Since childhood, Raiden was blessed with speed and strength unlike anyone else. This helped him in most of the cases, but as he grew, this also became the cause of his single big weakness.
His strength made him confident, but his speed… it made him impatient.
That in itself wasn't that bad. What's worse was the effect it caused on his daily life. That single weakness became a cause of several irregularities in his life. An example of that was the fact that all eight girls that he had proposed to until now rejected him for a single reason: "you are way too fast." They may have worded it differently, but they all meant the same.
He was a normal-looking eighteen-year-old guy in every way. He had a tall muscular frame that many girls would love to see in their men. His eyes were blue and even his face looked decent. The only unique thing in his appearance was his spiky blonde hair. But those spikes were his magical trait, and as a member of the Raitoningu clan, he could neither hide nor suppress them.
'Today's going to be different though,' he thought as he plucked off a rose from the academy garden.
During the welcome program, a girl caught his eyes. And the moment he looked back at her, something sparked inside him. He realized that whoever it was, she was the one for him. To put it simply, it was love at first sight.
Fortune favored him as she ended up being in the same class as him. But this time he didn't want to ruin things by being impatient, so he controlled himself and waited for a few weeks. And now that it finally seemed like the right time, he decided that he would propose to her.
Unlike most of the girls that he proposed to in the past, he had talked to her several times before. She used to smile whenever she saw him, and he used to respond in a similar manner. So, at this point, he felt certain that she too had feelings for him.
He walked towards the main building. It was lunchtime so there were a few students outside.
With a rose in his hand, few stares were unavoidable. But he just ignored them and walked inside the main building.
Fortune favored him yet again as he was able to find the girl he was looking for on the first floor. He took it as a good omen and walked up to her confidently.
She looked towards him when she realized that he was approaching. She had an uncertain look on her face which made Raiden smile. This was a predictable reaction on her part considering how he was approaching her with Rose in hand.
Once there was a culture where a guy would get down on his knee while proposing. But now, those overdramatic scenes were only observed in movies.
He just looked at the rose and then looked back at her face. "Asa, I fell for you the moment I met you. I love you, please be mine."
The girls behind her started making comments like, "wow! How romantic", "he is so handsome too". But he paid them no mind because the only girl he cared for was standing right in front of him.
"Thank you Raiden... but I think it's too soon. I barely know you as a person."
"But I—"
Raiden paused before he could say something in defense. He was well aware that nothing he said would help in this situation. This was a ninth time something like this was happening to him after all.
"Though we can be friends."
He had been offered this as compensation several times before. But considering his loss, this could barely be called a compensation. He knew that it was more like an act of kindness or pity.
"No, it's alright. I can handle myself."
He turned around and walked towards the elevator. Even though he had felt it eight times before, this time the feeling of rejection was much bitter. Probably because of all the time that he patiently waited for her.
Just a few weeks may look short to anyone, but to Raiden, it was equivalent to months. And during this time, all that he could think about was her.
After getting inside the elevator, he pressed the button for the third floor.
At this point, most of the upper floors were empty since the practical classes were almost about to start. After getting out of the elevator, he walked straight towards the washroom.
While he was walking, he wasn't sad that this happened, he was frustrated. And because of this frustration, his magic started leaking out. Several white sparks of electricity appeared around him as he walked through the hallway.
When he entered the washroom, the metals there started reacting to his sparks, but he ignored them and stood in front of the white wall.
"Dammit!"
He punched the wall. Even though it wasn't his goal, he ended up making a long crack in it. It was a good thing that he was in the washroom since there were no surveillance cameras there.
"This time I even waited! I waited for 20 days straight... and in the end, all I got was the same old response."
He stared at the crack as he started thinking things through, and after a while, he smiled.
This smile was proof that he was trying to divert his mind somewhere else. He knew that thinking too much about it will only make him more frustrated.
'I guess it wasn't meant to be,' he thought as he calmed himself down. Naturally, the spark around him disappeared.
He thought about the things that were ahead of him in his life. And as he was doing that, he realized the preliminaries of the First-year ranking tournament were coming soon.
Instead of thinking about her, he diverted his thoughts towards the tournament. He was ranked third in the entrance exam, and if only he had done better in theory, he would have undoubtedly been first.
Now that the tournament was here, it was his second chance to prove that he deserves #1.
'Guess I will just use this energy to rise up,' he thought as he turned around and walked out.