Shifting. Changing. Twisting. Turning.
Such was the world we live in.
Things didn't go according to script. To tell the truth, many times the script ended up set on fire, it's burning pages scattered all around as all players on stage did whatever the hell they wanted, improvising new lines and new scenes as things went along, turning the play into something much different from what the writer had originally intended.
A tragedy could make people double over and roll on the ground laughing. Comedies could make people cry their eyes out. Even the most despicable farce could turn into something that would inspire and marvel people, and make them see life and the world in a way they never did before from the very moment they set foot out of the theater, making the stars on the sky seem brighter and even making the air seems fresher, as if they were experimenting it all for the first time through a new set of senses.
Shakespeare said it best when he said that life was a poor player strutting his hour upon the stage. A player who has set the script on fire and now was just dancing on the stage of the World, going along with what happened to him and trying to keep his audience captivated until the time someone finally put an end to this clownery by calling the curtain.
That said, there were many ways in which the Grail War of Fuyuki could have gone. There were many ways it could have ended. There was a way it was expected to end, a way that was nearly mandatory, considering everything that happened. However, there was still space for possibilities. Rogue chances and lines of events which sprouted like twisting branches, which would then sprout their own branches.
Among them, there was one branch that stood out over the others. A branch that was relatively new when compared to all others. Perhaps this was why it was not removed from the tree as soon as it sprouted. Or perhaps was because it twisted in such a marvelous way that whoever was responsible for pruning rouge branches decided not to do so to that one, perhaps out of a sense of curiosity to see how that specific branch would eventually grow. What world it would give birth to.
A world where the supernatural was no longer a secret.
A world where the events of the "Great Fuyuki Fire" gained far more attention of the media than it was supposed to. So much that even the Mages' Association could not cause a media blackout big enough to make the eyes of the public to turn the other way.
And many more events followed. Some big, some small, all of them seeming to stem from the event that happened in Fuyuki. Perhaps a family who was affected by that event, or that wanted to take advantage of the event. Perhaps a group of foolish heroes going after answers, and stumbling into far more than they ever hoped, and managing to share that information with the world before they could be silenced, and the released information easily escaping from control as it spread more and more. Perhaps people drove by madness and obsession chasing after what everyone else though was a dream, only for this dream to prove itself to be much more real than any of the people around them ever wanted to believe.
Each new branching event was a tear on the curtain. A crack on the wall. A breach on the cone of silence. And, eventually, the built-up damage reached a point where the whole thing could no longer sustain itself together.
Like a house of cards, everything came tumbling down, baring a truth long forgotten to a world that had once been made ignorant of its existence.
Mages were real. Those people existed. Magic existed. The world knew now. They knew and they could not just be fooled into thinking it was all a mistake. Not without many coming generations of continuous effort. However, as days passed, turning into weeks and into months, and more and more things happened, it seemed that even centuries of hard work could not be enough to lead the great masses to, once more, forget that the supernatural existed.
The world was now aware of the existence of mages, and the mages could no longer go on without being seen completely.
Their secret craft was no longer a secret.
"Well... ain't that interesting?" Said a man sitting in a throne, on the center of a spiraling whirlwind of possibilities. Scenes played around him from both past and future, things that could be and that would be, things that never should have been and things that would have been wonderful if they had been, even for just a second.
On the center of it all, was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, watching this new twisting branch as it sprouted.
New possibilities like that sprouted all the time. They were born from the always-shifting nature of time, with an incalculable amount of possible results, so many that all of eternity would never be enough to account for all of them. Overtime, the possibilities went haywire, and moved in a direction that defied common sense.
Such possibilities could not be, as they were anomalies, and needed to a be cut off for the sake of the greater picture. After all, what is a single twisting branch when what is at stake is a whole tree, right?
That branch, however... oh, that one was interesting.
It had not been pruned from the tree. It had not been cut off. What meant that it was not far-fetched enough to be chalked as an anomaly. It was a real possibility. One that could be allowed to exist, and even to thrive, so it could branch its own possibilities and paths starting from that one point of divergence.
But still, many would think it was something that could not, that should not be.
A world where the secrecy of the supernatural was revealed. A world where all the hard work of mages in name of their secrecy was all for naught, and the cone of silence has shattered beyond repair. Their secrets bared for the world to see, as the world knew they exist, and they could no longer hide from them. For the existence of such was world to be even suggested would be nothing less of heretic. It went so against what mages recognized as common sense that there was just no way they could accept a world like that could ever even be a possibility.
And yet, such a world existed. Such a possibility had not only sprouted, but succeeded in firming itself as an actual world, accepted and accounted by the Root itself, and a possibility so real that anyone who saw it, like Zelretch, would consider denying it the real heresy.
The magician chuckled to himself as he continued to gaze at this interesting possibility.
"Does this newly-born timeline amuses you, Lord Zelretch?" Asked a voice. This voice was not human, sounded mechanical, robotic even. This voice was coming from the same room the magician was currently in, as he sat on his throne surrounded by and endless shifting sea of glimpses of possibilities. The voice was, in fact, coming from right in front of him, from a floating book open before him, with images and letters of incomprehensible nature shifting as much as the images around the room.
"Yes, you could say that, I presume..." Zelretch said, as he looked at that world. "You know, it sometimes surprises me that things like that can still happen. It is certainly refreshing."
"New timelines are born constantly, and many of them ultimately disappear without leaving any trace. This is an eternal process through which the universe is constantly going. Worlds die so new worlds can come forth, that is how it has always been." The book spoke in its robotic voice, its analysis being just as robotic.
"Still, for such a possibility like that to sprout and firm itself so securely is admirable." Zelretch said, "I mean, just look at it! News of mages all around the world. The Mage's Association sending public representants to public events and to news stations. They are even considering creating a PR Department associated with the Politics Department! Can you even imagine!?"
"That not to mention..." Zelretch continued his musings, "The amount of mages who are using of this chance to try and make a name for themselves. Gotta say, never thought there would be the day when I'd get the chance to see mages trying to ride on popular opinion to try and firm a better position for themselves. What a bunch of wannabe rock stars..."
Oh, yes, what an interesting little world it was. Oh, how Zelretch wanted to take a stroll on some random Clock Tower of a random timeline and tell the higher ups of there what he had just found, only to see the look on their faces once they realized that something like that could happen.
"That is just so interesting to look at." Zelretch says, "I look at it and I wonder what will happen to it now? Will it continue to succeed as a possibility, or will it eventually become a deviation that needs to be erased? Will it be changed by past events, or will it become a script of its own? What will happen to it going forward? What new possibilities will it sprout? It has been a while since anything so interesting came around, and it will become even more interesting very soon..."
Zelretch could not stop smiling. "Perhaps this will be enough to keep me entertained for a while..." Zelretch then turned his head to look back at the book. Its pages flipped, until they stopped into a page that depicted a picture of a person surrounded by shifting letters and symbols.
"So, this shall be the main character of this story, huh?" Zelretch said, looking with interest at the face of the young man showed by his loyal book.
"Duncan Callaghan... well, let's see if you are up to the challenges that lay ahead of your, Mr. Callaghan..."
"Mr. Callaghan!?"
The seventeen-years-old young man sitting on his chair flinched, sitting upright as if he had just woke up from a dream as he looked forward, where his professor, Mr. Colson, was standing in front of the chalkboard, the sun coming from the windows reflecting on his bald head as he looked at the young man from behind his glasses.
"Did you hear what I just said?" Colson asked, while Duncan, confused, could only look back at him for a few moments.
"Huh? What? About what?" Was all that Duncan could say, and this caused a wave of laughter from the rest of the class. Colson, on his end, only left out an exasperated sigh.
"Mr. Callaghan, I would really appreciate if you paid more attention to the class, for the sake of your grades. If you fail this next exam, you will have to take summer school, and I am pretty sure this is not something you want."
Yeah, it definitely wasn't. Duncan had enough trouble coming to school during other seasons, he didn't want to have to come there during summer. He already had too many plans for this summer to allow it all to be ruined by something as stupid as being obligated to take summer school.
All Duncan could do was to sit upright on his chair and try to pay attention while Mr. Colson went back to explaining the subject at hand, even though he knew that it was all but a losing battle.
Not his fault that math was his least favorite subject ever. It was confusing enough before they started adding letters. Whose big idea it was to add letters to math anyways? Some Arabic guy, from what Duncan remembered having read online somewhere...
"Still with your head on the clouds, Duncan?" Said a voice sitting right by his side. Duncan didn't even need to look to see who it was. Mike always sat by his side, and the two of them had been the best of friends since they were in fifth grade, and Mike has always sat right by his side. "His preferred place to sit by", according to his fellow seventeen-years-old own words.
"Let me guess..." Mike said, as he looked at his friend. "You were thinking about her again, weren't you? Maybe how cute she looks with her hair floating in the wind?"
"Cut it out, Mike!" Duncan said, turning to his friend with black messy hair who, as he had suspected, was sitting by his side with a smug smirk on his face. "I got to pay attention to class! I don't want to fail the next test..."
"Whatever you say man..." Mike said, but he still had a smirk on his face, as if he secretly knew that he was right.
Well, Duncan had to admit that he was partially right. Duncan was thinking about her, in part. However, there were other things on his mind as well.
Like the stories he read online about a person who swore they have had a meeting with a mage...
The internet was crawling with those nowadays, and they were not entirely made up, according to his dad.
Duncan could not tell. He had not been born yet around the time that mages started being revealed to the world. That was back on 1994, when there was that thing on the city of Fuyuki, in Japan. A city that was destroyed in a single night by something that mages did.
No one really knows exactly what happened that caused the entire city to go down into blazes. The mages refused to talk about it to anyone, just like they refused to talk about many other things with whoever was not a mage. All that everyone knew, for sure, was that it was a result of a powerful ritual going wrong.
At least that was part of the few details that the mages explain to anyone whenever the subject was brought up. Seven mages who reunited to perform a ritual and something went wrong and ended with a whole city being destroyed. About anything else on the matter, they remained lip-sealed.
And this, of course, opened space to a lot of speculation, rumors and all kinds of crazed theories. Even nearly thirty years after the fact.
The kind that a young man like Duncan would love to see on his free time when he had nothing better to do with his time.
And some of it was wild. Most of it, to tell the truth. A small portion, however, seemed nearly believable. Like, for example, the part that said that those mages were trying to summon some mystic entity or existence that could grant them immense power, but one of them turned on the others and tried to kill them when the ritual was right on the end. That matched with what people said about mages online, on how they were always hungry for more power and how they didn't work well together. It certainly seemed more believable than that one that spoke of aliens from Mars coming in with a piece of the heart of a star god to try and make a direct contact with an outer galaxy with the help of human magic...
The bell rang before Duncan even realized that time has passed. The young man realized, too late, that he allowed himself to be distracted too much. Dang it, now he would have to spend the weekend studying on his bedroom all by himself to be sure that he would pass his next exams and avoid the dreaded summer school.
Mike was only happy to help Duncan study, as usual. The dark-haired man did, after all, understood math way better than Duncan ever did.
Surprising, considering that Duncan was better than him at practically all other subjects. Math was the only thing that Duncan had problems with. Too many numbers... and letters.
"This is actually great for us, dude." Mike said to him. "This way I can help you with the one subject you have problem with, and you can help me with everything else! See, that must be why we became friends in the first place! It is fate, my dear friend!"
Mike would put an arm around Duncan and pull him closer to himself as the two friends walked through the school. As they did, a lot of people talked to Duncan, as everyone in school knew him. I mean, why wouldn't they? He was popular after all.
Maybe not "football star popular", but he was popular. Duncan was athletic (enough to be on the tracking and wrestling teams), and he was also smart enough to have good grades and everything other than math. And he was good looking, with his deep tanned skin and short brown hair, with his sharp, strong features and his one hazelnut colored eye.
Even the eyepatch he wore to hide his other eye kind of contributed to his charm, making him even more attractive to a lot of the girls of school.
Yeah, Duncan was popular alright, even though he could not even dream of competing with the real top-dogs of the school, who were the football stars and the rich trust-fund babies. And Mike was sure to surf on his best friend's popularity as much as he could, as he always found a way to sneak himself into attending to any kind of event that Duncan was invited, be it a pool party or a hanging out with the "it" crowd.
Tonight, this included a travel to the bowling alley/dinning place that they all loved. It didn't happen every time, but when the popular people came to invite Duncan to go with them, Mike always encouraged his friend to go with them, all so he could get a chance to tag along and "experience the joys and wonders of the world of the populars".
Honestly, Duncan didn't saw what was so great about being with the "it" crowd. I mean, they had money and connections, but other than that they were just like any other crowd. To be honest, Duncan didn't even like hanging with them so much. Lars, the son of the mayor, was super stuck up. Stephanie, the school's self-crowned princess, was spoiled and bratty, and kind of a pain in the butt after a while, and she was so moody. And there was Paul, who as like the living embodiment of the stereotypical dumb jock, who did everything that Lars and Stephanie told him to, kind of like an obedient dog.
Duncan didn't feel much at home among those people. They were not the type of person he learned to enjoy being with. However, he'd been lying if he said sometimes it was convenient to go out with them, like on that time Lars managed to get everyone those sold out tickets for Duncan's favorite band...
Now, however, Duncan didn't really feel like it was worth coming around them. Not when Lars wouldn't stop bragging about how he convinced his father to increase his monthly allowance, while Stephanie looked at him playing with her hair and smiling and "casually" mentioning that there was this new handbag on sale on the local mall that she would just love to have. And Paul, of course, only stood there and nodded at everything that Lars was saying, Duncan had the impression he had no idea what the rich blonde guy wearing brand-name jacket was even talking about.
"SCORE!" Mike said aloud as he made another strike in one single swing. So loud that he called the attention of all the bowling alley. He certainly caught Duncan's eye, as well as of the popular peeps. "I am a mean bowling machine!"
Duncan couldn't help but smile at Mike. The populars, however, seemed not to enjoy him very much.
"Do you have to bring him every time you come with us?" Lars asked, looking at Duncan as he took another sip of the expensive water bottle she brought with himself, the label in it saying it was bottled in distant mountains near the Himalaya.
"Hey, he is my best friend." Duncan said to him, "I could not leave him out if I was going to go to the bowling. He would not speak to me anymore."
"You talk as if that would be a bad thing." Stephanie said, seeming to be as annoyed with Mike as Lars, as the dark-haired guy started doing some crazy victory dance. "I swear, if you weren't so good looking, I would not let you bring that little pet friend with you."
"Excuse me?" Lars asked, looking at Stephanie.
"Oh, don't give me that look, he is good looking." Stephanie said, "Enough to be worth my attention."
"Yeah, he is." Paul said, nodding, not noticing that the statement he just made could be interpreted another way.
Wait, did he even know what they were talking about? Was he even listening?
"Duncan! Hey, Dun-Dun!" Mike said, rushing to Duncan's side.
"Mike!" Duncan said to his best friend, whispering. "I told you not to call me that in public! It is embarrassing enough when my mother calls me that!"
"Dun-Dun?" Lars asked, a smirk on his lips as he looked at Duncan. The man with the eyepatch didn't had time to look embarrassed, for that was when Mike said, whispering back:
"Dude, look behind you, seven-o-clock, see who just came in!"
Duncan then did as Mike said, looking behind himself, and he was in for a surprise.
Look and behold who entered if not her.
She was Japanese, at least by the side of one of her parents. The shape of her eyes, pale complexion of her skin and petite stature said it all. She had long, flowing black hair tied in not one nor two, but three ponytails. She still had the same clothes she used for school that morning, and was wearing the same yellow blouse, the same deep-red jacket, the same dark miniskirt and socks, and the same brown shoes. She was even still carrying her backpack over her shoulder as she made her way to the counter and got in line to ask. She had very delicate features, which kind of made her look like a fairy, or even a princess from one of Disney's movies.
All in all, Yuki Hayashi was one of the most beautiful girls that Duncan had ever saw on his life. Just like she was back when he first saw her walking across the hallway as he was going to his class three years ago and had been madly in love with her ever since that day, always praying he would catch a glimpse of her walking across the hallway again and again.
And there she was! Just walking into the bowling alley and getting into line to order a snack!
"Oh, great." Stephanie said, "Her."
Duncan looked at the blonde girl, who had a sour expression on her face as she looked in Yuki's way.
"I'm sorry, what does that means?" Duncan asked, and Stephanie scoffed.
"Callaghan, I don't believe you are one of those idiots who fall for her." She said, "With her weird hair style and her 'look at me, I am an interesting foreign girl' thing! She is totally doing it to get the guys all falling for her! Anyone can notice! I mean, just look at what she wears! Look at that skirt! I mean, don't you see how short it is? Doesn't she think she is showing too much leg?"
You are wearing a skirt that is just as short... Duncan wanted to say to her as she spoke it with a stuck-up attitude, as if she was the bastion of correctness and good morals and Yuki was basically the school's slut.
"You better not talk about Yuki like that." Mike said to her. "Duncan has a HUGE crush on her for the last three years."
"Mike!" Duncan said, his face burning with embarrassment and mortification.
"Oh, he does, doesn't he?" Lars asked, stretching his neck to see Yuki over the distance. He had a smirk on his lips. "Well, can't blame him. That Japanese girl is hot."
"Excuse me!?" Stephanie said, sounding outraged.
"What? She is." Lars said, looking at Stephanie with a crap-eating grin. "Enough to catch my attention, anyway. Is this the real reason why you hate her, isn't it? Because she is just as hot as you and has better grades."
The glare Stephanie gave to Lars was positively murderous. Meanwhile, Paul looked at Yuki with a dreamy look on his face.
"Pretty girl..." He said, and Stephanie looked just about done with everything.
"You idiots, you should not be drooling for that girl, she is trouble!" Stephanie said, and then she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"She is a mage."
"Say what?" Duncan asked, while Mike was like "girl, please".
"I'm serious!" Stephanie said. "Some girls have been keeping an eye on her ever since she started attending our school, and they noticed a lot of strange things about her."
"What kind of strange things?" Duncan asked, and Stephanie seemed more than happy to share. Eager, even.
"Well, for one, she doesn't have a cellphone. Some guy asked for her number and she said to his face that she doesn't owns a cellphone and has no intention of ever owning one." Stephanie said, "I mean, I thought it was super weird when I heard it. Come on, what teenager doesn't own a cellphone!? That was when I remembered that people mentioned that mages hate technology, and they refuse to own anything technological, like televisions and phones."
"And, you think she is a mage only because of that?" Duncan asked, thinking that not owning a cellphone was not enough to assume someone was a mage. I mean, there were many other reasons why a person would not have a phone.
"This is just the start of it!" Stephanie said to them. "There are a lot of other things. Like the fact that she has not, on the whole time she has been going to our school, ever tried to hang out with anyone. She always says she is busy with other things, and that she has to study. Not to mention the fact she has never invites anyone to visit her house, not even once. Seriously, no one even knows where she lives. She might as well live in a cave somewhere, spending all of her time trying to invent new spells."
"Seriously?" Lars asked, looking at the girl on the line. "You know, she doesn't strike me as a mage. She is not all that weird."
"Because you never spoke to her." Stephanie said, "She is always avoiding looking you in the eyes and acting dismissive. Typical arrogant mages. They think they are better than any normal person, all because they have magic and we don't! And they can get away with anything! You all remember know the story of the first public announcement of the Clock Tower? How they warned everyone to not meddle with mages and to just allow them to continue their research alone so they would not suffer the consequences?"
"Yeah, mages are basically above the law." Lars agreed, "Seriously, they can literally get away with murder no problem. Even the army is too afraid to go against them after that little show they put up thirty years ago. I still can't believe they hypnotized the president. Good thing that guy didn't got reelected, he was an idiot anyways..."
"I think you are being ridiculous." Duncan said, not caring what Stephanie would think of him saying that. "I mean, maybe she is just reserved and awkward. Ever thought of that? She could just be introvert and not be good with people. A lot of people only have trouble to speak with others. Also, she probably is just studying. You know, to get good grades in school and have a promising future? Ain't that the whole point of going to school in the first place? That could totally be it, she could just be an introvert studious person who chose not to own a phone because she hardly knows anyone so she has no reason to have one."
"Yeah, she always struck me as the lonely type..." Mike said, looking back at Yuki, who was still standing in line, and now it was nearly her turn. He then turned to Duncan, with a smirk on his lips. "The kind of girl who could use a good-looking guy to go and talk to her..."
Duncan looked at Mike, and he knew from the way he spoke that and was looking at him where this was going. Soon, he was having Mike trying his hardest to get Duncan to go there and talk to Yuki, now that he finally had a chance. He could use the excuse that he wanted to get in line and buy something as well, and then pull some conversation of how they went to the same school, and how Duncan saw her around the school a few times, and they could go from there and maybe Duncan would be able to call her for a date.
Duncan, of course, was not very keen on this. There was a reason why Duncan never worked the courage to talk to her in three years, after all...
"Well, if Callahan is not going to talk to the pretty Japanese girl..." Lars said, already getting up. However, that was when Duncan got up from his seat as if it was full of fire-ants and started making his way to Yuki.
Call if the male pride that will not allow another guy to try and make a move on the girl he liked.
Darn male pride! Was what Duncan thought as he found himself walking straight to Yuki, the girl in whom he has had a HUGE crush for the past three years and he had absolutely no idea what he would even say to her.
Man, this was going to be awkward. I mean, why would it not be awkward? How could a guy whom she never talked with before suddenly coming to her and asking her how she was doing? Man, she was going to think he was creep. She could think he was stalking her! She was going to call the police on him!
Oh, why did he ever listen to Mike!?
However, even thought he knew that he as walking straight towards doom, it was as if his legs were in auto-pilot, guiding him in direction to the girl he had dreamed with for years as she finished making her request to the cafeteria.
"The onion rings don't have rosemary, do they? I am seriously allergic. No? Great, I'll have them. And please, make sure my tea is sweetened with brown sugar." Yuki said, and her voice sounded melodic, just like Duncan always dreamed of it. She was already paying for her request in cash, when she noticed the person standing by her side.
"May I help you?"
For a long moment, Duncan just looked at her. She looked back at him, and she was starting to get visibly uneasy.
"What?"
Come on, say something, you idiot! Duncan yelled inside his own head. You came all the way here, just talk to her now! NOW!
"Okay, what do you want?" Yuki asked, clearly losing her patience, and that was when Duncan blurted out:
"I saw you on the hallways a few times."
"What?" Yuki said, surprised.
Gah, what am I even saying!? Duncan thought. The next thing he thought was that he would like to travel back in time a few seconds and kick himself before he could say that stupid thing. Better yet, he wanted to go back in time and warn himself against going to talk to Yuki. Even better, he wanted to go back in time to that same morning and warn himself to never, ever listen to anything that Mike suggested ever again!
"Do..." Yuki asked. "Do I know you?"
Duncan blinked, looking back at her, and then he said:
"Sorry!" He came out to blunt, and so he recovered. "Sorry, I... I just... just wanted to say that you and I go to the same school. You are Yuki Hayashi, right?"
Of course Duncan knew she was, but he still said:
"I saw you across the hallways a few times, when I was changing rooms for my classes. I don't think we ever talked."
"Yeah, we haven't..." Yuki said, looking at the young man. "And... you are talking with me because...?"
"I... wanted to invite you to play with me and my friends." Duncan said, gesturing to the back. "We came here to play bowling, and I was wondering if you'd like to join us. Did you ever bowled before? I mean, play bowling?"
Yuki took a moment to answer.
"I used to... with my parents."
"Oh, nice!" Duncan said, "So, feel like joining us? We are in five, and with you tagging along we can make two even teams. It will be better to play."
Yuki looked at him, and then she shook her head.
"Sorry, I can't. I have to study tonight."
Duncan looked at her.
"Oh, right. Exams are just a few weeks away. You know, I should be at home studying too... say, what about we study together? I mean, we could meet up at your house."
"No." Yuki said suddenly. "I... I am not supposed to bring strangers home."
"Oh... then, what about my home?" Duncan asked, "Or we can meet on the library, if you prefer. It is quieter. We won't have to hear my dad yelling at the TV as he watches football. We could share notes and... and stuff..."
"And stuff"? That's the best you can come up with, you idiot? Duncan once more wanted to kick himself.
However, he was in for a surprise when Yuki said:
"Well... the library is a good place to study... I guess I could meet you in there one day so we could study for exams together."
"Really?" Duncan said, dumb folded that she actually said.
"Yeah, really... but, you will have to help me with my Spanish, I am still the worst at it..."
"Oh, I am good at Spanish!" Duncan said, perhaps a bit happier than he should have sounded. "I can help you with it, if you help me with math."
"Well, that sounds like a deal." Yuki said, giving the man with the eye-patch a weak smile. Duncan smiled back, but that was when the things become a bit awkward.
"I... still don't know your name..." Yuki said, and Duncan then said:
"Oh... it's Duncan. Duncan Callahan."
As Duncan continued to talk with Yuki, the other four looked at the distance.
"Look at that. Callahan might actually score the hot Japanese girl." Lars said with a smirk.
"Just another idiot falling for that stupid charm... she will probably turn him into a frog by the time she is done with him." Stephanie said. Mike, on his end, could only smile, as he was beaming with happiness and pride for his best friend for finally talking to her, and he seemed to be doing well.
This was all just perfect.
Strange how the world finds ways to ruin perfect things when they are happening.
It was just when Yuki's order was ready, and she was ready to take it, when a bunch of guys came. They were wearing football jackets, and it was obvious they belonged to another school, by the colors in it.
"Hey, won't you look at that!" Said one of them, the biggest one, as he approached Yuki. "Guys, take a look at this pretty thing in here!"
All of his friends then came along. There should be five of them, each one almost as big as their leader, who looked like he was the main tackler. They were all over Yuki, and the Japanese girl was visibly uncomfortable with them, and they either didn't noticed or didn't care.
"Say, darling, why don't you come with us?" The leader of the guys said, "I know a place that has a great sushi. I know you will love it."
Seriously? Duncan thought, Did he said that just because she is Japanese? Doesn't he think that's a little racist?
"I already ordered food." Yuki said, and the guy then said:
"Oh, then we will order some food too. We can make you company, and then we can take you to one of our favorite places." He said, placing an arm around her. "Come on, darling. We can show you a really good time."
Duncan was about to do something about that. Yuki, however, beat him to it. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it, causing him to cry out, and then she jammed her wrist on his face, sending him back him his friends.
As he recovered, she picked up the trail with her food.
"So, I guess I'll see you in school on Monday, we can agree on a time to go to library." Yuki said to Duncan, who was a bit in a shock. She was walking with her food when...
"You bitch!" Said the big guy, who grabbed Yuki by the hair. She dropped the food and cried out as he pulled her hair hard, an expression of anger on his face as he had blood dripping from his broken lip.
"I try being nice to you and you hit me!? Do you know who I am!? Do you know who my dad is!? I can ruin you and your whole family if I want to, you stupid slut!" He said, as he grabbed her by both the hair and the backpack. He dropped her to the ground as he tossed her, causing her backpack to open and the contents, books and loose paper, to scatter on the ground.
"Hey!" Duncan said, as he got on the way of the guy. "Leave her alone."
"Stay out of that, loser!" The guy said, and he tried to punch Duncan. The young man, however, was a good wrestler, and he managed to put the guy in a hold and slam him into the ground. However, that was when his five pals came to his rescue, and there was no way Duncan could face all of them alone. They punched him on the stomach as the pinned him to the ground.
"Hey!" Yuki said, getting up. "Leave him alone."
"Shut up!" Said the leader, as he back-handed Yuki, sending her to the ground once more, as he turned his attention to Duncan, who was being held by three of his huge friends.
"Duncan!" Mike said, as he rushed, but he was stopped by Lars.
"Not a good idea, mate." Lars said with indifference, as he watched along with the other two. "That guy's father is very influent. He would ruin you if you laid a finger on his son."
"Well, can't you do something!? Ain't your dad the mayor!?" Mike asked, to what Lars said:
"Yeah, I could... but I'm not sure if it is worth the effort."
"You better get ready now, hero." The leader said, as he cracked his knuckles as he looked down at Duncan. "I'm gonna beat you up so bad you won't open your eyes for a whole week!"
A lot of people were looking now, as they were attracting the eyes of everyone on the place. Meanwhile, Yuki was getting up. She looked at her hand, where there was blood that came out of her nose. She then looked over at the guy, who was getting ready to beat up Duncan, who tried in vain to escape.
The scene was familiar to her.
Except that, back then, it was a woman being held down as they approached her...
No... Yuki said, as she got up, reaching for something inside of her pocket.
"Hey!"
"What!?" The leader said, turning around to see the Japanese girl getting on her feet, and lifting a piece of paper in the air.
"Roar, Raijin!" She screamed, and the paper started glowing blue. Then, a lightning came out of the paper, which disintegrated in the air, and hit the guy, making him fly right past Duncan and the five guys and slam had on the wall, before landing on the ground, twitching weakly as sparks of electricity jumped across his body.
The whole place froze. Duncan and the five guys looked in shock at the fallen guy, before all of them turned their eyes back to the Japanese girl.
She had an angry expression on her face. Her eyes were burning as she pulled another piece of paper from her pocket, and held it before her as she said:
"Strike them, Kajin!"
The paper glowed, as the Japanese kanji in it emitted a red light, and then it ignited. Three fireballs flew and hit the three guys holding Duncan down. One in the stomach, one in the chest, and one in the face.
The guys hit on the chest and stomach were both blown back, landing on the ground, while the one hit on the face let out a loud wail as he took both his hands to his face and fell to the ground, squirming. He continued to wail in agony as he held his burned face.
The remaining two screamed in terror as they rushed out of the place, nearly breaking the door as they ran outside, abandoning their friends to their luck.
The Japanese girl stood where she was panting slightly, before a voice came:
"Yuki?"
She blinked, and looked at Duncan, who was looking at her with a shocked expression. As if he had just witnessed something he could not believe.
"I knew it!" Said another voice, a female one. This caused Yuki to turn around.
"I told you she was a mage!" Stephanie said, pointing at Yuki as the other three were looking at her with the same expression of shock as Duncan.
The same expression on the eyes of everyone else on the bowling place as Yuki looked around to see. And she also saw their shock turning into fear, and even into hatred.
She felt despair as she realized just what she had done.
In a rush, she started putting her books and papers back into her backpack as fast as she could, while people started whispering around her.
"Yuki..." Duncan said, trying to reach for her, but she jumped back.
"L-leave me alone!"
She rushed out of the store, while Duncan called her name. She did not, however, turned around to look at him, as she just rushed out of the store without looking back, leaving a few papers she was carrying fall behind her.
Duncan could only look at her depart. He was still in shock due to what just happened. So much that he did not rushed after her to see if she was okay.
He did, however, picked up the three paper sheets she dropped as she ran, each one of them with something drawn and/or written on them.
"Dude..." Mike said, as shocked as his friend was.
"Your crush is a mage..."