Volume 12, Chapter 6

This chapter is updated by wuxiaworld.eu

April 8th, the morning of the first day of school for First High School, which was attached to the National Magic University.

Today, there were no ill mannered stares lying in wait for them on the route to school; all three of them, Tatsuya, Miyuki and Minami arrived at First High School two hours before the admissions ceremony. It goes without saying that commuting to school at this hour was in order to make preparations for the entrance ceremony. The three of them went straight to the site of their first appointment, the auditorium’s preparation room. Minami was bothered by the fact that she, herself, was an outsider, but since she had not acquired much experience escorting Miyuki, Tatsuya had forced her to accompany them.

Isori and Honoka were already gathered in the prep room. “Good morning, Tatsuya-san! Morning, Miyuki!” “Morning, Shiba-kun. Right on time.”

As Miyuki and Honoka exchanged greetings, Isori spoke to Tatsuya to their side.

“Good morning. You’re early, Isori-senpai.”

“It’s my nature. If I don’t come early, I can’t stay calm.”

After he smilingly answered Tatsuya’s greeting, Isori’s eyes went to Minami, who was waiting behind Miyuki.

“By the way, who is that girl? A new student?” “Of course, Minami.”

“Yes, Tatsuya-niisama.”

“Niisama? Shiba-kun, do you have a younger sister other than Miyuki- san?”

In a sense, Isori had given him just the question he wanted. “No, my cousin.”

Tatsuya replied with the lie he had prepared before hand.

“Minami, this is Isori-senpai.”

“Nice to meet you, Isori-senpai, I am Sakurai Minami. Thank you for the care you have always given to Tatsuya-niisama and Miyuki-neesama.”

The overly polite speech Minami provided to greet Isori at Tatsuya’s direction did not cause Isori to display any feelings of unease.

“Nice to meet you, Minami-san.” “I’m very honored to meet you.”

Just as Minami once again sent a polite nicety towards Isori, Azusa, Kanon and the first year representative, Shippou Takuma, entered. (By the way, Kanon had already made one round of checking the guest chairs.)

“Good morning… could it be that I’m the last one?” “Good morning, President. You are precisely on time.”

Miyuki replied to Azusa, who had asked that question with a slightly surprised look, with a smile. Actually, she was three minutes late, but Miyuki’s smiling face carried the intimation that any further apologies would not be allowed.

“Good morning, Isori-senpai, Shiba-senpai.”

After getting Azusa to swallow the apologetic complaints they expected from her, Takuma stepped forward from behind her and spoke to first Isori, then Tatsuya.

“Morning, Shippou-kun.”

He made a silent bow to Isori’s reply and then turned around to face Miyuki and Honoka.

“Shiba-senpai, Mitsui-senpai, good morning. Please take care of me, today.”

Could he be nervous? Compared to the attitude Takuma hit them with the day before yesterday, the change was laudable.

“Good morning, Shippou-kun. Please give it your all today.”

However, Miyuki was not a gentle girl who could be moved by something like that. Her smile was magnificent, her tone was gentle. The perfect face of a lady in what was known as an impeccable social mask. Only

Takuma’s attitude had changed; he had not apologized for his rude manner the other day. Miyuki did not intend to make any concessions from her side as long as he didn’t make any apologies to her elder brother.

Azusa and Isori looked confused by the smile so formal that no one could complain about it. With nothing to indicate ill intentions, they could not rebuke Miyuki. On the other hand, they could not let the uncomfortable mood that had started to spread simply be. Azusa requested help from Tatsuya with her puzzled eyes.

“Since all of us are here, let’s go over the order of the ceremony first.”

However, Tatsuya’s only answer to that was to continue speaking as if nothing was wrong.

“That’s right, we shouldn’t waste time.”

Without a moment’s delay, Kanon provided supportive agreement. She too had probably decided that they needed to forcefully gloss over this scene.

“Then, starting with the arrangements for thirty minutes before the admissions ceremony. The guiding of guests is Miyuki’s charge, the reception room is Honoka’s…”

This was originally Azusa’s duty, but Tatsuya was not concerned with that as he continued with the rehearsal arrangements. It wasn’t right for Minami to be in this place, but no one pointed it out and it was completely forgotten.

And the rehearsal immediately before the ceremony proceeded safely in the strained atmosphere that did not allow them the luxury of feeling pressured by the imminence of the actual event. Azusa and the others breathed a sigh of relief as it finished; in spite of the entrance ceremony starting in thirty minutes, they were very relaxed or rather they were in an exhausted state. Tatsuya thought they were letting their attention wander a little too much, but it wasn’t Tatsuya’s job to point that out. Besides, it was better than getting too worked up beforehand that they were useless when the main event started. Reconsidering things, Tatsuya set about his own work.

“I’m going to guide the new students.” “Oh; take care, Oniisama.”

“Ah, thank you for your work.”

As Miyuki and Azusa saw him off from the side of the stage and Minami bowed a silent goodbye, Tatsuya departed the auditorium.

His duty before the ceremony was to guide students who didn’t know where the event was. Last year, when Tatsuya met Mayumi, it was because she was assigned with the same job. When he heard that at the end of March when the jobs were assigned, Tatsuya hadn’t felt it was a suitable job for the student council president, who had important duties just before the actual ceremony. However, he had now reconsidered and he thought it might have been an excuse to go outside and relieve her tension.

There was no way he himself was tense to that extent. Nevertheless, he was aware of a slight sense of freedom. Perhaps this was only natural, to be more at ease outside in the wind instead of inside preparing for a formal ceremony. Maybe, he resembled Mayumi on this point.

Possibly, because he was thinking about that stuff, “Ah, Tatsuya-kun.”

“Saegusa-senpai? Good morning.”

Soon after he ventured in to the front yard, he unexpectedly met with Mayumi.

“Saying… it’s been a while would be strange. Are you the new student guide?”

“Ah, yes.”

“So as planned, you joined the Student Council.”

The student assigned the task of guiding new students wouldn’t be anyone other than a member of the student council. The Public Morals Committee members were also patrolling in order to police the grounds, and temporary officials were also making the rounds. Thus, she shouldn’t be able to conclude that he was an officer of the Student Council just from his answer, but Tatsuya did not say anything to refute the happily giggling Mayumi at all. He had, in fact, joined the Student Council, and another matter had caught his attention.

It did not really need saying, but Mayumi had graduated from First High School last month. Therefore, she wasn’t wearing a uniform; this too was only natural. However, it probably couldn’t be called ‘expected’ for her to be here in attire that looked very mature.

This was not the first time Tatsuya had seen Mayumi in non-uniform clothing. Last summer, when they departed for the Nine Schools Competition, he had seen her in a fairly spectacular summer dress. However, at the time, although she had been showing more skin, he hadn’t felt like he was seeing a different person.

However, the Mayumi who was now clad in a feminine suit seemed older and a different person than she had been last month. The frills from her blouse were arranged in her chest area, she had a short jacket, and she also had on a tight skirt which did not give off an impression completely different than that of a high school girl. Could it be because of her deep red high heel pumps? Could it be because she had augmented her coloring with light makeup? Could it be because she had exchanged her large hair ribbon that held back her hair for an amber colored barrette? Perhaps, everything from the top on down created the effect and more than anything else, Mayumi had gone up one more rung of the ladder to adulthood.

“Not even a month has passed since graduation, but …for some reason, you don’t recognize me, Tatsuya-kun.”

While Tatsuya had been thinking about those things, Mayumi herself on the other hand had claimed ‘that he didn’t recognize her’ and penetrated the — what can probably be called inevitable — hole in his defenses.

“That may be true.”

Mayumi smiled warmly at Tatsuya, who had just barely managed to reply.

“Eh. That uniform… it’s the Magic Engineering Course one, right? It’s different from last year’s.”

“I think my uniform is the only thing that’s changed.”

His comment wasn’t to hide his embarrassment — it was his actual opinion. That was what he really thought, but,

“No, I think you may not be aware of it yourself, but last year when we first met in this same season, the Tatsuya-kun who was wearing the Second

Course uniform had a completely different look than the present Tatsuya- kun. Compared to last year, you look more at ease.”

Tatsuya did not dispute the claim Mayumi was making because he could not dispute them.

The fact was that he himself was not aware of it. That he was not self- aware was the truth.

To put it plainly, he had a bit of an inferiority complex about ordinary things.

“I concede. I do not understand my own self.”

Tatsuya bravely raised a white flag. This was not merely lip service. ‘Even though you try to understand yourself, you really can’t’ had been a bit of ancestral wisdom that had been around forever; he thought from his heart that this was the reason for his admission of defeat. However, seeing Mayumi just throw out her chest in triumph, a seed of rebellion sprouted within Tatsuya.

“You called it failing to recognize you, but I think Senpai has changed way more than me.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. You’re completely a university student. You look very mature.” “Re-really? It’s just barely past the entrance ceremony.”

She spoke as if to deny Tatsuya’s impression, but Mayumi’s not at all displeased look and bashful manner were obvious. (By the way, the university admissions ceremony was on April 6th.)

“Yes. From that barrette in your hair to those grown up pumps, they suit you very well. Like you’re another person.”

“Teehee, really… you say.”

Mayumi was no longer trying to conceal anything, but she looked like she came to a sudden realization when her smile cracked and her face abruptly hardened.

“Tatsuya-kun… what do you mean by that…?”

No, it was not like she came to a realization. Evidently, Mayumi had realized something,

“Do you mean I rely more on them?”

“To make myself look different, more mature?” She herself was being made fun of by Tatsuya.

“In short, you want to say I used to look childish…?” “You’re over-thinking this.”

Naturally, Tatsuya was not so weak willed to easily acknowledge his own misdeeds(?). Faced with Mayumi glaring up at him with upturned eyes, he made his face look sober and honest and answered with a voice that matched that face.

“I have never thought even one time that Saegusa-senpai’s face or figure was childish.”

“Face… figure…”

It seemed like Mayumi had received some kind of shock. Looking at her objectively, only her height was short; her face and figure were not childish. Anyone would say her face was the cute type, but it was not ‘childish’ and her voluptuous proportions could be called extremely mature for her age.

Nevertheless, apparently Mayumi had a hidden complex about — she wasn’t really all that short — her height. Disregarding Tatsuya’s denial, she was probably interpreting his words in the worst way.

“Is something wrong?” “No, I’m fine.”

As she answered Tatsuya’s words — in which she didn’t hear all that much concern — in a confident tone that was half bluffing, Mayumi was once again glaring up at him.

“So Tatsuya-kun, what did you mean by a different person?” “It doesn’t really have a deep meaning. It’s a common phrase.”

The persistently questioning Mayumi made Tatsuya feel like ‘he had failed.’ This was not a topic he intended to speak on at length. He didn’t intend to make light of Mayumi, but he could not have her occupy all his time. —Come to think of it, why had Mayumi come to her alma mater, thought Tatsuya at last.

“Really? I don’t think so.”

Mayumi made a straight forward appraisal. The ‘upturned stare’ transformed into ‘a scowl at point blank range’. Mayumi herself probably wasn’t conscious of it, but a spectator would mistake it for unwanted closeness.

“No, really. …By the way, Senpai, why are you here today?”

Mayumi displayed an ’ah’ look and a ‘Hey, you!’ in a shrill angry voice reached his ear at nearly the same time.

“Get away from Onee-chan! You skirt-chaser!”

At first, Tatsuya did not understand that those words were directed at himself. Because the label of ‘skirt-chaser’ was completely unwarranted. However, he saw that the petite girl that matched the shrill voice was coming down the path between the rows of cherry trees directly at him, and he became aware that apparently, this situation — the difference in the heights between Tatsuya and Mayumi had concealed what was actually going on — had been mistaken for something else.

“Kasumi-chan!?”

On the other hand, from the word, ‘Onee-chan,’ and the distinctive voice, Mayumi had understood that the remark was aimed at them. Mayumi turned toward the girl who was running to them and immediately looked back in Tatsuya’s direction and vigorously took one step backwards. Clearly flustered, perhaps she had some kind of clue of how the girl had misunderstood the situation.

Tatsuya knew the girl called ‘Kasumi-chan’ was Mayumi’s younger sister even without looking at the new student registry. If her cordial relationship with her male kouhai was misunderstood by her younger sister, then it was only natural for her to be flustered, thought Tatsuya. However, he felt that her response seemed to be a little too energetic.\nHis momentary concern did not turn into a needless anxiety. It was probably the high heels that lead to the disaster. No, Mayumi should have had many chances to attend formal parties, so it probably wasn’t that she was unused to shoes with high heels. So she had probably been careless with her footing when she moved unexpectedly.

Before Mayumi had tripped and fallen, Tatsuya had calmly considered the possibility. Completely from a bystander’s point of view. If he could of just kept looking and be done with it then, he probably would have accepted the label of ‘heartless’ without complaint, but as usual he was not so lacking in human feeling.

Mayumi, who had stumbled, was swiftly supported by Tatsuya. He had grabbed Mayumi’s shoulders with both hands. He did not grasp her hip area in an overly familiar manner and of course he did not insolently accidentally touch her breasts.

“Ah, thank you…”

Therefore, Mayumi thanking him while looking embarrassed was simply because she was bothered by falling when there was nothing to trip over.

However, it seemed Mayumi’s sister didn’t think so. “I said get away from her, right!”

Immediately after she screamed that. Mayumi’s sister — Kasumi’s body gently floated up. The petite body accelerated mid-air without forming a parabolic line, floating in a straight line with a knee protruding out to attack Tatsuya’s face.

Tatsuya stopped that knee with one hand. He did not block it with his forearm — he caught it in his palm. Being high in the air adding to the power, the shock went up and the inertia fled to the ground.

Mayumi looked up at the spectacle with her eyes so open that they were perfect circles, but Kasumi was even more surprised than her sister. It was better than being blocked or knocked down, and if it was a ballet lift, it would have been praised exultantly. As her movement conditions were forcibly altered, Kasumi’s Acceleration and Movement-type combination magic lost its effect.

Without the assistance of magic, the one knee above the palm posture was an unstable stance. As one should expect, Kasumi’s balance was destroyed. Her petite body tilted violently.

Before she tipped over completely, Tatsuya released the body he caught by one leg and lowered his hand.

“Whoa!”

The shriek she raised could not be called very cute, as Kasumi fell in a pitched forward posture. If she made contact with the soft coat of the pavement of the front yard in this manner, then even if she didn’t hit her head, she would probably be wounded on her palms and knees enough to cause bleeding. As a look for attending the entrance ceremony, it could be called a very pitiful one. That would be a very tough trial for a girl who had just barely become a high school student.

In order to prevent this tragedy, Tatsuya would have to catch Kasumi’s body as it fell — which he did not. The reason was not that he didn’t have enough time to react. His cold eyes pursued the process of the girl who had just become his kouhai falling down. The knowledge that she was Mayumi’s sister did not have any significant impact on his decision making process. Although the attack had failed, the fact that the girl had launched an attack on him was more important and significant to Tatsuya. Besides, if he had caught this girl’s body as she fell, he would have shown the other girl a hole in his defenses.

“Ah!?”

Tatsuya understood from observation why the girl raised her voice hysterically.

A Magic Sequence had pasted itself to the girl’s body. Her falling speed slowed. A protective barrier of data fortification protected the girl’s body so that neither the EIDOS or the skin were damaged. Normally, this phenomenon wouldn’t occur unless the magician applied the magic to his own body, but a third party had cast it.

As Kasumi landed gently undamaged, almost at the same time, Tatsuya made a big leap backward. Three meters in front of the space he vacated, a girl, who aside from her hair style looked exactly like Kasumi, with the same face and body type, rushed over to Kasumi, who was on both her knees.

“Kasumi-chan, are you okay!?” “Izumi, you saved me. Thanks.”

Side by side, they really were like two peas in a pod. Even a person unaware of their background information would probably conclude from looking at them that they were identical twins. Of course, Tatsuya knew the pair were indeed twins.

Saegusa Kasumi and Saegusa Izumi. Within the Numbered, the sisters were known, without irony or whimsy, as ’The Saegusa Twins.’

Even though their faces were identical, their auras differed greatly. From looking at Kasumi, who was emitting signs of aggression with her curl-less hair cut in a short hairstyle, she was probably very sports oriented; possibly she was some kind of martial arts practitioner. On the other hand, Izumi, who was clothed in a graceful, gentle aura, had straight hair cut to give her bangs reaching her eyebrows and hair that touched her shoulders evenly; perhaps she was a bookworm, as she looked like she might be an indoor type of girl. From her words just now as well as her tone and expression, he knew she was flustered, but somehow she did not seem all that nervous. —At least on the surface. However, Tatsuya felt that this was the one he should be more wary of.

It was somewhat rude for Tatsuya to stare at someone when it was their first meeting, but they were all doing it. They all had blatant looks in their eyes but Tatsuya’s was indeed the most temperate.

“Izumi, this guy is strong for a playboy.” “Uh, umm, Kasumi-chan?”

Certainly, there was a clear difference between their mental states; although the probing looks they sent at him were the same, the flame of hostility was only burning in Kasumi’s pupils.

“Calming down a little would be…” Izumi was gently stroking Kasumi.

“My intuition is screaming. This guy, he’s not ordinary.” Nonetheless, Kasumi was not listening to her advice. She glared up at

Tatsuya on her knees, shifting her left sleeve and exposing her CAD. “Izumi, we’re doing that.”

As she said that, Kasumi ran her fingers down the console of her CAD. She was using magic without authorization. Clearly an illegal act. Moreover, for the second time. Even bearing in mind it was directed at himself, it was not something he could turn a blind eye to. She was a new student getting ready for the entrance ceremony, but having said that, there was no way he couldn’t arrest her.

In an instant, Tatsuya made that decision; fortunately, before he could act upon it, the illegal act of magic ended up being a mere attempt.

“Settle down!”

Mayumi, who had until then been too paralyzed to do anything about the situation, let her fist fall on top of Kasumi’s head.

“…”

Kasumi did not cry out but from the way she held her head; despite how she was trying to make it appear, that probably really hurt.

“…Onee-chan, why did you do that?”

“That’s my line! Kasumi-chan, you, why did you do that!?”

Mayumi had both hands on her hips as she looked down at Kasumi, who was looking up at her sister’s face with teary eyes. She was really incensed. Right away, Kasumi’s agitated mind was cooled by her sister’s threatening attitude, the color of her face changing from red to white.

“I’ve told you over and over again, ‘The unauthorized use of magic is a crime!’ To do this on the very day you entered high school… What on earth were you thinking!?”

Tatsuya watched, completely dumbfounded, as Mayumi talked on and on in a voice that was half an octave higher than usual. Seeing her flustered was not an unfamiliar sight. Nevertheless, this was the first time he’d seen her in a frenzy. This honest straightforwardness was not something he could have imagined from her, so different was it from the usual enigmatic smiling façade she used to conceal her real intentions.

On the other hand, Kasumi, who was being drenched in the display of rage, had not abandoned her resistance, although she had curled herself up. Because they were family? Or could it possibly be because she was used to it.

“Bu, but, that guy was doing something indecent to Onee-chan…” The counterattack was certainly effective.

“Wha… in, indecent!?”

She did do some damage to her opponent in a sense.

“We were not doing anything like that! What were you thinking!?”

If you looked at the big picture though, all she had done was add fuel to the fire.

“After all that you said about you two being fine looking around before the doors opened without me sticking with you like you two were children, Kasumi-chan, you did this!? You didn’t cause anyone else problems like you did just now, right!?”

I see, that was the reason, thought Tatsuya. Mayumi came here because she was escorting her sisters to the admissions ceremony instead of their busy parents.

“Onee-sama, that is absurd.”

The one who disputed the reprimand of Mayumi’s that had taken the form of a question was not Kasumi, whose body had begun quivering, but Izumi, who was snuggled next to her.

“Aside from Kasumi-chan’s mistake just now, we have not done anything to cause problems for other people.”

“I see… Izumi-chan, should I believe you?” “I promise, there are no discrepancies.”

Izumi’s polite tone was a bit too polite as she proclaimed their innocence, which seemed to restore Mayumi’s equanimity somewhat.

“Understood. …Tatsuya-kun, please forgive us!”

After seeing the affirmative in Izumi’s eyes, Mayumi turned to Tatsuya and bowed deeply.

“My little sister did something outrageous. Kasumi-chan, you apologize to Tatsuya-kun as well!”

Perhaps she understood how serious her sister was; whatever she was feeling in her heart, Kasumi-chan wasn’t displaying that defiant manner any more.

“I cannot excuse my behavior.”

She lined up next to Mayumi and bravely lowered her head.

“I too offer my apologies. Shiba-senpai, please pardon Kasumi-chan’s rudeness somehow.”

Kasumi was not the only interested party; Izumi followed up after her elder sister.

Receiving a simultaneous apology from the three beautiful girls — no, one beautiful woman and two beautiful girls — made him feel ill at ease. Miraculously, there had been no witnesses to the use of power a little while ago, but now for some reason or other, he felt many suspicious gazes on them from here and there. If people mistakenly thought he was bullying the girls or something, then the damage of the aftermath would be worse than Kasumi’s flying knee kick.

“Please raise your heads. No harm has been done, so please don’t worry about it.”

Is what he said, but ‘please don’t do this for my sake’ was closer to what Tatsuya meant. In order to escape from the gazes of the gradually increasing onlookers, he wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible. However, ‘don’t worry about it anymore’ was not a pretense.

That was something Mayumi probably understood also. When she raised her head, she had a relieved look on her face. However, that look was soon replaced by a guilty one.

“Ah, umm, Tatsuya-kun.”

“What is it?” In response to her mood, which was somewhat strange for some reason, Tatsuya put his mind on alert.

“I know that… the incident just now is supposed to be reported to the staff room, but,”

As she faced Tatsuya, Mayumi closed her eyes an put both her hands together.

“Please! For my sake, won’t you overlook this, please!?” Oh, that’s it, Tatsuya did not mutter this out loud.

“I do not intend to make a big deal out of something as minor as this.”

Actually, if ‘something as minor as this’ was a problem, he didn’t know how many times he and Miyuki would have been placed in protective custody. ‘I don’t want this talked about either’ was Tatsuya’s honest feeling.

“Thank you, Tatsuya-kun!”

So, he was troubled by the abundance of emotion. Besides...

“No, she intended to barely miss me from the start.”

That flying knee kick had been what is known as a bluff. If she had been attacking him earnestly, Tatsuya wouldn’t have made such a gentle response.

Kasumi had planned for the combination Acceleration and Movement magic she had applied to herself to be caught by the other magic she linked to it when her knee was thirty centimeters from Tatsuya’s face, so rapid deceleration would be cast at the distance of ten centimeters when she would halt mid air. If she hadn’t done so, not even Tatsuya would have grasped her knee with one hand. No matter how much he had been trained, stopping a person who weighed forty kilograms and was accelerating at fifteen meters per second was impossible. Because he knew the point where the rapid deceleration started and the point where it was to halt, directly before the stopping point, he had literally forced termination by putting his hand there.

“Ha… I’ve come to expect that from you, Tatsuya-kun.”

As a look of astonishment and a mutter of “How the…” came from Kasumi on her side, Mayumi nodded yes-yes with an impressed look on her face. For Mayumi, abnormalities like this from Tatsuya had become a normal thing.

“Senpai, I have the job of new student guidance, so I must go. The event site is already open.”

To forestall Mayumi, who looked like she was going to say something unnecessary, Tatsuya made this announcement and quit the scene without waiting for a reply.

“Pixie.”

After separating from the Saegusa sisters, in a place where there were few people, Tatsuya put a vocal transmission unit near his mouth.

(Yes, Master.)

The voice that replied in a soft whisper was an active form of telepathy. This was the response of ‘Pixie’ who was in the ‘3HType P-94.’

“Erase all the Psion sensor data from the records, from right now to ten minutes before now, for the area in front of the front yard entrance to the auditorium.”

(As you wish.)

It seemed that Mayumi had carelessly forgotten, but Kasumi’s use of magic without authorization could not be concealed merely by Tatsuya’s silence. Everywhere inside the school grounds was covered with sensors to observe magic activity; aside from the exception of periods like the new club member invitation week, the unauthorized use of magic would be recorded by the sensors.

(Erasure completed.)

Naturally, Tatsuya had not gotten Pixie moved to the Student Council room simply to wait on tables. Since she was originally a housekeeping robot, he had let her do what she wanted, but Tatsuya’s intention was entirely different. It was to hack the surveillance system inside the school.

If this was March, when Mayumi was still enrolled, then most of her usual requests would be accommodated. She had overcome the usual limits of the powers of the former Student Council presidents and retained the intervention codes for the surveillance system. Of course, she had not gotten them by honest means. Therefore, the Student Council president that followed her hadn’t inherited them, of course.

Tatsuya, who had various dark spots in his background, needed a means to intervene in the surveillance system other than Mayumi. Then he cast his eyes on how Pixie was constructed.

Right now, Pixie was operating from within the humanoid home helper robot’s electronic brain in which her actual body was lodged, which she manipulated directly. In short, Pixie was concealing the ability to interface and seize electronic systems without an intermediary. This is what Tatsuya realized.

So Tatsuya spent most of spring break engrossed in teaching Pixie various hacking techniques. The techniques were ones he originally learned from the ‘Electron Sorceress’ Fujibayashi. The fruit of Tatsuya’s labor was that within the limits of the First High School’s private system, Pixie had learned how to freely infiltrate the surveillance system and overwrite the data.

◊ ◊ ◊

Although it was called new student guidance, it was not hard to figure out where the auditorium that was the site of the entrance ceremony was, and if you had a terminal equipped with an LPS (local positioning system) function, you couldn’t get lost. Cases like Erika’s last year where she didn’t have a terminal so she didn’t know where to go were the exception. Tatsuya and the others’ job was not to guide new students, their main job was to provide a heads up to new students who looked like they were going to be late.

“Umm, excuse me Senpai. Which way is it to the auditorium?”

Therefore Tatsuya had not expected to encounter a genuinely lost new student.

The place was the tree-lined path between the library and small second gymnasium. The site for the entrance ceremony was on the opposite side. The male new student, with a puzzled look on his face that he’d seen looking hither and thither, had just called out to him; now it was up to him to reply to this sentence.

Nevertheless, the new student was very ostentatious, thought Tatsuya. Although, there were some students in his own grade who possessed red hair, blue eyes, black skin or other colors that were unlike the majority of Japanese people. However, they were not as radiantly hued as the slight male student standing before him.

The color of his hair was platinum. The color of his eyes was silver. The color of his skin was white. It wasn’t just his coordinating colors. His facial features did not have any distinctive Japanese traits. Perhaps, his Nordic genes were expressed to a large extent. Come to think of it, Tatsuya perceived a resemblance to the new female teacher Sumisu (Smith).

“I’ll guide you. Come with me.”

Even though his mind was considering such things, Tatsuya did not delay giving an answer. As he said it, the new student bowed deeply with a relieved look.

“Thank you. Umm, I am Sumisu Kento.” “Sumisu?”

Tatsuya muttered without thinking, because the surname of the person he had been thinking about resembled the family name of the boy. However, Smith was one of the common names in English speaking countries. It could be a coincidence, reconsidered Tatsuya.

“Ah, yes, it is written with 'sumi,' the symbol in 'corner,' and 'su,' the symbol in 'counterattack,' and read as Sumisu. My parents emigrated from the States before I was born. At that time, Smith started being spelled with the symbols as Sumisu… is it a weird name?”

However, the boy Kento took it to mean that he was talking about the strangeness of the name. The way he tapered off toward the end might mean he had experienced teasing in elementary and middle school over having Sumisu as a surname.

“No, I did not think it weird, even a bit.”

Middle school and elementary students might practice what is called innocent and thoughtless cruelty. But Tatsuya would have nothing to do with foolishness like that. What he was considering was that if both his parents were immigrants, then it was natural that he couldn’t see any physical traits that were distinctively Japanese.

“By the way.”

More importantly, there was something else bothering Tatsuya. “Sumisu-kun, doesn’t your information terminal have an LPS function?”

When Tatsuya spotted the boy, he had been looking at both screens of his information terminal nearly in tears. If his information terminal was equipped with an LPS function then he should not be lost.

“Ah, please call me Kento. About the LPS… the function is attached, but,”

As he was speaking, Kento retrieved his rather large information terminal from his pocket. His height wasn’t even up to Tatsuya’s chest. One of his inherited traits must be having an extremely small stature. Height-wise, he would be classified with the shorter Japanese males of his own age. So perhaps because he thought it would be hard to see if he merely held it in his hand, he held it above his head when he pointed it toward Tatsuya.

The information terminal was an extremely old model. Tatsuya couldn’t determine anything about it other than it was old, but the model was at least twenty years old. And it wasn’t a domestic brand. A type that had been constructed in the USNA and fairly common.

“I didn’t have anything but a visual model terminal, so Tou-san lent me the information terminal he used to use, but… it doesn’t have standard LPS.”

I see, thought Tatsuya. Since it was designed for an earlier version of the public infrastructure, it has low compatibility with the current version — no, that would be limited to domestic models.

Japan and the USNA process data by subtly different methods. Besides the USNA’s LPS is at most a supplement of their GPS system, it is not an independent function like Japan’s LPS.

“Let me see it.”

Tatsuya reflexively checked the processing power and unused capacity of the terminal Kento handed him. It was an old model, but it had undergone various tune ups. Kento’s father might be an electrical engineer. Deciding that it would be fine, Tatsuya linked Kento’s terminal directly to his own by a wire and transferred the local position application.

“I’ve installed a school map that uses GPS. It is lower in speed than a LPS application, but it should serve you as a map guide.”

He returned the terminal to Kento after the installation was completed. “Thank you!”

Despite the fact that that was all he did, Kento looked at Tatsuya as if he had saved his life.

“Of course, it would be better to buy a replacement. After all this is only a temporary fix.”

He was giving out advice that did not need to be said because behind his poker face, Tatsuya was a little taken aback. He soon found out the reason for Kento’s excessive response.

“Uh, umm, are you Shiba Tatsuya-senpai!?” “Oh, that’s it, you know of me?”

“Yes! I saw your activities in last years Nine Schools Competition!”

Tatsuya was not surprised at Kento’s answer. Although it was in the Newcomers Division, he had played a leading role in the Monolith Code matches. On occasion, someone should probably remember his face from that.

That was what Tatsuya thought, but,

“Your tactics were incredible! Your tune ups were brilliant! I chose First High School because you would be my senpai here!”

He had been half right. Kento hadn’t recognized him as an athlete but as an engineer.

“Until I saw last year’s Nine Schools Competition, I intended to enroll in Fourth High School. Because, my practical skills are poor. But when I saw senpai’s super technical skills, I decided that I absolutely had to go to the same school as Senpai!”

Listening to Kento’s enthusiastic words made Tatsuya feel like he was hearing someone else being talked about.

“Right now, I am as you can see a Second Course student, but I’m determined to try to transfer into the same Magic Engineering Course as you senpai, next year!”

“…I see; work hard. With such enthusiasm, you should be alright.” “Thank you!”

His interests were in a little different direction, but he was probably a male version of Honoka. Tatsuya was a little confused by the enthusiastic puppy dog eyes Kento used to stare at him.

◊ ◊ ◊

Kasumi and Izumi parted from Mayumi at the entrance to the auditorium and selected seats in a row close to the front. Kasumi took her seat first, but she didn’t wait for Izumi to finish sitting down in her polite elegant manner before turning to face her.

“Izumi, do you know that skirt-chasing boy from earlier?”

There were still twenty minutes until the entrance ceremony began. There were many new students who were chatting with their neighbors like the girls. In their midst, Izumi’s posture said ‘what’s up’ when her elder sister, who was the same age as herself, deliberately whispered to her, but she looked like she lost interest when she understood the meaning of Kasumi’s question.

“Yes. …Could it be that you really didn’t recognize him, Kasumi-chan?”

When Kasumi’s face told her that Kasumi was asking the question in earnest, Izumi looked stunned.

“…Is he a famous person?” “In a sense, he is.”

Izumi sighed softly and moved her hips so she could sit facing Kasumi.

“His name is Shiba Tatsuya-senpai. Last year, he was in the Second Course, but this year he transferred into the Magic Engineering Course.”

“Hmm… he transferred to the Magic Engineering Course from the Second Course so he’s smart.”

It wasn’t that she was impressed, but she wasn’t making light of it either; this weak response from Kasumi made Izumi’s eyes say ‘This is so annoying…’

“What?”

“It’s nothing; certainly, he is smart, but… is it really right to assign him such a common label?”

Izumi deliberately put her hand to her cheek and to pose as if confused. Her attitude made Kasumi petulant, but Kasumi knew letting Izumi get you irritated only made it easier for Izumi to manipulate you. With these twins, who had been together since they had been born, their ‘inclinations and countermeasures’ were exactly the same. Kasumi silently waited for Izumi to continue her comments.

“When he was a First Year — moreover a Second Course student — he participated in last year’s Nine Schools Competition as an engineer. The athletes he was responsible for in the Newcomer’s Division Girls’ Speed Shooting and Icicle Destruction monopolized first to third place, took first and second place in the Newcomer’s Division Mirage Bat, and took first place in the Main Division’s Mirage Bat.”

“No way… that means that the athletes in his care only lost to each other, so they were effectively invincible?”

“Yes.”

“You’re kidding…?”

“It’s not a lie or a joke. That senpai produced the miraculous results leading to the athletes in his charge as an engineer to be called truly invincible.”

While Izumi was in the middle of answering her question, Kasumi deliberately looked for signs that her leg was being pulled so she fixedly examined her younger twin’s face. However, apparently Izumi was answering her seriously and what she was told next caused her to open her eyes even wider.

“He was employed as support staff in Onee-sama’s Crowd Ball. Kasumi- chan, you were really unaware of this?”

Izumi had already lost her stunned look, rather she was hitting Kasumi with a pitying look.

“I was completely unaware…”

“He was an emergency replacement, but Onee-sama didn’t look hindered in any way.”

Kasumi had a stricken look and was at a loss for words. Kasumi and Izumi had watched Mayumi’s matches in last summer’s Nine Schools competition together. In spite of that, she herself hadn’t been aware of the existence of any would-be Casanovas cozying up to her elder sister, and only Izumi being aware of it gave her a shock.

“But I don’t like it.”

Izumi absentmindedly muttered while Kasumi was in a befuddled state.

“Onee-sama is letting her guard pretty far down around Shiba-senpai… he might ambush her when she least expects it.”

This was all she said out loud. After her forceful monologue, Izumi sank into pensiveness while next to her, Kasumi still hadn’t gotten over her shock.

◊ ◊ ◊

The entrance ceremony ended as planned without accidents. Takuma’s speech had also ended without any special problems. All the eyes in the auditorium were not glued on him like the year before; like the year before last year, the students were too excited by being enrolled to pay much attention to it, an easy speech.

Afterwards was the traditional invitation to join the Student Council. The unwritten rule was that the discussion would take place after the admissions ceremony was over. Not for the reason that until the admissions ceremony was over, they weren’t really students. It feels a little too formalized, but until now, there hadn’t been any trouble with it. Despite the slight turmoil last year, none of the invitations had been refused up to now. However—

“I am sorry, but please accept my refusal.”

This was Takuma’s answer to Azusa’s “Won’t you please join the Student Council” invitation.

“…Is it alright to ask for a reason?”

Instead of Azusa, who was transfixed by the completely unexpected no, Isori, who was the only person who accompanied her, made the inquiry.

“I wish to devote all my attention to improving myself.”

While staring back at Isori, looking directly into his eyes, Takuma answered thus.

“I want to be as strong as any magician in the Ten Master Clans. That is my goal. So for extracurricular activities, instead of organizational management in the Student Council, I wish to devote myself to club activities.”

The unhesitating reply had probably been prepared beforehand. In short, his decision was that firm. Persuading him would be difficult, thought Isori.

“I see…”

The owner of that despondent sounding voice was not Isori, but Azusa. Azusa had been released from her paralysis unexpectedly fast, but as she sighed, she feebly hung her head down. She had probably been quite shocked. At least, Isori thought so when he looked at her from the side.

“If that’s how it is, then we can’t compel you to do it.” However, astonishingly, Azusa readily accepted Takuma’s words.

“It is unfortunate for us, but if that is what you decided, Shippou-kun, please work hard at your club activities.”

Her all too quick surrender was completely outside of Takuma’s predictions. However, if he lingered here, the Student Council officers might think he had misgivings. Perhaps they might think he was counting on them to restrain him and believe he was only faking his refusal, this was what Takuma thought.

“Excuse me. I’m leaving.”

The thought that there was a very high possibility that he might be ’over- thinking things’ hurried him up, and Takuma left Azusa’s presence very quickly.

As the pair of third years, Azusa and Isori tried hard (and failed) to get Takuma to join the Student Council. The three second years, Tatsuya,

Miyuki and Honoka, were also very busy.

Honoka was in charge of putting things in order after the admissions ceremony. Checking the presence or absence of the main guests, sorting congratulatory addresses, and so on, the delivery of the photographic data to the vendor and other things all had to be confirmed.

Tatsuya was in charge of giving directions to the second years who had been recruited to help. No one raised sullen protests over being ordered by Tatsuya, who was in the Second Course last year and was now wearing the eight petal gear emblem. He was reclaiming the armbands, headsets and other stuff now that their tasks were done.

And, as for Miyuki,

“My only regret about this year’s admissions ceremony is that I didn’t hear a speech from Shiba-kun.”

“That would be impossible, Kouzuke-sensei. The only students who go up on the stage during the admissions ceremony are the Student Council president and the freshmen representative, after all.”

“Hahaha, now that you mentioned it, that’s right.”

…She was surrounded by adults who made something over nothing, like this one, with a determinedly amiable smile on her face.

The profession of the man in the prime of life she called ‘Kouzuke-sensei’ was politician. As a member of the National Diet attached to the ruling political party based in Tokyo, if his party won the next election, then he was a young man with good prospects of securing a cabinet minister’s post. He was known as a parliamentary member favorable to Magicians and he was also working as a supervisor on the non-school matters of the Magic University. In the present circumstances, when the forces hostile to magicians were gradually gaining influence, he was not a person either the Magic University or First High School could ignore.

Miyuki was well aware of this as well. That was why she had been putting up with his small talk with an amiable smile for a while now. Actually, this was not something a sixteen year old girl should be concerned with, but Miyuki was patiently enduring it. In the eyes of Congressman Kouzuke, specks of sexual awareness flickered. It was not strong enough to be linked to actual deed; men who were conscious of their waning physicality seem to instinctively long to embrace young beautiful women; however, even if it was only in his mind (it was not platonic), being eyed like that unmistakably makes a young girl feel unclean. Nonetheless, Miyuki endured that rude stare while pretending not to notice.

His long windedness would become a problem for the staff soon. As long as a public official with his exalted status even among the other VIPs remained at the site, the staff couldn’t leave the site either.

The truth was last year this VIP wasn’t this long winded. However, he hadn’t suddenly decided he liked to make small talk this year. Last year and the year before, he had showed restraint due to Mayumi.

Not Mayumi as an individual, but to the name of Saegusa of the Ten Master Clans.

Congressman Kouzuke did not display friendliness to Magicians out of goodwill or a liking for them. He probably did ’like’ Magicians, but what he liked were the advantages for his political activities he as a politician got from advocating for Magicians. Kouzuke and the Magicians were bound in a profitable relationship; for that reason, he showed deference when faced with the Ten Master Clans, who had exalted status among the Magicians.

If Miyuki’s relationship with the Yotsuba was obvious, Kouzuke would have made a stiff smile and quickly left the site. The Yotsuba name had even more impact than the Saegusa name. The political utility of the Saegusa name was higher, but the Yotsuba name incited much more fear in people with influence.

However, the ‘family name’ Miyuki was allowed to claim was ‘Shiba,’ not ‘Yotsuba.’ Besides, no matter how close she was to the limit of her patience, this was far too trivial a matter to rely on the power of the Yotsuba to resolve it. For her, the Yotsuba were not allies she could rely on unconditionally.

The one who saved Miyuki, who had almost no more ability to cope with her annoyance and irritation, was not a Yotsuba, but a Saegusa.

“Hello, Kouzuke-sensei.”

Kouzuke turned his head toward the voice that suddenly called his name and the instant he registered the sight of Mayumi, clothed in her feminine suit and womanly smile, his face stiffened.

“You have graced us with your presence again this year. Thank you for always taking the time when you are so busy.”

“Because this is an important day for the talented youths who must shoulder the burden of this nation’s future. I believe it is more of an honor that I receive an invitation to this event every year.”

In the presence of Mayumi, with her overly formal attitude and who spoke to him in a polite tone, Kouzuke quickly got the urge to flee. If he had been incapable of reading between the lines when Mayumi put an unnatural emphasis on ‘so busy,’ then he wouldn’t have become a candidate to become a Cabinet Minister in the government. Although insensitivity was pardonable, a politician couldn’t function well if he was stupid.

“More importantly, why are you here Mayumi-kun? Are you escorting your sisters?”

Kouzuke asked that as he looked toward Kasumi and Izumi, who remained behind Mayumi. As he prepared to make his retreat, he offered a proper comment to ensure he didn’t appear abnormal.

“Yes, because both our parents unfeeling said that they couldn’t take the time to do it right now.”

“Hahaha, both of them are such busy people.” Kouzuke’s amiable smile was a bit stiff. “Kasumi-chan, Izumi-chan, say hello.”

Without trying to make any more witticism, Mayumi looked back at her sisters.

“Kouzuke-sensei, we haven’t seen you in so long.”

“It has really been a long time hasn’t it; there is no excuse for it.”

The pair who had been silently holding back until addressed made their bows; Kasumi energetically, Izumi elegantly. Their stereotypical greetings offered Kouzuke a good opportunity.

“My, my, both of you have been busy studying for exams, right; so you should not be bothered by such a thing. Please do well in high school.”

“Thank you, sensei.”

“We will put all our efforts into it.”

As Kasumi and Izumi once again lowered their heads, a pause in the atmosphere was created. Kouzuke did not miss this change.

“I expect great things from you two. And so, Mayumi-kun, it is about time for me to take my leave.”

And with this simple goodbye, Kouzuke departed from that place. Mayumi did not chase after his back as he left.

“Are you alright, Miyuki-san?” “Yes. Thank you Saegusa-senpai.”

Mayumi spoke to her with a cheerful smile which Miyuki answered with a humble smile. This place still had the attention of the school staff. An all too clear display of sympathy would only cause them problems from Congressman Kouzuke.

For that reason, Miyuki had deliberately not given out any sign that would cause the school staff to show active concern. She hadn’t been only behaving as if she wasn’t really being taken advantage of. As long as it would not entangle Tatsuya, she wove a thin protective barrier on her skin of Poly-parafin terephthalamide ( Product name- Cover).

Noticing that her bare face was underneath a see through mask stronger than steel was difficult unless you had extremely discerning eyes. And there was no possibility of it being done by a high school girl that had just met her. Even if you were a direct descendant of the Ten Master Clans and were used to watching foxes and raccoons. Most people would undoubtedly only be able to see Miyuki’s reserved expression as part of her embodiment as the ideal, refined, willowy, graceful Yamato Nadeshiko.

“Izumi-chan.”

At least, that is how Izumi saw her. Izumi, who was in a daze, her mind and eyes stolen by Miyuki, “Izumi, Izumi.” “Umm?”

When Kasumi, who was next to her, poked her knee, she finally became aware that Mayumi was talking to her.

“More than 'umm' is needed, right. Give Miyuki-san a proper hello.”

Her eldest sister’s words permeating her consciousness, a flustered Izumi directed her eyes forward. Before Izumi’s eyes, Miyuki smiled gently with a slightly confused look on her face.

(Like a goddess…)

Of course, Izumi had not encountered an existence that could be called a ‘goddess.’ The words just naturally drifted into her mind as to how to describe the sight of Miyuki as reflected in the eyes of Izumi, who had separated from reality. As for calling her a beautiful girl, her eldest sister Mayumi was undisputedly in that caste, and although a stranger might think it narcissistic, Izumi thought Kasumi was pretty cute as well. However, this was the first time she had seen beauty at the level of the upperclassman with the ethereal smile, Izumi felt. Miyuki fit the imagined ideal of what Izumi ‘wanted to become.’

“…Saegusa Izumi. Ah, would it be alright if I called you Miyuki-senpai?" “Yes, I wouldn’t mind.”

Izumi’s eyes were blurry with zeal, and her voice was a little thin. What has come over her so suddenly, thought Mayumi and Kasumi uneasily, aware of her abnormality, but Miyuki nodded without breaking her smile.

“Miyuki-senpai, I was so impressed by your efforts in the Nine Schools Competition. You were so splendid.”

“Thank you.”

Miyuki accepted Izumi’s feverish gaze with the ease of an upperclassman.

“However, it is even more impressive to see you in person than it was to see you from the stands… you’re so pretty.”

“Uh, oh really?”\nHowever, as the feverish gaze transcended admiration and started to be tinged with insanity, Miyuki naturally started wanting to withdraw.

“To attend the same institution as Miyuki-senpai… I am so thrilled.” “Izumi-chan, what in the world are you saying?”

Watching Izumi, who usually concealed her thoughts and feelings behind an unreadable, gentle smile, let her emotions run wild was enough to incite panic in Mayumi. Kasumi was already well aware of her younger twin’s tendency to spout zealous words, so she merely watched with a stunned look.

“Miyuki-senpai… won’t you become my Onee-sama?” “Onee-sama!?”

“Hey, Izumi-chan! Calm down! Your Onee-chan is me!”

Both Miyuki and Mayumi were raising their voices. Izumi, who was the main instigator of the creation of this strange sight, was fixedly staring at Miyuki. Kasumi, who was next to her, frowned and turned away pretending that she didn‘t know them.

“I believe it would be impossible for you to become Miyuki-neesama’s younger sister, Saegusa-san.”

The one who threw a stone into this chaotic stalemated situation was Minami, who had been standing there eavesdropping near the four of them for a little while now.

“Minami-chan?”

Miyuki, who hadn’t been aware that Minami had been waiting for her, intentionally put the implied question of ’How long have you been here?” into the name she spoke; Minami postponed answering that question with her reply.

“But there is a possibility of becoming Tatsuya-niisama’s sister-in-law. If Saegusa-san’s Onee-sama married Tatsuya-niisama, then Saegusa-san would become Tatsuya-niisama’s younger sister.”

After she had finished giving her supplementary explanation to Izumi, she pivoted, turning to a person behind her.

“In this case, Tatsuya-niisama’s actual younger sister, Miyuki-neesama, and Tatsuya-niisama’s sister-in-law, Saegusa-san, could be called sisters, right?”

“Onii-sama!?”

The person Minami was directing her question to was, as Miyuki’s raised voice indicated, Tatsuya.

“I am totally against it!”

However, Tatsuya could not answer Minami’s question or respond to Miyuki’s words. Because faster than he could open his mouth, Kasumi yelled an objection.

“I am absolutely against Onee-chan becoming Shiba-senpai’s bride or anything like that!”

Kasumi, who had up until that point persisted in being a mere spectator, suddenly interposed her self between Tatsuya and Mayumi’s line of sight; her back was to Mayumi as if she was trying to protect her as she confronted Tatsuya. Her meekness of a little while ago went some place else and she fully unleashed a ‘don’t get close to Onee-chan’ aura.

“Kasumi-chan, she was only speaking hypothetically…”

Because they were twins, they had sort of assigned roles; with Kasumi and Izumi, if one of them went into a frenzy, the other one’s job was apparently to return that one to normal. Izumi, who had up until now was crushing on Miyuki, was suddenly serene and beginning to soothe Kasumi.

Mayumi applied pressure to her temples as she watched the pair. This was not just a pose, it seemed she really had a headache.

“Tatsuya-kun.”

With her head cast down and her hand on her forehead, Mayumi called Tatsuya’s name. Tatsuya tried to get nearer to her so that he would be at a distance at which they could hold a normal conversation; Kasumi stood glaring at him intimidatingly before him, blocking his way.

However, in the next instant. “Fugiyaa!”

Kasumi raised a scream like a cat whose tail got stepped on and immediately held her head, cowering.

“Miyuki-san.”

Behind Kasumi, Mayumi had swung her fist downward, her eyes still looking at the floor. The voice that sprung from her showed she was miserable all the way to her core.

“For everything, my stupid sisters… I’m really sorry.”

What could be seen of Mayumi’s face as she was hanging her head was extremely red. She was probably really embarrassed. It wasn’t as if that was something Tatsuya couldn’t understand. Standing there all that time, her sisters going off the rails, even he probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it any longer.

“Don’t let it bother you. Right, Miyuki?” “Yes. Senpai, please don’t worry about it.”

Tatsuya directed Miyuki to gloss this over, so Miyuki also cheerfully shook her head. Despite Izumi’s disgraceful behavior and Kasumi’s running amok, treating Tatsuya as a skirt chaser, Miyuki was in high spirits for some reason. Miyuki’s attitude made Mayumi feel suspicious and uneasy, but right now she couldn’t indulge in the luxury of pursuing the matter.

“I will surely make it up to you. —You two, we’re leaving right now.” “Oooh! It hurts, Onee-chan!”

“Onee-sama, you’re hurting me! Why are you treating me like this too?”

A hand on the nape of the neck of each twin, Mayumi departed like she was making an escape.

◊ ◊ ◊

On the route used to commute from the school entrance to the ‘First High School’ station, turning one corner takes one to the coffee shop ‘Eine Brise” that Tatsuya and his friends like. Today also, on Tatsuya’s way back from the ceremony, with a coffee in one hand, he was enjoying a chat in the café with Miyuki, Minami, Honoka, Shizuku and Mikihiko.

After separating from the Saegusa sisters, Tatsuya and Miyuki had linked up with Azusa temporarily. However, Azusa had emphatically told them that it was alright to leave, so they came here on the way home with Honoka and the rest.

“Come to think of it, how did the invitation to the freshmen representative go?”

When Shizuku asked that, she unintentionally silenced the conversation. She hadn’t meant anything by it — she hadn’t asked the question out of gossipy curiosity. She was unprepared for the silence that her words caused.

“…He refused.”

So when she was faced with the black cloud she suddenly cast over the table and the thoroughly crushed Honoka, Shizuku tasted bitter regret and wished she hadn’t asked that question.

“Eh, Shippou-kun declined to join the Student Council?”

So Mikihiko’s words, which gave his own curiosity precedence, could be called a fine move to get rid of the oppressive ambience.

“The person himself seems to have said he wants to devote himself to club activities. Nothing can be done if he has other things he wants to do.”

Tatsuya's answer seemed to be more of a ‘don’t worry about it’ to Honoka than an answer to Mikihiko’s question.

“Yes. He can’t be coerced.”

Because he read Tatsuya or by mere chance, Mikihiko’s follow up remark revived the mood enough that Honoka looked up and stopped looking so defeated.

“So it would be more productive to consider who to invite to join the Student Council instead of Shippou-kun.”

Taking her cue from Tatsuya, Miyuki drew their friends completely away from the topic of Takuma.

“That’s true. If you think of the consequences of a freshman not joining the Student Council, this is a bad situation.”

Tatsuya nodded soberly and Miyuki lightly clapped her hands.

“I know. How about Minami-chan becoming a member of the Student Council?”

Minami, who until then been just silently listening to the upperclassman talk, stiffened at Miyuki’s suggestion.

“Miyuki, that’s a little rough on Minami-chan.”

However, faster than Minami could open her mouth, Tatsuya rejected Miyuki’s idea.

“Because there is a tradition to the way the Student Council chooses successors, the substitute candidate must also be chosen by their score on the entrance exam.”

Minami looked relieved. On the other hand, Miyuki did not look the least bit upset over the plan being rejected — she was smiling. Miyuki probably wasn’t serious about having Minami join the Student Council; she was probably only teasing her a little.

“Who was the runner-up?”

Shizuku didn’t bother speculating on Miyuki’s state of mind and in response to Tatsuya, questioned Honoka, who as student council secretary had access to the exam results.

“Umm, Saegusa Izumi-san. Saegusa sempai’s sister.”

Honoka did not check her terminal; she had the exam results properly memorized.

“Third place is also Saegusa sempai’s sister, Kasumi-chan. There’s only a narrow margin between Shippou’s first place and the pair’s second and third. There’s a huge gap between these three and fourth place”

Miyuki, who also knew the exam results like Honoka, offered supplemental information to Shizuku.

“So it wouldn’t be strange if either of Saegusa-sempai’s sisters became a Student Council officer?”

Mikihiko as usual spoke more formally to Miyuki. “But going by the order, wouldn’t it be Izumi-san?”

Mikihiko’s attitude could be seen as suspicious or amusing, but Shizuku indifferently ignored it and made her objection.

Miyuki’s face looked a little sour at Shizuku’s words. The incident a little while ago had probably made her aware that she would not deal well with Izumi.

“The president will decide, but the first prerequisite is probably willingness.”

Tatsuya also noticed the change in Miyuki’s expression but, out of consideration for her privacy pretended like he might not be aware of it.

Mikihiko entered the room as Tatsuya was washing his hands in the toilet. There was no special significance to this. Their timing had probably overlapped by chance, thought Tatsuya as he prepared to leave.

“Tatsuya.”

However, Mikihiko called out to stop him in a low gloomy voice.

“What? …Do you have something you don’t want to talk about with the others there?”

“Yes… it’s not something I want generally known?” “Understood. I won’t talk about it with the others.”

Tatsuya’s words relieved Mikihiko, who was stiff with indecision a little. “Tatsuya, it would help to keep the conversation short”

“Since staying in here too long would be thought weird, I’m the one who has to ask Mikihiko to keep it short”

As Tatsuya said, they couldn’t stay in here too long without someone becoming suspicious of their health. With that urging, Mikihiko rapidly opened up.

“Tatsuya, do you know if the new manager of Rozen’s Japanese branch came to today’s ceremony?”

It doesn’t need saying that by Rozen, he meant ’Rozen Magicraft’ which was a German magic technology company that was battling with ’Maximilian Devices’ to become the top maker of CADs in the world. The manager of their Japanese branch would be a major important figure to the

National Magic University as well as the magic high schools. “I know. I managed to get by with a brief greeting”

Naturally, Tatsuya had known he had been invited and confirmed his attendance.

“Only briefly? At the after party for last year’s Nine Schools Competition, the previous branch manager seemed to be quite interested in you”

“I was lucky today, because I didn't have time for that”

Tatsuya looked sour as he recalled that gloomy summer memory. “So, what about the new Rozen branch manager”

However, he soon returned to his it doesn’t matter look and urged Mikihiko to continue.

“Do you remember the new branch manager’s name?”

“Ernst Rozen, he seems to be a member of the Rozen’s main family” “That right. He’s a bigwig, the trade journals were making much of it”

For an instant, the words were stuck in Mikihiko’s throat but he immediately threw off his hesitation and whispered in a low slightly desperate tone.

“And he is a cousin of Erika’s mother”

Tatsuya’s poker face didn’t survive this explosive revelation. “Erika’s mother was a relative’s of the Rozen?”

Both of his eyes showed surprise as Tatsuya asked that question. Mikihiko made a small but distinct nod to his request for confirmation of the information.

“It seems that Erika’s mother’s father eloped with a Japanese woman” “Eloped, that’s an old fashioned word”

“Well….”

Mikihiko smiled somewhat wryly at the surprise Tatsuya displayed at something that was off-topic. The somewhat complicated atmosphere cleared a little. As Mikihiko continued his face looked as if his shoulders were less stiff.

“Because he shook off his parent’s opposition and fled to Japan, they had severed ties with the main Rozen family. Her grandmother‘s---Erika’s mother’s mother’s family also apparently didn’t approve of the couple’s relationship so, it seems like Erika’s mother had a tough time”

“It’s a sad story but what of it?”

Tatsuya thought it was a bad family situation but, Mikihiko’s purpose wasn’t to garner sympathy for Erika. Tatsuya was urging Mikihiko to get on to his main topic.

“….since that incident, the Rozen main family doesn’t have a good impression of Japan. Even though they have trade bases in Japan, none of the main family have been on the registry in the Japanese branch offices”

“Come to think of it, that’s right”

As Mikihiko spoke, Tatsuya went through the registry of executives for the last ten years for Rozen Magicraft Japanese branch offices. Certainly, there were no Rozens listed.

“I may be over-thinking things but…..I feel that Ernst Rozen’s trip to

Japan has something to do with Erika”

Tatsuya also thought he might be over-thinking things. However, he was more concerned with why, Mikihiko was telling him this.

“And what do you want me to do about this?”

“I don’t actually have anything I want you to do. However, I wanted to share my concerns”

Faced with Tatsuya’s suspicious eyes, Mikihiko smiled wryly to himself.

“No, it’s not that…I involved Tatsuya because it was a little too heavy to keep to myself”

Mikihiko whispered in a self depreciating way. “It’s a pitiful tale”

Tatsuya did not show any signs of evasion when he spoke his frank impression in front of Mikihiko.

◊ ◊ ◊

After Tatsuya left, Azusa remained in the student council room alone until just before the gate closed (Pixie was in suspended mode). Even though the admissions ceremony was over, there was still a huge pile of start of the new school year work for the student council. So it wasn’t strange for Student council president Azusa to stay this late. If something could be called strange, it was the fact that the other student council members had left before her.

This wasn’t because Azusa had wanted to do the work of five people by herself. Until a little while ago, she had merely been blankly staring at this month’s schedule. Sometimes she sighed deeply, and shook her head ‘no- no’. Those were the only times, she turned to the terminal with a determined face and immediately relapsed to wasting time looking blankly at the monitor. For some time now, she had been repeating this behavior.

After who knows how many sighs, a change finally arrived. The electronic chime and the message display announcing the visitor’s arrival notified her simultaneously. The screensaver on the camera was replaced by the image of Hattori. Azusa hurriedly manipulated the terminal and opened the door with a key.

“Pardon me. Nakajou….what the. Are you alone?”

“Ah, yes. I wanted to ponder something alone for a while”

As she spoke, she conscientiously stood up and directed Hattori to take a seat.

After conscientiously bowing, Hattori sat in the chair she had offered.

“If you used your ID, Hattori-kun, you could have come in even without me using the key to open the door”

While saying that in a dejected tone, Azusa started to get the tea but Hattori stopped her with a gesture.

“I am no longer an officer of the student council. So, I must act like it” “That’s so like you, Hattori-kun”

Azusa chuckled a little and then returned to her own seat. She was a little surprised but, Hattori-kun was one of the few male students Azusa could talk to normally without using formal language.

“So what is it?”

“This year’s freshmen representative”

Undoubtedly, one of Hattori’s merits was that he didn’t bother with any lighthearted phrases like ‘I came to see your face’ or ‘is it alright to come without an errand”.

However, this was also a trait that could be undoubtedly be called a little too straightforward and lacking in tact.

“Shippou-kun…..?”

Looking at the forced smile on Azusa’s face, Hattori thought ‘aw nuts’ but, regrets are always too late. Beside, choosing to halt this conversation at this point wasn’t part of his style.

“Ah……Shippou refused the student council’s invitation, right”

Azusa was well aware of this inflexible, over serious nature of Hattori. So she wasn’t outraged or hurt about something of this level.

“Yes. He wants to improve himself with club activities”

“That seems to be the case. So, you decided to accept his prepared explanation, Nakajou”

Hattori felt that being too worried about others feelings was a bit rude, so he didn’t mumble his question.

“uh, did what?”

“Like the student council, club management needs to train an executive candidate chosen from among the freshmen. You are well aware of the need to fill Juumonji-senpai’ place”

“People like Juumonji-senpai are exceptions among exceptions. I think Hattori-kun is doing fine but…….”

Hattori made a wry smile at Azusa’s attempt to comfort him. There was no listlessness or self-depreciation leaking through that expression. Apparently Hattori wasn’t depressed for any reason which relieved Azusa.

“I too understand that he is an exception. And so it is necessary that I raise a leader sooner rather than later”

After listening to all he said so far, Azusa realized what he came here to talk about.

“Are you going to promote Shippou-kun to a candidate for successor?”

“Ah. Unfortunately, it will appear as if we snatched him from the student council but……”

“It was after he already refused us, so I don’t think you snatched him” “Oh really. That’s a relief”

Azusa smiled as she waved her hand, Hattori bowed in response.

“I said not to worry about it. Shippou-kun was already set on refusing us from the start and…..oh yes!”

As she spoke, Azusa intentionally made a show of cheerfully clapping her hands together.

“Since you’re already here can I hear your opinion on something, Hattori- kun?”

“Opinion? My opinion on what?”

She did not immediately answer Hattori’s questions, Azusa set the image shown on her personal computer to be displayed on the surface of the wall.

“The new student data?”

The freshmen’s scores on the entrance exam by subject were included in their personal data.

“Shippou-kun ran away but I think it would be very bad if a freshmen didn’t join the student council”

“So you have been worrying over who to invite to join instead of Shippou- kun?”

This was the exact same thing Tatsuya and his friends were talking about at Eine Brise. Worrying about the same thing in different places is clearly a futile thing but as is clear from the bird’s eye view of the two events, it was happening. Unmistakably, these type of overlapping events happen in the world.

“Yes, I am. I think any of them would be excellent….”

Azusa paused as she said that with a troubled look on her face but,

“It not something you need to ponder so hard is it?” Hattori dealt with the topic easily.

“If the top scorer refused the invitation, it’s okay to chose the runner-up. The runner-up this year….”

However as he went through the lineup of new students based on their exam results, Hattori cut off his words with and his face stiffened.

“As I thought, one of Saegusa senpai’s sister would be okay…….Hattori- kun, what’s wrong? You look pale?”

“No, it’s nothing. Oh, yes, I think that would be best as well”

Hattori stood up as he spoke, he made a hurried goodbye and left the student council room.

“Hattori-kun, what could have happened…..?”

Azusa muttered that as she watched him leave. The reason Hattori’s face had stiffened was unknown.

◊ ◊ ◊

Common Era 2096, April 10th. For the freshmen, this was the noon break of their third day.

Tatsuya faced Kasumi and Izumi in the student council room. Even though it was put that way, he was not the only one facing them because he was seated with his fellow student council officers.

He was hit with a sense of deja vu over the situation. Spring of last year, on the same third day of school, Tatsuya had been called to this room. Of course, he was not the only one who had been invited, he had not been the main guest. His role had been nothing more than a supplement to Miyuki.

Due to some kind of error, he had been pressured to take up the mantle of a member of the Public Morals Committee.

Since that event, big unimaginable changes had been forced on his high school life. If he had not come to this room on that day, Tatsuya would probably be enjoying a peaceful high school life. At least, he himself thought so.

---People other than himself would have some doubts about agreeing with him on that.

The one who invited Miyuki and Tatsuya at that time was Mayumi. And now, Tatsuya had become a member of the student council that had invited Mayumi’s sisters. Maybe this is karma, was Tatsuya’s slightly disjointed thought.

“So you wish to promote one of us to the position of student council officer, is that what you are saying?”

Tatsuya’s mind was drawn back to this place by Izumi’s words that touched on the main topic. Right across from him, Kasumi was glaring at Tatsuya as usual with eyes that seemed to growl. That was the reason Tatsuya has taken a break from reality.

“To be able to work together with Miyuki-senpai…..it’s like a dream”

He couldn’t tell what Miyuki was thinking behind her iron wall of an amiable smile looking at Izumi who had a hand on her check directly across from her. Kasumi who was open in her hostility and Izumi who was open with her desires. Azusa, Isori and Honoka were completely overwhelmed by the pair’s strange attitudes. As a result, the roles of interacting with the pair fell to the targets of their hostility and lust, Tatsuya and Miyuki.

“If you wish there is no problem with both of you working together”

He felt that there was something wrong with leaving the job of interacting with them to their targets but, he couldn’t let his sister bear the full brunt of it alone. With that in mind, Tatsuya returned to the table however,

“I have no intention of joining the student council”

His effort only elicited a brusque response from Kasumi. The way she phrased her answer showed her strong determination to reject Tatsuya. And the fact that her speech pattern was slightly different from how she spoke to her sisters probably meant she was rejecting any form of familiarity between them.

“Kasumi-chan, you have been rude to Shiba-senpai for a while now”

As expected, Izumi could not ignore what was going on and spoke to her in a candidly needling tone, Izumi was clearly paying attention to Kasumi. The fact that she wasn’t whispering might mean that giving excuses for each other’s behavior was an aspect of their relationship.

On their side, Azusa, Isori and Honoka could not conceal their surprise over the fact that Miyuki had said nothing. Her sisterly love for Tatsuya was practically a credo for her, it was normal for anyone who showed ill will to Tatsuya to be burned (frostbitten?) by her wrath. Despite that the gaze Miyuki was directing toward Kasumi could be called a pleasant one. Rather than suspicious the three of them found that terrifying. It was typically the calm before the storm.

Of course, Azusa and the rest were over-thinking it. Miyuki who was attuned to any ill will directed against Tatsuya completely understood that Kasumi did not despise her brother, her attitude was a mix of jealousy and wariness. Miyuki felt sympathetic to Kasumi’s feelings of hostility to any male who came too close to her beloved older sister and to Miyuki, since there was little chance of her developing a crush on Tatsuya, Kasumi was a cute kouhai she could associate with in a relaxed manner.

“I see, that’s unfortunate”

By that Miyuki meant that it was unfortunate for Miyuki herself that Kasumi had decided not to join the student council.

“So then, Izumi-san can we count on you to join the student council?”

However, Miyuki did not reveal any of her feelings about that or show that she wanted to keep her distance from Izumi; Miyuki just cheerfully asked the question.

“Happily”

Although the feverish gaze Izumi aimed at herself grew gradually hotter, Miyuki’s perfect ladylike smile did not falter.

◊ ◊ ◊

After school and after Kasumi wasted time in the library for a while, she went to the café alone. Thirty minutes still remained of the time she had to wait until she met with Izumi who had gone to the student council earlier.

The time seemed to be slightly longer than that as she waited alone. Izumi had told her that it was alright to leave first if she got tired of waiting; so what should I do, Kasumi mused lazily.

“What’s wrong. You don’t look okay, somehow”

Without warning, a voice addressed her. When she lifted her face, there was a young staff member in a pantsuit in front of her.

“Uh, no, I’m not ill or anything”

Kasumi had intended to indicate ‘I want you to leave me alone’ with that answer. However, her words were enunciated less clearly than she had planned, shocking even herself.

The female staff member offered a smile that seemed to see right through Kasumi’s bewilderment, and sat down across from Kasumi without asking. Kasumi was slightly taken aback by this unilateral maneuver but, as she looked at the somewhat disingenuous smile, she quickly decided it did not matter.

“I’m a counselor at this school, Ono Haruka” “I’m Saegusa Kasumi, first year”

Haruka had aimed her self-introduction for the precise moment that the troubled look vanished from Kasumi’s face and Kasumi had automatically given her name in return.

“Saegusa-san is in Class C, I believe” “Yes, that’s right”

Because Haruka had stolen the initiative, Kasumi was following Haruka’s lead. “Class C isn’t in my charge but, I’ll listen to any worries you have”

“I’m not really worried about anything”

Her mental resistance didn’t last long and Kasumi earnestly talked about how she had to spend too much time waiting for Izumi who had joined the student council.

“I see. You have mixed feelings about it”

Haruka who had leaned forward to listen to Kasumi’s tale with a serious face offered those words in a whisper.

What do you mean by mixed, Kasumi thought suspiciously but; Haruka’s words continued faster than Kasumi could question her.

“Saegusa-san, why don’t you give the Public Morals committee a try?”

For Kasumi, Haruka’s suggestion was abrupt and completely unexpected. Haruka smiled agreeably as she peeked into the eyes of Kasumi who couldn’t make an immediate response.

“Do you know of our school’s Public Morals committee system?” The question just now required a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. “Yes….I heard about it from my older sister”

Although Kasumi remained perplexed, she was still able to answer this question.

“Okay. Then I can make this quick”

Haruka did not ask who Kasumi’s ‘older sister’ was. The family name of ‘Saegusa’ was both uncommon and well known so she knew who Kasumi’s older sister was without asking, moreover Haruka had known Kasumi’s identity before she had introduced herself.

“Actually the staff recommendation is one way to get on the committee. To make it short, we pick freshmen to fill the vacancies in the committee”

“You mean me? Excuse me, is it alright to unilaterally decide that right here?”

“If you were to accept it, no one would complain”

Haruka smiled slightly at the expected outburst from Kasumi who had finally regained her vitality.

“I thought that you would be able to do work that would not be inferior to Shiba-kun’s last year”

And, this remark spoken in a superficially casual manner made the eyes of Kasumi who until now was not really interested change color.

“Shiba-senpai, do you mean the elder brother?” “Yes”

For an instant, Haruka’s face displayed a ‘gotcha’ look but Kasumi didn’t notice.

“Last year, Shiba who was recommended by the student council was stood out as much as a member of the Public Morals Committee as Chief Watanabe-san herself. The staff recommended Morisaki is also remembered for his reliable battle skills but, it is undeniable that he was seen as somewhat overshadowed by Shiba-kun. Besides last year, problems occurred with one of the other committee members recommended by the staff. If things like that continue a bit more than people will look suspiciously at the staff, it would help us a lot if you would undertake this”

It might not have been necessary for Haruka to articulate two reasons. When she made the point about Tatsuya standing out, Kasumi was filled with a blend of fighting spirit and antagonism.

“I understand. Please let me do it”

She was so enthused right now, she seemed to have flames behind him.

“…Thank you. I’ll contact the Public Morals Chief. I think you might even be contacted by them tomorrow”

Since she knew that trouble had occurred before and after the admissions ceremony, Haruka had used that knowledge to incite her. However, she had been more stirred up by it than Haruka had predicted; What on earth had actually happened, Haruka could not help wondering.

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