"These foods look good, don't they?" Haruto said as he placed his plate on the table, trying to start some small conversation.
However, Ryo only looked at him with his emotionless eyes for a few seconds, before reverting his gaze back onto the table.
Haruto realizes that Ryo isn't in the mood to talk. With this thought, he only continued to eat in silence without further pushing the conversation.
Meanwhile, Ryo deeply ponders himself. He can't get the image of Reina out of his mind.
Not positively, but rather sinisterly. It is as if her eyes mask a thousand different secrets.
Moreover, there's something off-putting about her. There's something dark, within her.
And... to top it all off, as he saw his gaze, directly towards his eyes, he felt familiar. Have they met before? Does he know him?
The sense of being familiar with someone so unfamiliar is the feeling of an enigma dwelling in him.
"Do you know anything about her?" He asked Haruto, who was midway biting onto his food.
Haruto stopped still, and put down his food on the table.
"About who?"
"Aoki... Reina..."
"No. Today was the first time we met." Haruto said.
Things got more complicated inside Ryo's brain.
If she's not from here, how come I get a sense of familiarity from her? He deeply thought to himself.
...
Meanwhile,
As classes had their festivities in their classroom, a celebration for their success, Reina, and the boy with her walked down the hallway leading to Class-E.
"Are you sure... you'll deal with them?" The boy figure asked, his eyes voided of any emotion.
"Souta." She uttered his name. "I've never failed." She added, adding a depth of dark aura around her. Her lips were curled into a sinister, yet relaxed smile. However, in the deepest part of her, she's murderous and deadly.
"I'll push him to his limits, for him to be expelled," Reina added.
"I'll leave you to it then," Souta said, before turning and leaving.
Reina waves him off with a smile, before proceeding. A deadly sound reverberates along the quiet hallway with each step she takes. Then, she arrived at the front door of the Class-E.
With a gentle force, Reina stepped up front and knocked several times. Soon after, the familiar figure of one of the people surrounding her earlier opened the door.
Upon seeing her, his eyes narrowed in annoyance and anger.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, as his hand rolled into a tight fist.
"Hello! I would like, you know, to apologize for what I did..." She said, in a sarcastic tone, with that playful smile plastered on her face.
The man loses his patience, angrily grabs Reina by her collar, and raises her up. Due to his build, he was able to easily lift up Reina, who was only half his size.
In spite of this, Reina's smile didn't disappear.
"Listen here, you sabotaged this whole classroom. Many of our friends were eliminated because of you. I would want to wait until a school competition is announced before I destroy you, but it seems like, I need to do it right now."
"No one will believe you, remember that. Hehe."
Reina giggled like a child, further fuming the huge person.
"I'll kill you!" Unable to hold back any longer, he threw Reina toward the wall, crashing violently on her back, landing on the floor, and she soon spat out blood,
She slowly stood up. However, her smile didn't disappear. She raised her head up and looked at the person, with those same eyes.
And with another layer of annoyance, he lunged towards her and was about to land another punch onto her when out of nowhere, a thunderous spark of lightning manifested in between them, and in the next second, the person was pinned down by none other than the eighth seat, Kyouko.
"Are you okay, Aoki-san?" She asked as she continued to restrain the person.
"Y-Yes, I-I am... H-How did you know my name?" Reina responded with a stagger, further implying that she was deeply hurt.
"That doesn't matter right now. What happened here?"
"I-I was visiting... Suddenly... He attacked me." Reina pointed at the person, her eyes slowly shedding fake tears.
"Is that true?" Kyouko asks the person.
"I-It's not true! She-"... The person was midway through his protest when he suddenly stopped. He remembered what Reina sinisterly said,
"No one will believe you."
That phrase was repeated in his mind. His mouth was now shackled, scared, and unable to speak.
"Not going to answer, are you?" Kyouko asked, in a much fiercer way.
The man only then remained silent. He clenched his fist in frustration.
"Let's go to the council office. We'll discuss it from there." Kyouko ordered as she let go of the man.
...
They were brought to the council office. Reina was healed by water with healing capabilities. After a few minutes, Yukime arrived and sat down behind her desk.
"Just when I thought I was going to rest," She mumbled before she looked at them with cold, distant eyes.
"So, what seems to be the issue here?"
Kyouko stood up, and spoke,
"Well, I was on my way to get something from my classroom, when I came upon a scene. This man," she pointed at the man, "was about to launch a punch at this girl. Meanwhile, this girl was standing weakly, with blood in her mouth. That's when I stepped in."
"I see. Thank you, Kyouko. How about you?" Yukime looked at Reina.
"W-Well, I-I was suddenly attacked. He was mad at me..."
"Mad? For what reasons?"
"I-I don't know... He said that I sabotaged the whole test..." Reina's voice lowered until it was just a mumble. Her expression was of a pained, and melancholic one.
"Sabotaged? Okay, what is your side?" Yukime turned her attention towards the man.
"W-Well..."
He remembered what happened.
Class E had a plan. And that plan, was the same as Reina: Scatter around while keeping an eye on Ryujn.
And this man, is the voted leader for this class. He had the responsibility of keeping his class together.
Moreover, he has the ability to track where Ryujin is, and through signals, they'll coordinate their movements. Without him, it'll be difficult for them, as they rely on ambush.
This happened when Ryujin momentarily left Ryo and Kyouko, allowing them to take a breather, and where they met Reina.
However, at one point, while Class-E was battling Ryujin, and while the man was giving directions, Reina appeared.
"Fancy meeting you here," Reina greeted with a smile,
The man only took a glance at her,
"Who are you?" He asked, while still maintaining his focus on Ryujin.
"I'm the ending, to the beginning you've started."
With a confused, and irritated gaze, he looked at Reina.
"What the hell are you talking about? If you're going to spout nonsense, then—"
"I am, the end of your story."
Suddenly, his surroundings turned dark, and he was unable to see.
"W-What?" He lost focus and panicked. In the next second, things turned back to normal, but almost everyone was eliminated.
His knees and hands were shaking for no reason, and his whole body was sweating. He looked for Reina, yet she wasn't anywhere around.
Then, he realized something. He was the one tracking Ryujin.
"Wait...!" He looked back into the battlefield, and there, he simultaneously heard the voice calling out eliminated students.
Most of his allies were eliminated and looked at him with cold gazes.
He tried to defend himself, saying that someone sabotaged him, and trapped him somewhere dark.
However, no one believed him.
Sure, a few friends did, but the whole class looked at him differently. He was a failure.
Fuming with frustration and annoyance, he walked along the corridors with his friends, and he stumbled upon, Reina.
They surrounded her, in an attempt for revenge.
"The foundation was distracted. What a lame excuse, right?" Reina taunted,
"But, it's alright. They were weak anyway," She again taunted,
"They deserved that. At least I got rid of the useless ones." She taunted again.
"No one would believe you. I was never with you in the first place."
...
The man slowly opened his mouth to speak.
"She did! She attacked me." He exclaimed,
"In what specific way?" Yukime asked in curiosity.
He quickly pondered on how to explain what he experienced.
"Uhm, Illusion Techniques, something like that."
"So, you do believe that this girl, could use Illusionary magic?"
"Y-Yes."
Yukime turned towards Reina,
"Could we test your magic aptitude?"
"S-Sure,"
Kyouko, beside them, went to the room next door, grabbed a futuristic while sphere, and placed it on the table.
"This is an aptitude tester, where it will reveal the magic flow of the user. If you may, please place your palm at this ball." Yukime instructed.
Reina followed. She gently placed her palms on top of the ball, and in the next second, if glowed in a bright, blue light.
Then, mechanisms clinking inside sounded, as the light continued shining brighter.
Then, it all came to a halt.
"Please remove your hands," Yukime said, as she picked the ball up.
She squinted her eyes and took a look inside.
"Illusionary, you say?... However, she has... Nature."
"Nature?!" The man blurted out in surprise.
"Kyouko, could you call on to Stella? Tell her it's urgent."
"Got it."
She promptly left the room.
"Let us wait for the other council member who specializes in this area."
After they waited for a few minutes, Kyouko returned with Stella.
"So, what seems to be the issue here?" She asked,
"Stella, you've done several researches on the nature-category of magic, right?" Yukime asked,
"Yes, I did."
"I would like you to delve deeper into this girl's magic aptitude." Yukime handed the ball over to Stella.
Stella took a quick glance at it,
"It's an advanced level of nature-category, similar to my level."
"Does nature of that level have connections to illusion magic?" Yukime asked
"Well, no. From the looks of it, she isn't a double-aptitude magician, so I doubt this is hers."
"I see, thank you."
"Can I leave now?"
"Yes. Thank you, Stella."
Stella promptly left, and they continued their conversation.
"Nature isn't affiliated with illusions. From the results, she is a single-aptitude magician. If she ever really has illusion magic, she needs to be within a vicinity near you to be able to use it, so as our final step, we'll check the CCTV."
"CCTV?" The man asked,
"Yes. We have recorded CCTV's recordings while the test was in place."
Yukime booted up the computer beside her and began rummaging through the files. After a short while of looking, she tilts the computer to the side so the others could see.
"Is this you?" Yukime asked, pointing her finger towards a certain person.
"Y-Yes, it's me."
"Let's see here... Then, is this you?" Yukime then asked Reina, as she pointed her finger toward the figure.
"Yes, that is me."
"Then, let's track your locations all throughout the test."
In a single click, the computer began playing a timelapse, displaying two red dots in the map, leaving a trace of where they move. This was the location of Reina and the man.
But, until the end of the timelapse, Reina and the man never collided with each other. In fact, they were each on the opposite side of the map.
"N-No way..." The man blurted out in disbelief.
"I apologize, but I don't see any evidence regarding your claims of her, attacking you."
The man was in fear. It was true, no one would believe him. No one, except him, witnessed such an event. No evidence was against Reina.
"So I must ask, again. Why did you attack her?"
The man sat in silent. Like a serpent wrapping its body around his neck, he began profusely sweating as he began having a hard time breathing.
Yukime looked at him in confusion. He was clearly in disarray.
"Are you okay?" She asked concerned,
"Y-Yes." The man stammered. He hesitantly looked over to Reina.
Her face was... Normal... However, in his mind, overlapping that face was... A voided smile.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I hurt her... Yes, I'm guilty." The man yelled out.
Yukime's eyes widened at the unexpected reaction. Now that a confession has been made, and there's evidence against him, there's no turning back.
Yukime gave him a minimal week-suspension, and let them both go.
After the session, Reina promptly left the room and went to her classroom. Inside Class A, were several students, with different personalities and characteristics.
However, she went directly to the balcony area, where Souta was waiting, waiting while staring over the rail.
Souta turned around as soon as he heard the glass door open.
"Oh, it's you." He blurted out nonchalantly.
"Yes, it's me. My head still hurts after that impact,". She said, walking up beside him.
"What happened?"
"A trial happened. He declared himself guilty."
Souta's lifeless eyes widened. He wasn't expecting this result.
"Ah, I see."
"A gaze... simply is enough." She mumbled under her breath.
Her voided gaze is enough, to make a man break down. Her aura is enough, for someone to break down.
How?
A simple gaze before the exam made the man remember her. Her aura, so dark, it can make the toughest ones tremble.
This alone, could make someone hallucinate. And this is what happened to that man.
Her predator eyes were deeply engraved in his mind, to the point where he started hallucinating about her, and this all stemmed from mere eye contact.
This is no magic. This is just... her demonic aura.
"I'm confused still, why did you hate that man so much?" Souta asked,
"He is a tough character, Souta. Elimination is a must, for those whom I deem "threats"." She replied coldly,
"Do not forget our goal in this school." She added. She looked at him with serious, murderous eyes, yet accompanied with a sinister smile.
"Ah, yes. I won't forget."