It went without saying that besides magic, magic high schools still fielded a full curriculum.
This included physical education, which involved using competition to light the flames of youthful ardor to ridiculous levels, a scene that had yet to change.
Today's class activity was football.
The encyclopedia's entry was as follows: This is a sport derived from soccer, with similar rules, that is played on a field surrounded by a large box with numerous tiny holes in it. The only notable differences are that players wear a head protector, and head and hand contact are prohibited. (Also, the competition format where players "compete in a transparent box" was one of the defining characteristics of post-2080 AD athletics.)
Occasionally, this contest was also held with magic involved, but generally magic was ruled out, and today was no exception.
Football was played with a lightweight, highly resilient ball that bounced off the walls and ceiling. The ball rebounded left and right at high speeds, much like a ping pong ball, as players chased after it in order to make the shot against the opposing goal. It was a sport that demanded both incredible agility and considerable strength. In addition, the highly stimulating exercise was a popular sport for "entertainment".
The female students from 1st Year Classes E and F were currently taking a break and, completely ignoring their own curriculum, were busy cheering on the male students.
"Move, move, get outta my way!"
Leo was charging towards the ball that no one was covering.
The ball used in football was highly dynamic, so it was extremely difficult to dribble with it, hence that action was rarely seen. Generally, the five players on a team used the walls or ceiling to make passes, so the energy expended by recovering the ball often decided victory or defeat.
"Tatsuya!"
Crossing the entire field, Leo passed the ball to Tatsuya in midfield with the force of a shot.
If he tried to trap the ball with his chest or abdomen he might be knocked to the floor, so Tatsuya kicked the ball directly upwards, allowing the ball to lose some its force from the rebound on the ceiling before trapping it neatly beneath his foot.
After receiving this pass with machine-like efficiency, Tatsuya sent the ball careening off the wall, using the rebound to pass the ball.
Along the axis of the rebound stood another slim youth. Rather than calling him slender, he may have been more accurately described as well-built. Currently, he fearlessly received Tatsuya's high-speed pass in one motion.
And immediately shot on the enemy goal.
The electric chime signaled the goal, accompanied by the cheers of the watching female students.
"That guy isn't bad."
Leo bluntly praised the youth as he stood next to Tatsuya.
"Yes, accurate prediction of the flight path, and his appearance belies his agility."
Tatsuya was faintly surprised by the boy's physical abilities which surpassed his expectations. They had been in the same class for 3 months, so today wasn't the first time they were in physical education together. Tatsuya previously believed that he had an accurate grasp of the boy's abilities on some level, and his earlier pass was adjusted accordingly, but this person's — Yoshida Mikihiko's — actions showed that he was more than meets the eye.
There were a mere 25 students in class, so it was natural that everyone knew each other's names.
Also, Tatsuya knew more than just a name.
Yoshida Mikihiko came from a prestigious family renowned for Ancient Magic — he was a direct descendant of the Yoshida Family.
The Yoshida Family possessed an Outer-Systematic Ancient Magic called "Spirit Magic", and it was rumored that they passed on their traditional methods of training as well. Given that it was a traditional method of practice, arduous labor was probably at the center of it. If so, members of that family would naturally possess highly capable physical specifications.
The cause of Tatsuya's surprise was that Mikihiko's appearance gave no hint of this whatsoever.
Specialists that excelled in concealing their power always pop up in the most unexpected places......
With that in mind, Tatsuya sent the incoming pass spiraling towards the enemy goal.
With Tatsuya and company dominating the floor, their team easily cruised to a crushing victory.
Tatsuya returned to the observation area and sat down with Leo near Yoshida Mikihiko.
"Nicely done."
By the time Tatsuya spoke up, his breathing had become perfectly even.
"You guys as well."
Just like Tatsuya, Yoshida Mikihiko's breathing wasn't ragged.
Tatsuya hadn't formed social links with every classmate, likely because his personality was the type that usually ignored others. This caused a portion of his peers to see him as a cold individual, so only about half of 1st Year Class E was willing to converse with him. However, Mikihiko was even more extreme in his aloofness and, including himself, Tatsuya had never seen him speak with any of their mutual peers. On enrollment day, he was the first one to leave the classroom by himself. Even Leo, who moved in social circles much broader than Tatsuya had, only nodded to Mikihiko in passing until now.
"Yoshida, you're pretty good. Don't take this the wrong way, but I was quite surprised."
Mikihiko's performance seemed to have reminded Leo of something, so he asked Tatsuya — Tatsuya extended the greeting first, but it was Leo who had suggested it — to sit near Mikihiko.
Leo's welcoming tone might have caused some people to think he was being overly familiar.
"Mikihiko."
That being said, it seemed that Mikihiko warmed to Leo's direct attitude.
"I don't like it when people refer to me by my family name, so just call me by name."
Before, he never replied in such a friendly manner.
"Okay, then call me Leo."
Even if the number of those full class activities from the previous generation had decreased, it was still strange to have this sort of conversation 3 months into the school year.
Mikihiko's school life was just like that, caused by the towering wall he erected between himself and the rest of the class.
Maybe this was only brought on by the exhilaration following strenuous exercise, causing him to be in a more generous mood, but this most definitely was an excellent opportunity.
"May I call you Mikihiko too? You can of course refer to me as Tatsuya."
"Okay, Tatsuya."
Mikihiko replied in a comfortable tone, but his expression was slightly embarrassed.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you a long time ago."
Impressions are a curious thing. Sometimes first impressions are impermutable regardless of what you do, but other times a single sentence is sufficient to dramatically change an impression you held until this moment.
In Tatsuya's mind, Mikihiko's impression turned from "anti-social" to "shy".
"What a coincidence, that makes two of us."
They entered the school as Course 2 students — replacements, but were still able to secure the top and third scores in their entire year. Even if the school emphasized technical skills, it was impossible for the two of them not to take interest in the other.
"......Somehow, I feel excluded."
The thing was, first ignoring the fact that Mikihiko didn't know them very well, Leo didn't think Tatsuya was interested in this classmate solely on the strength of his scores. Rather, Leo noticed that there was something odd between the two of them, thus leading to the feeling of exclusion.
However, Mikihiko's next sentence swiftly dispelled that notion.
"Leo, you worry too much, I wanted to talk to you too."
The reason was not because of any real conversation, but because Mikihiko was at heart a kind person, as could be seen from his comforting words.
"No matter how you slice it, anyone with the patience to deal with Erika is a rare find indeed."
It was Mikihiko's turn to emotionally express himself.
"......That's a little hard to swallow."
Leo's face grew longer the more he heard Mikihiko talk about Erika like they were a couple, which caused both Tatsuya and Mikihiko to burst out laughing. However, Tatsuya had a few reservations about Mikihiko's comment as he recalled the reason why Mikihiko drew his attention in the first place.
"So Mikihiko, you knew Erika a while back?"
There was no ulterior motive behind this question. So when Tatsuya saw Mikihiko's "Uh oh!" expression, he quickly changed the subject.
"Kind of, I guess we're childhood friends?"
"Erika, why the question mark at the end?"
Given that the person in question was present, Tatsuya's concerns quickly faded.
"We met when we were ten, so technically we're not childhood friends. To top it off, not only has he been avoiding me in class, we haven't seen each other outside of campus for the last six months."
Erika's answer to Mizuki's question suddenly thrust her into the middle of Tatsuya and company's conversation.
"Hey, Tatsuya-kun, what do you think?"
Afterwards, Erika suddenly sought Tatsuya's opinion in her usual as-she-pleased manner.
"This should count as childhood friends, right?"
On some level, given the way Tatsuya responded with no hesitation whatsoever, the same charge could be leveled at him.
Yet, the reason why Leo and Mikihiko were unable to utter a single word wasn't because they were struck speechless by Erika barging in without any consideration to others. Their widened eyes clearly testified to this point.
In 2095 AD, fashion and proper decorum demanded that any trace of exposed flesh be covered in public. Since school was considered a public environment, even if it was in summer, women were still obligated to wear jackets and a colorless, impenetrable pair of tights or leggings beneath their dresses.
That being said, these rules didn't apply to athletic uniforms, so athletic clubs suffered no penalty or criticism for revealing their hands or legs with their uniform, and physical education classes were also not bound by this rule. For example, Tatsuya and the other male students were currently wearing shorts that did not extend to their knees while Mizuki was wearing a fairly long pair of rhythm pants, which was the standard uniform for physical education.
On the other hand, Erika was......
Both of her legs were completely uncovered.
From the thighs down, everything was revealed to the sweltering summer air. Her pants had no length to speak of whatsoever. Finally, the T-shirt she wore barely extended over the pants, giving the impression she was wearing only her underwear.
Her tight thighs showed no signs of coarse muscle; their reddish tint caused by the sun only served to embellish and accentuate their original white caliber.
"Erika, why are you dressed like that?!"
Mikihiko finally reclaimed his wits as his voice spiked, though the unavoidable blush on his face had nothing to do with the UV rays the sun was giving off. There were plenty of opportunities to see a pair of legs outside of school, so it wasn't like Mikihiko was a complete prude, but the "coquettish" air that Erika's legs were giving off was enough to cause almost any of her male peers to lose their composure.
"What? This is the traditional women's athletic uniform."
It was obvious with a single glance what state Mikihiko's mind was currently in, except Erika never mentioned it at all as she tilted her head sideways and replied back with a surprised expression on her face. It certainly didn't look like she was dressed like that solely to tease her childhood friend.
"That's traditional?"
That being said, the man of the hour thought this was all to tease him, as could be seen from Mikihiko's face that colored even more in fury.
"Is that so? I thought this was some unique design for the rhythm pants."
Tatsuya interjected to change the pace and to prevent Erika from unintentionally pouring more fuel on the fire.
"This isn't a pair of rhythm pants."
Saying this only changed the victim from Mikihiko to Tatsuya, but one glance at Tatsuya's stoic face was sufficient to tell that he far surpassed Mikihiko in composure and patience. No, it might be more appropriate to say that Tatsuya wasn't sensitive enough to fall for Erika's provocations.
"But, these aren't tennis briefs either, right?"
"Even I'm not interested in wearing just the briefs and not the skirt. These are called bloomers."
"Bloomers? Sounds like brooms. Did they used to wear those while cleaning?"
"Don't be stupid! Didn't I just say these are athletic uniforms for women?!"
It was difficult to tell if Tatsuya was intentionally playing ignorant, which put Erika in an awkward position.
"Speaking of bloomers, are these it?"
Leo finally came around.
"During the Age of Immorality, when female high school students received allowances from middle aged men to......"
......However, regardless of whether it was for him or Erika, this was undoubtedly a bad time for Leo to recover.
"Idiot, shut up!"
Beet red, Erika exploded in outrage. At the same time, she raised one foot and furiously kicked Leo in the shin.
Leo bent over and grabbed his shin in pain, while Erika pranced around holding one foot.
This verbal and physical exchange looked to have ended in mutual defeat (?).
Compared to the earlier — Tatsuya and company's — contest, this one went back and forth.
Both sides repeatedly claimed the lead from the other.
The two teams were of equal strength, but were restricted to the caliber of high school students.
There were very few female students watching, since they had their own lessons and could only ditch for so long. On top of that, physical education classes differed from magic technical skills class in that most physical education classes had instructors available. (The difference in raw number of teachers available between magic classes and normal classes could be seen here.)
"I can't believe you. Is your brain stuffed with that type of nonsense?"
Now, only Erika and Mizuki were present to watch the boys' contest.
"Shut up, that's what the books say."
At Erika's scornful look, Leo realized that his position was rather bleak, so he replied rather flippantly and never dared to look her in the eye.
Not striking someone while they were down was one of Erika's merits.
"I have no idea what books you're reading...... Speaking of which, Miki was looking at me in the same way. Is this really that arousing?"
Maybe she was just easily distracted.
"Erika...... I think you'd be better off wearing rhythm pants too."
Given Mizuki's reluctant tone, she probably belonged to the "I think but can't say" category.
"That's true...... It's not as flexible as I imagined, and a little too tight too."
At that, two male students quickly turned around, but thankfully (?) Erika didn't notice.
"Hm~. When I dug this up in the cabinet, I thought that no one had worn this and the measurements were perfect, but I think I'll go with Mizuki's suggestion and change back to rhythm pants."
"Yeah, I think that's for the best."
This wasn't exactly what Mizuki was aiming for, but she nodded in emphasis regardless.
"Hm?"
Mizuki was half a beat late on the uptake, but from a certain perspective that suited her personality perfectly.
"By the way, Erika, who is 'Miki'?"
With his head still turned, Mikihiko's shoulders grew tense, but Erika didn't notice as she leisurely pointed at his back. (Even if she did notice, would she have opted for a different action? This remained a profound mystery.)
"Because he's Mikihiko, hence Miki."
Mikihiko spun around almost at the same time Erika uttered those words.
"What do you mean 'hence'?"
It looked like Mikihiko was unable to ignore this "nickname".
"Why do you ask? Miki is short for Mikihiko."
"I've said this countless times! Don't call me such a feminine name!"
Unfortunately, Erika seemed inured to such scolding given the way it bounced off her.
"Eh? So you prefer Hiko-kun?"
Erika's face adopted a "Why didn't you say so earlier?" look as she rounded on Mikihiko.
"Why is this happening! Don't unilaterally decide to shorten other people's names!"
"So you want me to call you Mikihiko? Eh~...... Mikihiko Mikihiko Mikihiko Mikihiko...... That's too big a mouthful, I don't want to call you that."
Mikihiko wasn't the only one who thought this was ridiculous.
"Don't you feel embarrassed by it?"
"What do you mean embarrassed?"
Erika suddenly bent at the waist.
"Mikihiko......"
Erika brought her face directly in front of the sitting Mikihiko and softly murmured his name with a melodious voice.
His fury forcibly overwritten by other emotions, Mikihiko was struck speechless.
"......Who is that?"
It wasn't just the person in question, but even Leo was wavering. Quite the impressive destructive power.
"Well? Isn't it embarrassing?"
Erika's hair seemed to grow at an accelerated rate; she had entered school with her hair cropped short, but after three short months it had already grown to shoulder length. She tucked her hair behind one ear and revealed a delighted smile.
No matter how obstinate Mikihiko was, even he wasn't able to quell his wavering heart.
"In...... In that case......"
"Ah, stuttering......"
Mizuki softly whispered. Her personality was probably the more merciless one.
Fortunately, Mikihiko didn't have the excess mental capacity to hear Mizuki's words.
"Just call me by my family name!"
"Eh? I thought Miki hated other people calling him by that?"
That comment had been made too rashly.
Mikihiko's face tightened.
His red, panicked face and attitude were the same as before.
In addition, there was a deep sense of shame tucked beneath the anger.
However, Tatsuya felt that Mikihiko currently hid dark emotions that bordered on hatred.
"Erika, isn't it time for you to go?"
At the risk of being a busybody, Tatsuya interposed on this conversation and directed Erika's attention onto himself. Tatsuya discreetly pointed behind him where the coach (the physical education teacher) was glaring over at them.
"Shit! Tatsuya-kun, see you around!"
"Eh? Erika, wait for me!"
Erika hurriedly took off, with Mizuki quickly following.
Tatsuya waved at their retreating backs with a wry smile on his face.
After an awkward period of silence......
"Sorry for dragging you in."
Mikihiko spoke in a soft tone with his head bowed. He appeared to have deep rooted issues with his family and while he consciously knew that they existed, there were still momentary lapses in his self control.
"Maybe my interference wasn't needed."
Tatsuya's words weren't merely for comfort, but were spoken from the heart. From what had just transpired, this obviously wasn't the first time this had occurred, and Erika's actions may have been to intentionally provoke Mikihiko. Allowing buried frustration and inner emotions to vent may be the best possible way to prevent emotional scars.
"No, that's hardly the case, especially since we're still in class."
However, the reason Mikihiko spoke of was exactly the reason why Tatsuya interfered. Any course of action had a proper time and place, especially since Tatsuya didn't want to become mired in Mikihiko's...... Or maybe Erika and Mikihiko's ongoing issue.
"That being said, Tatsuya is certainly a calm one."
Mikihiko abruptly changed the topic, possibly because he shrewdly detected Tatsuya's "not interested in getting entangled" mood.
"What brought this up?"
Given the conversation up until this point, Tatsuya understood that Mikihiko might portray a certain attitude in class, but he was actually very sensitive to others' moods and emotions. It was just that this change was too abrupt, to the point that any sense of logic was lost.
"What do you mean what......?"
Mikihiko hadn't properly formulated his thoughts before speaking up, so he wasn't able to properly convey his meaning.
"Well...... I mean, you saw what Erika was wearing, yet you didn't bat an eyelid."
Even so, his example was still too vague, or quite a stretch.
"......I was somewhat surprised at her dress, but surely it wasn't exposed enough to qualify for that much of a reaction? I thought that it was certainly more conservative than a swimsuit or rhythm gear."
Tatsuya's real thoughts were more along the lines of "what the hell is this guy talking about?", but considering today was the first time they were formally introduced to Mikihiko, and due to the confrontational nature of those words, Tatsuya elected to respond in a more neutral fashion. Anyone who overheard this conversation would certainly have thought that Tatsuya was going on a tangent.
"You don't care because it was less provocative than swimsuits or rhythm gear? Somehow that just strikes me in the wrong way."
From a youthful perspective, Leo's critique was right on the mark. Though Mikihiko raised the question in the first place, even Leo was offering his own abrasive opinion.
"......Tatsuya, you've wilted too much. You no longer possess the hallmark of youth."
Possibly because they both suffered Erika's teasing (?), the two of them mutually selected Tatsuya to be their next target.
"Tatsuya isn't wilted. The bar is set too high with him. With such a beautiful little sister, the majority of normal girls wouldn't be able to attract his attention."
"Hm...... You're probably right, given that this is Miyuki-san we're talking about? When I saw her for the first time during the enrollment ceremony, I wasn't just staring dumbly, I was honestly shocked. I can't believe someone so beautiful actually exists in the world."
"Ho? Tatsuya, he's got an eye on your cute little sister. As her brother, what do you have to say?"
Leo wore a mischievous smile as he interrogated Tatsuya, but the person who answered wasn't the currently beset Tatsuya, but Mikihiko, who had just been betrayed (?) by his comrade.
"Don't be like that. You're reading too much into it. I was just talking about it and I have no plans to take the next step, since just thinking about it makes me shake in my boots. If I were looking for a girlfriend, I'd hope I could find a more relaxing and easy-going partner."
Mikihiko's words led to Leo nodding deeply in agreement — so deeply that his actions looked intentionally exaggerated.
"You're right. Not only that, a hardcore bro-con is hard enough, but to get past the invincible sis-con older brother...... The bar is just too high."
"Leo...... It looks like we need to have another in-depth conversation."
"Uh, no. That would be too terrifying. I don't want to put my life on the line for something like this."
Tatsuya's heavy gaze caused Leo to quiver in an overblown fashion.
Anyone could tell that Leo was acting, but a portion of the shaking seemed to be genuine, a point that aroused great interest from Mikihiko as he gazed at the two of them.
Leo was taller than Tatsuya by a margin.
His limbs were also thicker and stronger.
From his performance during their team competition, their agility should be roughly equal.
Tatsuya was rumored to have studied under a famous ninjutsu sensei, but was he really that capable in a fight?
Enough to overcome his deficit in Magic Power?
Mikihiko wasn't aware why he drew Tatsuya's interest, but he knew from the get go why he was interested in Tatsuya.
Mikihiko was interested in the reason behind Tatsuya's prowess. He was a newly enrolled Course 2 student that could go toe to toe against Course 1 students and triumph. Mikihiko wanted to know how Tatsuya obtained such power.
For Mikihiko, he earnestly wanted to find a way for him to bridge the gap in Magic Power.
A replacement for the "power" he lost a year ago.
Up until one year ago, Mikihiko was held to be a prodigy, the star of tomorrow that the Yoshida family rested their hopes and dreams on.
Within the various magics of the Yoshida family that had been passed down, one of the core techniques lay in "Summoning Magic", a skill that Mikihiko possessed enough talent in to eclipse even his older brother who had inherited the family mantle.
From early adolescence until that accident, Mikihiko had always seen himself as one of the strong, and was thus unable to accept his fall from grace.
He knew he was being overly anxious, and he also realized he was withdrawing himself. That feeling of being powerless was sapping away his energy, forcing himself deeper and deeper into the corner.
This past year, he had been relentlessly pursuing knowledge of the arcane.
He had also been practicing martial arts that he had hitherto been lukewarm towards.
Even so, he was still unable to fill that sense of loss.
So once he learned that Tatsuya was also a student with inferior technical skills and imperfect magic ability, yet was still able to overcome upperclassmen that boasted greater Magic Power, there was no way Mikihiko could not be drawn towards Tatsuya.
A close combat technique capable of overcoming a deficiency in Magic Power?
Mikihiko wanted to let Tatsuya and Leo compete against one another so he could see with his own eyes.
Subconsciously, he also wanted to challenge Tatsuya at one point.
"Mikihiko?"
"Ah?"
That was probably the reason.
Hearing his name suddenly called, Mikihiko fell into a combat crouch.
Seeing his reaction, both Tatsuya and Leo forced a smile.
"Please, is there a need for such a murderous reaction?"
"What is it? I was going to say you've suddenly gone quiet, then you fall into that stance?"
"Ah, no...... I'm sorry, it was nothing."
Mikihiko could only apologize shamefacedly. He originally wasn't adept at social interaction.
The rare friendly atmosphere turned tense and, even though Tatsuya and Leo both tried to lighten the mood, the original cheer never returned even when class ended.
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