"It's only the third day, and my secret is already going to found out," grumbled Tatsuya just before the door to the third practice room. In the thirty minutes before the match, he had exchanged a letter with the Student Council President's stamp on it for his CAD case, that had been confiscated by the school upon entrance into the school grounds.

Behind him, Miyuki apologized again, her voice shaking.

Turning to his sister, Tatsuya said kindly, "It's nothing you need to apologize for."

"But, Onii-sama," she said tearfully, "It's my fault that you are having to do this. I'm causing trouble for you again."

Tatsuya took a half-step closer to her, and gently patted her head, saying, "I said this during the entrance ceremony, too, right? I always feel that I'm being saved by you when you get angry in my place, since I am unable to get angry for myself. Now, don't apologize. Now is the time to something more appropriate."

"Yes," nodded Miyuki, wiping a tear of with her finger. She smiled and said, "Please do your best!"

Satisfied Miyuki's mood was lifted, Tatsuya smiled as well, nodded, and opened the door to the practice room.

"This is surprising," said Mari as soon as the siblings entered.

"What is?"

"I was referring to your unexpected enthusiasm for fighting," she elaborated, "I thought you weren't one to be bothered by others' remarks."

A deep sigh welled in Tatsuya's throat as he noticed her eyes sparkling in anticipation, and he forced it back down with steel-like self-restraint. Instead, he said in a somewhat accustory tone, "I thought it was the Public Moral Committee's job to stop personal fights."

"This is not a personal fight. It's a formal match," Mari replied casually, "Mayumi agreed, too, didn't she? Besides, this rule of a difference in battle strength between Course 1 and 2 students has no real basis. It is just something Course 1 students believe. This is the very first time we are using such a method to settle things between a Course 1 and Course 2 student, you see."

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, saying, "Didn't the number of 'formal matches' increase ever since you became the Chair of the Public Morals Committee, senpai?"

"Indeed, it did," Mari replied with a matter-of-fact nod. Both Tatsuya and Miyuki smiled wryly at her shamelessness.

Suddenly, in all seriousness, Mari leaned in close and whispered, "Well, are you confident?"

In the instant Tatsuya became aware that he was not adverse to the closeness of Mari's partially tilted face, so close to his own, the phenomenon was severed from any emotion he may have had from it. Mari's perfectly arched eyebrows, slightly upturned, almond-shaped eyes, and physical proximity became just a piece of information within himself, neither good nor bad, but completely neutral.

"Hattori is skilled enough to be among the top five in our school," Mari continued in an alluring, high-pitched whisper, "If I had to say, individual fights are not his specialty, but there is still hardly anyone who can win against him in a one-on-one."

In a voice that could be described more as mechanical than cold, Tatsuya replied evenly, "I'm not thinking of fighting him head on."

"You are pretty calm," said Mari as she smiled slightly, "I will admit I've lost a little confidence." Tatsuya gave a noncomittal nod as she stepped back. "In times like these," Mari advised, her smile turning into a full grin, "if your face turns red, it will make you cuter and the number of people on your side would increase, I think." With that parting sentence, she walked to the center line of the court.

The practice room itself was similar to a gym, only much smaller. There was a white line denoting the center of the court and two starting lines two and a half meters on either side of the center line that marked the court length. The room continued for another couple meters around the court, but that was about it. On the far end, next to the center line, there was a white scoring table and a few chairs, most likely brought by the Student Council members for the sole purpose of watching this match. The floor was made of a soft wooden material, similar to the kind one would find in many dojos, and all the walls were padded, likely for protection.

All the Student Council members were gathered at that table, and Tatsuya and Miyuki approached them. Setting his black attache case on the table, Tatsuya carefully opened it, revealing a pair of CAD's in the shape of handguns. He took out one of them, pulled out a storage cartridge from the place a magazine would be in a real gun and replaced it with another cartridge. Everyone except for Miyuki looked on in interest.

"Sorry for the wait," he said. He and Miyuki were the last ones to arrive.

"Do you always carry extra storage cartridges with you?" Asked Mari.

The number of activation sequences that could be used with a Specialized CAD like his was limited. In contrast to the Generalized CAD which could store up to ninety-nine types of Activation Sequences without regard to the systems of magic, the Specialized CAD could only store nine types of Activation Sequences of a single system of magic. To remedy this disadvantage, CAD devices that could store alternate, exchangeable Activation Sequences were developed, but since Specialized CADs were originally intended for Magicians who are strong in specific Magic Sequences, the need for an increased arsenal of magic was not too high. More often than not, even when multiple storage were carried, most still relied on using one type of magic.

It was safe to assume, however, that Tatsuya was not strong in any specific magic sequences from his answer, "Yes. I do not cope well with Generalized CAD's and as such cannot smoothly operate them."

At these words, Hattori sneered slightly, but his face returned to his normal stiff expression as Mari began to speak.

"Alright, allow me to explain the rules," she said, looking at the two combatants in turn, "Lethal attacks are forbidden, whether they be direct or indirect. Techniques that deal permanent damage to the opponent are also that cause direct harm to the physical body are forbidden. However, direct attacks that do not result in anything greater than bone fractures are permitted. No weapons at any time. Unarmed combat is allowed. If you plan on using kicking techniques, please remove your shoes and change into the school's soft boots." When neither side made a move to change shoes, she continued, "The condition for defeat is when the judge - that's me - has determined one side is unable to continue the battle."

Tatsuya and Hattori both nodded their understanding, and Mari grinned. "Then," she said, "Both sides please move behind your respective starting lines, and do not activate your CAD until I give the signal. Breaking the rules results in automatic defeat, and I will use my full strength to enforce the rules, so keep that in mind."

Tatsuya and Hattori took up positions on opposite ends of the court. Facing Tatsuya's unworried, even expressionless demeanor, Hattori did not at all seem worried. Hattori firmly believed that he, a Course 1 student, had no chance of losing to an upstart Course 2 student. In this situation, the one who invoked their magic first would usually win, and Hattori was confident in his invocation speed. Even though Tatsuya was using a specialized CAD that had an advantage in speed over his own generalized CAD, Tatsuya had a terrible technical score, which was largely determined by invocation speed. Furthermore, their distance was great enough that, even if Tatsuya tried to close the distance by non-magical means, Hattori's magic would almost certainly be faster. And, if Hattori landed the first blow, his victory was practically assured, even if it didn't do enough damage to immediately rule him the winner. There were very few people who had the mental capacity to absorb damage while still maintaining enough focus to calmly invoke their own magic. Tatsuya's magic would be disrupted by Hattori's, which would give hime time to invoke another, finishing spell if necessary. In short, logically speaking, there was no way Hattori could lose.

Tatsuya pointed his CAD to the floor as a tense silence fell over the practice room, awaiting Mari's signal.

Hattori held his breath.

"...Begin."

Almost instantaneously, Hattori was ready to invoke his magic, but, before he could release it, Tatsuya was almost close enough to touch. As Hattori frantically tried to change the target area for his magic, Tatsuya disappeared.

Before Hattori could even react, he felt a sickening pain hit his side and blacked out.

The entire match lasted less than five seconds. It was an instant win.

Hesitantly, in the hushed silence that followed, Mari announced, "...Winner, Shiba Tatsuya."

As expressionless as ever, Tatsuya bowed shortly before casually returning to the table that held his CAD case. He was wholly uninterested in his victory; it was simply the expected result.

Before he could pack up his CAD, Mari called out from behind him, "Wait! That movement there... did you preemptively input a speed ability before the match?"

Hearing this, Mayumi, Suzune, and Azusa all began reflecting on the match. At the moment the starting signal was given, Tatsuya had moved in front of Hattori, and, in the next instant, he was several meters behind Hattori's right flank. Anyone would mistake that speed for Flash Step; a normal human body was incapable of that kind of motion.

"The fact that that is impossible," replied Tatsuya calmly, unperturbed by her accusation, "I believe you are more aware of that than anyone." As judge, Mari was closely observing both combatants for the signs of a CAD being activated. The flow of psions accompanying activation would have been obvious to her.

Even still, she could not suppress her disbelief. "But," she asked, "then what was that?"

"That wasn't magic. It was simply a physical technique."

At this, Miyuki stepped in to support her brother. "I can testify to that as well," she said, "That really is Onii-sama's physical technique. He was mentored by Kokonoe Yakumo-sensei, after all."

Mari gasped softly. For someone as well-versed in combat as she was, the name Kokonoe Yakumo was quite familiar. While Mayumi and Suzune did not know of Kokonoe, they were nonetheless surprised that someone could accomplish a feat such as that without the aid of magic.

Stiffly, still not completely over her shock, Mayumi asked, "Was that attack also a physical technique? I thought I saw the release of psion wave motions?" Generally, it was considered uncouth to inquire about another Magician's unreleased abilities or even how they work, but Mayumi could not suppress her curiosity. Her own specialty was a form of magic using Psion bullets - using psions as physical manifestations of a bullet. Tatsuya, however, had managed to damage Hattori using psions that had no physical manifestations as weapons. No matter how she tried, she could not think of a way to make that work.

"You're correct," came Tatsuya's impossible reply, "That attack was not a physical technique, but it was based on psion wave motions. Its foundation came from the Oscillation Type Basic Single System Magic."

"Even so," protested Mayumi, "I still don't understand how you knocked out Hattori using that!"

"Causing him to faint was enough."

"Faint?" repeated Mayumi, becoming more confused by the second, "How did that happen?"

As untroubled as ever, Tatsuya explained, "For Magicians, Psions can be discernible just like visible light and sound waves. This is a mandatory skill for magic, but the side effect is that, when Magicians are exposed to unexpected Psion wave motions, they frequently misinterpret that their bodies are swaying, which directly affects the physical body. It is very similar to hypnotic suggestion, where people under hypnosis are induced into thinking they suffered 'burn injuries', then find out that their physical symptoms reflect their thinking. During the match, I used this illusion of 'swaying motions', causing him to feel an extreme case of seasickness."

"I can't believe it! Magicians are usually exposed to Psion wave motions, and thus should be accustomed to those surges. For External Systemic Magic, both Activation Sequences and Magic Sequences are types of Psion wave motions," said Mayumi. "And, yet despite this," she continued, almost as if to herself, "to be able to disable a Magician through Psion surge alone, and to cause such a strong effect, exactly how..." Mayumi's voice trailed off as she looked up helplessly.

In response to Mayumi's desperate question, Suzune, who had been carefully analyzing the situation, responded as she came to the realization, "Compound waves."

"Rin-chan?"

Everyone turned their attention to Suzune as she elaborated, "By successfully creating three varied vibrations that converge at Hattori's location, you created an equilateral surge powerful enough to knock him out." She shook her head in amazement, saying, "To think that you were capable of such precise calculations, though."

"Quite the explanation, Ichihara-senpai," commended Tatsuya. It was impressive that she understood the mechanics of the technique after only seeing it once.

"Speaking of that, though," Suzune said as a thought came to her, "How were you able to invoke vibration magic three times in such short succession? If your technical speed is that high, why is your technical score so low?"

Tatsuya let out a small, rather bitter smile at such a direct reference to his abysmal technical scores, but, before he could answer Suzune, Azusa interrupted with a question.

"Tatsuya-kun," she said, her eyes eyeing his CAD eagerly, "is that CAD the 'Silver Horn'?"

"Silver Horn?" repeated Mayumi disbelievingly, "Silver, as in the Silver from that mysterious genius Magic Designer Taurus Silver?"

At Mayumi's question, Azusa visibly brightened. "That's him!" Azusa happily explained, her voice rising in excitement, "The miraculous CAD engineer associated with Four Leaves Technology, whose name, appearance, and data all remain a complete mystery! The genius programmer who was the first in the world to make the Loop Cast system a reality! Ah, Loop Cast System is an Activation Sequence that allows the castor to skips the step of restarting the Activation Sequence if the Magic Sequence is the same. With this, Magicians can endlessly invoke magics within their ability - on a loop, if you will. Although the theory had existed in the past, no one could calculate the Invocation Sequence and copy the Activation Sequence separately at the same time until now..."

"Stop!" cried Mayumi, interrupting Azusa's barreling explanation, "I know what Loop Cast is. What about this Silver Horn?"

Azusa continued her explanation with just as much reverence as before, "Silver Horn is the name of the Fully Customizable Specialized CAD developed by Taurus silver. Naturally, it has the best adjustments for the Loop Cast System, is able to stably invoke magic using the least amount of Magic Power, is critically acclaimed, and is especially popular among the law-enforcement population! Although it is sold on the market, it requires a special procedure and extra fees to purchase one. And judging from the way your barrel is longer than the traditional model, yours must be a limited edition model! Where did you get that!?" By the time she finished, Azusa's chest was heaving, and Mayumi put a steadying hand on her shoulder, to keep her from snatching the CAD right from Tatsuya's hands.

"A-chan," she said, "calm down a little!" Glancing at Suzune, Mayumi pursed her lips, posing a question, "That doesn't explain everything, though, does it? No matter how capable the Loop Cast CAD is, Loop Cast still can't..." She trailed off, and Suzune continued her thought.

"That is strange," she nodded, "Loop Cast is designed for consecutively casting one type of magic. Even if you cast the same vibration magic, if the wavelength and number of vibrations that the Magician sets changes, there would be differences within the Activation Sequences. If the Loop Cast automatically copies the original Activation Sequence, then it would be impossible to account for the differences in order to achieve 'Compounding Waves'. If you set the number of vibrations as another variable, then it may be possible to use the same Activation Sequence to achieve 'Compounding Waves' while still accounting for all the differences, but not to the degree of accuracy needed to knock an opponent out like here. It would definitely be possible if target, strength, and time of duration were all variables, and you include number of vibrations as yet another variable..." She looked at Tatsuya as her reasoning trailed off. "Don't tell me you managed to calculate all of that?" she asked, her voice rising, incredulous.

Tatsuya merely shrugged as he answered her previous question, "Multi-variable quantitative processing speed, calculation scale, or even interference strength don't matter. None of these are assigned a grade. The evaluation of magical technical scores includes only Invocation Speed, the scale of the Magic Sequence, and phenomena rewriting ability."

Tatsuya turned around as a groan announced Hattori's return to consciousness.

"I see now," he said as he slowly sat up, "so the test is not capable of completely measuring a person's ability."

"Hanzou-kun!" said Mayumi, bending over him, "are you alright?"

In response, Hattori hurriedly got to his feet, backing an appropriate distance away from the President, saying sharply, "I'm fine!"

As almost everyone's attention was focused on Mayumi and Hattori, Tatsuya took the opportunity to finish replacing his CAD in its case. He pretended not to see Azusa, who stared at his CAD with an expression that clearly said "Do want!" He also ignored Miyuki's gaze that suggested she wanted to help. Miyuki was not the best with machines; her 'help' would only cause more work for him. He replaced the storage device and reset the safety, placing them all in their respective spots as he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.

"Shiba-san," said Hattori. It was obvious from the polite tone of voice that he was talking to Miyuki, not Tatsuya, so Tatsuya did not bother turning around.

"Yes?" replied Miyuki shortly, her anger still evident.

"Earlier, I made a rude comment concerning your favoritism. I was the one whose judgement was clouded. Please forgive me."

Tatsuya could tell Miyuki was bowing as she responded with grace and maturity, "I, also, spoke too arrogantly. Please forgive me."

Tatsuya closed and locked his CAD case, slowly turning around. Hattori flinched almost imperceptibly as Tatsuya met his gaze. Then he narrowed his eyes, and Tatsuya thought he may start something anew. In the end, Hattori only turned around and left without a word.

Feeling the cold fury emanating from his sister, Tatsuya lightly patted her on the shoulder. It would do no good for her to start a fight with him since they were going to be working together on the Student Council. At her brother's touch, Miyuki took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"Well, then," said Mayumi, "Let's head back to the Student Council Room!"

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After placing his CAD back in the workroom, Tatsuya returned to the Student Council Room, where he was immediately ambushed by Mari.

"Now that everything's settled," she said, grabbing his wrist, "Let's get back to the original plan and head to Public Moral Committee HQ!"

Resisting the subconscious urge to twist out of Mari's grip and counterattack, Tatsuya noticed a suspicious glare from Miyuki.

Ignoring his obvious discomfort, Mari dragged him to the room's farthest corner where, instead of a fire escape, there was a staircase leading down to the Public Moral Committee's Headquarters. Leaving aside the obvious fire hazards of the staircase, Tatsuya said simply, "Please let go of my wrist. This is completely unnecessary."

Hearing this, Miyuki turned her gaze back to the terminal, returning to her secretary work. Hattori pointedly ignored everything happening, and Mayumi batted her hand as if trying to say... something. Among the people Tatsuya had already met, she was probably the hardest to understand. When they reached the staircase, Mari finally let go of his arm, and Tatsuya followed her down the stairs and into the Committee room.

The room was similar in size and layout to the Student Council Room, but that was where the similarities ended. The Student Council Room was kept almost impeccably clean, despite the large amount of work done there. This room had boxes stacked on shelves alongside the walls and in the corners filled with who-knows-what, and books, portable terminals, and even CAD's strewn about the table.

Pointing to the said table, Mari said, "There's a little bit of a mess, but you can sit there for a second."

Raising only an eyebrow in response, Tatsuya cleared out a space on one end of the table and sat down.

"Even though I've told them to pick up after themselves," Mari tried to explain, "there's still no one that listens..."

With a deadpan face and his usual flat tone, Tatsuya said, "It can't be helped when no one is around."

Unable to tell if his words were mocking or not, Mari frowned slightly, wrinkling her brow. After a moment, she said, "Our primary objective is patrolling the school grounds. The state of HQ couldn't be helped."

"Even so, Chief," Tatsuya said, eyeing with interest the objects cluttered on the table, "Would it be okay if I tidied up a bit?"

"Really?" asked Mari at his sudden proposal, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Tatsuya felt the need to explain, so he said, "As someone aiming to become a Magic Artificer, I can't stand it when I see CAD's scattered around like this. The same goes for abandoned or disabled terminals."

However, Tatsuya's explanation seemed only to confuse Mari further. "Aiming to become a Magic Artificer?" She repeated, tilting her head to one side, "Even with your level anti-personnel combat ability?" Judging from the recent contest, it was clear Tatsuya was quite skilled in combat.

However, Tatsuya shook his head mildly. "No matter how hard I try," he said as if he were talking about someone else's problem, "my abilities could get me a C-Rank License at best."

In most countries, Magicians operated under the licensing system. The system was based on international standards, from which this country was not an exception. It doesn't matter if you work for the corporations, the government, or even open a private practice, the difficulty and need both reflect upon the level of licensure. Magicians with higher licensing levels received a higher level of compensation. International licenses have 5 levels between A and E, with A being the highest and E being the lowest. A C-Rank license was nothing to strive for.

In the silence that followed Tatsuya's blunt and rather sad appraisal of his own abilities, he continued with, "So, it's okay if I clean this area?"

"Ah?" said Mari as if he'd broken her out of her thoughts, "Yeah, sure. I'll help, too. We can talk while we work." Mari stood up hurriedly, perhaps being the type of person who naturally helped others out. Or she possibly just thought it rude to sit and watch someone else toil at work.

Immediately, they set to work. Tatsuya began with the pile of books and terminals in front of him on the table, slowly but surely clearing his way through the table. Mari did her best, as well, but, for some reason, when Tatsuya looked over at the pile she was clearing out, it hadn't seemed to decrease in size at all. Tatsuya let out an audible sigh to which Mari raised her hands in defeat.

"Sorry," she said abashedly, "I'm really bad at this type of work."

She might even bear the most responsibility for the state of the room, Tatsuya thought, but refrained from saying anything.

Having admitted her defeat, Mari pushed her pile to Tatsuya, clearing a little space on the table where she promptly sat. "Speaking of which," she said, swinging her legs back and forth, "You're quite familiar with those."

Doing his best to ignore the fact that Mari's skirt had ridden up slightly when she had sat on the table, Tatsuya said, "What are you referring to?"

"The book categories," explained Mari, "I thought you were just going to put them somewhere else. I didn't expect you to sort them by subject." In this day and age, physical books were considered rarities, even more so if they were magical texts. Tatsuya simply nodded in response, and Mari left it at that.

"To continue our discussion from earlier," Mari said, getting to the real business at hand, "The reason why we scouted you is to properly adjudicate improper uses of magic with your skills as well as to improve the perception of Course 2 students."

"I remember, but I think this tactic may cause considerable backlash" Tatsuya replied calmly. Then, pointing at a book, he asked, "May I take a look at this terminal?"

After finishing the pile of books, Tatsuya moved on to cleaning up the terminals. After receiving Mari's permission to examine the data, he restored the terminal to working order, cut the power, and gathered the parts in one area.

"Why do you think that way?"

"Even though we never mentioned this aloud," explained Tatsuya, "If an underclassman were to be apprehended by someone of equal standing, it would naturally lead to some negative reactions." As he talked, Tatsuya walked along the cabinets on the wall, finding an empty one and began placing the terminals inside.

"That's true," conceded Mari with a careless nod, "But, at the same time, I think the 1st year students would welcome such a development. Haven't your fellow classmates talked about this already?"

Tatsuya had to admit that it was true.

Hearing that, Mari pressed forward, saying, "I think that, if a Course 1 student took over now, the negative reaction would overtake the welcoming reaction." Finally finding the CAD case among the cabinets on the walls, Tatsuya took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves as Mari continued, "Resentment is likely inevitable. But in regard to newly enrolled Course 1 students, they might not have been exposed to the discriminating thinking long enough to become prejudiced, right?"

"Who knows," responded Tatsuya, strapping a grounded protector from the case to his wrists, "Just yesterday, I ran into an 'I don't acknowledge you' declaration."

"My goodness, you even know how to work with this kind of equipment?" gasped Mari lightly, before she got back to the matter at hand. "Was that person Morisaki?"

"This is quite convenient," said Tatsuya, "You know of him already?"

Mari nodded again, saying, "The teachers recommended him to join the committee."

Tatsuya let out a small, involuntary gasp, and the CAD he was holding slipped out of his hands. In seconds, his composure was back, and he hastily picked up the fallen CAD, returning to his work.

"So you can be surprised," commented Mari with delight.

"Of course," replied Tatsuya coolly.

"Due to yesterday's ruckus," Mari continued, all jokes aside, "there are grounds for withdrawing the recommendation, but, seeing as you were involved as well, if we recruit you, it would be much harder to reject him."

"Why not simply reject both of us, then?"

"Do you really not want to join?"

At this, Tatsuya stopped working, meeting Mari's gaze seriously. After a moment of thought, he said, "To tell you the truth, I find it troublesome."

Mari raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

Under her piercing gaze, Tatsuya sighed, "Despite thinking it's troublesome, I don't plan on backing out now that it's come this far."

Mari's face broke out into a devilish smirk as Tatsuya admitted his defeat.

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A while later, Mayumi descended the stairs. She stopped at the entrance, gazing around at the now clean room in wonder. "This is the Public Moral Committee Room, isn't it?" she asked.

Mari furrowed her brows, saying, "That's a surprising thing to say."

"Well, it's your fault, Mari!" Mayumi said with a mischievous smile, "No matter how many times Rin-chan reminds you or A-chan begs you, you never cleaned up the place!"

"I object to your hurtful and inaccurate description of the situation Mayumi! Besides, it's not that I don't want to clean, it's just that I hadn't started yet!"

Mayumi narrowed her eyes at Mari, saying, "As a woman, you should pay more attention to things like this."

Mari fidgeted under Mayumi's gaze, turning around, muttering, "It's not that I don't want to..." Seeing Tatsuya busily examining a terminal's internal condition after removing the protective cover, she pointed to him saying, "Look."

Following her gaze, Mayumi nodded in understanding. "So he's being put to good use already," she said.

Just then, Tatsuya closed the protective cover and turned around to Mari. "Chief," he said, "The inspections are complete. The damaged parts have already been replaced. There should be no more problems."

"Good work," Mari said, nodding quickly. It might have been his imagination, but Tatsuya thought that her tone was a little rushed, and he could see the beginnings of a cold sweat on her temple.

However, before he could confirm his suspicions, Mayumi said, "So, since you're calling Mari Chief, does that mean we've successfully recruited you?"

"I never even had the right to refuse in the first place," replied Tatsuya immediately, his tone flat and his face deadpan.

At his less-than-courteous response, Mayumi placed on hand on her hip, pointed a finger at Tatsuya and said with an exaggerated righteous indignation, "Tatsuya-kun, isn't your response to this older sister of yours just a little too rude?"

Tatsuya wisely chose not to answer her ridiculous objection. If anything, she was acting overly casual with him - Tatsuya didn't even have an older sister. "President," he said, " Just in case, I want to clarify something with you."

"What is it?"

"We met for the first time at the just before the enrollment ceremony, right?" He asked. However, as Mayumi's eyes narrowed and a devilish grin showed on her face, Tatsuya began to feel as if he had made a grave mistake.

"Oh? So that's how it is," Mayumi said with an ominous chuckle, "Tatsuya-kun thinks we may have met before, right? Then the day of our enrollment ceremony must have been our fateful reunion!"

Scrambling to cut her off, Tatsuya interjected, "No, wait. President?"

"A long time ago," Mayumi continued dramatically, ignoring Tatsuya's attempts to stop her, "we might have met once, then thrust apart by cruel fate, only to be finally reunited by destiny once more!" After a final dramatic sweep of her hands, Mayumi calmed down and said in all seriousness, "But, unfortunately, that was undoubtedly our first meeting."

After a moment, Tatsuya replied, "I thought so, too."

"Unless," Mayumi said, clasping her hands in front of her and leaning towards Tatsuya, "you really got those fateful meeting vibes?"

She looked quite excited, but, in reality, she was just fooling around. Truly a terrible personality, Tatsuya thought, feeling a headache coming on. He couldn't imagine dealing with her personality for the next few years. With a sigh, he asked, "Sorry, but why are you so happy about this?"

Ignoring his question, Mayumi continued to gaze at him expectantly. She's definitely an 'S'. Seizing the initiative, Tatsuya replied, "If this truly was destiny, then rather than a meeting of fate, this feels more like a meeting of doom."

Mayumi's face darkened and she turned around, her shoulders drooping as if she were depressed. "Is that so.." she muttered, and Tatsuya began to worry that he might have gone too far. It would have been perfectly fine if she really was just teasing him, but, he felt he would need to apologize if there was any sincerity behind her actions. However, the sense of guilt did not last too long. Tatsuya heard a quiet "Tch.." from Mayumi, indicating her defeat.

"Um, President?" ventured Tatsuya.

She turned around with an elegant smile, no trace of the depression she had supposedly been feeling just before, "What is it?"

"Why do I feel like I know you a little better now?"

"It's about time to stop the jokes, Tatsuya-kun," said Mayumi, treating the entire matter as a harmless joke, "Too much leisure time can be a bad thing."

Mari chose this moment to throw in her two cents, saying, "You can't use the same tricks you used on Hattori, Mayumi. Your appearance doesn't seem to work on him."

"Don't describe the situation in such an evil manner," replied Mayumi indignantly, "You make it sound as if I like messing with the underclassmen!"

Tatsuya regretted saying anything to begin with and began to clean up again. If he let himself be caught up in their pace any longer, he was going to suffer some actual damage.

"The difference in Mayumi's attitude, Tatsuya-kun," Mari said solemnly, "is because she's already acknowledged you. She probably considers you two to be alike in some areas. In other words, she's just playing coy. She only takes her mask off in front of people she acknowledges."

"Don't believe what Mari says, Tatsuya-kun," interjected Mayumi, "But, I guess I do acknowledge you? It feels like I can't treat you the same way I treat the others. Perhaps I'm the one touched by fate."

Hearing this, and seeing Mayumi's broad smile, Tatsuya's inner pace was completely destroyed. Challenging these to from the front was an exercise in futility, thought Tatsuya with a sigh.

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The reason Mayumi had come to visit was to tell them that the Student Council Room was closing early. Tomorrow marked the first day for the competition for new club members so the activity level for the Public Moral Committee was going to increase. After she let them know these things, Mayumi disappeared up the stairs, leaving Mari and Tatsuya alone in the HQ.

Tatsuya was almost finished with his organization. The only thing that needed to be done at this point was setting safety protocols, but, before he could begin, two male students entered the HQ.

"Oi, Nee-san*, can we come in?" called one of the students. He had a sturdy build and close-cropped brown hair that was well-suited for a headband. He wasn't overly tall, but why use Nee-san? The only one he could be referring to was Mari, but that way of address was a little out of place for a high school student. Catching Tatsuya's eye, Mari shrugged, slightly embarrassed.

"Chief," said the other one, "Today's patrol is done. No arrests!" Compared to the other guy, this one had a rather bland appearance and normal, if a bit imposing, manner of speech. The unmoving stance he took while reporting reminded Tatsuya of a soldier, or maybe a police officer, or someone part of an organization that had remained unchanged for a long time.

Finally noticing the state of the room and Tatsuya, the sturdy student said incredulously, "You're telling me Nee-san cleaned this room?" He began walking towards Tatsuya, for some reason, seeming to move very slowly. However, he didn't make it all the way to Tatsuya. As he passed by Mari, she casually stood up, looked at him coolly, and smacked him on the head with a rolled-up notebook with a shout.

"Don't call me Nee-san," Mari shouted at him, "How many times do I have to tell you to remember? Koutarou, is your brain just a decoration?"

The boy covered his head with his hands, saying, "Please don't hit me, Nee- I mean, Chief." He hurriedly corrected himself when he saw her raise the notebook again. "Anyway," the boy said, straightening up and nodding at Tatsuya, "Who's this? The rookie?"

Mari relaxed herself and sighed, "Yes. This is 1st year class E Shiba Tatsuya."

Koutarou examined Tatsuya excitedly, muttering an exclamation upon seeing Tatsuya's uniform, "There's no insignia? So he's a weed?"

"Tatsumi-senpai," the other boy called out, "That's violating the ban on certain words! I believe Course 2 Student would be more appropriate here."

Hearing this, Mari interjected with a teasing laugh, "The two of you should be careful. That kind of thinking could lead to a world of hurt in a battle. This guy just thrashed Hattori."

After a moment of shocked silence, Koutarou said, "This guy took out Hattori?"

"Yes. In a formal duel."

"What?" exclaimed the second student, "The undefeated Hattori? Losing to a newcomer?"

"No need to shout, Sawaki," Mari said with a frown, "Didn't I just say that?"

Tatsuya was rather uncomfortable with being stared at for so long, but he resolved to bear with it for a little while longer. These were the senior members of the Public Moral Committee, after all.

Like musicians recovering from a disrupted rhythm, their suspicious gazes changed.

"This guy is determined," said Koutarou.

"He's got potential, Chief," agreed Sawaki.

Shooting a glance at Tatsuya, Mari asked, "Surprised?"

To such a vague question, Tatsuya was unsure how to respond. Thankfully, however, it seemed that Mari wasn't really expecting him to answer anyways.

"This school is filled with people who think that labeling Blooms and Weeds is equivalent to their skill level," she continued, "To be honest, I hate that. So I am very pleased with the outcome of today's match. Thankfully, Mayumi and Juumonji both share my views, so the members recommended by the Student Council and the Club Management Group aren't people brainwashed into that sort of thinking. While I can't say that there's no sense of superiority here, we're all people that can objectively evaluate another person's skills.

"Unfortunately, the three students recommended by the teachers are rather from the former category, so there's nothing we can do about it, but I think this place wouldn't be a bad fit for you."

After Mari's explanation, Koutarou and Sawaki both reached out a hand, introducing themselves.

"3rd Year Class C, Tatsumi Koutarou. Welcome aboard, Shiba. If you've got the skills, you're fine in my book."

"2nd Year Class D, Sawaki Midori. Welcome to our group, Tatsuya-kun."

Just as Mari said, there was no trace of malice in either of them. Their behavior before was just to determine his skill level. Whether he was a Course 1 or Course 2 Student made no difference to them. Tatsuya had to admit that he was a little surprised. This really wasn't a bad atmosphere.

He returned the greeting and shook Koutarou's hand. However, Koutarou held on to his hand and said, "Juumonji is from the Club management group. You can refer to him as Group Leader Juumonji."

You held on to my hand just to tell me that?

"I'm up next," said Sawaki, "Please call me by my family name Sawaki." However, he, too, didn't immediately release Tatsuya's hand. Instead, he increased his grip, squeezing Tatsuya's hand tightly. "Don't call me by my first name," he said.

There really was no need for that warning, as Tatsuya was not in the habit of referring to his seniors by name. But, since Sawaki had gone out of his way to mention this, he felt he had to respond.

"I'll remember that," he said shortly, and Sawaki released his hand.

"That's quite impressive," said Koutarou, seeing Tatsuya apparently unaffected by Sawaki's squeezing, "Sawaki's grip strength is at least in the triple digits."

Pretending to be ignorant, Tatsuya replied lightly, "I think that hardly qualifies as normal physical ability, even for Magicians." He would probably get along well, with these two, he though.

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*Note - Nee-san is a casual way of addressing your older sister. It's also used by younger kids talking about female kids older than them. A female adult would be called Oba-san (Auntie), while an older female adult would be called Obaa-san (Grandma). Or something of the sort.