Chapter 32

The atmosphere around Yuuji and Erika had noticeably changed in the last few days enough that even Leo, who wasn't the best at reading the air, noticed it.

During lunch, while Yuuji would normally sit in between Aika and Tatsuya, Erika was now sitting in Tatsuya's place instead. And although Erika, Yuuji, and Aika were talking as usual, they could notice how closer the three have become with each other.

But that was it. Except for Tatsuya and Miyuki, who Yuuji, Aika, and Erika decided to tell, no one knew about Erika's relationship with Yuuji yet. She was too embarrassed since she's not used to dealing with romantic stuff, and she simply wanted everything to stay the same when they're with their friends.

In fact, Erika was also hesitant to tell Tatsuya and Miyuki, but Aika convinced her by telling her that if she wanted to keep it a secret from the two, she'll have to limit her interaction with Yuuji when they're at home since both Tatsuya and Miyuki often came to visit.

Erika knew that the four were quite close with each other, but she was quite surprised when she found out that they're even closer than she first expected.

So in the end, she agreed and told Tatsuya and Miyuki about her and Yuuji's relationship… After all, the only time she could act like a real couple with Yuuji was when she's in his house. If she couldn't even do that during that time, then when would it be! She didn't want to sneak around whenever they wanted to flirt!

They have no chance to flirt in school because Yuuji was in Course 1 while she's in Course 2. Not only was their classroom far from each other, their classes were also different. So the only time they could talk was during lunch and after school.

Though unfortunately, Yuuji couldn't meet her during lunch since the student council invited him, Aika, Tatsuya, and Miyuki to lunch in the Student Council's office.

So all Yuuji could do was text Erika and tell her he'll make up for it by treating her with dinner.

Tsubakihara Yuuji: I'm really sorry. I'll treat you to dinner tonight to make up for it.

Chiba Erika: It's fine! I'll be eating with Mizuki then! I'll look forward to dinner!

Tsubakihara Yuuji: Mm. Love you.

Chiba Erika: Love you too.

Yuuji smiled softly as he looked at her reply and giggled to himself inwardly. He could easily imagine how red she was when she's typing this. After all, even after spending a few evenings hanging out and flirting with him in his house along with Aika, she's still not used to the intimacy.

It was really cute.

Just then, he snapped out of his thoughts when Mayumi began to speak.

"For the nine Magic University Affiliated High Schools around the country, the Nine Schools Competition is a high-profile event. The essay contest held in the fall is research-oriented, while during the Nine Schools Competition held in the summer, each school goes head-to-head in sports-type magic contests. And of course, since the school's honor is on the line, the contestants are chosen based on merits."

"So the Student council is taking the lead in preparing for the event, right?"

"Yes. As far as selecting our athletes, we've managed to finalize our roster thanks to Juumonji-kun's help. In fact, we were quite spoiled for choice while choosing our freshmen representatives since we have Yuuji-kun, Aika-san, and Miyuki-san. But the issue is choosing engineers… The technical staff…"

"You're still short on engineers huh?"

Mari crossed her arms and looked at Mayumi with a concerned look. Although there's still time, still being short on engineers until now was quite a problem.

"Yes… The third year classes are particularly skewed towards practical skills. As for second years, we do have A-chan and Isori-kun… But…"

"Isori Kei, huh…? I'd say he's more of a pure theorist, and not too adept at fine tuning, right?"

"Hah… If only you could find a way to fine-tune at least your own CAD, Mari, my job would be so much easier…"

"Well, I see we have a serious problem…"

In the midst of silence as Mayumi, Mari, Suzune, and Azusa tried to think of a solution, Yuuji raised his hand.

"Uhm… I'm sure we'll still need an engineer, but to perhaps alleviate some of the burden, I could tune my own CAD, Aika's, and one other athlete's CAD if need be."

"Eh?! Really? Can you fine tune your own CAD?"

Yuuji nodded and lowered his left sleeves slightly, revealing the bracelet-type CAD on his wrists.

"Yes. I've been tuning this CAD as well as the one on Aika's wrists myself."

"Oh, that's impressive."

Mari, Suzune, and Azusa all looked at him impressed.

"But you'll be participating as an athlete as well right, Yuuji-kun? Will you be alright?"

Mayumi was delighted, but she was also quite worried. After all, even though he had shown his skills in both practical and theory, he was still a first year student. She didn't want to burden him too much by making him both an athlete and an engineer for such an important event.

"It will be alright, president. I'm used to fine-tuning my own CAD and Aika's, and I believe I'll be able to handle one other person's CAD. If you're worried about the results, then perhaps I can be an engineer for another freshman athlete."

"Hm… That's not a bad idea. I agree with this!"

Mari nodded with an approving smile.

"...Alright. Thank you so much, Yuuji-kun. But if you feel overwhelmed with the work, the make sure to tell me, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you very much for your concern, president. But… even then, I believe we'll still be lacking in terms of manpower, right?"

"Uhn… You're right. We still need someone dedicated as an engineer…"

Mayumi let out a sigh, but she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Yuuji smiling ever so brightly at her.

"Then what about Tatsuya, president?"

"Ah-!"

All of them immediately turned their heads towards Tatsuya with widened eyes. Their lips slowly forming into a smile as they realized that their solution is right in front of them all along.

Mayumi's eyes also brightened and she immediately held Yuuji's shoulders in delight.

"What a nice idea, Yuuji-kun!!!"

"I see… I must be being careless… How could I not have come up with that?"

Tatsuya glanced at Yuuji in disbelief and let out a sigh as soon as he saw his grin.

He turned towards Mayumi and tried to make a case for himself.

"...If I'm not mistaken, a first year has never been elected as a technical staff."

"There has to be a first for everything, right president?"

"Uhn~! It's as Yuuji-kun said~!"

"Mm. Precedents were made to be overturned."

"...You two are progressive thinkers, so you might see it that way, but for a first year, and a Course 2 to boot… And on top of that, I've been standing out in a bad way in more ways than one."

"W-Well that's…"

Mayumi let go of Yuuji's shoulders and grasped her hands as she averted her gaze, deflated.

"Trust between engineer and user is a crucial part of CAD fine-tuning. Appointing someone who might bring on a backlash from athletes doesn't sound like a good idea… Moreover, I believe Yuuji will be sufficient enough to cover for the position of both engineer and athlete considering his capabilities. That should be enough, right…?"

Yuuji widened his eyes and looked at Tatsuya in disbelief. Did he really not want to join the Nine Schools Competition? No, they've talked about it while planning on what they're going to do against the No Head Dragons that will be bothering them during the event, and he's included in the plan.

Then… Could he be… planning to go as an outsider like Erika, Mizuki, Leo, and Mikihiko…?

If he was, then he would be able to attend the event without being part of the representative team. But… the Nine Schools Competition wasn't only a place for him to show his prowess and gain recognition from others, but also an integral factor for his personal growth.

He might think it'd be better for him to hide from his aunt until he's ready, but his growth as a person is much more important! Also, didn't everything end well in the anime either way?

Yuuji didn't want him to miss this event… He truly believed this event would be good for him.

He stared at Tatsuya and saw him looking back at him. His gaze, firm and unmoving.

Yuuji was truly at a loss… After everything Tatsuya had said, he couldn't force him anymore…

Yes… he can't. But there's someone who could.

"I'd like my brother to fine-tune my CAD for the Nine School Competition as well. I-I understand that Yuuji is also perfectly capable, but as expected, I'd feel more comfortable if my brother is the one who does it!"

Yuuji couldn't help but cheer in his heart the moment Miyuki stood up from her chair and said that. He let out a sigh of relief as Aika also jumped up from her seat and placed her hands on Miyuki's shoulder with a grin aimed at Tatsuya.

"Hehehe~ That's right~ You said it yourself right, Tatsuya~? That trust between the engineer and the athlete is super important~! That means, it will be for Miyuki's best if you, the person she trusts the most, fine tune her CAD! Right, Miyuki-chan~?"

"U-Uhn… Is it… Okay, onii-sama…?"

"Ah…"

Yuuji's lips curled into a smile as he looked at his expression. It has been decided.

As expected. When dealing with a siscon, we need his sister to be the one who asks him and he'll do everything!

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

After the discussion, Miyuki stayed to do her duties as a member of the student council while Tatsuya also stayed to accompany her.

Yuuji and Aika, on the other hand, excused themselves from the student council room to meet up with Erika, who's waiting for them.

They went out of the building into the courtyard and immediately saw Erika sitting on a park bench in front of a tree, waving at them.

"Hey! How was the meeting?"

"It went well. It was more of a talk than a meeting, though."

Erika scooted over, giving Yuuji space to sit beside her and Aika to sit on his other side.

"Oh, is it about the Nine Schools Competition?"

"It was! And you'll never believe what we talked about!"

"Hm? What?"

Aika grinned and placed her hand to the side of her lips, hiding it from outside view, and continued.

"Tatsuya will become an engineer for the team!"

"Eh?! Really?!"

"Well, to be precise, he'll be recommended by the student council. But I'm sure he'll be accepted, considering his skills."

Yuuji added as he looked at the surprised Erika with a small smile.

"Heeeeeh, that's amazing."

"Mm. We'll also be holding a meeting along with Juumonji-senpai and the rest of the team for this, so we might go home late…"

"Ah… Oh well, it can't be helped, right…?"

Erika smiled helplessly in disappointment. She was really looking forward to visiting them after school today since Yuuji will be treating her to dinner, but since they'll be going home late, it'll be difficult to do so.

"Hehe~ You can just go to our house first, Erika~!"

"Eh? Will that be okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be? We've registered your fingerprint for the lock last time for a reason."

"A-Ah… T-Then, I'll be waiting for you guys there."

"Mm. We'll go back as soon as possible."

"Hehe~ Isn't that great, Erika? You can use this chance to dive into Yuuji's bed and sniff it all you want, you know~"

"W-What are you saying, you pervert!!! I won't do that!!!"

"Eeeehhhh~? Really~??? Well, it's your loss~ I'm just saying because Yuuji's room is never locked~"

"..."

Yuuji leaned back and watched Aika continuing to tease Erika silently with a helpless smile.

Seeing them getting along this well had been a tremendous relief to him. After all, his biggest concern since agreeing to Aika's harem plan was whether or not the girls in his harem could get along. He was prepared to do his best to pacify them when needed and become an intermediary when they fight. But so far, he never had to do that.

In fact, Aika and Erika had become really close really quickly, which is nothing but good news for him.

Just then, the bell signaling the end of their lunch break rang.

"Ah, it's the bell. We better return to class soon."

"Hehe~ Don't forget what I said okay, Erika~? You're free to do anything you want in Yuuji's room!"

"I-I get it already! Just go back to your class! I'll be going back to!"

"Ah, wait."

Yuuji grab Erika's hand when she was about to leave and turned her around.

And before she could say anything, he placed a hand on her cheek and gave her lips a soft, gentle kiss filled with his affection.

"Alright. See you later. I love you, Erika."

Erika stood there with eyes opened wide, completely frozen, before her face burst into red and quickly averted her face away from him.

"U-Uhn! I-I-I love you too! S-See you guys later!!!"

With her hand freed from Yuuji's grasp, she immediately burst into a sprint and run away from them, leaving Yuuji with a helpless smile and Aika with a wide, teasing grin on her face.

"Kekeke~ How the proud swords girl has fallen~ Good job, Yuuji~ You're successfully corrupting her into your love slave slowly~"

Yuuji sighed and bonked her on the head.

"That's not what I'm doing… Now stop messing around and let's go back to class. We'll be late."

"Sure~"

Aika hugged Yuuji's arm with a wide smile and made their way back to class, separating from their hand holding midway once there were other students around.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

After school.

Yuuji, Aika, and Miyuki went to the First High School's Extracurricular Activities Federation HQ for a meeting regarding the Nine Schools Competition which would be held soon.

Leading the meeting was Saegusa Mayumi, who sat at the center of the desk up front, facing him and the rest of the stduents who will be representing First Highschool in the competition.

To her left was the chairwoman of the Disciplinary Committee, Watanabe Mari, while to her right was the chairman of the Extracurricular Activities Federation, Juumonji Kaito. And lastly, standing diagonally behind the student council president was her vice, Hattori Hanzou.

But not only them, Yuuji and Aika also recognized a few people currently in this room. Kitayama Shizuku and Mitsui Honoka, who came with them along with Tatsuya and Miyuki to this room right after their last class ended, Isori Kei and Chiyoda Kanon, who they recognized from the anime, as well as Kirihara Takeaki, who they are quite closely acquainted with after the blanche incident.

After preliminary messages from the leaders of each of the student organizations, Mayumi immediately went straight to the point with her main agenda.

"As the president of the student council, I hereby nominate Shiba Tatsuya to be a member of our team as an engineer to represent First High School in the upcoming Nine Schools Competition."

As they expected, many were unconvinced by the fact that a Course 2 student was nominated to be a member of the team to represent the school, while some doubted his ability and wondered whether or not he could fine tune a CAD.

Seeing their reactions, Juumonji's voice resounded, silencing all of them with his deep, baritone, commanding voice.

"It seems like many are still unconvinced… It would probably be best to have you actually see Shiba's skills."

"Oh…? What are you planning to do specifically?"

Mari leaned in slightly and turned towards Juumonji.

"I'm thinking of having him actually fine tune a CAD. If needed, I will be the test subject for all of you to see his skill."

"What? That is too dangerous!"

"That's right, chairman. If the tuning is sub-par, suffering from injuries would be the least of your concerns!"

"I am the one who nominated him, so I shall take on the role."

Mayumi also raised her voice to volunteer herself. But before anyone could say anything in return, Kirihara stood up and raised his hand.

"Excuse me, but may I be the one to take on that role?"

"... Are you sure, Kirihara-kun?"

"Of course, president."

"...Then please."

WIth no one else raising their voice, all of them moved to a nearby lab where they would test Tatsuya's skills in fine tuning a CAD.

Like most of the rooms in the school, the lab had predominantly white floors and walls with various advanced computers and devices. The devices and computers here were all advanced technology that lives up to the kind of facility that would be present within one of the best schools of magic in the country. While they were not as advanced as the ones used in extremely dedicated research lab for magic such as FLT's lab or Yuuji's lab, it was still far more than sufficient for students to use and dive deep into the world of magic.

Tatsuya sat down before the main computer and began preparing it for his task. As he did, he turned towards the president, who was standing a few distance away from his side along with Mari, and began reiterating his task.

"The task is to copy Kirihara-senpai's CAD's settings over to this CAD for competitive use, and to make it immediately usable. However, I am not to tamper with the Activation Sequence itself. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that will be all. Hm? What's wrong?"

"...Although I don't really recommend copying the settings of a CAD with different specs. It can't be helped. I will take a "Safety First" approach."

Tatsuya began his task and the scanner device, where both Kirihara's personal bracer-type CAD and the bracer-type CAD used for competitions were laid on, began to glow.

At the same time, Kirihara also put on a visor and placed his hand on another scanning device which was used to get the measurement of his vitals and magic.

A few moments later, Tatsuya told Kirihara that it is fine to take it off now that the scanning is complete and began to type at high speeds.

Seeing his "unusual" method of fine tuning, many who had already doubted him began to doubt him even further and some even sneered at his "strange" and "old school" methods.

But the few who did understand what he was doing were impressed by his skills, including Azusa and Isori Kei.

"A totally manual fine tuning, huh? That's impressive…"

"Eh? Is it really that impressive, Kei?"

From his side, a beautiful purple-haired girl leaned in and asked her beloved fiance confusedly.

"Mm. It is. It's just that there seem to be a lot of people who don't get what it is that he's doing."

Hearing their little conversation, Yuuji couldn't help but approach them.

Although Kei was a supporting character in the anime, Yuuji couldn't help but like him as a person. After all, he was an extremely kind, gentle, and soft spoken man who'd he would really love to get along with. He's like a gentle older brother in Yuuji's eyes.

"I agree. Isori Kei-senpai and Chiyoda Kanon-senpai, am I right? It is a pleasure to meet the both of you. I've heard many good things about both of you and your skills."

Kei and Kanon widened their eyes in surprise for a moment when the super famous freshman approached them. Not only that, he also knew about them.

"Y-Yes. It is my pleasure to meet you as well, Tsubakihara-kun. I didn't expect you to know about us."

"You are too humble, Isori-senpai. The fact that you understand what Tatsuya's doing speaks well to your knowledge and proficiency in this subject."

"You as well."

Kei answered with a soft smile, and Yuuji smiled back. As he expected, he could really get along with this guy very well.

"Hey, I've heard about you volunteering to become both an athlete and an engineer. Is that true?"

Kanon asked, tilting her head forward to better see the freshman she heard so much about.

She felt her heart skip a beat a moment ago from suddenly seeing his super handsome face up close, but as expected, no one else could enter her heart apart from her beloved childhood friend and fiance!

Now, she only felt curiosity towards Yuuji and a slightly good impression of him, seeing as he seemed to admire her Kei a lot.

On the other hand, Yuuji was surprised she already heard about this even though he just said it this morning.

"Yes. Though I don't think I can be as dedicated to engineering with my time as Tatsuya or the other engineers, but I can at least fine tune my, Aika's, and one other person's CAD."

"Heeeeeh~ That's amazing."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Taking care of yourself is also your responsibility as an athlete, you know?"

Kei said in concern, and Yuuji simply nodded gratefully.

"Mm. Thank you for your concern, but I will be fine, senpai. I'm used to handling my own and Aika's CAD, and one other person will not make much of a difference."

"I see… Well, if you ever need help, just contact me, okay? I will be happy to help."

"Hehe~ Kei is an amazing engineer, so you can definitely count on him!"

Kei smiled helplessly as Kanon advertised him with sparkling eyes while hugging his arm.

"Of course."

Yuuji continued his conversation with Kei and Kanon a bit more, but a few moments later, Tatsuya finished his fine tuning.

Putting on the bracer-type CAD to his left wrist, Kirihara activated a spell as he held a bamboo sword in his left hand. It was the spell he frequented the most, the Sonic blade.

After he successfully activated the spell, Juumonji began to speak.

"How does it feel?"

"No problem at all. I don't feel anything different. It feels very natural."

Many were surprised by the results, and some, who were against him joining, began to speak up.

"So he does have some passable skills, but you can't say that he's got finesse."

"His methods are too irregular."

"That's right."

But surprising to everyone, a petite girl with short, golden brown hair stepped up and confronted those who said that.

"I, for one, strongly support naming Shiba to the team! The skills he just showed us are extremely advanced! Doing all that fine-tuning manually… that's something I could never hope to do!"

Despite her nervousness and shyness of speaking in public, Azusa still did her best to express her opinions. After what she had seen, she really wanted Tatsuya to join the team! The skills he had displayed were amazing and it would be a great benefit for their team and the school if he could join the competition!

"His techniques might be advanced, but if the results are pedestrian, then there's no meaning to it."

Azusa deflated at those words, but to the surprise of everyone once again, Hanzou raised his voice.

"Kirihara's personal CAD is a model boasting higher specs than the one for competitive use. Preventing the user from picking up on the difference, I believe that such skills should be rated highly."

"W-Well, I guess that is true…"

Yuuji smiled as he looked at Hanzou, who met his gaze, and spoke up as well.

"Full manual tuning might seem irregular and strange in this day and age where everything can be done using a more streamlined and automatic process. However, that is only due to its high barrier of skill required to properly perform it. With enough knowledge and skill to execute it, full manual fine-tuning would allow engineers to tune the CAD with more precise and refined adjustments compared to other methods. And as you can all see, I believe Shiba Tatsuya possesses such skills."

Hanzou nodded to Yuuji and turned towards the president.

"President. I support adding Shiba-kun to the engineering team."

"Hanzou-kun…!"

"In the Nine School's Competition, our school's prestige is on the line. "Because he is a first year" or "there's no precedent"... We cannot afford to dwell on such trivial matters"

Silence fell upon the room as those who were against Tatsuya joining the team failed to find a logical argument to assert their point.

And as the final nail in the coffin, Juumonji also spoke up in favor.

"I also agree with the points both of you have pointed out. Shiba just showed us that he has the skills to be a member of our school's team. I, too, support adding Shiba to the team."