Facing Forward

When Nagisa came to and regained consciousness, he yelled out immediately, rising from one of the infirmary beds.

"Chisa!" Nagisa found her sleeping next to him, resting on his bed while sitting down on a chair.

"It appears you are more worried about me than I am of you," Chisa rubbed one of her eyes.

She yawned and stretched her arms afterwards outward while waking up. Nagisa looked around, it appeared they were in the infirmary. It had a couple of beds and a sheet was drawn over in the corner he was stationed in for utmost privacy.

Next to him there was a small table with two empty vials. A blue with a minus sign, indicating usage when one suffers mana depletion, and the other one having a plus sign while being yellow to indicate its healing purposes.

Nagisa tightened his fist and then covered his face in a bitter fashion and bit down hard on his underlip.

"I lost, huh?" Nagisa sighed.

Chisa turned away her head.

"You tri…" Chisa tried to speak.

Nagisa hammered his first against the wall loudly.

"Tried? Miyuki was not even serious and he handled me like it was nothing!" Nagisa yelled.

No encouragement or words could cheer Nagisa up. He faced forward bitterly, he had to become stronger, and very soon.

The nurse dropped in to check on his vitals before allowing him to leave and the two of them headed for the school cafeteria that was stationed on the first floor to the right after you ascended the stairs.

"Light ability, huh?"

The nurse had a unique one that only served to heal injuries, a more potent one when compared to the vials. The two vials were used as a preemptive caution in hindsight of his injuries.

Nagisa had not paid much attention to the school cafeteria before during his exams, but upon entering he saw there was an entire upper floor and there was a sign stating a clear hierarchy amongst the school students.

"Only nobles and royals. Upper class may be invited if they are accompanied?" Nagisa scoffed at the sign.

At the top he caught a glimpse of Miyuki, May and the rest sitting upstairs, laughing and indulging in their lunches. Chisa noticed Nagisa's fixated stare and urged them to stand in line, practically forcing him and pushing his back to move forward.

"Can you let it go? Vengeance will not solve anything, and from now on, you know what you are up against!" Chisa patted Nagisa's shoulder.

Nagisa grabbed Chisa's hand and gently removed it from his shoulder.

"Thanks, but I need to deal with this one on my own," Nagisa took his plate and turned around to walk and find two seats.

However upon turning, Chisa's hand had Nagisa slapped dead cold onto the floor before he knew it, dropping both his lunch and drink.

"What the hell was that for?!" Nagisa angrily looked up at Chisa who was more infuriated than he was and slight tears were forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Do not say it like that! You have me! You have Emi! People who support you now! Do not shoulder it all like you did in your past!" Chisa caused a scene.

The speech made Nagisa feel all embarrassed and scratched his cheek lightly with his eyes averted, right before Chisa reached out with her hand to help him back up. People murmured.

"What are they doing?"

"Causing a scene here?"

It brought the attention of the people from upstairs and Daiki noisily whistled with both hands.

"Goddamn, that one is going to leave a nice red mark!" Daiki clapped his hands and almost their entire group laughed, all but one, Miyuki.

He knew this made Nagisa recover and he smirked before looking away.

"Thank you, I needed that!" Nagisa returned to his usual self.

"Any time!" Chisa grinned and wiped her eyes.

Nagisa salvaged bits of his lunch and they sat down nearby a windowed table to have an outlook of the garden.

"Here, have this and we can share my drink," Chisa shared.

She gave up a portion of her food and secretly brought two straws to put into her drink after picking up her own tray. This made Nagisa genuinely smile, he did not think Chisa would ever consider sharing a drink, let alone food, since she is a clear gluttony!

The two of them quietly had a nice and uneventful lunch after the small scenery of Nagisa being slapped back to his senses and old self. Chisa hummed softly and dangled her legs back and forth, gazing at the outside garden.

"You really are something," Nagisa complimented Chisa.

Nagisa was in complete awe with her easy going nature one moment, then cold and realistic the next, she was fearless.

"Did you say something?" Chisa turned her head around to Nagisa.

"No, nothing at all," Nagisa broadly smiled and Chisa responded likewise.

They cleaned up their plates shortly after and headed outside to take a lucid walk in the garden. There were all kinds of flowers, bushes and trees out here, Nagisa could not even name them all based on his herbology reading alone.

"What is your plan moving forward? There is an entire month before the next mock-battle, and judging from your popularity, I would assume Daiki will have the next swing at you," Chisa glanced at Nagisa.

Nagisa looked up at the sky, it was a good question, one that he was pondering as well.

"I have to improve and remain calm for next time, and who knows what can happen in a month, right?" Nagisa chose to smile again to reassure her.

Chisa led him slowly to the training grounds without Nagisa really realizing her ulterior motive.

"Wait, how did we end up here?" Nagisa was confused.

The small buildings of the training grounds surrounded them and Chisa went inside one, opening the door after booking it.

"Are you coming in, or what?" Chisa lingered by the door, holding it open with one hand.

Nagisa slapped his cheeks together to keep up his focus. Chisa approached the middle and unsheathed her sword, pointing it towards Nagisa in utmost seriousness.

"It is about time you told me about your abilities,"

Credits had to be given to Chisa. She was as perceptive as Miyuki after only a single encounter. Nagisa sighed.

"I have two magic abilities, duel-trait if you will, both Wind Magic and Arcane Magic," he revealed his secret.

This made Chisa drop her jaw and gave Nagisa a good hard knuckle punch to his right shoulder.

"Why did you not tell me! So many secrets, Sanagi and now this!" Chisa fussed childlessly.

Nagisa began to explain his mana concerns. His Arcane abilities only enhanced his Wind ones and gave him early insight, "if" he could keep up with his opponents.

"Is that how you found a counter to my barrage, I varied them at random," Chisa realized, thinking back to their first sparring.

"Yeah…" Nagisa nodded and unsheathed his weapon.

< Arcane Awakening >

They began sparring lightly and he showcased Chisa his ability first-hand.

"Left abdominal, right knee. Center throat. Dodge, duck, repel and counter at an upwards angle," Nagisa called out all of Chisa's strikes both preemptively and efficiently.

They were sparring without their enchantments with the exception of his foresight reading.

"This is…" Chisa was scrambling for words.

"Incredible? I know… but only if I can keep up with my opponent, hence for now, I am lacking in two areas," Nagisa held up two fingers.

"Mana and speed," he added.

They sat down on the ground to ponder for a while. Chisa frustratingly shook and scratched her head.

"I cannot help you with either, Fire Magic counters Wind, and even if you get adjusted to my speed, Miyuki will probably be faster than me," Chisa admitted.

This statement made Nagisa think for a second.

"After I passed out, he blocked all three of your strikes, right?" Nagisa confirmed one of their earlier topics at lunch.

Chisa nodded and Nagisa stood up to draw on the sand. Two separate equations of physics were drawn completely out and it caused Chisa's head to spin.

"What's all this for…" Chisa asked.

"Simple physics, I am calculating his estimated speed based on my lack of reaction to his first strike and not only the speed he would need to block all of yours, but also where he could possibly be at," Nagisa explained while finalizing his calculations.

Chisa was impressed yet again and idly sat for a couple of minutes for Nagisa to break down his math.

"I would say you are probably half his speed, at best," Nagisa exhaled audibly.

It was as they had feared, their sparring was futile for future training and preparation against Miyuki, he needed a much faster opponent.

"Half?!" Chisa was not happy about that statement and stomped the ground to vent out for a bit.

"How about a hologram opponent that is faster?" Nagisa suggested.

A rapid thought occurred about hologram training, although Chisa shook her head instantly once the words were uttered.

"A hologram only serves for cold practice, even if you get accustomed to its speed, it will not have the same reflexes, breathing pattern and decision making as your opponent, if anything it will hurt you if you overdo it," Chisa lengthly explained the complications.

"For instance," Chisa began to unsheathe her sword.

They both drew their swords and Chisa moved in. Nagisa read that Chisa would try and thrust his chest, but she feigned and swept his feet with a powerful kick, knocking Nagisa down flat on his back.

"You could not read that, right?" Chisa stated.

"Yeah, but… how?" Nagisa pondered.

Chisa helped him right back up.

"I decided it was better to fake in the last second. Since our reactions are about the same, I was able to easily kick your feet to throw off your balance," Chisa informed.

"I am able to gain the upper hand by kicking your feet, thus causing you to lose your balance," Chisa briefed Nagisa the thoughts behind her actions.

This much was correct, Nagisa did not see her attack nor fake coming.

"You are right, and underhanded tactics are their specialty, Miyuki just did not need them," Nagisa bit his nail slightly on his left thumb.

Nagisa began to ponder different implications he had not thought of right before now. Chisa analyzed his bizarre force of habits and looked at Nagisa all dead serious.

"You are left-handed, are you not?" Chisa wanted him to confirm her suspicions.

This made Nagisa slightly panic at her suggested remark and ultimately reaffirming them.

"What makes you think that?" Nagisa's voice cracked.

"You eat with your left. You just bit your left thumb! And something Miyuki said earlier right before I stopped him from his attempt to stab your left hand. However you insist on wielding your sword with your right, is there something you are not telling me?" Chisa analyzed and interrogated him.

Leaving it to Chisa, her perceptiveness seemed to rival Miyuki's. Nagisa took a brief moment to collect his thoughts.

"Yeah, you are right, I am left-handed," Nagisa confessed.

"Then why?" Chisa remained puzzled.

Her mind could not comprehend Nagisa's bizarre behaviour.

Nagisa shifted his sword to his left as he said, "When I use my left one, I am unable to enchant and focus to use my sword properly," Nagisa paused.

"Also, it drains me much more of my mana compared to my right hand during all of my enchantments," Nagisa concluded.

Chisa quietly observed with full suspicion, however after about three minutes all four of his enchantments faded and Nagisa appeared fatigued earlier than their fight.

"I do not buy it… I feel like there is something else you are not telling me… like why do you have more than a single sword with you all the time?" Chisa remained suspicious.

Nagisa sighed as the prying was getting tiring, "Spare ones?" he smiled as he tried to change the topic.

"I am heading for the library to see if there is any more insight on how to improve my mana or speed, are you coming?" Nagisa turned around to head out and escape any further interrogation.

"Do not change the topic, I know you are withholding something!" Chisa sniffed it right out.

However Nagisa decided to not give in and at least keep his last remaining secret. After all, it was futile if he did not work towards making it work.

"Wait! Wait for me, Nagisa!" Chisa puffed up her cheeks angrily.

Chisa tried to keep up with the suspicious Nagisa, who increased his walking pace to set off towards the library while altering and avoiding the topic entirely.