I was looking outside at the forest at the back of the campus through the glass wall behind my desk. I had come back straight to my office after the homeroom.
I couldn't shake off the thoughts related to the prophecy that I've been hearing a lot about lately.
Even if the words that were left by my great great grandfather was swirling in the backs of my mind, I couldn't make any meaning out of it. Surely it had some kind of meaning? How could it be if it were some meaningless words?
Right then, something clicked in my mind. I remembered the words of Kaori.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵."
As soon as I recalled the things she had said, I rounded on my feet and rushed out of the room, slamming the door off behind me.
**********************************************
Upon entering the staff room, I only saw Ms. Mars at her desk, who was looking at her phone, relaxed.
Hearing the rattling from the sliding door as it was opened by me, she looked over her shoulder.
"Oh! If it isn't the headmaster himself!" She stood up immediately and forwarded to me.
As she was a lot older than me, I didn't mind the way she spoke to me informally.
I smiled, asking, "Where is everyone else?"
"Ah, I have a free period now but everyone else is at their classes," She laughed.
I was satisfied, "That's good then. Actually, I had something to discuss with you."
"Why, sure," She said promptly, "Why don't you take a seat?"
She took her seat at her desk and I sat down before her on a chair.
"I heard that you know a lot about the prophecy from the legends," I went directly to my point.
Ms. Mars nodded, "I do. I studied much on the subject. But, what about it?"
I informed her, "I've only come to know about it recently. My father had made a visit just days ago and I learned this news from him by the by. So I was curious of the meanings that it had and I thought you might know something."
Ms. Mars thought about something before reaching out to a rack of her desk and pulled out a diary.
𝘈 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?
She pushed it towards me, "This is a diary that consists everything I learned when I studied on the prophecy. I couldn't decode the full meaning of the prophecy that has been made but I did get to do some parts."
When I opened the diary to go through the pages, she said, "You'll see the meanings I've written down on page 39."
I went to the mentioned page to see the same sentences I had seen on my great great grandfather's diary. But there were arrows that linked the sentences with other sentences which hadn't been on the old diary.
Ms. Mars explained while I read the diary, "You must already know the sayings in the prophecy if you were told by your father. As you see, I left some parts blank since I don't know what the first two sentences mean either. But the next verse. The meanings of it are as clear as day."
"It says that the chosen one will be acquainted by three descendants of the earth, wind and the lightning sections respectively. I don't know couldn't do much about the part in the middle, too. Then comes the part where the fire arises. It must indicate the section of the chosen one. The chosen one was compared with fire which shall arise, means, that the chosen one will rise. So, being compared with fire, mostly everyone thinks that the chosen one will be from the fire section."
"What do you think?" I asked.
She shrugged, "He could be from fire section."
When I saw her hesitate, I asked, "What's wrong?"
She just let out a nervous laugh, "Your disciple, Kaori got angry at the point why we address the chosen one as a male since it could happen to be a female."
I chuckled, "I see. She can be a little rebellious at times. Please don't mind her."
"Not at all," Ms. Mars said in worry, "It's just that I was thinking if something unpleasant happened to her, being the female disciple of the headmaster."
I said, sighing, "That, although the path might be hard for her since I pulled her into this, she has to be strong if she wants to achieve success. Such trivial matters must not waver her."
Ms. Mars hummed.
I handed the diary back to her, "Thank you for the knowledge." Although it wasn't much, I couldn't say that to her.
As she took it back, she said, "It was of no problem. But why are you suddenly curious about it? Putting aside that you recently learned about it."
I corrected her, "It's not that I learned about it recently, exactly. I knew about it since I was very young, but I just forgot about it for a long time being. Ever since I heard those words from father again, I just couldn't push it away from my mind."
"What did Mr. Sakagami say? If you don't mind me asking," She asked eagerly.
"You know about the Sakagami family, right?" I asked.
"Of course! They're the founding family of this clan," She said.
I began my side of story, "So I had two sisters who were both older than me. The second sister of mine, was Kaori's mother, who died in an accident along with her husband. The eldest daughter of Sakagami family has a son, Hyoudou Touma. He is a descendant from the fire section."
"Oh!" Ms. Mars got excited, "A fire section descendant from the Sakagami family which is also the founding family of Power Clan? It could mean only one thing!"
"Yes," I replied calmly, "That's what my father thinks as well. Being the previous headmaster, leader of the clan, he decided to take Touma as his final disciple."
Ms. Mars exclaimed, "Oh my God!"
"So Touma will receive lessons from the previous headmaster and won't be coming to attend this school."
"After hearing all that from my father, I wanted to know more about this prophecy. So here I am," I concluded.
"I see!" Ms. Mars said with enthusiasm, "Does that mean Kaori has a rival now? I mean, if things weren't like this, Kaori was surely to be the one who would succeed you and lead the clan next. But if Touma really is the chosen one, he will surely be the one to take the position next. Even if he isn't the chosen one, being a disciple of a headmaster - be it a previous one or the current one - he has a right to claim for the role."
"Yes," I agreed, "That's how it will turn out now. Kaori doesn't know anything yet and I don't plan on letting her know any soon. It's better that way. The situation will be tackled when it is here."
"However," I stopped before saying, determined, "I want Kaori to fight. I want her to achieve something at any costs. May it be this or something else, I don't want her to back off. She's my disciple, after all."
Ms. Mars had a warm smile on her lips, "I'm sure she won't back off. And if I see that she's worthy for the role, I will support her to the fullest. But Kaori, still hasn't awoken her abilities, did she?"
I narrowed my eyes as thoughts clouded my mind, "I feel... That she'll awaken soon."
**********************************************
The same day at night.
I was standing at the balcony in my night gown with my hands on the railing, enjoying the cold wind that lightly swept my hair in the air.
I was startled when I felt a weight on my back all of a sudden. I looked over my shoulder to see short, black messy hair. I immediately recognized who it was.
"What are you doing, Kaori?" I asked her softly.
I won't lie that being hugged by her after all this time felt really warm and made me feel happy inside. But I needed to know what was going on in her mind for her to do this so suddenly.
"I.. Had a nightmare.." She quivered.
At once, I turned around and pulled her into my arms, "It's okay. Nothing to be scared of."
"I am scared," Kaori whimpered, "I'm really, really scared."
This was the first time I saw her break down like this after so long. I couldn't think of what to do, so I silently gave soothing pats on her back.
"What did you see?" I asked softly.
"Nothing specific," She said, burying her head deeper in my chest, "I've been having this dream for a while. I just thought that maybe it wasn't anything to be worried about, so I didn't tell you."
My eyes slightly widened. I asked slowly, "What is it about?"
"Some mixed dream, kind of. It starts with the times when mom and dad were around," Her voice broke, "Those fun times, you know? It starts with those. I laugh with them and I hear their loving voices and words. But then it starts to darken."
"How so?" I urged her to continue.
"I see that day when mom and dad left. Then something starts to sound. These words," Kaori said uncertainly, "I don't know what they mean. But these words keep following everything I see afterwards. The memories of mom and dad flies past until I.. I see something I shouldn't be seeing."
It struck me much that I pulled her away to see her face. Looking directly at her eyes, I cupped her face and asked, "What did you see?"
She gulped, "The accident," It came out as a raspy whisper.
"It feels as if I had been there, as if I had seen it happen with my own eyes. I don't know what's going on with me, sensei," She sobbed, "Help me. I can't do it anymore with this dream. It keeps repeating every night, I can't sleep properly! I'm scared, sensei. What's happening to me?"
My throat went dry. Questions after questions started to crowd my mind. Why would Kaori see the accident in her dream? She wasn't even there. Then what did it mean? What was happening and why was it happening? I couldn't find any answer.
But these symptoms seems to be very familiar.
It was as if the words Ms. Mars told me earlier in the day, started ringing in my head right then as the answers to all those questions.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴."
"𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺."
I couldn't dare think of it but this daring thought kept crossing my mind.
I decided to play my last card.
"Kaori," I called her calmly, wiping her tears away and giving her a tight hug before looking at her eyes directly again, "What are the words you hear when you have this dream?"
Kaori sniffled before stating the exact words that she hears at the end of the dream - "The prophecy has been made. Let the chosen one be found within."
The shock was so strong that I had let go of Kaori without realization.
She looked at me in confusion, "What's wrong, sensei?"
"N-nothing, it's nothing," I stammered, watching Kaori in wide eyes full of surprise.
It was clear to me. I couldn't believe my eyes but it was crystal clear from everything that was happening.
I didn't want to believe it at all but I was sure that I was now looking at the one and only chosen one from the legendary prophecy - the only daughter of Sakagami Kariu and Sanemi Ren, the eldest granddaughter of Sakagami family - Izumi Kaori.
**********************************************
I was so astounded that I couldn't move my eyes from Kaori, who was oblivious of the situation.
A blow of wind flowed her dark hair in the air, her eyes glowed in the light of the full moon that was shining in the night sky. For some reason, I could see an aura of great power around her which I never saw before.
"Kazuma-sensei?" She called me with a slight rage in her voice, "Why are you looking at me like that! Why did you react like that? What is going on in that brain of yours?"
I pulled myself back to reality, "Yes? I'm back," I said blankly.
Kaori let out a disappointed sigh, "Forget it. I'm okay now so I'll be going back to my room. You should go, too."
"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm going to go now, too."
"Oh, then let's go together," She pulled me by my hand and I followed her.
We walked all the way to Kaori's dorm room and I bid her goodnight. Then I walked back to my room.
After lying down on my back on the bed, I stared at the white ceiling above and thought about Kaori for a long time.
"𝘚𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳," I thought, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘶𝘩."
As I recalled the times I called her weak, a smile appeared on my lips, "𝘚𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭."
⭐❤❤⭐🌟❤🌟⭐❤❤⭐🌟❤🌟⭐❤❤⭐