Eerie snoring growled from an open window in the darkened third bedroom of Ryuji Pharmaceuticals, a shophouse located in Nagano, Japan.
A middle-aged man yelled from outside the bedroom door, "Oi, shrimp! You'll be late for the entrance ceremony if you keep dozin'!"
Inside the bedroom was a male teenager resting his head on a notebook placed on the desk. His scruffy dark-brown hair shone from the light emitted by a desk-lamp and wore nothing but a pair of brown boxers, a black vest top, and silver glasses. He opened his mouth like he was dreaming, and drool oozed from his mouth, dripping on the notebook his head resided upon.
The boy slowly waked from his dream. He blinked and squinted his eyes, shielding his vision from the bright, glaring desk-lamp, then lazily turned his head, now leaning on his chin. He lifted his hand to grab the computer mouse and shook it to wake his PC from sleep mode. His eyes squinted again, his mouth making a drowsy grumble as the screen flashed to life.
"Oh, that's right... I forgot the brightness was on full," The teenager mumbled in a sleepy tone, "The time... The time..."
He slightly adjusted his glasses and looked at the bottom right of the screen.
"Eight past seven... hmm..." he sat up, scratching his neck, "Why do I feel I'm forgetting something..."
While the teenager said this, soft, rapid stomping became louder and louder outside the boy's room. The moment they stopped, the bedroom door swung open.
"Brother!"
The boy jumped, leaned back, lost balance on his chair, and eventually fell, making a loud thump.
"Ah! Reika! You okay?" squeaked a girly voice.
Reika's head luckily landed on the mattress behind him, "Oww..."
"You need some help gettin-"
A grunt from her older brother cut off the small, brown-haired girl, raising his palm to say, `I'm good.`
"Sorry... Dad said to wake you up."
He sighed and pinched the skin above his nose, "No, I'm the one who should be sorry, Tentai. It's my fault for pulling another all-nighter," Reika stood up and lifted his chair back in place, "Anyway, why'd Pops tell you to be my alarm clock?"
"Honestly! I was about to tell you! Jeez!" Tentai huffed, "It's your first day of senior high. You'll be late for the entrance ceremony if you don't get ready now."
Reika immediately went bug-eyed and creaked his head to look at the monitor. The time was now 7:10 am. He shifted his gaze below the numbers and noticed the date.
The words `You'll be late` echoed in his head as he soon realized something.
"Imma be late!!" Reika thundered.
He kicked his toe on a leg of the chair, making him tumble while rushing to the wardrobe.
His sister sighed and shrugged. Clearly, she had witnessed this scene many times before.
"Well, I'll be going to school now," Tentai made a V sign with her hand waving goodbye, "Peace!" and trotted away.
"Y-Yeah, see ya..." Reika said subconsciously, preoccupied with the pain in his foot.
He hastily shuffled through his clothes to find a green school blazer, a white long-sleeved shirt, a pair of unironed black trousers, grey socks, and a blue patterned tie. Once dressed, Reika jogged to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, then raced to the kitchen, repeating the saying, "Imma be late!"
"Ay! You're finally up!" The middle-aged man cheered. That was Reika's father, Ryuji Otosuke. He wore a neat white lab coat over a bright red and black shirt paired with beige-coloured jeans. His orangey-brown hair stood up, tied in a bandanna, and traces of a beard were shown on his chin.
"Breakfast's on-"
"Not hungry!"
Reika took a rice cracker from the breadbin and hurried to the door.
"Wait a sec!" Otosuke grabbed his son's forearm, "You can't go to school lookin' like that." He pointed at Reika's untidy uniform, then made him stand still to fix his son's school tie and collar.
"C'mon, Pops. I'll do that on the train. Imma be-"
"You'll be late?" Reika's Dad interrupted, "There, now git!"
Otosuke finished fixing Reika's tie and adjusting the collar, then slapped his son's back, winding him.
"Oh! One more thing," Otosuke added, "Remember, don't freak out no matter the situation."
Reika coughed for a brief second, then smiled, "I'll be off, peace!" He made a V sign with his hand, grabbed his school bag, and twisted the door handle to make a mad dash to Toyono station.
Ryuji Reika, a six-foot-tall teenager aged fifteen, is now a first-year senior high student attending a private high school named Okurimono Senior High.
He decided to apply for a school away from home to escape being a loner from the 1st to 9th grade and hasn't made many friends due to him being somewhat different. And is now running with no school bag.
Reika realized the sudden lightness on his shoulders and skidded across the concrete floor.
He looked back and witnessed a man with a broad figure, slightly shorter than him, wearing black clothing, and was jogging away with a leather bag with a blue keychain poking out of it.
"That's mine!" Reika yelled and gave chase.
Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up and watched as the thief got smaller and smaller while dashing left at a crossing. Reika had to think and predict where the thief was heading. He knew the streets of his hometown like the back of his hand, picturing a map in his mind.
Reika hastily planned a route and darted in an alleyway, appearing out the other end.
`Just as predicted,` he thought.
Reika was right; just as predicted, the thief was running straight towards him, but there was one thing Reika didn't account for.
"Stop, thief!" he shouted, like a hero in the movies.
"Move it, kid!" the thief barged straight past Reika, knocking him on the floor.
"Dammit, my laptop's in that bag!"
He instantly got back up and chased after the thief again.
The chase lasted for several minutes, including Reika and the thief bumping into several people along the way. The only difference was that Reika apologized to each person he bumped into. Eventually, he stood in front of the thief in a darkened alleyway and stepped forward to confront him.
"Hey, I need that bag back," he said.
The thief tutted and pulled out a balisong from his back pocket. Two other men, who had a similar figure, appeared behind Reika and slowly closed in on him.
`This isn't good,` Reika thought.
"You want this so badly. You can have it then!" the thief taunted and dropped Reika's bag in front of him.
He kneeled down to grab his bag, but instead, a black boot collided with the middle of his face. He stumbled back and fell into the arms of the two men behind him, locking him.
"Well, it looks like you've hit rock bottom today, kid!" the leading thief laughed and proceeded to repeatedly kick and punch Reika's body paired with insults.
"I ain't a kid," Reika mumbled as his beating continued.
The wind started howling.
"Hey, Kaz," said one of the thieves holding Reika, "Is it me, or does the air feel cold?"
The leading thief named Kaz stopped Reika's beating, "What are you talkin' bout? It's the start of spring. Quit complainin'! Check to see if this kid has a wallet."
"Stop calling me a kid," Reika mumbled louder.
"Seriously, Kaz, it's gettin' real cold," said the other thief holding Reika, who was starting to shiver.
Kaz groaned, "Right, jus' quit yer whinin' n let's finish muggin' this kid!"
One of the thieves reached into Reika's pocket; once he did, Reika suddenly burst out.
"I am not a kid!" he screamed.
Suddenly, the two thieves' arms began to freeze over, and Reika broke free, knocking each thief on the floor in an icy blast. He didn't seem like his usual self anymore. Instead, he looked calm and collected, staring at Kaz while the cold biting air breezed through his hair.
The bruises on his face quickly disappeared. This is was why he was called different.
"This kid's a magic-user!?" Kaz crawled back, fearful of this `kid.`
Reika calmly picked up his bag and shot an icy stare at Kaz, who was crawling further away, he reached the end of the dark alleyway, but suddenly his whole body seemed to be encased in ice.
Reika was pointing at him with a finger-gun.
"Stupid lowlives," he murmured while strolling away.
Once Reika exited the alleyway, a sharp ache entered his brain.
"Brain freeze..!", he uttered and gripped his head, "I freaked out again."
Reika looked back and saw what had happened. This confirmed that he had indeed `freaked out.`
He sighed but soon remembered something.
"Imma be late!" he shouted and ran as fast as he could to the train station.
Five minutes later...
"Phew... Made it!" Reika was panting excessively, trying to catch his breath while leaning on a pillar at Toyono station. He reached into his inside blazer pocket and scavenged around, soon pulling out his smartphone and checking the time. 7:55 am.
"That's good enough... I hope," Reika whispered and noticed the train schedule.
`Ten more minutes!?` He screamed in his mind.
Reika slumped on a bench waiting for the train. He decided to kill some time and tapped an app on his smartphone. He tapped again, and a sudden blast of volume came from the phone's speakers.
"Crap, crap, crap, shut up, shut up!" Reika shouted, struggling to press the volume keys, eventually muting the phone's outburst. He noticed that a few people in work suits and casual clothes were staring at him and awkwardly tucked in his head, then stared at the concrete ground to avoid any more eye contact.
Reika reached into his bag, popped some BlueTooth earbuds in both ears, and connected them to his smartphone. He unmuted the volume, and a jazzy tune faded in. Just as the music started, a train came into Reika's view causing him to panic and clumsily dropping his smartphone while running to catch the train.
A feminine hand caught Reika's smartphone mid-air and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and saw a beautiful silver-haired girl wearing a school uniform with a blue ribbon. Her face was dotted with freckles, and her big hazelnut eyes captured Reika's gaze.
Her mouth slowly began moving while lifting her hand to give Reika his smartphone. It took a while for him to process what she was doing, but he soon snapped out of it, snatched the device from the girl's hand, and continued his rush towards the train's open doors.
Later, on the train.
Reika placed his rear on an empty row of seats and sighed in relief, `Thank goodness, I'm not going to be late after all!`
Reika's phone buzzed.
It was a message from his sister, Tentai.
`Are you on the train yet?`
`Yep, thanks for waking me up. I wouldn't have been late if it weren't for you!`
`You're welcome, bro! But can I ask?`
`Sure, what's up?`
`I'm looking at the GPS tracker I placed on your phone...`
Reika's brows furrowed, "That's a bit creepy."
He continued texting his younger sister.
`Ok..? I'm not gonna ask why you put a tracker on my phone... but carry on."
`Isn't Okurimono north of Toyono station?`
Reika frowned at Tentai's question.
`Ofc, wdym?`
`You're headed east.`
Reika raised his eyebrow then quietly laughed to himself while removing one of his earbuds, "Seriously, she must be joking. I-"
Reika paused his monologue. His sister sent him a screenshot from the app she used to track his phone. He heard voices in his mind again, `You'll be late.`
His head creaked left to look at the digital message written on the train's map and heard the train's intercom.
"Now arriving at Shinano-Asano station. Thank you for riding the Iiyama Line."
Reika sighed heavily into a raging roar then jumped out the train window...
This is what happened in Reika's mind. Thankfully, he didn't do anything reckless, like performing an action movie escape scene. Instead, he just sat there, silently screaming.
The train stopped.
Reika immediately stood up, approached the train doors, and began mashing the `open` button.
The doors parted, and Reika speed-walked towards the map and train schedule outside.
"Right... Just need to take a train back to Toyono, then wait for another train that goes to Mure..." Reika muttered while surveying the schedule.
"Thank goodness I think I'll just be able to make it on time!" He spoke aloud.
A moment after he said this, his phone buzzed.
It was Tentai again.
`You finally realized you were on the Iiyama line?`
`Yes, thanks again; I see now why you placed a tracker on my phone...`
`Yep! You're welcome again! What would you do without yours truly, eh?`
`A lot of things actually, I'd be able to keep my allowance, save time for studying, buy less food, keep an extra room. I could go on...`
Tentai took her time replying.
Reika made a worried face, `I've not hurt her feelings, have I?` He wondered.
She finally replied.
`Just don't be late for the entrance ceremony, okay?`
"I'm trying, dammit!"
He took the Iiyama line back to Toyono station and made sure to take the Kita Shinano line to Mure station, and made a mad dash to his school.
A familiar scene occurred from a few paragraphs ago.
Reika was leaning on a pole, feeling mentally and physically exhausted. He looked up and saw the open gates of Okurimono Senior High. An angelic aria sounded in Reika's mind, jogging his sweaty body to the school gates. Finally, he entered and struck a pose like finishing a ballet.
"I'm here! I made it!" Reika announced with pride.
A similar sense of public concern filled the air.
Reika blinked and noticed his dramatic entrance attracted the eyes of fellow students. He proceeded to tuck his head into his chest and escaped.
Meaning he awkwardly walked away.
Before long, Reika found himself in a school hallway, "Jeez, I'm lost now," He grumbled to himself, quickly realizing his situation, "I bet this day can't get any more messed up than it already has..."
He scrounged through his bag and opened the school map he had delivered to his house after finishing the school's entrance exam.
"Okay, where am I?" he traced his finger across the paper to locate where he was.
"Are you lost?"
"Gah..!" Reika jumped at the sound of a female voice. A girl appeared in front of him wearing glasses, a similar green uniform for his school, a red ribbon, and pink hair.
"You're lost, right?" She inched closer to Reika and inspected his appearance, "A blue tie... Oh! You're my junior, right?"
`Why are you so close?` Reika inched back.
"Hey! Earth to junior!" She waved her hand near Reika's eyes, snapping him out of his hypnotic state.
He shook his head and answered his senior, "Oh, sorry... and yes..?"
"Yes, what?" The girl raised an eyebrow.
"I-I'm a bit lost..."
"Well, have you used navigational magic?"
"What..?"
"Can you use any form of magic?" The girl continued, "Like fire, water, metal, earth or air?"
`Those are the five elements of nature...` Reika looked deep in thought, `I haven't heard of magic though.`
He had seemingly forgotten the events that took place earlier this morning.
The girl sighed, "Nevermind, so what's your name, kid?" She prodded Reika's arm.
`I ain't a kid...`
Reika introduced himself, "My name's Ryuji Reika."
The girl squinted her eyes and took a closer look at her junior.
`Holy crap! Why's she this close?!`
"Ah, now I know who you are!"
Reika looked puzzled by his senior's claim.
"You're Mr Ryuji's kid, aren't you?" She deducted.
`Again... I ain't a kid!`
"You know my Dad?" Reika asked.
"Yep! Ryuji Otosuke, I know him. Is that clinic still running?"
"It's a pharmacy..." Reika mumbled, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I'm living there."
Both of them exchanged some small talk until Reika's senior covered her mouth and realized something.
"Oh, I just remembered!" she said, "My name is Yuki Sakura. I think you know me since I'm the daughter of Yuki Teiji, a friend of Mr Ryuji."
Reika stared at Sakura in disbelief.
The girl, known for her princess-like appearance, blonde hair, and admired by every boy in junior high, as well as her elegant figure, was now a nerdy-looking girl with dyed hair.
"So... Hey! Were you even listening?" Sakura waved her hand in Reika's face again.
"Oh! Sorry... I was just thinking, is all."
"About what?"
"It's irrelevant," Reika dismissed Sakura's question.
"Well... You'll need to get to the gymnasium soon," she shrugged and began marching to the far end of the hall, "You'll be late for the entrance ceremony otherwise."
Reika's trigger was hit, `You'll be late,` echoed in his mind a third time. As he stood there, silently screaming.
"You good there, kid?" Sakura uttered in a friendly, concerned tone and leaned over Reika's shoulder.
"Y-Yep!" Reika forced a smile, "I've never f-felt b-better..."
"Right..." Sakura sighed and looked at an analogue clock hung up on the wall, "Ten minutes left... So... I'll guide you to the gym."
Reika's eyes lit up. He repeatedly thanked Sakura for the kind, generous assist but halted his constant gratitude when another language floated in his eardrums.
"Veiled meg dit sinnet soker."
Glimmering Norse runes levitated and circled Sakura as she chanted a cultist-like riddle. Reika couldn't believe what he was seeing, so much so he removed his glasses, wiped the lenses, and put them back on.
`Yep, I'm dreaming.` Reika pinched his left cheek to wake himself up, but nothing happened.
`Ah, I see. I didn't have breakfast this morning, so I'm probably hallucinating from starvation.`
"Yo, kid," Sakura clicked her fingers, bringing Reika back to earth, "You sure you're good?"
The Norse runes had dispersed into the air.
"I'm fine!" Reika quickly answered, "I was hallucinating, right?"
"You muttered somethin'?"
"Nope!"
Sakura shrugged again, "Well, follow me then."
She marched off, and Reika followed, but he noticed a neon yellow line was painted on the floor.
"Did this hallway always have this yellow line?"
"What? No, that's just the effects of the navigation spell," Sakura replied.
Reika looked spooked.
`All in my head. All in my head. All in my head.`
He repeated those words in his mind with a disturbed expression following Sakura.
While Reika was preoccupied with his thoughts, a small blue-coloured keychain slipped out of his bag.
Eight minutes passed.
Both Reika and Sakura stood in a crowd of students waiting to enter the gym hall. His phone abruptly buzzed, and he turned on the screen. He had received a message from his dad.
`Oh, I forgot to say. Your Mom just got back from her business trip, so she's attending the ceremony with you. Love Dad.`
Reika weakly smiled while staring at his phone, "Haha, funny message Pops..."
"Rei-Rei!" called a motherly voice, "Where's my Baby Boy?"
"Oh! That sounds like your Mom!" Sakura leapt and waved in the sky, "We're over here, Mrs Ryuji!"
`All in my head! All in my head! All in my head!`
Reika frantically looked around and spotted a middle-aged woman in a work suit, who looked surprisingly young, jogging towards him with a cheerful smile and opened arms. That was his mother, Ryuji Aoi, known for her intense and long pampering sessions.
Reika had to act fast before getting labelled a Momma's Boy for being pampered and cuddled in public by this woman.
Conveniently, the gym doors opened, and without thinking, Reika sprinted into the gym hall, looked for a stool sign that had the name `Ryuji` written on it, and jumped on the chair.
Seconds later, the other students walked in.
Reika felt relieved as a soft cushiony sensation tightly wrapped around his upper body. He didn't feel at peace anymore as his mother's Death Hug was slowly suffocating him.
"Oh, my Baby Boy! How've you been? Did'ya miss me? How's Ten-Ten? Did she miss me as well? I've missed both of you too, and I've especially missed your cooking. So, what's for dinner? I'll buy everything you need for tonight's dish!" Aoi kept rambling and rambling about her business trip, asking about Tentai, the places she went, and many other topics an over-caring mother would go on a tangent about.
Reika, who wore an expressionless face, took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs while his hair began growing and changing golden. However, that didn't happen; as much as some would love to read a story or manga about seven starred orbs summoning a gigantic godly dragon, Reika isn't from an extinct race, so he just stayed there, being rocked about in his mother's embrace. Silently screaming.
Shortly after Aoi's motherly pampering session, the headmistress of Okurimono strolled on stage. It was as if someone had pressed the mute button on a TV remote as silence filled the gym hall. Reika simultaneously gulped with every first-year in the gym. Power, authority, control, and jurisdiction radiated from Okurimono's principal as she took each stride towards the mic stand.
"Greetings, first-years of Okurimono Senior High!" She bellowed into the microphone, "I am the principal, Kantoku Akira!"
She then gave a speech about Okurimono being a private high school, the responsibilities, expectations of a student, the school's schedule, and the facilities.
After introducing the school's rules, the students sang the Japanese national anthem; then, the principal called each student's name.
"Phew... I'm glad that nothing weird goes on in this school," Reika whispered, "The other schools I've been to were all unusual or had some strange happenings." Reika began reminiscing about his junior high school life. The memories of lifting curses, talking to spirits, and elemental control came flooding back.
He never understood what the teachers from junior high taught him. But Surprisingly enough, the lessons were regular and straightforward to comprehend compared to magic spells or occult rituals.
"Yes!" Reika silently chanted, "I'm finally going to have an everyday school life these next three years!"
Or so he thought.
"Ryuji Reika!"
"Hm..?"
Reika froze in place like he'd been turned to stone.
"Ryuji Reika!" Akira yelled once more, "I'd like for you to come up on stage. I recommend it since you're the student with the top marks on the written entrance exam."
Reika was somewhat surprised; he awkwardly scrambled out of his seat and strolled towards the gym stage with a confused and concerned frown on his face.
`I got the highest marks? No way, I mean, the exam was like a history test or something...` His frown grew in intensity as he wondered and wondered. He decided that it was best not to dwell on the matter. After all, Reika scored the highest out of all the first-year students, which was an achievement. To him, at least.
As he climbed the steps to go on stage, he spotted his mother wearing a yukata and holding a large banner with `My #1 Little Einstein!` written on it.
Reika facepalmed and hid his face, "Dear lord... She always finds a way to embarrass me!"
He hung his head and plodded his rear on one of the two chairs on stage.
"Uhm..." Reika noticed the other on his left and raised his hand to get the principal's attention, "Why's there another-"
"Unaka Zirealla!" Reika quickly covered his ears as Akira's booming voice amplified through the speakers, echoing throughout the gym hall, "Please join Ryuji Reika on stage!"
"Wait, who?" Reika raised his voice and caught the principal's attention.
"Do you not know? She's the one who has the highest marks on the practical entrance exam," Akira explained, "Gosh, you should've seen her. We might have a legendary mage attending our school!"
She looked like she was in her own world, fantasizing about becoming the world's most fantastic principal.
"A mage..?" Reika seemed puzzled but shook his head, `Nevermind, "mage" is probably a slang term for an excellent student... There was another exam!?`
"Why, the rude child from this morning, what an unpleasant surprise," said a snarky and posh female voice.
"Who're you, calling me rude?" Reika snapped back, "And I ain't a kid!"
A girl with long silver hair tied in a ponytail, freckles dotted on her cheeks, and hazelnut eyes stood in front of him with a spiteful glare.
"Improper speech," she commented, "Headmistress, I believe you have made a mistake. Surely, this... country bumpkin could not have scored the highest marks on the written exam?"
`Country bumpkin!?` Reika repeated in his head.
The principal revised the papers on the desk stand that showed the exam results, "Hang on, Ryuji, you have no marks for the practical exam."
"Yeah, I forgot to attend, sorry..." Reika chuckled nervously.
`I didn't even know there was a practical exam!` He screamed in his head.
"And Unaka, you scored the highest on the practical exam and 97% on the written exam."
"Heh," Zirealla scoffed, "Do you now see why there should only be one chair on-"
"Ryuji has 100%," Akira interrupted, "Scoring 100% on only one of the exams is just enough to be accepted into this school."
"Welp," Reika shrugged and grew a sly grin, "That's the rules, I s'pose."
Zirealla huffed, sat in her chair, and shuffled a distance away from Reika, meaning she moved to the other end of the gym stage while seated and silently mumbling curses under her breath.
"If you two are done, I'll continue with the entrance ceremony," Akira said.
"Hmph!" Both Reika and Zirealla crossed their arms and glared at each other through the whole ceremony.
Later.
After the ceremony had finished. Reika arrived at classroom 1-C.
But one thing was still on his mind, `That silver-haired, grey squirrel, who does she think she is?`
Alas, Reika quickly put his complaining on hold, slid the classroom door open and took the first step into the room.
"Look! It's the magically-inept-prodigy!" called a cheerful voice from across the classroom.
Everyone turned their head and focussed their attention on Reika with either an unwelcome frown or an amused smirk.
And at that moment, Ryuji Reika sensed an atmosphere that he didn't belong in. He immediately stepped back outside, checked the class label above the door and reluctantly waddled back inside the classroom.
He sat at a school desk at the far left of the room and felt the eyes of the whole class, watching as he sat down.
Suddenly, the classroom door slid open at a phenomenal speed, making a sound similar to a grenade exploding.
A fiery-haired woman barged in with a clipboard in hand and stomped to the centre front of the class, slamming her hands on the lecturer's desk with a rupturing clap.
"Aight, you damn deviants!" she growled with authority, "Seats. Now!"
"A-At your own pace, p-please?" her voice quickly shifted from a commanding and roaring yell to a silent and polite whimper.
Reika noticed something different about the lady's appearance.
`Her hair...` he thought, `Her hair was red just then.`
It had changed to a sky-blue.
"I'm... um... Irina K-Kurumi," her hushed speech began, "I-I'll be your homeroom teacher for the t-this year."
Reika, once again, could not believe what he saw. His stare made eye contact with the shy and timid teacher.
"P-Please d-don't stare at me s-so intently..."
Ms Irina started blushing and held up the clipboard to hide her face.
"Dude, he's into older women?"
"I'm not judging his tastes."
The whole class began their silent bickering.
"I'm so sorry, Ms Irina, please continue."
Reika stood up and bowed.
His tutor responded and nodded, signalling Reika to sit back down.
Ms Irina continued her speech but spoke in a tired, monotone voice.
"Right... So *yawn* um... you're now the new first-year senior high students of this school... and erm... yeah."
Her hair changed again.
A void-like purple.
`This is... questionable?` Reika stared in disbelief at Ms Irina.
Her personality did a complete 180 degrees when his eyes met hers once again.
Reika humbly bowed and clapped his hands together, "Sorry again, Ms Iri-"
He paused mid-sentence.
"Y-You think I'm weird, r-right?"
He looked up.
Reika's hands were being held in a firm grip with an energetic, flustered woman with lightning-yellow hair
and grinning.
"No, I don't-"
Ms Irina inched closer.
`What is happening!?`Reika looked panicked.
His tutor stared at him, "Now that I look closely..."
Reika inched back.
"You're a damn perv!"
She flicked and left a red mark on his forehead.
"Oww..." Reika recoiled and sat back down.
Ms Irina stormed back to the front of the class and continued telling the students what to expect in the years to come with a fiery tone.
"Psst Hey dude!"
Reika turned his head to the desk next to him.
"You seriously haven't heard of the famous Elemental Irina?"
"The who..?"
Reika was sat next to a boy who looked the same age as him, with blue eyes and orange hair.
"Yeah, she has a super rare elemental disorder called MPD," whispered the boy again.
Reika tilted his head in confusion. The boy did the same.
"So you really are magically-inept, aren't you?" He continued, "MPD means Magical Personality Disorder. Actually, you've never heard of this stuff, have you?"
Reika saw no reason to be dishonest and shook his head.
"No, I haven't, nor did I know it existed," he admitted.
The boy's eyes widened with shock and disbelief. He sat up in his chair, glanced at Ms Irina to check she wasn't looking and leaned back in to whisper to Reika.
"Right, I'm Taradashi Shion. I'll tell you everything to do with magic after our class introduction is over."
Reika nodded.
A moment after, Ms Irina finished her, speech ending it with a tiresome sigh.
"That's it, no questions."
She slammed her clipboard once more and stomped out of the classroom.
A few minutes later, Reika sat on a stool in the nurse's office with his sleeve rolled up and a plaster on his forearm.
He just had a blood test which is, `standard procedure` as the nurse put it.
He heard some mechanical whirring and humming. Soon the nurse entered the room from the lab holding a file.
"Okie Dokie then, that's your Teori level done," she yawned, "You're free to go."
Reika stood up, thanked the nurse and strolled out of the room.
The nurse looked over the file she was holding, "What are you, Ryuji..?"
The last column of the file was the TL section; next to it was the number zero.