Hawk Feathers Settle in Verdant Resonance

Chapter 6 – Summoning Demons for Novices

[AN: I tried my hardest researching what the correct terms for what is worn by Onmyouji so please bear with my generalisations and folly. If anyone has any websites explaining the clothes of Onmyouji, please share with the class. . I a e. And I'm sorry for the depictions of Onmyouji in general tbh]

Today was going to be an eye opener for Kazunari as this was his first actual day at school. Yesterday barely counts because it was the orientation ceremony and observing the older students participate in club activity. Even after thinking on it all last night, Kazunari was still no closer to working out how he would like to do for his club.

Over breakfast, Kazunari committed to memory his schedule for today. He had six periods plus homeroom, breaks, and club. Today was going to go like this: history, herbology, arithmetic, Onmyōdō, and then a double period of survival.

Kazunari still wasn't sure what "survival" would consist of and he had the Oni teacher from the assembly yesterday too – Araki Masako. Kazunari figures that he could ask Tae or Sakurai what it means but he's too worried it will make him look weak since "survival" was clearly going to be a hard class.

A bell was rung to declare that there was five minutes between now and everybody's first class. The first years scrambled like mad chickens from their tables and towards the main building; it was cringe worthy entertainment to the older years who hated to admit that they had been like that once too.

The first years' classrooms were situated on the first floor of the main building so that made everyone a lot easier on the nervous little eleven year olds who had no clue what they were doing. Kazunari was in Classroom 1-A. As he approached the door, he came to the realisation that this was where he would belong for the next year and he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the hope that this was going to be the best year of his life; or at least one of many.

Inside the classroom, there were forty desks spread out over ten rows. They looked like antiques as they were entirely wooden and had built-in ink well holders. They still looked to be in great condition though; there were no scars of the past or anything similar. The candles that shone overhead had pale pink flames; as though to represent the first phase of colours that their robes could go through. The room felt cosy and the large window let in gorgeous rays of sunshine that warmed the room.

Kazunari glanced around then decided to take an empty seat that was somewhat close by to the door. As he sat down, he wondered who else would be in his class as it seemed unlikely that there would be much change in the roll until their later years. He knew that Tae wasn't in his class but Sakurai and Furihata were so that was cool. It would be a good way to get closer to him. They seemed a little closed off to him but no matter. Kazunari didn't mind. He makes friends fast and there were plenty of other students in his year that he could probably befriend.

A few more students filed in and another bell rang. Their teacher walked in just as it went. All students promptly chose a desk and stood dutifully behind it. 'Good morning, everyone.' their homeroom teacher droned. He had a scraggly beard, a lab coat, and a hunched back.

'Good morning, sensei!' the students chanted back.

'Alright, siddown, it's just like a normal homeroom – in case you Muggle-borns were wondering. Now, I'm Watanabe-sensei; I'll also be teaching you all potions.' he said.

Watanabe-sensei made a few, blasé announcements and went through his teaching materials in the short period. It didn't last long then a bell rang once more. Someone was definitely tolling it but whom?

Watanabe-sensei walked out and exchanged desks with the literature teacher; the Akiyama-sensei who had handed out club applications yesterday afternoon. Akiyama-sensei seemed slightly more motivated for education than Watanabe-sensei but it seemed too soon to make judgements about his teachers.

The lesson Akiyama-sensei had planned was mostly an introductory course that could be summed up as "Everyone you've ever heard about history is wrong" so it was quite interesting. Especially since most of his sources were listed as being alive and well. History had never grabbed Kazunari's attention before until now. He suspected that this was going to be an interesting class but he still spent most the lesson daydreaming.

Well, sort of. He spent most the lesson scouting the room and getting to know faces. Kazunari has a special talent. He thinks it might have manifested alongside his animagus form but he's also quite certain that he's had this ability since he was four. He calls it his Hawk Eye.

His Hawk Eye allows him to manipulate his field of vision in a true-to-time sequence. He can see the whole classroom from any angle. It's hard on his eyes, only from time to time or when he's used it for longer than five minutes, but it has its uses.

There were three unusual people in the classroom, Kazunari decided. They say you should never judge a book by its cover but these three were really strange. There was the boy with bright blue hair. He was small, pale, and scrawny. He didn't seem to have much presence. Had Kazunari not remembered from homeroom that there were to be three empty chairs, this boy would have been overlooked. Kazunari can't remember his name from the roll being marked so Kazunari christened him "the Phantom".

The second unusual person in the classroom was the boy sitting behind the Phantom. He had dual tone hair: red on top and black beneath. He tended to glare. A lot. Which Kazunari found hilarious because of the way his eyebrows knot together out of frustration. Actually, his eyebrows are hilarious in general because they were forked. It was utterly bizarre!

The third most unusual person in the classroom was easily the tallest boy in the classroom. He was probably going to get taller too. The only thing on par with his height in terms of peculiarity was, well, every other physical aspect of himself as well. He had bright green hair and glasses slightly too big for his face. He taped his fingers too and kept a variety of fiddly things within the reach of his fingertips too.

Kazunari remembered this boy's name though from the Summons. He was Midorima... Ryohei? Yes, that seemed right. Midorima Ryohei-kun.

'Well, we made good time today, kiddos. Yep, finished right on the dot... See you lot on Thursday for our double period.' Akiyama-sensei said. 'Remember, to keep paying attention. Mahoutokoro is more padded than any other curricular in Japan. Seriously. Bye.'

He walked out and the students got up from their chairs. Akiyama-sensei bowed to the next teacher who filed in. Their Onmyōdō teacher was a thin, lofty, man with a prim and proper air. He was very intimidating with a stern glare. Unlike their previous teachers, he was dressed in the traditional garb of white layered jōe robes that had scarlet trims and billowy sleeves. His already sharp face was elongated by his peaked cap; his tate-eboshi.

He strode to the centre of the room and produced his wand. With a wordless flick, the chalk and duster were enchanted to his bidding. The board was swept clean. He assessed the class in the meantime. Tense silence filled the room. This teacher had grey as steel eyes and a will twice as strong. Kazunari was, quite frankly, terrified.

'Welcome to my class.' he said and he bowed curtly.

The students bowed back.

'You may be seated.' he said.

The seats scraped against the floor as the students nervously took a seat. His eyes were still wheedling through the students; making judgements.

'I am Abe-sensei; I shall be educating you all on the art and science that is Onmyōdō. I understand that not all of you are spiritual but for the sake of your report cards; I suggest that you at least fake some degree of theism. I don't believe in wasting time and I also believe that the best gauge in potential is seeing magic in practice. This means that we are going to spend this period summoning yokai or shikigami.'

He had a thin smile; a tad cruel as this was an enormous task for eleven year olds who were barely acquainted with their wands or their magic. Kazunari grinned; his eyes shone. This was super exciting.

Meanwhile, Furihata and Sakurai, were terrified out of their wits and overwhelmed by thoughts of failure.

'I do not expect anyone to summon anything; although, I would like to see someone with slight proficiency. We have the year to give you the basics then four more to improve; more if you choose to do this as a subject in your senior years.' Abe-sensei said.

The sticks of chalk were returned to their container and a beautiful pictogram decorated the blackboard. Abe-sensei explained the barest basics of what Onmyōdō was to the class and then, the class was expected to perfectly understand and copy as he had done.

Abe-sensei was a very skilled wizard. He required no sacrifice or words to summon a small creature from the blackboard's pictogram. The air stirred and waves of water, like the sea, raced from within the tangled design. From its oceanic rhythm, a plump bird made from folded paper flitted through.

'Class, meet Yoko-chan, the first shikigami I ever summoned and my most loyal. I designed her myself when I was eleven.' Abe-sensei said; his expression softened. It seemed like he did have a warm heart beneath his icy exterior as he seemed so nostalgic. His Yoko-chan was very misshapen and clunky. 'She is my messenger. Now, you try to summon something. I don't care what: a crack of electricity, flower petals, a shikigami if you are lucky. Anything, something – exactly as I told you before.'

Kazunari attempted to do that. He remembered skimming through books on Onmyoiji that Fujiwara-sama from cram school had given his tiny class to share. It had always been hard for Kazunari to concentrate on those books because they were densely worded and full of complex words. Now that he thinks about it, none of his senpai seemed all that interested in the area as well. But now that Kazunari had seen this type of magic in practice, it had been a huge help. He thinks it's because he's a visual learner – that's what his teachers at elementary school had called him.

He replicated the summoning circle to the best of his ability. it looked fine... Okay, it looked a little dodgy. It might be a tad lopsided and some of the sigils weren't perfect but it would be fine. Besides, Abe-sensei said he wasn't after perfect, just potential and Kazunari was determined to try his best regardless.

Kazunari uttered the incantation as best as he could. He stumbled through his words as he'd already forgotten what most of them were but he remembered enough to get a fizzling reaction from his summoning circle.

A slight zephyr with an almost autumnal scent, it was smoky and almost earthy; bringing forth images of the hearth, had risen from the circle. Kazunari grinned. There was no smoke and no loud noises but this was good enough for him.

'Amazing, Midorima-kun. You really are capable!'

Kazunari turned around, confused. He had been a little slow but he's almost certain it had been the Phantom speaking because the blue haired boy was haunting Midorima.

'It is to be expected.' Midorima pompously replied. He pushed up his glasses.

His attitude irked Kazunari but it was not unfounded. His eyes wandered down. Midorima's circle had become interwoven woody vines that overlayed the design of the summoning circle. Sitting proudly at the centre of the circle was a pompous-looking toad with skin so slick it looked ceramic. It moved; it blinked and its tongue occasionally emerged from its pursed mouth. There was a jagged hole in its back.

Kazunari was more than impressed. The class was impressed. Even Abe-sensei was impressed. Midorima stood amongst it all and basked in the awe.

Abe-sensei was utterly dumbstruck; his cool facade had shattered. He made it through the swathes of students who surrounded Midorima. 'I-I'm impressed.' he stuttered.

'Onmyōdō has always been interest of mine, so I studied hard at cram school, and now the hard work has paid off.' Midorima replied.

He picked up his Shikigami and from what Kazunari could tell, from afar, it really did seem to be a living ceramic frog. It suited the strange, green-haired boy far too well.

'Don't give it a silly name.' the Phantom advised quietly.

'Of course not. His name is Kerosuke.' Midorima replied indignant.

'A fine name...' Abe-sensei said; in visible agreement with the Phantom yet Midorima was oblivious.

Abe-sensei clapped. 'If you haven't attempted a summoning, get back to it. If you have, then clean up.' he barked.

'Understood.' the students droned back and the crowd dispersed.

Kazunari cleaned up his little mess and couldn't help but feel an irrational anger towards Midorima. Kazunari knows better to say this but there was something about him that. Pissed. Him. Off. It's probably because he's a super tall and has a sour attitude and was way too smart. Just you wait; Kazunari thought to himself bitterly, on Thursday – in Transfiguration, I'll blow everyone's minds.

Unfortunately, Kazunari then realised, that his super cool and unique talent – his favourite part of himself- was going to have to remain top secret until Thursday. That could be tricky since it was such a great ice breaker and Kazunari had yet to meet most his year and make most his new friends.

By the time the classroom had come into order after all the summoning and Onmyōdō magic, it was time for recess. The bell rang and tiny Tofu Kozo skittered into the classroom. They brought healthy snacks to the students. The classroom was rearranged again for maximum socialisation and Kazunari sat with Sakurai and Furihata. Furihata had somehow befriended the boy with the red hair and forked eyebrows so he was sitting with them too.

The Tofu Kozo serving them had never been more terrified of someone as this boy – Kagami Taiga, House of Oni – could eat a lot. Kazunari was kind of terrified of him too for that reason as well. In the span of fifteen minutes, he probably ate five kilograms worth of food and still complained he was hungry.

Kazunari was right though; he is hilarious. He told the best jokes and his appearance was, unintentionally, one of them.

Arithmetic was with Kanzaki-sensei; the other teacher who had supervised the clueless first years yesterday. She was a very bright and bubbly person who taught a subject most ill-suited to that pastel personality. Yet, somehow it worked. She was able to turn what really should be the most torturous subject – this was maths after all – it something somewhat interesting. Her chirpy voice and eager to help mentality was amazing; especially since Kazunari didn't grasp complex mathematical concepts well but this was easy. It was just times tables and order of operations.

Kanzaki-sensei was easily the most personable teacher they've had all day and she was probably going to be one of Kazunari's favourites. It was a genuine shame when the period turned over and she had to leave. She farewelled the class and then left after a curt bow. The next teacher t-? o enter the classroom was the herbology teacher.

Kazunari assumed herbology as going to be like biology. He'd never taken biology before but based on what he knew, he would assume that he was correct. His knowledge on the subject came from television and what they had touched on it in his general science course in elementary school.

The herbology teacher's name was Hayashi and she was a fuss-pot little woman with an upturned nose and stout stomach. She reminded Kazunari somewhat of a rodent. Her voice grated like the way she wrote on the chalkboard. Despite having magic at its core, Kazunari could not be more bored. Herbology was far more interesting when it was Fujiwara-sama showing them plants with strange properties back at his temple.

Lunch was a welcomed but uninteresting affair. Again, Kazunari sat with Sakurai, Furihata, and Kagami. It was downright concerning seeing Kagami eat as much as he does. Kazunari considered himself as having a sizeable appetite but compared to Kagami, he was a lightweight. Sakurai and Furihata meanwhile seem to starve next to him. This had to be a world record of some kind, surely.

Whatever weight Kagami put on over lunch alone was likely to be burnt given they had a double period of survival. Kazunari was still unsure of what to expect with such a lesson. Kazunari's expectations went through the roof when Araki Masako-sensei, pantsuit and katana, showed up at the classroom door with a scowl and the scent of cigarettes.

'For those of you weren't paying attention yesterday at assembly, I'm Araki-sensei. I'm the head teacher of Oni and the only survival teacher at the school. I can teach you to slay dragons and defeat the champions of the world. So, um, prepare your bodies for this because this isn't something you can study for. For Muggle-borns, welcome to the P.E lesson from hell. Also, this is the only time that we will ever meet at the classroom as there is no theory component and you will be expected to fulfil my lesson plan regardless of the weather.' Araki-sensei announced.

Survival just took a very interesting turn. Plenty of boys were enchanted by the concept of becoming champions and dragon slayers; some girls too but there were of course the perturbed minority who were certain they were going to die. Kazunari oscillated between the two mindsets. He was certain he was going to die but at least he was going to die of fun.

Araki-sensei attempted to turn a motley crew of thirty-seven first years into a troop within the span of eighty minutes and failed miserably. She didn't take them into the forest like Kazunari had been hoping but rather into the assembly hall; or rather, its true form: the gymnasium. She equipped her students with kendo gear and had them hit each other. She didn't seem to believe in rules.

Kazunari had lots of fun trying to hit his friends with his shinai. They scurried through the spacy hall; laughing and shouting. Even the kids who had been terrified of the idea of being marked on their ability to survive were having fun whacking it out.

By the end of the lesson, the students were a sweaty, panting mess but were smiling nonetheless. Kazunari could swear that because of this, Araki-sensei seemed somewhat please as though gladdened she had tuckered them out and brought them closer together, After all, nothing brings together a class like a mockery of war. Class 1-A's first survival lesson had somehow spawned a hectic war within the seventy minutes they had been given.

Araki-sensei let the students go and they all toddled off to some clubs. Most of the class, particularly the Pure-bloods, had already signed up for an after school club. From his friend group, only Sakurai had put in a club application. He had joined the art club because he, apparently, has a strong love of manga and could draw quite well because of it. So Kazunari ended up hovering with Kagami and Furihata inside the kendo club for the entirety of the session.

None of them really seemed sold on it but it seemed more interesting than some of the other clubs they had wandered into yesterday.