Immediately after school, the capricious ambience flourished. During instruction, the students had probably practiced self-restraint. And now it seemed that they couldn't hold back any longer; scenes full of pain and pleasure that made you want to throw cold water on them unfurled here and there across the campus.
The situations varied.
For example, among his circle of friends, a slightly too potent scene of chocolate gifting unfurled between a betrothed couple, whose match was approved by themselves as well as by their parents. Apparently Kanon, the Public Morals Chief, invaded the Student Council Room, and used a smiling face to apply pressure on Isori, the Treasurer, to eat all of the homemade drops of chocolate in the nearly overflowing stenciled ornamental box the size of a female student's bento box.
For the next example, let's take the case of a certain shy but strong willed girl. Apparently, she had politely and solemnly disregarded her status as a second course student to overcome the lofty threshold of the first course classroom, in order to present her beribboned package with her face red and eyes cast down to a male student wide eyed with surprise when he received the gift, and even now looked like he was ready to dance for joy. So it was for people like the Kendo and Kenjutsu couple.
For today only, the students of First High were not 'magicians to be', but 'high school students' rejoicing in their youth.
Those who couldn't get into the festive atmosphere wanted to avert their eyes.
"Oh, Tatsuya, you're on patrol duty today."
A voice called out to him from a table with a look that didn't bother concealing the owner's boredom and search for amusement, sealing Tatsuya's fate by making it impossible for him to ignore this sight.
"All of the upperclassmen seem to have previous commitments, so it's just the first years today, Morisaki and I."
Normally, the thought that he had a compatriot would have probably made him feel a little better. However, since even now Morisaki had not dropped his unfriendly attitude, his arrival would only change his mood slightly.
"That's quite a tactful way of saying that they unloaded their duties on you and left."
"I did not intend to be that blunt."
The resignation in his voice was quite the opposite of the high pitched laughter made in response to it.
"By the way, Tatsuya-kun."
Perhaps she had enough of laughing for a while, thought Tatsuya when Mayumi called out to him. —For some reason he avoided looking at the seat across from her.
"Could I have a little bit of your time."
"That would not be a problem, but before that..."
As he spoke, Tatsuya cast his eyes on the upperclassman who had fallen prostrated on the side of the table across from Mayumi.
"What on earth happened here?"
The spot they currently were in was in a corner of the cafeteria, a line of partitions cordoning the meeting spaces in this area.
Since they had no roofs and no ceilings, the sound of conversation carried.
Still, the fact that it wasn't a quiet private space probably made it feel more secure than if it was.
The high popularity was actually only among the third years in the first course; it was rare for an underclassman to set foot here unless accompanied by a third year. Incidentally, Tatsuya also had not used it yet.
As for why he was here now,
"There shouldn't be any poisonous substances inside the school. What on earth did Club Management Group Leader Hattori eat?"
In the middle of his patrol of the school grounds, he had stopped by the café to quench his thirst when the sound of an extremely painful moan entered his ears, so he checked out that situation first.
"No. Well… not poison. Of course."
He soon realized who the culprit was.
After all, directly in front of Hattori, Mayumi sat with a perplexed look on her face.
Her slightly puzzled bearing could be called strange.
Even now, her gaze was inviting him to partake her hospitality.
"…Shiba…"
Tatsuya was still deciding on how to deal with the situation when Hattori, who still looked like he was about to faint, called out to him in a hoarse voice.
"…water…"
It was the voice of a traveler who had used up all his strength in front of an oasis.
"Just a moment."
Only the request was clear.
For an instant, he debated between getting mineral water and going to the water cooler, but he chose the water cooler since it was closer. He placed one of the water cooler cups full of cold water on the table.
Hattori clumsily grasped at the cup, sluggishly got his limbs moving, and aimed the cup in the vicinity of his mouth as he listed from side to side and guzzled it down in one gulp with a grimace.
He kept his eyes closed, slowly gathering himself; the clock ticked ninety-seconds off before Hattori opened his eyes again and gave a deep sigh.
"—Shiba, my thanks."
What could have really happened. The duel they had had in April had not made them enemies, but even now you could not call Hattori's and Tatsuya's relationship friendly.
Tatsuya did not harbor any grudge on his end.
Nor did Hattori carry any malice or hostility, although people do not always recognize the emotions they hold, but even so, the docility with which he was thanking Tatsuya created an unsuppressable sense of wrongness.
"…Are you okay?"
"…Hm, I'm okay now."
To prove his words, Hattori stood upright.
—The feeling that he was straining himself was undeniable.
"It is just a matter of time. Since no special problems should arise, you shouldn't worry about me. Well then, Presi-, no I mean Saegusa-senpai, I will be off."
Hattori politely bowed in Mayumi's direction and straightened his spine.
Wow, that is probably one big bluff, thought Tatsuya as he watched him.
"Umm, for the time being could you give me a moment?"
Mayumi directed Tatsuya into the chair, her smile laced with fake innocence.
The reason for Hattori's weirdness was unmistakably her; that she was trying to pretend otherwise was obvious, but he could see that it would be rude to expose her when Hattori himself was covering up for her.
Consequentially, Tatsuya forgot act one as Hattori wished him to.
Since he certainly didn't have anything that he had to do, Tatsuya nodded an "Understood" in response; however,
"Ah, he's here! Subaru, over here!"
The lively voice kept him from continuing.
The nimble galloping feet made a pitter-patter sound as they rushed to him.
They soon made it to Tatsuya's side and took what was probably their first look at the inside of the partition.
A sound like the squeal of brakes arose from the momentum as the voice's owner stopped.
"Pre-President..."
"Hey, Eimi, it's not president, it's Saegusa-senpai, right?"
A quick flick to the head, "Ouch!", sweetly settled Eimi down; Subaru avoided looking at Eimi's upturned gaze of protest and bowed deeply to Mayumi.
"I have no excuse that I can give you for the commotion just now."
The suggestive tone made Mayumi twitch around her eyes.
"It was not much of a commotion, so please do not bother worrying about it, Satomi-san."
The one who composed her face and answered so coldly was Mayumi.
To a normal underclassman, the words, the tone and the gaze would all be withering.
Currently, Eimi had stiffened slightly.
"Is that so? We will finish our errand quickly."
Nonetheless, Subaru was extremely determined.
As she calmly exchanged words, she handed the bag (a cloth bag to be exact) in her hand to Tatsuya.
"Will you please accept this from us?"
"…Satomi-san. Today, you're like you're in a high class play."
"I don't know what I've done to deserve it, but Eimi and I were chosen as representatives. As you might expect, we are, to be honest, slightly embarrassed to do this."
If you looked closely, her cheeks were slightly red.
Saying that she was embarrassed did not seem to be a lie.
"In that case, is it alright for me to ask who you are representing?"
He had a fair idea of how she would answer, but in order to buy himself some time to prepare, Tatsuya ventured a question.
"Most of our fellow members of the Nine Schools Competition first year girls team… well it's a thank you."
Subaru's choice of words was unusual but the definition was the same.
In short, courtesy chocolate, right.
Nevertheless, to receive it from the entire team was an unanticipated bounty.
"Ah, even though I said my fellow members, I did not include Honoka or Miyuki."
Now that she was no longer petrified, Eimi on the other hand did not look all that embarrassed. After all she did not originally have a very timid personality, plus she was probably (it was often said about her) fairly naïve about male-female relationships. In Eimi's case, she probably had too many other things to worry about.
"Since those two would probably wish to pass theirs themselves."
"If we interfered with that, they'd probably get angry."
"You could call it a replacement, but we included Shizuku instead. We'll call or email to tell her about her inclusion later."
"Well, see you later. President, no I mean, Saegusa-senpai, excuse us."
No one interrupted their goodbye.
After overwhelming Mayumi and Tatsuya with their whirlwind conversation, Subaru and Eimi departed.
"…What's the expression, it's good to be young?"
Perhaps the lively intruders had thrown her off her game, as the emotions Mayumi was radiating felt a little out of focus.
Of course, Tatsuya made no move to step into the minefield he saw lain out in front of him.
He silently took his place on the chair that Hattori had occupied a little while ago.
Simultaneously, Tatsuya reflexively lowered his eyebrows.
"Something wrong?"
"No, there's a slight smell… someone probably spilled coffee."
Was the strong odor assaulting his nose coming from coffee beans or cocoa beans. The cleaning robot was supposed to have a deodorizing mechanism, but… it could have deliberately cleaned it by hand.
—Tatsuya mused on one side of the table,
"Really? I hadn't noticed."
While Mayumi, who knew the truth, pretended she didn't know on the other side.
Naturally, calling her on it would be meaningless, however.
"More importantly, here."
After all, the same scent was drifting up from the box Mayumi presented as she spoke.
Of course, Tatsuya was aware of the scent. The thing that had dealt Hattori that damage was undoubtedly this, Tatsuya perceived. Tatsuya had intended to forget what he had seen a little while ago, but it seemed that Mayumi would not let it go.
"…This is?"
Considering the shape, the way it was wrapped and what day today was, it was obvious what the thing was, but even so, he couldn't help asking.
"Oh my, isn't it exactly what you think it is?"
Underneath the statement, voice and expression that all professed surprise, Mayumi was enjoying herself immensely.
"…Thank you."
Unfortunately, he did not have an excuse to refuse it.
If it weren't for the scene just now, he might have gotten by with the cliché "I dont like sweets," but that did not have any persuasive power after he just accepted a large quantity of chocolate from Subaru and her friends.
There was nothing he could do, so Tatsuya accepted Mayumi's chocolate.
It was very big.
From how it felt in his hand, it had five times the weight of commercial grade chocolate.
That allowed Tatsuya to take a rough guess that she had used high quality materials for what she was plotting. When and where did I earn your enmity, he thought, but he did not have a single clue to her motive; however,
"Hey, taste it."
He had anticipated this sort of statement from Mayumi.
"Right now?"
"Yes. I want to hear your impressions."
He did not say, why didn't you end your experiment with Hattori-senpai.
That saying anything like that was futile was obvious.
She probably wanted to see what kind of face he made right before her eyes.
I didn't know she could be so childish… as he thought so, Tatsuya began to unwrap it.
(Well, it's okay.)
There was a little something he wanted to ask Mayumi about just now. Because she was close to taking the university examinations she was preparing for, her time was limited and he had felt awkward about bothering her; however, if she intended to take the time to use him as a toy then he probably shouldn't worry about it.
"Then since there is a small matter I want to consult you about, may we change the location?"
He did not want ordinary people to overhear the discussion. Naturally, that was not the only reason he wanted to change the location. Even Tatsuya worried a little about his reputation. Collapsing from eating chocolate could never be called dishonorable, but he did think it was the type of embarrassment that people would bring up forever.
"It would be bad if we're overheard."
It seemed that Mayumi quickly understood one of his reasons.
The smile disappeared from her face. The transformation was so abrupt that he almost heard a ping when her expression changed.
"Yes."
"…Understood. Follow me."
She spent the time before she replied looking at the information terminal of her phone making arrangements. Perhaps she had pinpointed an empty classroom. A normal student wouldn't have been able to do it, but it wouldn't be strange if this upperclassman could do it.
Tatsuya took the box he had been given with him when he got up to pursue Mayumi, who had stood up from her seat.
He felt the gazes of well over ten people, but he had already decided not to worry about things that nothing could be done about.
Mayumi used a disposable key code downloaded through her phone terminal to open the door to the room, which was one of the lounges used for interviews with guardians and merchants. It was not as formal as a reception room, but it still felt awkward to be using it as students.
It wasn't as if he never thought of asking if it were really okay to use the room, but it was probably too late to ask now since she had already downloaded the key code. There was a completely automatic tea server in place, so she had chosen a room that they could eat and drink in.
"Is black tea okay?"
"No, you needn't bother with it."
"Don't make me lose face as a lady."
Once she went to the length of saying that, there was nothing he could do but accept the tea.
Despite the fact that it was completely automatic, she did not use the paper cups that were dispensed. She placed tea cups underneath the selection spout and made the effort to make a place setting, complete with matching saucers.
Mayumi seemed to really enjoy the process.
"Here, please have some."
"Thank you."
From the moment he took his first polite sip from the cup, he corrected his seating posture.
Almost automatically, Mayumi also straightened her spine as she sat down.
"The subject you wanted to discuss, is it the 'Parasite'?"
The one who fired the first shot was Mayumi.
Perhaps she had also wanted to discuss the subject with Tatsuya.
"Yes, the information has not been released by the media, but is the damage calming down?"
Not only the media, but the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion's information routes had also abruptly stopped relaying damage reports.
It was simple if you thought about it; it made it look as if their extermination of the demon had cleared up all the problems. However, they had been able to confirm that the covertly operating demons had a multitude of forms. Not knowing if they had even been able to defeat the 'Vampire' despite its lack of substance, for that reason he did not consider the matter completely resolved.
"Officially, things are calming down."
Mayumi, or more precisely the Saegusa clan, possessed different information routes than Tatsuya. However, even she did not have details about the current situation.
"Although, since the number of missing people is more numerous this year compared to last year, I believe that we may interpret it to mean that they have gotten more skillful in their operations. Our vigilance might have allowed us to bring down one of our prey."
The conjecture was not Mayumi's alone; the Saegusa clan also found the facts strange. One week before, only a small portion of the people had been informed that all of the Parasites were said to have been temporarily exterminated.
Thus, the conversation being exchanged here between Tatsuya and Mayumi was truly off the mark in regard to the truth. However, that there was no way that the actual body of the parasite was destroyed and it would be revived in a new host sooner or later was close to the truth. Therefore, the sense of impending danger the two of them harbored was not something pointless.
"There is no way to be sure we brought it down, but perhaps we should be keeping a lookout. Maybe we should equip our allies with telepathy."
"Tele…pathy?"
The unfamiliar word stalling the flow of the conversation. Mayumi tilted her head, asking for an explanation.
"It is a term for the ability to share inspirations and perceptions. The phenomenon has been observed between identical twins; it is one of the numerous forms of Extrasensory Perception. Even though I said numerous, the examples of it are relatively rare, however."
"In short, something that can see and hear a portion of its body and allow the whole group to share that experience, is that what you mean?"
"It is nothing but conjecture."
Mayumi brooded with a glum face.
In order to not interfere with that, he drank his black tea without making a sound,
"…I don't like all these things we don't understand,"
but he could hear Mayumi mutter that.
Tatsuya completely shared that emotion, but if he voiced that, it would become a mutual gripe session. He thought that would be too detrimental.
"All we are doing is fumbling around, looking for a method of handling unknown situations."
Thus, when she spoke of things that they could not do anything about, he withheld any words of comfort.
"…"
Tatsuya also perceived that saying that it didn't have a physical body increased the discomfort they felt while examining the problem they were giving their complete attention to.
"…If we can't do that..."
Nevertheless, apparently Mayumi's attention was centered on a completely different purpose.
"I don't fully understand what you mean by the ability to share inspirations and perceptions, but hmm… hey, is there a created sequence for it?"
"…ESP is regarded as being attached to an entirely different field of study than magic research, so I think not."
The anxiety was heading toward a pinnacle.
?
How could they end their exchange of information on a good note — Mayumi summed up all she felt with a sigh. At that point, Tatsuya stood up intending to leave without eating anything, but the cuff of his sleeve was firmly grasped by a hand that reached out from the other side of the table. —If Tatsuya had thought to evade it, he would have been able to do so, but he restrained himself since Mayumi didn't need another poor result.
"Now, why don't we enjoy our tea time."
Tatsuya sent a distrustful stare (naturally, intentionally) against the iron wall of Mayumi's smile, and Mayumi lightly thrust the small box that had been placed on the table with her other hand.
It seemed that she was not going to be kind and forget about that.
So that's how it's going to be; Tatsuya let out a small sigh at Mayumi, who was no longer trying to conceal the fact that she was planning something.
No words of rebuke were let loose.
Quite the opposite, Mayumi was looking at Tatsuya with anticipation and excitement in her eyes.
Isn't she regressing back to childhood due to her anxiety over taking the university entrance exams? While he considered that impossibility (In the first place, Mayumi had no reason to be anxious about her grades), Tatsuya freed the box from the covering.
He did not do it in an overtly, slow, time-consuming way, but he politely peeled it off in a manner that did not damage one bit of the wrapping paper as a token form of resistance.
What came out was a cardboard box covered by a lid. The homemade Valentine's box had inner walls treated with vinyl; the largeness of the box made it one of the so-called 'to convey your true feelings' type.
Of course, he did not mistake it for that.
The atrocious combination of chocolate and coffee that made him light headed would not allow him to have that kind of delusion.
The inside of the box was packed tightly with black, cube shaped objects. They did not resemble anything Tatsuya recognized as 'chocolate'.
He had a forewarning of what it would taste like just from the odor.
No matter how much it is said that bitter things do not have to taste bitter, that is limited by quality and quantity.
Tatsuya resignedly put the objects that looked like they should be called medicine instead of food into his mouth and chewed them.
The results of this were — only recorded by Mayumi's smug smile.
Honoka cut across the school yard toward the preparation room with a large notebook style terminal.
The sun was well on its way down, and the temperature had dropped several degrees. If she let her mind wander, her body will begin to shiver.
However, her mood was not affected by the cold.
Anything that tried to mar her day was brought to heel by her two swinging hair ties.
Her mind unintentionally drifted towards the crystal balls that shook with her.
She acknowledged to herself that she was wearing a stunned expression but she told herself again and again that "It was okay for today only."
Honoka was well aware that she was not Tatsuya's girlfriend.
She did not forget that her love confession had been refused.
She had already been rejected.
Even so, for as long as Tatsuya allowed it, she was going to keep clinging to him.
She sometimes felt that she was a 'wicked girl' for doing that.
There were also nights that she resented him for not cutting her loose after he rejected her.
However, today she felt like all those negative emotions had been blown away.
Logical thoughts, like this small accessory was too cheap a handout to make her this happy, were powerless in the face of these feelings.
"Honoka!"
As Honoka entered the preparation building with soft footsteps, a voice called out to her from the side and she halted her feet.
"Ah, Eimi."
The slight girl, who stood out due to her vibrant ruby like hair, rushed up to Honoka with quick feet.
"How unusual for you to come here, Honoka. Isn't it the first time we've seen each other since you've become a Student Council officer?"
"I'm standing in for Isori-senpai."
As she said that, Honoka lifted the notebook style terminal slightly to display it and Eimi gave a look of comprehension.
"What about you, Eimi; are you taking a break from your club?"
The uniform of the hunting club Eimi belonged to was supposed to be a long sleeved shirt under a short jacket, thin trousers and boots, but right now she was in her school uniform. And it was not yet time for club activities to be over.
"There was only a meeting today."
Since Eimi quickly understood that Honoka had asked the question because of the uniform, she did not inquire 'why' she was being asked.
"Hey? Is that crystal?"
She had not meant to ask another question, but the light flickering in Honoka's hair quickly caught her eye and she asked a question in a tone bursting with curiosity.
"Umm, yes."
The embarrassed expression might have set a bell ringing; Eimi grinned happily.
"You got that from Shiba-kun, right?"
"…Yes, he said it was a return gift for the chocolate."
The happiness of the blushing Honoka put a contagiously happy smile on her face, which was shown to the wide-eyed Eimi.
"Ooh… he prepared a present ahead of time, way to go Shiba-kun. He seems so aloof, but he can be that considerate. How mature, eh?"
Honoka's smile became increasingly happier.
Nonetheless, Eimi's next words cast a shadow on that smile.
"I understand he's also quite popular, eh. Just now, it looked like the president was giving him chocolate, maybe that might have been 'I love you' chocolate?"
"…President?"
"Ah. I got it wrong. Former president. Saegusa-senpai."
"Saegusa-senpai was?"
"However, it felt like senpai was detaining him against his will. Since Shiba-kun was making a somewhat troubled face, I don't think you should be worried."
Eimi had declared that there was nothing going on and she was probably voicing her real impression. But even though she had been told that, the inside of Honoka's heart was not calm.
"Doesn't it seem like Mayumi holds some special feelings for Tatsuya…" that suspicion had been in Honoka's mind for some time. If she had to compete against Mayumi, Honoka was not confident that she would win.
Her greatest rival right now, Miyuki, was restrained by the fact that they were 'truly brother and sister'. Ultimately, there was no way that they could be bound in that fashion, which gave Honoka some peace of mind.
However, Mayumi didn't have that restriction.
She was superior both in looks and actual magic power; the sole advantage that Honoka possessed was that 'the other girl was older than him'. However, Honoka did not think Tatsuya would be bothered by a one to two year age difference.
Waves radiated from within Honoka's heart.
The waves spread without showing signs of abating.
The waves did not confine themselves to Honoka's heart.
The thing housed inside the puppet had throbbed for an instant that morning with Honoka's incredible joy.
Now, through the link that formed at that moment, thought waves flowed causing it to throb again.
The barely born slumbering consciousness had truly awakened this time.
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