Chapter 8
MAYUMI SAEGUSA
"So, he really is a Yotsuba," her father confirmed, and she nodded as she sat on the sofa in her apartment in Tokyo.
"He is, he told me himself," she confirmed, her internal conflict palpable as she bit her lip, yet did her duty. It felt wrong to betray Inei-kun, but as a Saegusa, she had her own duties to the clan.
"That is troubling. I went through the files and records and have found no trace of him anywhere, even for the Yotsuba, which is very disturbing. There must be a reason for why he was kept hidden for so long,
"And his powers, have you an inkling about just how powerful he is?" he asked, and she hesitated, anguished and weary at what she was being forced to do.
"Mayumi?" her father's voice called her name, breaking her out of her reverie.
"Not yet," she ended up lying, her consciousness having had enough for the day.
"Try to find out. I will be expecting a report next week," he said, and with that, the call went off. She sighed as she put down the phone. In that whole conversation, he had not asked or congratulated her once on becoming the Student Council President.
Though, why was she expecting that?
And now, as she prepared for another day at school, she found her mind drifting to the duel from yesterday and what she had witnessed. Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki were literal powerhouses that defied expectations, especially Shiba Tatsuya, who had blown away her expectations and had proven himself to be amongst the elite among the newcomers this year.
Add on to that Inei-kun, this year's class was proving itself to be quite a menace.
Yet today was a big day for First High and herself as the President of the Student Council because today they would be welcoming new members in both the Student Council and the Disciplinary Committee, among which, for the first time since its conception, a Course two student will also be becoming a member.
It was a big step in her own vision for the school where the abhorrent discrimination between the course one and course two students had always sat wrong with her, and though it had come at a cost.
And as she thought about that cost her face heated up.
A Date.
Mayumi had never been on a date with a boy, especially one younger than herself and to call for it so openly.
"You really are a mess, Inei-kun."
.
.
.
"What?" As she sat in the Student Council room, she found herself getting another headache, the cause of it the very person who had caused her first.
"I said I decline the nomination to be a part of the Disciplinary Committee," he repeated with that bored look as everyone in the Student Council looked at him with an incredulous look.
"Why?" she asked, shocked that he would turn away such an opportunity.
"Because it's too much work," he replied, and Hattori began to splutter at that answer as Mari shook her head.
"I can recommend suitable people if you wish for my own suggestions," he added.
"Hey, Yotsuba-kun, who do you think you are disrespecting the President like that?" Hanzo, her vice president, stepped forward.
"I have done no such thing. I have just told you of my preference. I do not wish to be a part of the Disciplinary Committee," he replied.
"But as the topper of the incumbent class, you must take a position in one of three student administration bodies. And since Miyuki-san has accepted her place as a junior undersecretary in the Student Council, that leaves only the Club Management Group," Isori-san added, and he shrugged.
"I have a proposal to make," Shiba Miyuki rose from her place and stood up.
"If that is the case, Isori-senpai, then I offer myself as a replacement for him in the Disciplinary Committee, and Inei-kun can join the student Council," she proposed. Yet, Yotsuba herself was the first to speak.
"You do not need to do this for me," he said, but Miyuki shook her head.
"This is nothing for me, even as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. I will be a part of the Council," she said as she looked toward her brother, and Mayumi suspected that this was the real reason for this move of her.
"And Inei-kun," she suddenly added.
"As a Council Member, we have certain freedoms around classes and attendance due to the work of the Student Council," and she saw Inei-kun's demeanor shift.
"Ohh, is that so?" he asked, and she nodded, knowing full well that she was making a huge mistake.
"Then I will take you up on that offer."
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INEI YOTSUBA
The rest of the day had been fairly overwhelming as well, with Tatsuya stopping a fight between Mibu Saya of the Kendo club and Kirihara Shogun from the Kenjutsu club and gaining the attention of the whole school.
Inei himself, though, sat in the Student Council Room relaxing as the President finished up her own tasks for the day.
"Why is this year turning out to be so trouble-filled?" she complained, for she was alone. The classes had already ended half an hour ago, yet she was still here working, and he was impressed by her hard-working nature.
"Well, at least I am blameless for today's troubles," he said as he picked up the book from his face and put it on the table.
"Plus, I think if Tatsuya-kun had not intervened, you would have much more than trouble in your hand. Attacking another student with an A-ranked spell as Kirihara-san did, you must be grateful to Tatsuya-kun for intervening as he had," he added, and she nodded.
"Yes, you are right. But still, I can feel as if this is just the beginning," and he shrugged.
"Speaking of that, what are you doing here, Inei-kun?" she asked, glancing towards the clock.
"I was bored and decided to stay around since I did not have much to do at home either," he replied.
"Ohh, where do you live, Inei-kun?" she asked as she began to type once again.
"A block away from the school, in an apartment," he replied, and she nodded as he stood up and glanced at what she was doing.
"That's a homework assignment," he asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, we were tasked with proposing ideas to increase the speed of spell casting. I have written out all the known techniques, like CAD cache clearance, loop casting, and flash casting, but I am trying to think of another, an original idea for it as well," she complained.
"Why? What you have written here is enough to get you a perfect score, so why are you torturing yourself like this," he could not understand this.
"Because everyone will write about the same thing, and I have to go beyond that. I have to be more than ordinary, both as the President and as a Saegusa," she said softly, her fists balled up, and he rolled his eyes.
That was putting herself under unnecessary pressure, but it was better than someone abusing their powers and privilege.
"Have you ever heard of 'simultaneous activation'?" he decided to help her out, and she turned towards him with a frown.
"I am afraid not," she replied.
And he took out a piece of paper from his book and drew a straight line.
"Most magicians, when they are activating a magical sequence, supply the psions in a linear fashion," he said as he pointed towards the straight line.
"Yet the truth is that a magical sequence by itself has no proverbial 'start' and 'stop' point. It is but an array, one that needs to be supplied with appropriate amount of psions to be activated," and the along the straight line he drew three arrows.
"But if a magician can supply psions along the multiple points of a magical sequence simultaneously, he can cast his spell much much faster," he told her and saw her eyes widen.
"But conscious manipulation of psions, like this. Wasn't that replaced by Activations sequences?" she asked, and he was surprised that she had made that connection.
"I am impressed," he said as she turned towards him with a flushed face.
"You are right. Modern magicians do not usually know how to consciously manipulate their own scions, and that makes it so that without a CAD, they are basically useless," and she frowned.
"And this technique also has several flaws, apart from the one I mentioned. Not everyone has the ability to control psions proficiently, and even then, the advantages of modern magic make it so that learning such a thing gives little advantage, but if mastered, it basically eliminates the need for activation sequences and allows one to directly cast spells," he backed off.
"So, this is based on ancient magic," she confirmed, and he nodded.
"It is more or less repurposing an ancient or traditional magic technique for modern purposes," he replied.
"But is this even possible? To manipulate psions like that?" she seemed dazed, and he decided to give her a demonstration.
So, he picked up a hairpin stuck in her hair, startling her as he threw it up in the air. He focused his psions through the magical sequences embedded into his very soul.
"Cleave." He whispered, and infront of their eyes, the hairpin was cut into two equal parts, as Mayumi-san looked at it wide-eyed, before turning towards him.
"MY FAVOURITEEE HAIRPINNN!"
.
.
.
And then, after many apologies and assurances that he would get her the same one as penance for his actions, the President and her undersecretary left the school as Inei decided to walk her out towards her apartment, with the Mayumi having called off the car that usually came to pick her up.
"I never knew that such a technique existed at all," she asked, in awe as she realized the sheer genius of it.
"In truth, it does not," he replied as he lazily walked beside her.
"What do you mean?"
"Given its difficulty and the thousands of hours it would take for one to be proficient in it, I doubt more than three people in Japan would be able to use it if those at all," and it seemed to finally dawn on Mayumi the sheer brilliance of what she had just seen.
"Wow, I hadn't thought about it like that," she commented as she came to a halt in front of a rather large House.
"Well, then, I am here. Thank you for walking with me, Inei-kun," she said with a smile, and Inei shrugged; he liked her quite a bit. Mayumi Saegusa was many things, but she was a rather pure person, a rarity in a world as such.
She had power, wealth, and influence plenty, yet she still cared for the weak and wished only to make the world a better place. Those were naive goals but well-natured ones.
"It was no issue, Mayumi-san," he said and saw her hesitate for a bit.
"Speaking of that, I recalled that I owe you a date, don't I?"
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