31 The First Day

"Haaaah…!" Nakayama exhaled loudly as he plopped down onto his twin-size bed. "Damn, what a day…"

Monday, 3:48 P.M.

That was it. His first day of the magic academy was officially over and all he had to do now was relax. Truth be told, he didn't really think too much of the upcoming Freshman-Sophomore games considering he didn't plan on entering, and it wasn't like he was professionally filled in on the details by Ms. Itsuwa. When he, Yasuko, Kiyomi, and Koko had returned to the fourth floor together, she didn't speak about the event at all. It was almost as if it was intentionally kept secret as a surprise, though he briefly remembered Kiyomi saying that he'd heard about it a week ago. Well, it wasn't as if it was that important anyway, and he decided against thinking any more about it.

One thing that Ms. Itsuwa did elaborate on, though, was how to use the Level-Up stations. When they returned to class, it was almost an immediate lesson. She brought them back to the cafeteria because, apparently, most of them were in there. Nakayama didn't know why he'd completely missed their existence, but it was probably due to being distracted by his efforts to find Ms. Akayoru as well as the entire revelation at lunch. The most notable thing he could remember from Ms. Itsuwa's lesson was that the Level Up-Stations looked awfully similar to arcade machines, but he couldn't completely recall how to use them. Regardless, the process was fairly simple to understand and, if he tried to use one by himself once more, he'd likely immediately remember how to do use it no problem.

All he had to do was sprinkle some of his mana over a small sensor on the station and a magic menu would appear or something like that. It showed his name, level, and the amount of experience he held. Below that experience bar were two options: "Level Up" and "Cancel." By clicking cancel, it would close the magic menu and he could go about his business. Currently, it was 40/150 EXP. He figured out that was because of the couple of spells he'd learned from his father not too long ago, as explained by another one of Ms. Itsuwa's lectures.

She said that experience (or EXP) could be obtained through various different means. One could gain it by inflicting damage upon an opponent, by learning new spells, or through basic training. Such training meant one was actively practicing shooting off their spells and abilities, practicing hand-to-hand combat, receiving damage, and things like that. Also, when one defeated an enemy, they would have a great chance of obtaining many levels.

Say, for instance, a level 50 happened to defeat a level 100. That level 50 would have a chance of gaining up to 100 levels after that fight. Unfortunately, such a victory would be borderline impossible according to what Ms. Itsuwa said.

She gave another example, saying that, if 3 level 20s were to take down a level 100, then the amount of levels received (which would just technically be an abundance of experience) would be fairly distributed between the three depending on their usefulness within that fight. The chances of one side actually obtaining every level possessed by their opponent were actually supposed to be hopelessly slim. In fact, even gaining half of the enemy's levels was somewhat of a blessing.

Apparently, the acquisition of an enemy's levels was supposed to get increasingly more difficult the higher one's level. If a level 500 were to take on a level 300 and defeat him, that level 500 would realistically only gain about 30 to 50 levels if he was lucky. But, if a level 5 were to defeat a level 3, then that level 5 would probably obtain 2 to 3 levels. Of course, getting those levels did not include the amount of experience gained whilst one was fighting their opponent.

Nakayama thought the Edgar Brauss system's battle mechanics to be quite an interesting concept, indeed. Though he didn't quite understand the reason as to why all things were even possible in the first place, but maybe it was something comparable to the unexplainability of magic and mana in the first place.

Weirdly enough, as it turned out, every one of his roommates was technically more powerful than he was. When Ms. Itsuwa was informing the class on how to use the Level-Up Stations, he came to discover that Kiyomi was a level 10. Even little Koko was a level 2, a whole level higher than he was. The moment he found that out, he realized that looks meant absolutely nothing within this city and likely the entire magic world as well. Though, one thing that didn't surprise him was the discovery that Chiaki was a level 49, also known as: one more level and he could've been in Class D.

No wonder that sunset brat was able to kick his ass all the time. He was ranked 48 levels above him.

"Hey." a familiar voice rang out in the dorm, and Nakayama could feel that the bed he laid on was being kicked. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

Speak of the devil. It was Chiaki Sato speaking to him once more.

"Eh?" the black-haired boy grunted in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Get up from that bed." Chiaki ordered. "You must be dense if you think I'm gonna let you sleep so close to the others, idiot, so get up."

"Wha-!? I already called dibs on this bed! All my shit is right here already, did Kiyomi not tell you that this bed was mine?" Nakayama sat up, turned his head, and looked left, which was in the opposite direction of Chiaki who stood to his right. The bunk bed to his left was where both Kiyomi and Koko existed. The shy one was already making his bed and Kiyomi was hanging upside down from the top bunk with the dumbest look on his face. Like a guilty dog.

Nakayama facepalmed and sighed, shaking his head.

"Damn it, I guess I should've known that trusting him with something like that was a stupid idea," he said before removing his hand from his face. "In any case, what's the big deal if I sleep here? It's not like I'm laying on top of them or something!"

"This isn't up for debate! There isn't much I can do about you rooming-in here, so the most I can do is make you sleep on the opposite bunk, so move it!" Chiaki grabbed Nakayama's shirt collar as if to threaten him. The taller boy stood up and returned the gesture, grabbing the femboy's collar right back.

"Listen, you!" he scolded as if he was the sunset brat's parent. "I'm trying to be as nice as possible here, but you're just balling my kindness up and throwing in the trash. I'm getting sick and tired of you trying to tell me what I can and can't do!" He completely understood why Chiaki was overprotective and aggressive as he was, but things were starting to get a bit ridiculous.

"I chose this bed first! If you have so much of a problem with me sleeping here, then tough shit!" he continued.

Chiaki grabbed Nakayama's wrist and squeezed tightly.

"You just don't get it, do you!?" Chiaki yelled. "I'm telling you to move so that they don't fall victim to your devilish ways! If you wanna act so different, then at least realize your darkest thoughts and change sleeping positions. Is that so hard to do!?"

"Will you stop fucking blanketing me with the rest of the people in this city!? For God's sake, people like you three don't even exist where I'm from, so why would the way I perceive you be as pre-determined as you're preaching it to be!?"

"You act like you're the only god damn person to ever move to Edgar Brauss! Every man I've ever come across, even foreigners like you, have always had those disgusting eyes! So why the hell should I think you any different? Just because you got a little friendly with those two doesn't mean shit!"

"Look, I understand what you've been through, but-!"

"Don't you fucking speak like you know anything about me! You know nothing! Nothing!"

It seemed like every time Nakayama and Chiaki were to make any kind of contact, no matter what the initial subject was about, it would always lead to verbal violence. No matter how passive he tried to be, Chiaki was always right there to rewrite that peace into conflict.

The sunset brat continued to grip the boy's wrist and his collar at the same time as he brought his nose just inches away from the taller one's face as he yelled. Then--

"Please stop fighting!" the weak voice of a short femboy erupted from between the two brawlers.

"...?"

"!"

Koko had silently made his way in between Nakayama and Chiaki, putting his soft little hands on each of their chests in an attempt to stop them from fighting. He made quiet little "hmph's" as he fruitlessly tried to push the two boys away from one another.

"...Koko?" Nakayama muttered to himself, loosening his grip on Chiaki's collar. The femboy with deep golden eyes responded with the same gesture, only his expression was a bit different from Nakayama's. While the tall boy's face was built based upon confusion, Chiaki's face was the result of a painful experience mixed with shock.

Dark shadows appeared under Chiaki's eyes as he slowly lowered his hands to his sides, defeated.

If Koko hadn't stepped in, things could have gotten ugly over such a petty reason. Nakayama and Chiaki's relationship wasn't getting any better, it seemed. No, it was probably getting worse.

"Hey, Chiaki." the upside-down Kiyomi called out, but Chiaki made no effort to move his head. "Why don't you just leave him be? I mean, if he sleeps in the middle, it won't hurt anything. It'll be fine."

"...Why are you two so accepting?" Chiaki asked quietly with monotony.

"...?" Kiyomi tilted his head.

"You both know as well as I do, that people aren't trustworthy in this city, yet you both will easily accept this outsider as one of your friends…"

"There are good people out there, Chiaki. There's no reason for us to give up on that just because we've been through some things. Everyone's seen their fair share of troubles."

"Hah. Of course, that's where our philosophies differ. I see that now."

Chiaki slowly turned around and headed for the door.

"The only good people you speak of are a few women in this city, that's it," he said. "Is that it? Is that really it? Are those all the "good people" you're talking about? Don't make me laugh. Let's face it, joy isn't something any of us truly experience that often, no matter what kind of masquerade you create to hide your pain. The only time I'm really happy is when I'm either with my family or when I'm with you, Kiyomi, and you, Koko. If you put yourselves in my shoes for just a minute, maybe you'd understand how frustrating it is to watch some random bastard waltz in and try to get in the way of my happiness. But, the most frustrating part of it all is the fact that neither one of you are backing me up while this guy gets to pretend like he's all daisies and sunflowers, right?"

Chiaki put a hand on his head.

"Hah, but now that I've calmed down a little, I think I can finally see it," he said softly. "All that over a bed, huh? Whatever just take it." He took another step towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kiyomi asked without a worry in his tone.

"Out. You get some alone time with your precious friend, right? Don't worry, I'll come back when I'm ready to go to bed, so don't wait up. I stopped leveling up at level 49 so that we could all share the same class rank, but I guess that was a wasted effort considering neither of you wants to be protected anyway. Whatever, I'm done for today."

"Chiaki…"

"Hey. Dumbass." Chiaki called out, referring to Nakayama who stood behind Koko, at a loss for words. When Chiaki reached the door, he opened it and took a step through it, and turned his head slightly.

"With every fiber of my being…

...I resent you."

Chiaki slammed the door shut and left all those in the room with no words to speak. There was a deafening silence as every head was turned towards the door.

Then, Koko turned around and wrapped his arms around Nakayama's torso

"Ngh?" Nakayama grunted.

"I-I'm sorry, Nakayama…" Koko said softly, apologizing to the taller boy for some reason. "P-please d-don't be upset...Chiaki's just-!"

"It's alright, Koko." Nakayama said, petting the back of Koko's head. "It was my fault, I should've given him the bed when he asked for it. It was inconsiderate of me to not take his feelings into account."

"No, it wasn't your fault," Kiyomi said, undoing himself from his upside-down position. "No one was at fault there. It was just a collision of different beliefs."

As Nakayama looked over to get a glance at Kiyomi, he saw another unusual face from him. He was grinning, but his eyes shared no positive emotions with his lips. He could tell the femboy was trying to hide his emotions with that smile, but he thought against prying any farther into it. Then, as if in response to Nakayama's observation, Kiyomi looked over at him and put on a wide smile.

"Well, in any case, I wouldn't worry too much about Chiaki! He'll come back good as new tonight, so we should probably stop gawking and do something else."

Nakayama sighed as Koko let go of him and fished around in his pocket for that slip of paper Lea handed him this morning.

"Hey, what time did Ms. Itsuwa say dinner was, again?" he asked, specifically inquiring an answer from Kiyomi.

"Around 6, I think. Though, we could always go out into the city and go get something. All four of us?"

Nakayama finally pulled out the slip of paper and examined it, confirming that dinner was at 6. Naturally, as students were assigned to dorms here at the academy, they'd have to feed them three meals a day.

"Nah, that's probably not a good idea." he sighed. "I think it'd be best if you three went out together and left me here to eat at school. Even if Chiaki was calm by 6, that doesn't mean he'll like me. I wouldn't want to upset him even more, especially after the fact that I'm practically stealing you two away from him right now."

Kiyomi, who had previously returned to a sitting position rather than one that consisted of hanging from the bunk upside down, leaned against the rail with his arms folded and supporting his head as if he was about to go to sleep. His face expressed uncertainty as he slightly tilted his head at the black-haired boy. Koko shyly waddled back to his bed and continued making it.

"Nakayama?" Kiyomi asked. "What is it that stops you from disliking Chiaki? I mean, it's not like I want you to hate him or anything, but most people would've resented him by now, right?"

Nakayama snickered and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure. But, I get the feeling that Chiaki doesn't act that way when I'm not around, right?"

"...Y-yeah, I guess you could say that."

"I think Chiaki wants me to hate him so that I piss off and go somewhere else. Well, I ain't biting," he said as he hopped onto his bed and laid his hands under his head. "He doesn't hate me for me, he hates me out of fear of what he thinks I'm capable of. It's as if he feels like it's something that he has to do in order to protect you two, don't you think? You and Koko so easily accepted me, so maybe Chiaki feels like he needs to pick up the slack? I don't know, it's mostly just a gut feeling. I don't really feel the need to dislike Chiaki, I feel like I'd be doing him a disservice. As his friend, I'm sure you could look me in the eyes and tell me he's one of the greatest people you've ever met, right?"

"..."

Not only did Kiyomi stare at Nakayama in awe of his thought process, but even Koko stopped in his tracks as he made his bed and stared down at the comforter with a slight smile on his face.

"...He-he-he-he-he~!" Kiyomi giggled. "Well said, pretty boy!"

"I think you fit that description a hell of a lot more than I do, but whatever."

Suddenly, Kiyomi's mood went from something reminiscent of a secretive depression to straight-up overjoyed as his typical loud laughter erupted from his throat. He laughed like a kid in an amusement park and, somehow, that made Nakayama feel good, causing him to smile a little bit.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! O-oh! Look, Nakayama! Look up!"

"Hngh?" he grunted as his eyes widened with haste. When he looked up, he thought an entire avalanche was about to fall atop him alone.

"Catch meeee~!" Kiyomi shouted.

Out of nowhere, the pink-haired femboy leaped over the top bunk's rail and his body made it directly above the foreigner's twin-size bed.

"D'aah!?"

Thoomp. Kiyomi's torso, with greater force than anything Chiaki'd dealt to him as it felt, landed on top of his stomach as the cute femboy continued giggling hysterically.

"Goo'haaff!!"

"He-he-he-he-he-he!"

Over by the lower bunk, Koko couldn't help but watch with a little bit of blush. He held a petite hand up to his chest as if he was jealous of something, but kept a faint smile anyway. He squealed a little bit with his mouth closed as if he was finally about to overcome a dilemma and then dashed forward in the direction of Nakayama's bed.

"D-don't leave me out on all the fun!" he yelled weakly, jumping atop the foreigner's bed.

As he did, his plump little butt accompanied by a pair of red and white panties underneath a deep blue skirt landed on top of the boy's face.

Not only was all the air in his lungs being forced out of his body by Kiyomi, but his fleeting breath was being put to a halt as Koko accidentally sat on his face.

This was probably a torture tactic in hell.