[Karin City]

I was the new transfer student, coming one month late to high school. I entered the class, and the first thing I saw was her. 

She was sitting alone on the third bench from the left side, resting her face on her right arm.

I was completely lost in her crystal-blue eyes that I even forgot I was in a class.

"Hey! Introduce yourself," the teacher shouted at me. The whole class burst into laughter—except for her.

"Hello! My name is Tyler Cooper," I said without any hesitation. "And I'm looking forward to making some new friends."

"Now take your seat," the teacher said, pointing towards the last bench on the right side.

I went and sat at the seat, which unfortunately I had to share with a gloomy-looking chubby guy. He was the type of guy I despise the most.

"Hi! My name is Haruma," that chubby guy said with a faint, fake-looking smile.

"Hello," I replied with no interest. The only thing I cared about at that time was the girl. It was love at first sight. She was an Angel on Earth. The whole time until the lunch period, I couldn't take my eyes off her. 

The lunch bell rang.

She waved her hand in her magnificent snowy hair and, without even giving me a single look, she went straight to the cafeteria. Her beauty made me forget everything.

"Stop gazing at the wall," Haruma said, snapping in front of my eyes. "She's gone."

I got a little embarrassed by my behavior and went to the cafeteria with sigh Haruma.

"Tyler, why are you one month late?" Haruma asked with curiosity.

"Because I'm a transfer student," I answered with a bit of frustration.

"That's pretty obvious, haha."

I cringed so hard at his laugh, but I ignored him and went straight to the cafeteria.

I took out my lunchbox and started looking for a seat. When I was doing that, I saw the girl from the class sitting alone. I thought it was my chance to talk to her.

I was good at talking. My looks and physique were better than an average school guy's. I never hesitated to talk to someone. It was the first time my heart was beating that fast.

I dropped the thought of talking to her and sat at another seat with Haruma.

"Do you like Sarina?" Haruma asked me.

"Sarina?"

"The girl you've been looking at since the first period."

"Maybe."

Haruma didn't seem to like my answer and looked at me with pity. I started eating my food.

"Why is she sitting alone? Both here and the class." I asked Haruma while looking at Sarina.

"Give up. You better not get involved with her."

"Huh? Why-"

Suddenly, a fight broke out in the lunch area. All the students started gathering around them.

"They're at it again," Haruma said, letting out a sigh.

"Who?" I asked.

"Mike and Jake. They always fight just for the sake of fighting."

I was curious and went to watch the fight.

"You are a dog, Mike," a guy with black hair and a cut in his eyebrow said, grabbing the other guy's collar.

"Says a gutter pig. Oink, oink, Jake," Mike, who had a yellow mohawk and a cross earring, said, spitting on Jake's face.

Students burst into laughter while Mike and Jake started punching each other.

"Hey! Stop! Don't fight," a girl with red hair and a white hairband said, interrupting the fight.

They didn't stop and pushed her away. I ignored that. They kept fighting and fighting. No one interrupted their fight.

"Why is no one other than that girl trying to stop them?" I asked Haruma, who had just joined to watch the fight.

"Because no one is Serumite."

"Serum what?"

"You don't know about Serumite? Nevermind."

"What about the girl?"

"She's part of their group."

I got confused by the word Serumite as I had never heard it before in my entire life.

"Take your words back, Jack," Mike said, staring into Jack's eyes. "Don't force me to use Delta."

Delta? I thought to myself. Another new word. What kind of city is this?

"Why don't you take your words back first?" Jack said, staring into Mike's eyes.

"It's decided then," Mike said, taking a heavy breath.

They both stopped fighting and went outside the cafeteria.

"Where are they going?" I asked Haruma, still confused.

"They will continue their fight in the Stadium."

"Stadium?"

"They can't use Delta inside a building. Hey! You don't know what a Serumite is, right?"

"Umm... Yeah."

"Let's go then. It's a perfect opportunity."

The whole cafeteria went outside to see the fight—except for Sarina.

Indeed, it was a perfect opportunity to learn about Serumites and Delta, but I was more interested in the girl sitting alone in the empty cafeteria.

"You go ahead, I'll come in a minute," I said to Haruma, and he went outside, giving me a side eye.

My heart was again beating fast. But this time, I conquered it and went up to her.

"Hi," I said in a very polite way.

She ignored my most courageous greeting, and it hurt my feelings.

What if she's deaf? A thought popped up in my mind.

I went in front of her and waved my hand.

"I'm not deaf," Sarina said in a very sweet voice. Her voice was so sweet that even ears could get diabetes. I was relieved that she was not deaf.

"Myself, Tyler—"

"You better not get involved with me," she said, cutting me off mid-sentence.

"What if I do?" I said, sitting on the seat in front of her.

"You will die," she said, then walked toward the classroom without looking back.

After talking with her, even though it was brief and didn't go well, my interest in her grew even more.

I will die? A thought crossed my mind. You've already killed me, darling.

I stood up and made my way to the stadium. When I reached there, Haruma screamed, "Tyler! Over here! Come fast, it's about to start."

I ran towards Haruma, and we both made our way to the front row.

"You can still say sorry, Mike," Jack said, facing his right hand toward Mike.

"It was your mistake, Jack," Mike said, facing his right hand toward the sky and left toward the ground.

"I see. If you really want it that bad, take it."

A red light sparkled in front of Jack's hand and a grey light sparkled in front of Mike's hand.

"Fire Flame!" Jack shouted.

"Wind Spiral!" Mike shouted.

I was so shocked, as I had never seen something like this before.

Fire came out of Jack's hand like a flamethrower, launching it forward. Mike created a spiral of wind with his right hand, using it as a shield, and launched wind from his left hand into the ground, creating a hole.

When fire touched the wind shield, it became more intense and launched toward Mike with greater intensity.

"I won again," Jack said confidently.

"Not this time."

The wind that had been launched into the ground came up with greater intensity and extinguished the fire. Mike threw the wind shield toward Jack.

"Fire Tensfold!" Jack shouted, trying to use another move, but it was already too late, as the wind shield Mike threw had already hit Jack's face, hurting him badly.

The fight was over. Everyone left for class, leaving Jack on the ground, unable to move. I also remained there, shocked by what I had seen.

"W-What was that?" I asked, my voice filled with shock.

"It was Delta, and they are Serumites."

"Huh?"

"The magic they used is known as Delta, and the people who can use Delta are known as Serumites."

This city is crazy, I thought.

The girl Jack and Mike pushed away came to help Jack. She was struggling to pick him up. I started walking toward them to help, but Haruma grabbed my hand. "Don't even think about helping them unless you are a Serumite."

"Enough of this Serumite crap." I shook his hand off and went on my way to help them.

I went to them and grabbed Jack's legs. "Hey! I grab his legs, you grab his hands."

She nodded and grabbed Jack's hands.

We both took him to the infirmary and laid him on the bed.

"Thank you!" the girl said, looking at my face. "Thank you so much!"

"It's okay," I blushed a little.

"Are you the new transfer student? I'm Aria Ridley."

"I'm Tyler Cooper. It's nice to meet you."

They are not as bad as other students think, I thought.

"What is your Delta?"

"Delta?"

"Yes, your Delta."

"Well, I don't have one."

"You are a Serumite, and you don't have a Delta?"

I remained completely silent.

"You are a Serumite, right?"

"Umm... No."

"You are not a Serumite, and you touched Jack?"

"Is it a bad thing?"

"Yes, it is very bad."

I had no idea what was about to happen. Aria started crying.

"Woah... why are you crying?" I asked, consoling her.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Die." Jack, who was injured and lying on the bed, turned completely black with only his eyes glowing white. He stood up and started saying a single word repeatedly. "Die, die..."

He took a step toward me and instantly grabbed my neck. His hand was too damn hot. My neck started burning. At that moment, the only thing that came to my mind was FIGHT.

I kicked his stomach and freed myself from his grip and grabbed the IV pole which was placed near the infirmary bed. I removed its upper and lower parts so that I could use it as a sword.

Jack started punching toward me, but I blocked his every punch with the pole.

"Hey, Aria!" I shouted. "Isn't there any way to stop him?"

"There is, but it is very difficult," Aria replied with worry in her voice.

"It isn't impossible, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

Jack kicked me with his right leg while punching me with his left hand. I somehow handled the punch, but the kick landed on my stomach, and I got pushed back.

The IV pole started to melt due to heat-mixed punches.

"What is it?" I shouted loudly at Aria.

"S- Sa-" Aria stammered.

"Tell me!" I shouted, blocking another barrage of punches.

"Sarina."

"Ehhhh?!?!"