I wake up the next day and see that Sira is hugging me like a pillow. I break out into a nervous sweat as I realize the ways this situation would turn out, and none of them were favorable for me. Sure enough, Sira slowly opens her eyes, sees me, and acquires a slight blush across her cheeks, but to my surprise, she gives me a peck on the lips. However, seeming to fully wake up and realize what had just happened, she shoves me off my bed and goes to start yelling at me.
Before she can speak though, I attempt to defend myself. "Wait a second before you jump to conclusions. You were in my bed when I woke up." I frantically say, pointing to where she had just been. Realizing that she had crawled into my bed, her entire face goes from red to bright pink and she turns around while clenching her fists.
Arc, who has apparently been watching from atop his bed the whole time smirks and says, "Would ya look at the two lovebirds so early in the morning. I didn't know the two of ya'll were so daring."
I glare at Arc, but as I glare at him, I notice he has deep bags under his eyes and decide to let it go. After grabbing my toiletries, I head to freshen up for the morning. I'm chatting with Kazuto while getting dressed and say, "You are lucky it all worked out in the end. I would have been very upset with you if she did not return my feelings."
He replies with, "Well it would not have technically been my fault, but I do see how you would blame me."
Arc cuts in and says, "You should have seen the two of them this morning. It was funny to watch Sira climb in bed with him in the middle of the night"
I stop undressing for a moment and angrily ask, "Wait. You saw it happen and did nothing to stop her? I might tell her what you just told me if you are not careful."
Arc nervously laughs while saying, "We're bros. Come on. You wouldn't do that, would you?
I hear the stall door next to me open and close and Kazuto says, "Well, I am off to class. Try not to get too hot and steamy with her. See you later." I turn a little pink and ask Arc, "What do you think of Kazuto?"
"I don't know. I've heard rumors that people have seen him doing suspicious things in the middle of the night, even though it's only his second day here. I don't really have any thoughts about him other than him being a pretty chill dude."
I finish getting dressed and say goodbye to Arc, my brain chewing on his words.
A few hours later, and I'm sitting in class when I'm hit in the head with a paper airplane. I pick it up and unravel it. It says,
Can we talk after class? I need to talk to you about something important.
-Your favorite older brother, Kazuto
I write down my positive reply and throw it back to him, but it veers off course and hits Sira. She picks it up, unfolds it, and reads it. She then quickly scrawls something on it. Without saying anything, and with her expression unreadable, she sends it to Kazuto. After opening and reading it, he sighs and crumples up the paper before tossing it in the bin nearby. Sira glares at him before flashing a fake smile towards me.
"Can anyone tell me what a magical beast's weakness is? Kazuhiko?"
I turn around quickly to face the teacher before answering, "Uhhh... Their heart?"
A few people snicker at my answer before the teacher says, "Wrong. Arc?"
Arc stands up and says, "The gem embedded in their body, when destroyed, cuts off their mana supply which makes them unable to support their big weight and magical bodily functions."
After Mrs. Unde turns around, I look at him and motion my hands and face to imitate mocking. Sira chuckles a little while Arc smiles at me as if I were a child. Kazuto shakes his head disappointedly at me. Suddenly, I feel something whiz by my face. I turn around and see that Mrs. Unde threw a piece of chalk at me. She goes on to say, "Maybe if you were paying attention you would have answered correctly, Mr. Kazuhiko."
The class bursts out in laughter and I sigh, responding with a defeated, "Yes, ma'am."
I walk out of class to a slew of insults, but Sira shuts them up when she grabs my arm and whispers in my ear, "Be careful of Kazuto." It wasn't sexy or seductive at all, but the boys in class quickly let their imagination run wild as she waved me goodbye with a smile. They all looked annoyed as they returned to what they were doing in relative silence.
The day passes, and I'm waiting outside Kazuto's squad room door. I realized I've never met his squad before. I see them walking together towards their barracks. Their were two semi-muscular men and one girl who, upon closer inspection, was well toned. Kazuto spots me and sees them off before grabbing my arm and taking me down the hallway in the corner. He looks at me very seriously, but as he opens his mouth to speak, Sira interrupts him, saying, "Didn't I tell you to let me in on your little chat?" She walks up and kisses me on the cheek which surprises me a little.
Kazuto sighs and looks at both of us seriously, "You have the option to decline this information, so I will ask you once. Are you sure you still want to hear this?" Sira and I look at each other before nodding our heads at Kazuto. He continues, "Now do not freak out, but I am pretty sure Arc is a spy for an enemy nation."
I look at him stunned for a second before I start laughing through my hand. I lean on the wall for support as I try to contain my laughter. Sira rolls her eyes before walking away. "What a waste of my time." She walks away, but Kazuto grabs her shoulder. "Get your hands off me peasant, or I might be the last thing you see in your pathetic life." She glares at him like he's the scum of the Earth.
He recoils, but I place my hands on Sira's shoulder, and wiping tears from my eyes, I say, "I'm sure he has a reason for suspecting him, so let us hear him out to clear his suspicions." Sira sighs exasperatedly before relenting to my logic.
He explains that he has seen Arc sneaking into someone else's dorm late at night. He tried to confront him, but he looked annoyed before saying, 'Buzz off.' I listen to him and I remember the bags he had under his eyes this morning, but then I remember how he said he was raised by a military family. "He was probably just talking to a girl since his parents were pretty strict from what he has told me."
Kazuto sighs before saying, "I hope you are right about him. I have extracurricular activities, so I will be heading back to my dorm." He smiles slyly as he walks off before saying, "Bye to both of you. Try not to have too much fun."
I blush slightly before turning to Sira, but I'm met with a long kiss. "We can have a little fun, right?" I turn around, my face bright red. I wish words could express the feelings I have for her, but I surrender suddenly turning around, and grabbing her hand, I pull her into my embrace. and hug her with my hand on her head.
She looks shocked for a second before she returns my hug, saying, "You're so damn awkward, but that's fine with me."
I notice Arc and Levey staring behind the corner, and they start running. I let go of Sira before saying, "Would you excuse me for a moment?"
She nods, and using my superior speed I gained due to my mana enhancement, I bolt after them. I quickly catch up to Levey, and picking her up by the waist under my arm, I chase after Arc. He seems faster than usual, but I catch up to him. I start pouring mana directly into both of their mana circuits, but only enough to make them drowsy. I then sprint back to Sira with them under my arms. Turning around she starts speaking before trailing off as she looks at me and the two in my arms. "I have so many questions, but I have an idea of what's going on. Unless you would rather explain why you felt it was necessary to do all those theatrics, you will tell me what exactly just happened."
I explain what happened to her, and afterwards, she puts her hand to her head, shaking it disappointedly. She mutters, "Honestly, I'm starting to feel bad for him. So what if they were peeping? Let them."
I look at her surprised and say, "I thought you would be on my side with this. Why the sudden change of heart?"
She sighs, and glancing at Arc she says, "Don't worry about it."
I carry Levey and Arc back to the dorm with Sira and we start studying together. I turn to Sira and ask, "Hey Sira, do you want to have a sparring match. I have a lot of extra energy since there have not been many practical classes recently."
She sighs and says, "Alright fine, but try to go easy on me."
We head to a patch of grass on the courtyard and we look at each other. "What do you say we ban magic use in this fight. That includes my physical enhancement." I say to her.
She smiles and says confidently, "You don't stand a chance against me in a hand to hand fight. Are you just trying to make me feel better or something?"
I smile back at her and ask, "Why not come and test that theory?"
She rushes towards me and begins to throw a right hook before dropping low and attempting to sweep my legs. I jump back, but she is already in front of me when I land. She throws a punch, and I cross my arms to block her. She hits my crossed arms, sending me flying back. I quickly recover by rolling back on my feet, but I'm met with a punch which I narrowly dodge. I see an opening and grab her wrist to throw her. I send her flying, but she's quickly back on her feet. I rush towards her to counterattack, but she ducks under my spinning roundhouse kick and lands a clean hit on my gut, sending me flying. I hit a pillar, but I'm not given much time to recover as she throws another hit. I barely dodge and see that she left a dent in the stone pillar. I look at the dent to my side for a stunned second before I see another fist rushing towards me. Is she trying to kill me? I roll to the side and jump back away from her.
She stops for a second and says, "You have gotten a lot better. Normally, I would have you pinned to the ground long ago. Maybe I should go a little harder."s
She appears in front of me as if she teleported and kneed me in the gut. She grabs my wrists and throws me into the wall. I don't realize, but I unconsciously start reinforcing my mana circuits. She rushes towards, and this time I'm able to react as she roundhouse kicks me. Throwing my arms up to block, she sends me crashing into the wall. Damn. She is trying to kill me.
"Should you not go a little easier on me since I am your boyfriend?" I ask as I get up.
"But where's the fun in that, Mr. Prodigy?" She lunges at me and throws her wide open palm towards my chin, but I realize it's a fake out and jump back as she tries to kick at my shin. I get curious and wonder how she has so much strength, so when she next attacks, I grab her arm and send a wave of mana through her. She shakes me off and attempts to jump back but trips when she lands and falls over. "What the hell did you do, dumbass?"
I smirk and say, " I finally figured out why you are so strong. You have been unconsciously strengthening yourself with your mana. Since we agreed to not use mana, I would say I win by default right?"
She glares at me indignantly before sighing, getting up, and brushing her pants off. "It won't happen again."
"To think that all this time you were even more amazing than what I gave you credit for. I am so lucky to have you by my side." I say this with my back turned towards her as I'm blushing at how awkward this probably sounds to her.
She stays silent for a few seconds before kicking my knees out and pinning me to the ground. She's bright pink as she I look up at her. "Guess this means I win, right loser? I didn't even strengthen my body this time either."
She has a smug smile as I look up at her. The moon light is shining behind her while her arms are pinning me, and she looks like a beautiful warrioress. I'm reminded of that night she and I desperately want to forget. I let out a defeated sigh and say, "You are terrible for ruining the moment like that. I was trying my best you know."
"Well I never admitted defeat," she says as she gets off me and looks away. "I am sorry for cheating like that though; even if it wasn't on purpose. Also you were so damn awkward that I had to save you from the embarrassment. You should be grateful."
She says all this with a big smile that gives way to her feelings, and I smile at her affectionately. I feel so unworthy of her, but the thought is quickly blasted away as she smiles back at me. "Yeah yeah, I know. I will give it to you this time; however, I will not be so lenient next time, so make sure to prepare yourself." I sit down on the grass and invite her to sit next to me. She complys, and I take my hand in hers. "Thanks for indulging me in this."
"I wouldn't mind kicking your ass a hundred times if you would prefer that. Although, I expected a little more, especially since my boyfriend invited me out in the middle of the night for a 'sparring match. I'm a little disappointed. How are you ever going to make it up to me?" She says the last few sentences in a teasing manner.
"Well, how about this?" I give her a kiss as compensation, but when I try to let go, she pulls me and keeps going. I melt into it for a few more seconds before she comes up for air.
"You're the worst if you think you can silence me with a bribe like that. You will have to do more than that. Not right now though. Those three are probably watching us right now. Unless you're into that." She snickers and gets up. Pulling me up, she asks, "Which pillar do you think they're behind?"
I chuckle and say, "I am sure they learned their lesson. They can not possibly be that dumb, right?"
She ignores me and points to the pillar closest to the entrance, saying, "I guess that one."
Sure enough when she points, I see a shadow move. I sigh, disappointed in them, but then I get an idea, "How about another match, Sira?" I grin evilly from ear to ear. She seems to pick up on my idea and agrees. We get into position and launch towards each other with our strengthened bodies, but before we meet, we both launch a fireball towards a pillar. It shatters and reveals Arc and Kazuto arguing silently.
They stop and look over slowly at us. "Well, would you look at that? What are the chances of seeing ya'll out here at this hour?" Arc says as he chuckles nervously.
I sigh and go to cast magic, but Sira grabs my hand and shakes her head. I relent and turn to the two peeping Toms and ask, "How many times are we going to catch you before you decide you have had enough." Kazuto glares at Arc before walking off with his hands behind his head. I look at Arc a little confused and ask, "Is there something going on between the two of you?"
"Yeah. I was following you, and he decided he wanted to make sure I wasn't up to anything suspicious." He sighs and says awkwardly, "Sorry for always following you guys."
I put my hand on his shoulder casually as I walk by him to head back with Sira behind me. When I return to the dorm, Levey is fast asleep, so I signal to the two of them to keep quiet as I get in bed. I'm barely able to sleep as I can't stop thinking about all those embarrassing things I said to Sira, but it fills me with an equal warmth in my heart.
The next day, Mrs. Unde announces that the Rotsgard Culture Exchange Festival is approaching. The class seems excited after the announcement, but I couldn't care less about participating. I'mpeering out the window absentmindedly. but I am called upon by Mrs. Unde saying, "I'm so glad you and your squad volunteered to represent our class in the squad race." She smiles at me and I see Arc sighing, Sira shaking her head, and Levey breaking into a nervous sweat.
We return to our barracks and sit there in silence. I decide to break the ice, but Arc beats me to it and says to me, "You're a dumbass." I have no refute and stay silent.
Sira continues and says, "Why is it so hard to pay attention in class?" She slaps me on the back of the head, but I can't disagree with what they're saying.
"I agree with you guys on this one. I screwed the pooch on this one." I say defeated. I stand up and bow to apologize before I straighten up, and I say, "Well, since we were chosen, why not try our best and prepare as best as we possibly can."
As we were the representatives, we were excused from normal classes for training. We had all decided that it would be best if we were left to train by ourselves. After 3 weeks of strength training and figuring out how to quickly push the mana throughout my body without glowing and passing out, the day arrived.