Chapter 1.2: An Unexpected Challenge

7:45 a.m., Taimadou Academy's school gates

"Thanks for the ride as always, Kaji."

Akane smiled at the person who manned their transport, Kaji, who bowed down with a hand held forward.

"It is my pleasure, young mistress," Kaji replied with a dazzling smile. He always appreciated the fact that his mistress showed her appreciation to her servants.

Rin nodded toward him, which was his normal way of showing appreciation. Kaji responded with yet another smile. It would be a while until they saw him again.

They both walked into the academy side by side. If this was a different timeline in which they were not siblings, it would not be weird to say that they were hand in hand. Possible heirs to clans usually got engaged as soon as they were of legal age. Often so, they were engaged with the person that was closest to them; that way if they possessed the same element. Some managed to break this tradition, but they usually ended up succumbing to their responsibilities regardless.

There were numerous whispers around them as they walked past the school gates. This much, however, was commonplace to them, and so they simply walked past the crowd which was slowly making way for them. Rin certainly did not ignore a gaze directed towards them from the school buildings. He couldn't quite pinpoint the location where it came from but decided to look back in his predicted direction. Akane also noticed this but decided to act like a lady and ignore it.

However, before they could reach the entrance of the main building, there stood someone before them: a student with blue hair as well as a strap on his shoulder. On the strap was written 'student council'. More murmurs began to spread within the thick crowd.

"Good morning. Welcome to Taimadou Academy. We welcome you both with open arms."

The unknown blue-haired stranger spoke out.

Akane was not too keen on analysis, but even she easily felt like there was something odd about the situation.

"My name is Hayate, a second-year student, and part of the student council. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

The student who appeared to be Hayate bowed towards the two freshmen, with one hand held in front of him.

"Senior Hayate, it is a pleasure to meet you as well. I am Akane, and this is my younger brother, Rin."

The siblings bowed at the same time. Hayate smiled back at the two. Under the guise of his smile, however, he had an ulterior motive.

"Thank you very much." *He coughed. "With that out of the way, as you two are freshmen, may I be your guide?"

Hayate offered in the sincerest tone he could muster. It was certainly very difficult for him in this instance.

"Senior Hayate, I think we both should be fine, as we have the school map on our mobile phones. However, if Senior is willing to do so, then we will take you up on your offer."

"Don't worry. I'm here to do my rounds anyways, so it works in my favor. Therefore…"

He took a glance towards Rin, then looked back to Akane.

"Shall we go now?" He gestured towards the two siblings.

They both nodded in reply.

Hayate brought them to various places as they had ample time before the opening ceremony. The cafeteria, the classrooms, the faculty office, and more. There were three more places he wanted to visit, and the second-to-last one would ultimately be his goal, but he was too eager and decided to go there first.

The three of them walked towards the school's fabled 'duel dome', with a lot of people following behind them since their encounter.

After they walked close to the arena, Hayate turned towards them.

"This is our school's prized duel dome. It is where each and every magic duel of ours takes place or, in our school's terms, magic chess."

Magic chess was a special duel format that was used within the four schools in Japan. This format was developed to increase the user's critical and strategical thinking.

He took a few steps closer to the arena and voiced an interesting proposal.

"Akane, Rin, may I, Sanumi Hayate, have the honor of fighting one of you?"

The crowd behind them suddenly became silent. All of them were surprised by his sudden announcement. Some, however, were brimming with anticipation. It was quite rare to be able to witness a magic duel between magicians of high-tier clans, especially the Hitotsu clan, as they were low-profile.

The two of them glanced at one another for a moment, then turned towards the one who made this proposal.

"Senior Hayate, may I ask for your reason?"

Hayate listened to her question and thought to himself of an answer that would be suitable. He clearly could not say that he simply wanted to fight them. Suddenly, a brilliant response came to his head.

"We still have a lot of time before the ceremony starts. Instead of loitering around randomly, a duel would certainly be a better use of the remaining time."

Akane thought to herself for a bit and decided to reject his invitation. But, before she could voice her rejection, her brother Rin had already spoken.

"Sorry, Senior Hayate, but I don't think that it's a good idea."

That was the first time Rin had talked in this conversation, which caught Hayate, Akane, and all the students following them off-guard.

"Didn't Senior say that he had to do his rounds?"

Rin had stated a valid point.

Hayate was currently feeling two emotions. One is disappointment, due to his proposal being rejected, and the second is irritation, as Rin used his words against him. Fortunately, he still had the sense to not allow his emotions to get the better of him.

"My apologies, it seems that I was carried away by the spur of the moment." Hayate bowed his head while feeling somewhat bitter.

"Senior, I don't think you need to bow your head. There was nothing wrong with your proposal."

From the flow of the conversation, the one to say this should have been Rin, but it was Akane instead.

Hayate raised his head and looked at Akane. She did not appear to have any ill will and said it genuinely, allowing him to feel slightly better.

"Well then, shall we visit the last two places instead?"

After visiting the dormitory rooms, the three of them went to their final destination. Upon entering the building, the crowd seemed to disperse until there were only three of them left. Hayate stopped in front of a door with the nameplate "Student Council Room" and knocked on it twice. A voice was soon heard from inside and he opened the door.

Inside the room, there was a lone girl standing by the window, peering toward the school gates. After the door closed, she turned her attention toward the three who had entered.

"Hitotsu Akane, Hitotsu Rin, welcome to Taimadou Academy. I am Michishio Hasumi, the current acting student council president."

A charming voice spread out, dispersing like cologne. Was this magic, or simply natural?

"Thank you very much, President."

As usual, the one who replied was the older sibling, Akane. The two of them bowed after those words.

"Hayate, did you try to engage in a duel with these two?"

Hasumi looked at Hayate with a blank expression. It was hard to make out what she was truly thinking.

"Yes, Pres, I did."

"But you know that I told you to bring them here, right? If the duel commenced, wouldn't they be unable to come here before the opening ceremony?"

Hearing this, Hayate had sweat dripping down his back. He was in trouble.

"Never mind, we are wasting time here. You may continue to do your rounds."

Hayate internally sighed in relief. He did not want to incur the wrath of the president on the first day of the semester. He left the office after bowing down.

Hasumi sighed out loud at the incompetence of her council member and apologized to the siblings before her upon his departure. They said that there was no harm intended in response and expected to move to the reason they were brought here, but Hasumi was still stuck on the topic.

"Out of curiosity, why did you both decline his invitation? I mean, it was to my benefit, but why?"

This was a strange question for Hasumi. She logically knew that this topic should have been over, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"Senior Hayate had to do his rounds."

The one who said this was Rin. It seems that he felt that it was his obligation.

"Oh, I see… So, what was the real reason?"

Hasumi was not convinced as the answer simply made too little sense for her.

"I didn't want Akane's clothes to get dirtied."

"Akane's? Not yours?"

Hasumi managed to pinpoint this small note that Rin has mentioned. Was it an accidental slip-up by him? Hasumi herself has thought so and as such decided to pursue it.

"Yes, not mine."

"Are you saying you never intended to fight him?"

Contrary to her attractive appearance, Hasumi was known to have a very sharp mind. This was one of the reasons that despite only being a second-year student, she was elected as the student council president. Well, her lovely appearance did have a factor in the votes made by the male body; something that did not need to be said.

"Yes, that is true, student council president."

Rin was honest in his answer.

"Please address me as 'Hasumi'; I would personally prefer that. Also, may I ask again why?"

She once again decided to pursue the matter.

Rin appeared slightly conflicted and hesitated to answer her question. Hasumi noticed this and was about to end the topic and continue with the more important matter. However, before she could, Rin spoke.

"…Cause, I didn't want to injure him before the ceremony."

Rin muttered with a soft voice.

Hasumi and Akane both looked at Rin, but with different expressions. Hasumi had a baffled expression, surprised at the fact that Rin essentially declared he could defeat a third clan water magician easily. Even though they were in different tiers altogether, in a magic duel, what mattered more was how proficient one was at managing their spells. Therefore, just because you were from a higher tier clan, that did not necessarily mean you were stronger. This made Hasumi regard Rin higher than before, merely being a descendant from a high-tier clan.

Akane, on the other hand, looked at Rin with admiration. The reason for this was not clear.

For the next few seconds, the room was silent. Hasumi decided that they would drop the topic and move to the next.

"The reason I called you here is to ask whether there would be any problems regarding your magic."

Even though the change in topic was quite abrupt, the other two did not find this unpleasant, and rather, better. But the new topic that was introduced was not exactly a better one.

"No, that won't be the case, for both of us."

Answering her was Akane, who had been silent for quite some time.

"That's great. I had to inquire about this before the ceremony as this is per school procedure. The principal relayed the importance of this to me personally. I will enquire your response to him later."

"Thank you very much, Senior Hasumi."

"My pleasure."

On hearing Akane's response, Hasumi smiled.

The conversation on the surface appeared very simple. It was just an upperclassman caring for her two new juniors. Normally, that was. But that was not the case here. Hasumi here was referring to the cost of being able to use magic: the loss of an emotion. Even though it is seldom, there were some cases where students lost an emotion that was important in order to maintain peace in the academy, which could lead to expulsion. One incident which occurred was when a student nearly killed another in a magic duel, before being knocked unconscious by the referee. The reason he went to that extent was that he could not feel empathy towards others. And to him, killing his enemy was nothing significant.

Previously, there was no rule that you could not fatally injure someone. After that incident, the rule was added along with a few other additional rules.

"Oh, it's almost time. I must do some preparations for the opening ceremony. Shall we get going?"

Hasumi offered the two siblings to follow her, and they accepted her proposal.

Unbeknownst to them, Hasumi had a gloomy thought.

'I hope the incident doesn't happen again this year.'