"What the fuck..."
3 days later and it's June the 6th, my birthday, though, I don't feel like celebrating my birthday knowing that my biological mother died on the same day.
So, I've been training with Ai-nee.
"What the fuck did you just do?!"
Ai-nee screamed at me.
"I finally completed it."
"What?! Tell me, what the fuck was that you used!"
She edged me on, shaking me by my shoulders.
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you, just let go of me!"
And she did.
I sighed.
"It's a spell that I visualised in my mind ever since I learned that I can use Shadow Magic."
"Sure, yeah, nice, what is it?"
"I call it Nightwalker. As long as there's light, I can freely move around. It feels disgusting to use and drains quite a bit of mana."
Ai-nee looked slightly shocked.
I cringed back a little.
"W-what?"
"It's just that... when you used that spell--"
"Nightwalker."
"--Nightwalker, I couldn't feel your presence at all."
"Eh?"
"Usually, when using movement spells similar to Nightwalker, there should be even the tiniest bit of presence left but with you... I'm sure that you had no presence."
I tilted my head.
"Well, if we're talking about Nightwalker's use, then is it bad?"
"Not really, but you need a presence in order to be alive."
I finally caught on to what she was saying.
"It's like..."
"I was the shadow itself..."
"Or like your body breaks itself down and becomes a shadow."
I made a useful spell with a creepy ass process. So, my body breaks itself down into shadow particles or molecules and transforms itself into a shadow.
I'm kind of hesitant about using this spell.
Suddenly, my pocket began vibrating. I took out my phone.
It was a message.
'Hey, it's me, Anastasia. I want to talk about something. Come to where we first were alone.'
Huh?
What's this secretive shit?
Unknown number and they claim to be Anastasia. It probably is her.
"Ai-nee, I'm going out."
"Okay."
She replied.
I left.
---
I had been doing some hand-to-hand combat with Ai-nee for two hours. I'm lucky that I went to go change my clothes in the dorm first before going to training.
And so, I went to the karaoke room where we 'duelled' with each other.
When I opened the door, I saw Anastasia using a tablet to select a song. She looked pretty composed and casual. Even her clothes were casual. Not something I would expect from a mistress.
She wore a white shirt, black shorts and a blue khaki jacket.
"Hey,"
Anastasia said without averting her eyes from the screen.
"Yo,"
I said, sitting down beside her.
There was a cup of tea and cola on the table in front. She ordered in advance.
Don't tell me she wants to have a karaoke duel again.
"Huh?"
I looked at the song she chose.
"Enigma by Queen's Voyage. It's a nice song."
Anastasia said, picking up the mic.
"Yeah, I know. I sang it last time..."
Anastasia began singing it and around 2 minutes later, she finished.
She sang the shorter version.
"Let's see what I got..."
When the screen displayed her score, my eyes widened.
"Gah! No way! I got 99.97%?!"
So, she was trying to beat my perfect score from the last time. Did she practice this song?
Then, she turned to me.
"Hey, Shoya, do you know the ending line for Enigma?"
A sudden question.
Why does this atmosphere feel...
"Wasn't it something like, 'Our love for mysteries never end?'"
"Right. Well then..."
The girl squinted her eyes and her lips twitched as her face became beat red.
"M-m-my love for you never ends..."
"Hah?"
Wait... What...
This is... a confession, isn't it?!
I felt my heart beating faster and my face heating up. Yeah, it sure is, but what kind of witty and cringe confession was that?
"I'm saying I love you, you idiot!"
"Ah, n-no, I get the message but why?"
I wasn't this nervous when Matsumoto confessed to me, so why am I feeling so...
"God, you're asking a mistress why she fell in love with you?"
"Uhh..."
Then she began talking.
"When we first met, you were just some filthy commoner."
Ouch.
"But, after that one Magic Theory class, my gaze kept on falling to you. At that time, I didn't know if I was feeling love or not but I was sure that it was like a master who wants to boss their servant. But, after hanging out with you, I felt it. Then, after seeing your strength during the Introductory match, I..."
Then she stopped and held her face. It was getting even redder.
"Was this what mother meant when she said that women are attracted to strong men?"
Anastasia seemed to be asking herself, swatting the air to cool herself.
I don't know how I should answer. Of course, there's a part of myself that wants to say 'yes,' but the other half is unsure. What should I do?
"Anastasia, I--"
Then she put her palm out, signalling a 'stop.'
"I know my confession was sudden. So, I'll give you time to think about it. I want an answer by September though."
"Uhhh, sure."
I've never seen Anastasia like this. She looks unexpectedly cute when she's embarrassed to the max. I feel bad that she's giving me time to answer but...
"Just so that I can temporarily quell this feeling."
"!"
I couldn't speak.
There was a weird sensation of pleasure which plagued my mind and warmth filled my mouth.
Then, she moved away.
Anastasia looked between me and the door.
"I... I'll go now!"
"W-w-wait!"
Anastasia stormed out.
She just kissed me. My first kiss.
My first mouth-to-mouth kiss.
My first tongue kiss.
Is this the present that God gave me for my birthday?
A heartfelt confession from a beautiful girl.
The cute embarrassed face of the girl.
A kiss from the girl.
But this is also something that I didn't want since I already have an idea of the type of girl that I want to date...
I don't know.
What do I do now?!
[Calm down.]
(A-A-Altair?! You were awake?!)
[Yeah and I saw your little moment there.]
(Sh-shut up!)
[She gave you time, right? Use that time to think about it. If you like some other girl, then you can turn her down.]
(B-but wouldn't that be rude?)
[There is another method you can use but you don't have a sigil yet, so...]
(Altair.)
[Hm?]
(Is the first kiss usually a French kiss?)
[All I can say is... no.]
(Then am I lucky or unlucky?)
Altair stayed silent.
(Fuck.)