.
OK, you might be wondering what Tatsuya's new ability is and what limitations he has with it... You'll have to wait till the end of the Yokohama Disturbance Arc to find out, since I intend to use the face-to-face meeting from vol-8 to confirm it.
Also, I've decided that this story will be moved to AO3, alongside all my other stories. Catch me as Seiichi_Yotsuba there!
Till then, Seiichi's completely Bonkers at the Races!