Chapter 0.1: An Invitation

10:10 a.m., Hitotsu family clan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan

Two people knocked on the door to the room where the clan master does his daily biddings, ranging from managing personnel to making deals with other clans. The two that stand by the door are of close age, one being the older sister, with a mere four-month age difference.

"Father, please excuse us."

The older sibling voiced out. Soon after, the pair entered the room and is faced by the clan master. He shifted his gaze from his personal computer towards them.

"Akane, Faker, sorry for calling you both on short notice," the headmaster said while gesturing with his hand for them to take their seats in front of him.

At this statement, the older sister, Akane, had a visible look of irritation. She was about to say something, but upon noticing her younger sibling's unchanging, neutral-sad expression, she decided to ignore her father's wording.

They both took a seat in front of the headmaster. Both seats were equidistant from him, Akane sitting on his diagonal left while Rin sitting on his right. The headmaster pressed a button on his table and in a few seconds, tea was served by their maid. The maid briefly nodded before exiting the room.

"Now that tea has arrived, I will get onto the reason I have summoned both of you here today."

The headmaster opened the cabinet of the drawer in front of his leg and took out a white envelope. It had a stamp sealing it, with a distinctively renowned logo. He unsealed the envelope in front of the duo. Upon seeing the logo, both siblings understood why they were summoned on this occasion.

"As you both seem to understand, I will get onto the main subject," he stated after sipping his tea, "You both were personally invited by Taimadou Academy to pursue high school studies there. I believe this is a good opportunity. What do you think, Akane?"

Akane looked at her father with a questionable expression, coupled with a slight touch of anger. She understood her father's malicious wording. Looking at her younger sibling, she spoke up.

"Father, I don't mind, but Rin doesn't have magic?"

Even though the matter at hand was related to him, the younger sibling, Rin, simply sat there, offering neither a gesture nor a word. Akane glanced at Rin, then back to her father.

"Are you telling me to decide whether Rin is going to suffer for three to four years?"

Akane stared intently at his father but has not raised her voice just yet, even though her brother was being treated this way once again. The headmaster took note of this interesting point.

"Putting it blatantly, yes. But isn't it per the agreement between the two of us that Rin would go along with your choice of school?"

Akane looked towards Rin, to which he nodded in agreement. Akane sighed in turn; it seemed that the two of them had talked about this in advance.

"I thought that you wanted to restrict Rin's involvement with people out of the clan. But now you want to enroll him in high school?"

The headmaster stood up. Pacing about the room, he seemed to contemplate for a few moments, before returning back to his seat.

"I think… this is a good opportunity."

Given how the headmaster was, this was likely deemed to be unexpected for him to say. However, he was to conceal his true intent at that current time. He was not ready to reveal it quite yet.

"…"

Rin did not respond. On the other hand, Akane's eyes were staring downwards. She was thinking deeply to herself.

"A good experience… For me, him, or both of us?"

The headmaster chuckled to himself. "You're free to take it as what you wish, but you know what I truly mean."

Akane was seething with anger. However, to say that she was entirely mad would be incorrect. Somewhere in her heart, she felt happy; happy because of the fact that her younger brother wanted to go to high school together with her. Maybe that is why she had not let out her anger this far into the conversation.

A pause briefly engulfed the room, before an unexpected voice spoke out.

"Big sis, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Rin voiced out. The headmaster and Akane were surprised by his sudden statement, as he very rarely talked in these conversations. According to Akane's memory, the last time had been at least a few years ago.

"Faker, it seems you are a bit too full of yourself once again."

The headmaster was slightly angered. Even though it appeared as if he did not really consider Rin's opinion on this, he believed that Rin's statement was somewhat out of his place to say.

Unsurprisingly, however, the person this phrase was directed to did not reply and once again, continued to be the third wheel.

Akane was not at all pleased by how her father responded to her brother's comforting words, but she felt elated beyond measure. The reason why was a bit hard to explain. This did not have any effect on the main problem, however; the fact that Rin was about to enroll in a magic high school without magic.

"So… is it settled? The principal has been awaiting my response ever since he sent the envelope."

Akane took one last glance towards the seemingly-unaffected Rin before answering her father. "Yes, we will enroll this summer."

"That is great. I will send an email of the formalities at a later date. And with that, we are done for today."

The headmaster placed the envelope back into the cabinet and looked at Akane and Rin before finally gesturing for them to leave the room. Both siblings bowed and left his office.