The was a morning routine which I abided by every morning. It was something that I had followed for as long as I can remember. Every morning, I would repeat the same steps. Over and over again. That morning routine was simple.
Every day, I would wake up at five in the morning. Early, yes, but I was used to it. I always woke up earlier training with my father anyways. Why 5? That was a question that I didn't have a good answer too. 5 was just the time in which I couldn't physically sleep anymore, even if I wanted to.
After waking up, I would head to the upstairs bathroom, passing by Kami's room. She'd either be asleep, or on her phone. If the latter occurred, I would peak my head in there and tell her to shut it off and go to sleep. She would then tell me to screw off, and I continued on with my day. However, even though I could hear the sounds of her phone, I nearly didn't do it. I nearly walked right by her room, without having what was a nearly daily interaction for us.
I took a deep breath, before knocking on the door.
"Go to sleep."
I didn't peek my head into her room as usual. I just walked away, a bit hurriedly.
No response.
My own level of awkwardness rose. It had been like that ever since the day I had turned my back on everyone.
Kami and I would still interact, it wasn't as if we were ignoring each other.
However, there was distance. Noticeable distance. Even more than before. My own actions, and my own inaction had caused this.
Snapping my mind out of the spiral that I would have undoubtedly gone on, I stepped into the bathroom.
This next part of my routine was a bit... I didn't really have the words to describe it. It was just, something.
I stood in front of the mirror, shirtless. Just staring at the reflection that I saw.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
Pale skin.
Scars, deep and shallow, that ran along my arms.
Slowly, I ran my hand along them, feeling them out.
Self-inflected. All of them were.
I would analyze every muscle on my body, before finally turning towards the scar on my stomach.
Over the past few weeks, the scar had begun to change.
Usually, although it had healed a bit, it would still remain visible. It was there, but it only really looked like a part of my skin was a lighter color, and not like an actual wound.
However, over the past few weeks, it had started to become fresher.
It was much deeper; it looked like it would start bleeding at any moment.
Running my finger along it, I winced in pain. That never happened before. It never felt like this before.
I though back to my hazy memories, the ones from when I was an infant.
The claustrophobic walls of the home.
The loud, crashing of the thunder.
Rain, slamming against the roof and windows.
Lighting, flashing outside.
The screams.
The cries.
And the girl dressed in black.
She had given me this wound.
"Hk!"
Just thinking about her made my head and scar hurt simultaneously. Just remembering that scenario made it feel nauseous. I felt like I was going to puke my very intestines out. A pounding headache threatened to make me topple over, and I gripped the sides of the sink tight enough from my hands to bruise, bringing me back into reality.
I continued with my routine, casting aside the vomit inducing memories of my past.
"Failure, it's a failure."
My father's final words before the memory cut away rang out loudly in my head.
Still gripping the sides of the sink tightly, I forced myself to look into the mirror; to look my own reflection in its eyes.
After a few seconds of prolonged eye contact, I spoke.
"Raiden Chisaki. My name is...Raiden Chisaki." I hesitated. Why? No idea.
"My one and only goal, my purpose?"
"Ensure the Safety of the Princess of the Chisaki estate. Kami."
With that, I let go of the sink and continued on.
The rest of my routine was basic.
I took a shower, washed my body and hair, and then got dressed for school.
I always put on, undergarments, pants, shirt, belt, socks, shoes, and blazer.
In that very order. Every day. This time however, his outfit was different. Because he was a member of the defense force, he was given a special outfit.
Black pants, black boots, black shirt, and black trench coat.
After I got dressed, I went downstairs and drank coffee. Besides water, it was hands down my favorite drink.
And then, after that?
I just sat and waited for the time when Kami would get ready, so we could eat breakfast and head to school.
Except this time, the wait felt much more gut-wrenching and anxious than ever before.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Stepping through the barrier that led into Theta Magic Academy, they were greeted by:
A world of Magic.
The first thing that was noticeable was just the sheer number of vibrant colors in the air.
Red, green, blue, black, orange, yellow, purple, violet, indigo.
Small, fairy-like creatures that resembled butterflies flew throughout the air,
The entire rainbow was flying through the sky and decorated the walls and the outer yards of the magic academy.
It was truly a spectacle, one that would remain ingrained in your memory forever.
Throughout the sky above the magic academy, fireworks, and magic sequences, flew throughout the air; unleashing beautiful images of flowers, animals, and even faces. It seemed to be an automatic thing, that only required mana to create the vast amount of colorful and creative images that it did.
I was truly impressed by the skill of the engineering branch.
The next, most noticeable thing was the changes that were made to the magic academy.
First off, the magic academy had been raised nearly a hundred feet off of the ground.
A massive base had been constructed, which raised the building off of the ground and up into the air.
It was so high that the entrance was not possible to reach from where we were on the ground.
Even if you created a low gravity sequence, and added a jump boost and sequence on top of it, you would be hard pressed to make it to the top.
So, how were students meant to reach the entrance?
A massive, green plant was in front of the base, curving and winding and twisting all the way up, providing a path to the entrance.
It was the massive beanstalk. The same one I had seen in the blueprints that Suijin had shown me.
"It looks even better in the day, where you can actually see everything." Kami spoke next to me.
She was referring to the fact that we had put the finishing touches on the magic academy so late at night, that it was impossible to actually admire it. But now, standing in the sunlight, I could truly say,
That it looked beautiful.
Suijin and the student council had more than just outdone themselves.
A hand hooked around my neck in a familiar motion.
"Raiden!" Isn't it just...." Erika, who was next to me, was left speechless. That was a very rare occurrence, and it was in testimony to just how great and lavish this magic academy really was.
"Amazing. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Absolutely magical. There are no words that accurately describe just how well done this whole thing really is." Nova said from behind me.
"Hey, you two." I spoke.
Nova waved, and Erika continued to admire the academy, practically drooling.
Ignoring Erika, who was completely zoned out, I turned to Nova. "Did you manage to do it?"
She nodded her head. "Yep. It's perfect. What about you?"
"Same. The very best I could come up with."
"How about the two of you stop trying to speak in code language that I can't understand. I doubt it's just to keep secrets from your friends." A third voice said from behind.
Masayoshi, as all ways, appeared mysteriously, and out of nowhere. He was also dressed in the same all black fit, which made him look a tad bit cooler.
"The both of you..." Erika had finally managed to wrench her eyes away from the building and now was looking at Masayoshi and me. "Look totally badass!" She finally exclaimed, patting us on the back.
"The black is seriously so fucking sick."
"Thank you."
Th-ugh-thank you."
Me and Masayoshi both said, gasping for breath.
"Back to what I was saying." Masayoshi said after he had regained his breath.
"What exactly is this secret you've been keeping from us?"
Nova shook her head. "It isn't a secret, considering it's the only thing that Himitsu has been having us work on."
Realization dawned over his face. "Abilities?"
We both nodded.
"I can't wait to show mine off, its seriously so sick." Erika interjected.
"Anyways, shall we?" Masayoshi gestured to the beanstalk, which we had to climb in order to actually enter the academy.
"Of course! Last one there's a-" I couldn't hear her sentence after that, because Erika dashed away and was already halfway up the massive beanstalk, which was easily 150 ft tall.
Nova followed quickly after her, and Masayoshi simply shook his head, before chasing after them.
That left me alone. Kami had slipped away at some point, probably to join her friends.
Just as I was about to begin climbing the beanstalk. I was stopped by a pair of soft hands which blocked my eyes.
"Guess who?" An excited voice said.
I recognized her voice immediately. Just hearing it was enough to lift my mood slightly.
"Hikaru. Don't do things like that. What if I thought you were an enemy and cut your head off or something." I joked, turning around to see her.
She was dressed in the same outfit, which made her blond hair stand out considerably. She was smiling, and her hands were clasped behind her back.
"Hehe. You wouldn't actually."
I gestured behind me to the massive beanstalk.
"Theres only one way up."
A competitive glint glowed behind her eyes. "Oh, you're on."
Immediately, we dashed up the beanstalk, using magic, and grabbing unto vines and branches to pull ourselves upward. It was a pretty even race, as we dodged students in a race to the top.
We were almost at the top when-
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Hikaru lost her handle, and was about to fall, until I grabbed her arm, pulling her up and over the edge, before we landed.
I was holding her in my arms like she was a princess.
To be completely honest, that was probably all unnecessary, as she could have used magic to save herself, but I had done it anyways.
Hikaru's mind had lagged behind for a few seconds, still stuck at back when she had nearly fallen. When here brain snapped back into reality, and she realized that she was in my arms, like some princess in a fairy tale, a red blush creeped unto her face, before she jumped away, facing away from me.
"Ah, th-thanks, Raiden." She said, still covering her face, looking away from me.
I stared at her huddled-up form in a bit of confusion, not exactly sure on why she reacted so strongly.
Maybe don't grab girls without their consent, Raiden.
My mind immediately fired an insult at me, which I shook away.
The scar on my stomach burned.
After the short scene, we walked through the front gates of the magic academy, which were decorated lavishly, and entered the building.
The main lobby had been completely transformed and refurbished.
Colors were everywhere, streamers, vibrant holograms shot out from machines. In the center of the lobby, was a casket, which was supposed to represent snow white. The floor was painted to resemble water, and there was even a monument that had Cinderella's glass shoes. The same fairly like things were inside as well, creating beautiful environment in the enclosed lobby. The glass staircase shined even brighter.
Everyone was walking around slowly, still admiring everything. Hikaru was walking slightly faster than me, which was a bit odd. We were heading for the student council room to look for Suijin, but we noticed her standing in the center of the lobby, by the casket. She was being surrounded and congratulated and thanked.
When we finally got our chance to talk to her, she smiled at us. There was a bit of an awkward silence, before Hikaru broke it.
"Suijin, this place is totally amazing!" She then began to squeal and compliment Suijin on how well everything done was. The entire time they spoke, I kept my gaze downcast.
When they finished talking, I looked up at SUijin for a split second, before turning my gaze back down to the ground. She looked even more tired than she had ever before.
"This place is-, it's really, great, you know?" I awkwardly spoke.
Suijin nodded. "T-thank you."
It was just a mess, and Hikaru could sense it.
I noticed the strained smile on her face, and was going to ask her what was wrong when-
An explosion shook the academy.