Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (8 page)

"Don't you feel embarrassed by it?"

"What do you mean embarrassed?"

Erika suddenly bent at the waist.

"Mikihiko.
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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.

".
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Who is that?"

Not just the person in question, 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.
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In that case.
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"Ah, stuttering.
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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.
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"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.
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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.
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Mikihiko hadn't properly formulated his thoughts before speaking up, so he wasn't able to properly convey his meaning.

"Well.
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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.

".
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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 think 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.
Even though Mikihiko raised the question in the first place, even Leo was offering his own abrasive opinion.

".
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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 for him.
With such a beautiful little sister, the majority of normal girls wouldn't be able to attract his attention."

"Hm.
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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 was 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 — nodding 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.
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The bar is just too high."

"Leo.
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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.
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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.

For high schools attached to magic universities, the Nine Schools Competition held in summer and the Thesis Competition held in fall were major events.
The extravagance of the Nine Schools Competition largely overshadowed the Thesis Competition, making it the single greatest event on the calendar.

The Nine Schools Competition was an intramural contest based on athletic magic competitions (Besides magic competitions, there were riddle events, table top games, timed maze challenges, and even treasure hunts).
First High also had clubs for every occasion, but since competition was fiercest around the Nine Schools Competition itself, participants were not only selected from clubs, but anyone deemed capable of winning was selected as a participant.

Thanks to this, preparations for the Nine Schools Competition passed from the Clubs Management Group to the Student Council.

"Even so, it's not like we can ignore the official participants from the clubs.
Just deciding who goes on the final roster is going to be a major headache.
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Even Mayumi, who usually mesmerized everyone with her radiant smile, seemed to wilt a little today.