Aaaghh!!!!shit shit shit shit shit!!!!!!
I am Kyouya Amane, 18 years old, presently a 3rd year high school student at Asuka Academy, Kyoto. My dad is a businessman, so he often had to travel to States for trips, while my mom is a part time teacher at a Elementary school. Presently, I am dashing with my full strength towards my school. Why, you ask??? Because my stupid mom overslept and failed to wake me up in time and make breakfast. Well, part of me is to blame too. I was so engrossed in the latest manga "Death squad" last night that I forgot to place my phone alarm. Are you thinking that I am one of those shut in otakus with no friends and life??? Hell No!!! I have quite a few friends and I do have a social life. I even had a girlfriend in middle school. I am decent looking too. Height of 175 cm, with a reasonably good face, black hair with a well built body. Reason being, I have been working out in gym 4 times a week for the last 2 years. So, please don't put me alongside those shut-in NEETs, although I still am an otaku by heart.
Finally, after a run of 10 minutes, I can see the school gate. Its 8.57 am now, so I did make it before the closure.Phew!!!!
Talking about our school Asuka Academy, it is a quite renowned in Kyoto for its academic excellence. It is one of oldest conventional high schools in Tokyo. Many honor students from our school are in frontlines of Japan's most acclaimed. So, in a way I am quite proud to be part of this Academy.
"Morning Kyouya, didn't expect that you would make it in time on a Monday."
Said a boy smilingly. Judging by his looks, he is quite attractive looking. A guy with proper uniform etiquette, blonde hair, a tall stature, with a appealing face. He is one of my best buddies in this Academy, Taishi. We had been friends since middle school even though we were not much close at that time.
"Yeah, I didn't even think I would make it in time, looks like my sprint speed has increased quite a bit. He he he..."
I said while scratching my head with a smile.
"So, did you watch the Azure league semifinals yesterday?"
Even though our school gate closes at 9 am, our homeroom starts at 9.15 am. So we still had some time to chat before classes start.
"Yup yup, the match was so exciting!!! But I never expected that Floreas magic high won't be finals. This might be first time they didn't make it in last 7 years."
Magic, something which was considered a mere fancy delusion in 19th century, became reality in 20th century. In 1949, just 4 years after the power struggle in great world war 2, several mini meteorites crashed onto nearly every region around the world for nearly 7 days causing thousands of casulities. The meteorites remains vanished in their air without a trace from the hit area leaving only hollow big craters. All the countries around the globe came together to deal with the loss caused due to it. Nearly 2 years after this incident, people with strange abilities came to limelight. Also, new minerals and ores were discovered from crust having unfamiliar properties. As more and more people were seen having powers, the newfound UN appointed a big team consisting of all major countries to look over the matter. This team which was once overlooking the people with magic abilities over span of years started becoming more and more powerful. They started dealing with criminals with special powers, started schools and universities for magic, created its branch in every country, created mining sites and institutions for new minerals, opposed the governments that tried use these people as war mediums, and whatnot. Presently, it is the powerful and authoritative organisation of the world, called 'The International Federation of Magic'. They deal with every affair related to magic and are completely out of any country's influence. Similarly, all magic schools, universities, organisations in every country directly work under magic federation without any interference from respective government. To deal with the problems of common folks caused by magic, a neutral authority was set up in many countries, known as ministry of magic. It acts as a middle man between a country's government and magic federation, although Federation of Magic seems to have a heavy influence over the ministry.
After nearly 5-6 decades, world started to stabilize and started accepting the people with powers. In around 2016, International Federation of Magic started holding tournaments among people having magical powers(also called sorcerers). These tournaments started getting more and more popular and surpassed both soccer and Olympics in views and popularity. Presently, Japan holds nearly 50 different tournaments of magic. Nearly all of them are well liked by audiences. Among those 50, five tournaments get maximum attention, them being Azure League, Grand MMA(Magic and Martial Arts) League, Phoenix Tournament, The Japan's Titans League, and finally The International Sorcorors Convention Qualifiers.
The Azure League which we were presently talking about is a tournament mainly for high schoolers under age of 19. It is an yearly tournament which started in year 2022. The tournament follows the simple one on one knockout matchup. Every magic high school sends 16 representatives for the tournament. As Japan has 16 Magic high schools in total, so a total 256 students battle it out until the final one remains.
"Yeah, It was first time since 2025 they got eliminated before finals. But Airu Shin deserved the victory. His deception skills were magnificent."
Taishi said while waving towards my back.
I turned around and saw a familiar skinny guy walking towards us.
To be continued...