Chapter 8 – April 10th
The school yard, the front yard, the middle court, and the sports grounds were all filled with the tumult of the appeals for newcomers to join their clubs.
“Mina, you’re going to go apply for the Club, right?”
Alisa grimaced for a moment because of the overwhelming wave of sound and then asked Marika next to her, who had a composed look on her face.
Marika already decided to join the Magic Arts Club. But, because of the uproar the day before, she was unable to submit the application in the end.
“Not yet.”
What Marika answered back was unexpected.
“Why?”
Alisa couldn’t understand this without an explanation.
“Club President Kitahata is suspended from club activities until the end of newcomers week, right? When she returns to the Club, I’ll give her the application.”
When she heard Marika’s reply, Alisa tilted her head to the side.
“...So you think this is the logical course of action because you feel responsible for her suspension from club activities?”
“Yeah, that too.”
Alisa felt some discomfort from that answer.
“Mina. You’re not planning to do something like settling this dispute with the Club President before joining it, are you?”
“How did you know?”
Marika’s eyes opened wide and she raised her voice.
Alisa held her head down, looking like she was in pain.
“Mina... You must not have a duel with her.”
When Alisa looked back at Marika, her eyes were dead set on Marika.
“I’m not going to duel her!”
Marika however was upset with Alisa for suspecting her.
“Asha, just what do you think of me?”
“No fights either.”
“I’m just going to have a bout following the rules! Even I know the difference between right and wrong!”
Alisa looked into Marika’s eyes.
Marika didn’t avert hers from Alisa’s gaze.
“...I’m sorry.”
After staring at Marika for some time, Alisa admitted she was wrong and apologized.
“Geez... Don’t just have weird misunderstandings like that.”
Marika said just that and changed the subject by continuing with “So today, I’ll be going with you, Asha.”
“You haven’t decided on a club yet, right?”
“Yeah, I’m going to look all over the place.”
Alisa’s expression also returned to the usual as she replied.
“Then, let’s go. If there’s something that looks interesting, maybe I should join too.”
“It looks like there’s a lot of people who are in multiple clubs” “Is that so?”, their conversation continued like that as they ventured into the middle of the disorganized tumult.
◇ ◇ ◇
Alisa is by no means unathletic. Her reflexes are rather decent. She is fast and has good stamina. When she had her track and field results recorded in middle school lessons, she was always in the top of her school year, mixed with the students who participated in sports clubs.
But she has a fatal lack of fighting spirit. She wants to move her body in her club activities, but she wants to avoid competition, which are very troubling preferences.
First of all, group competitions are excluded, as she may be a nuisance to her teammates. Individual games involving balls, in which players directly compete for the win, are also given lower priority. She shied away from track and field events and foot races because she would race against other people. In the end, she decided to start by touring scoring competitions, which may result in wins or losses, but she doesn’t have to be conscious of the competition, and record contests where each participant performs one at a time.
The first place Alisa and her escort Marika visited was the First Small Gymnasium. The second is mainly used by clubs of martial arts other combat sports, while the first is primarily used by indoors competition clubs like gymnastics and dancing.
At this time, the demonstration being held in the First Small Gymnasium was by the Light Gymnastics Club. It is a competition where Weight-Type Magic is incorporated into the gymnastics, resulting in more acrobatic and speedy performances. However, only Weight-Type Magic is allowed, and the use of Acceleration-Type and Movement-Type Magic is an instant disqualification.
“Those are some surprisingly elegant moves, uh?”
After watching for a while, Marika spoke to herself in a tone different than expected for what she said.
Light Gymnastics, because of its origins, emphasizes acrobatic movements and speed compared to ordinary gymnastics competitions, while flexibility and beauty are given less importance. Marika didn’t know, but recently the number of female athletes who are using this trend to their advantage by appealing with beautiful poses is increasing.
It is probably because of this that women’s leotards have recently become more colorful and with brilliant patterns, and their shape was changing to put more emphasis on their body line and the length of their limbs.
“I think that leotard would suit you, Asha.”
After seeing the finishing pose, Marika looked to the side and spoke to Alisa.
“That looks a bit... embarrassing, I think.”
Alisa was being honest, as her cheeks were slightly reddened. She likely imagined herself wearing the Light Gymnastics Club leotard.
The leotard has long sleeves and the legs are covered with tights, so there is less skin exposed than other competitions. But as said before, the design emphasizes the length of the arms and legs and the body line.
“Asha, you have a great figure, so you don’t need to be shy.”
It could be said that Marika’s words had the opposite effect.
“It’s not like I’m embarrassed about my proportions...”
Alisa’s face grew redder and redder and finally she turned her head down.
“...It looks like it just wasn’t meant to be. Let’s go?”
When Marika urged her, Alisa nodded, and left the First Small Gymnasium still with her head hanging.
◇ ◇ ◇
After leaving the First Small Gymnasium, Alisa and Marika didn’t return to the sports grounds, but rather voluntarily went deep into the practice forest.
“Woow... it’s so big.”
“It really is...”
It was the first time they went into the practice forest and they were in awe at how vast it is.
“Umm, the demonstrations in the practice forest at this time are from the SS Board Biathlon Club and the Hunting Club. Asha, which one do you want to go to first?”
School hours are not shortened just because it’s newcomer week. The sun is already heavily sinking in the west. But still, Marika seems inclined to go see both.
“Let’s see... Let’s go check out SS Board.”
Alisa internally thought that Marika didn’t have to be so greedy, but if Marika wanted to, they couldn’t waste any time and the order didn’t matter. Without hesitating much, she chose the SS Board Biathlon Club.
The ‘SS Board’ in SS Board Biathlon stands for ‘Skateboard & Snowboard’. It is a competition where targets are shot along a course on a board, which as the name implies, is a snowboard during the winter and a skateboard in other seasons.
The difference from regular biathlon is not just that instead of skis, snowboards (or skateboards) are used. In this competition, the bullets are shot with magic, and not rifles. The bullets used are the standard, but competitors can bring as many of them to the course as they want. However, the targets are color-coded, and points are deducted if a target of a color different than the one assigned is hit, so competitors can’t spread their bullets like a buckshot. Moreover, it’s a competition based on the time to reach the finish line and the number of targets cleared.
SS Board Biathlon is a competition where the two factors of Movement-Type Magic are evaluated, speed and accuracy.
It’s Tokyo in April, so there is no snow. So unfortunately for Alisa and Marika, who were brought up in Hokkaido, the demonstration used skateboards instead of snowboards, though the two also had plenty of experience with skateboards.
Marika prefers skis over snowboards, but Alisa preferred snowboards. Because of that, when there was no snow, Alisa had fun with a skateboard as a replacement for a snowboard. Marika accompanied her, and she got about as good as Alisa at it.
With that backstory, the two had experience in cross-country racing on off-road courses on their skateboards and didn’t find it particularly difficult. The targets don’t resemble humans, so by changing her perception to setting the trajectory of a bullet instead of shooting a target, Alisa would also be able to shoot with no problem. In this regard, it was Marika, who isn’t very good at long-range magic, that struggled with this.
But Alisa didn’t say she would join the club.
“But I thought you were good at that sport, Asha? It felt like the seniors got attached to you too.”
“SS Board Biathlon looked interesting, but... that atmosphere was a little too much.”
“I see. Asha, you really are no good where fixation with winning is involved, uh?”
“Yeah... I think it’s right to be concerned with winning in a competition, but to think about just that all the time...”
“True, it did have that kind of mood. Kind of hot-blooded, I would say.”
Marika is also obsessive about winning thoroughly in matches, but she’s the type that enjoys mastering advanced skills more than polishing her winning techniques.
“If the club’s atmosphere isn’t your cup of tea, there’s nothing to be done. It’s an important thing too.”
They mutually agreed and proceeded to the next club, the Hunting Club.
The ‘Hunting’ performed by the Hunting Club is a competition where one rides a horse — a real, living horse — and shoots paint bullets at small animal-shaped robots called ‘Quarry’. In this club, there is both ‘Hunting’ with magic components and ‘Hunting’ without magic components, the one with magic components using rifle-shaped CADs to send the bullets flying with magic. Because the paint bullets can be guided to some degree, the Quarry’s movements are made more complex.
Alisa lived under the roof of Marika’s family, the Tookami Family, who work as veterinarians. Because of where they live, they do business with a racehorse ranch. Because of this relationship, Alisa and Marika can both ride horses. Marika in particular, was even thinking of becoming a horse trainer before she began seriously studying magic.
No, using the past tense is incorrect, as she even now has not completely abandoned that dream. Marika doesn’t want to become a magician, she joined this school simply because she wants to be with Alisa. A future where she isn’t a magician, where she doesn’t become used to being a magician, was always in the back of her mind.
For those reasons, Alisa’s horse-riding skill impressed the Hunting Club members, and Marika’s surprised them.
But in this case, shooting was the bottleneck.
Using a gun-shaped device to aim and shoot at a moving target. This process clearly resembled an attack, so Alisa couldn’t use her magic well. Marika, on the other hand, could compensate for her weakness in long range by using her horse-riding skill to get close enough to the Quarries, but it was clear there was no way. Though the club members valued their horse-riding skills, the two politely declined the invitation.
“Sorry about that. I was the one who got immersed in it.”
“It’s fine. You were even interested in it, Mina. You could join if you’d like, you don’t need to decline because of me.”
“If Asha doesn’t join, what’s the point of me joining another club?”
Alisa and Marika returned to the school grounds from the practice forest while talking about those kinds of things. The sky to the west was already dyed in crimson. They were both planning to return home for the day.
The two girls left their personal effects in their classrooms. They headed there to retrieve them. At the entrance of the practice forest, they took a shortcut through the middle court.
Many clubs had set up tents for recruitment in the middle court.
They were going to go home soon, but they were not in a hurry to the point of walking through without checking their surroundings. Careful not to bump into the crowds of newcomers, they peeked into the tents while walking by.
“Uh? That’s unusual.”
Marika suddenly raised her voice.
“What’s unusual?”
“That.”
Marika pointed and Alisa looked in that direction too.
“...Is that a scale model club? The one for robots was called Robot Research, right?”
What Marika called ‘unusual’ was a small self-moving machine running around a course set up in a tent. It was a miniature robot of about 15 centimeters of length, running on wheels attached to the tip of its articulated legs. It has 6 legs, but the overall design resembles a spider.
“Umm, Bike Club...?”
Alisa said the name of the club written on the tent out loud with a puzzled tone.
“Eeh, so there are bike clubs at magic high schools. I wonder if they go on tours.”
As Marika said, bike clubs don’t fit the image of a Magic University-affiliated High School. But above that, Alisa was doubtful about that miniature.
Can that little robot be called a bike...?
Those doubts clinged to her consciousness and she unintentionally fixed her gaze into the tent. And because of this — thanks to this, Alisa recognized a familiar face.
“Koharu...”
“Eh, where, where?”
Alisa muttered and Marika, who was looking at another tent, turned around.
“Look, over there. That tent from before.”
“It’s really her. I wonder if she joined that club. Asha, can I go see?”
She asked if she could go to Koharu and,
“I’ll go too.”
Alisa responded like that. The two of them simultaneously joined their hands and charged into the crowd.
It must be the impact of the weird miniature robot? Quite a lot of new students were stopping in front of the Bike Club. Without pushing through the crowd, Alisa and Marika somehow got inside the tent.
“Koharu.”
“Marika-san? And Alisa-san as well?”
Marika called to her, and Koharu, who was for some reason taking care of the miniatures along with the other club members, raised her voice in surprise.
“If you’re helping, that means you’ve already joined the club?”
“Yeah, well...”
Koharu nodded, looking embarrassed, to Marika’s question.
“I like tinkering with machines... Even though I’m a girl, it’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Why?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Koharu nervously asked them, and Marika leaned her head to the side, while Alisa shook hers.
“She’s right. Koharu, it’s not rare for high school girls to like mechanical devices nowadays.”
When Marika said so, relief appear on Koharu’s face.
“By the way, Koharu, why did you choose the Bike Club over Robot Research? If I remember right, the Bike Club’s clubroom is outside of school, right?”
Alisa asked about something she remembered hearing in the auditorium on the 7th. Robot Research uses a garage next to the preparations building, but she heard that the Bike Club borrows an old closed down auto repair shop out of school as a clubroom because they like old era mechanisms.
“I like motorbikes...”
Koharu replied to Alisa looking even more embarrassed than before.
“Like... You mean you’ve ridden one before?”
Marika stared at her, amazed. It might have been a little hard for her to imagine the soft-looking Koharu gallantly riding on a bike.
Koharu nodded deeply while Marika and Alisa basked in her likeness.
“I have a private course at home, so I’ve been riding motorbikes since I was a kid. At first I used robotic bikes, but before long I started enjoying driving them myself.”
“Now that you say that, Touhou Tech...”
Alisa muttered like she just realized something.
“Yeah. Touhou Tech started as a motorbike manufacturer. Even today, robotic bikes are one of our leading products.”
Koharu finished Alisa’s line with a smile.
Alisa and Marika felt they understood that smile.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login