How's it going everybody. I hope this new year has been treating you all well.
Here's the next chapter. My hype as died down a little, and it's getting harder to write. Hopefully, I can keep this up.

Let me amend what I said last time about this being a Tatsuya x Mayumi fic. It might be, or it might not be. The more I think about it, the more interesting other characters are as well. I'll let the Tatsuya decide in the future. A long time in the future...

Things I own:
1. My computer
2. Noobs

I do not own anything not on that list. Double negatives all day, every day.

(First High, Examination Room)

First High School was renown for its ability to produce large numbers of high-class magicians. Hundreds upon thousands of families flock to Tokyo in hopes that their children are worthy enough to be granted the education of a lifetime. In order to get into Magic University, one must have a diploma from a Magic High School, be a registered user in the Magical Index, or contributed enough to the magical community.

Shiba Tatsuya chuckled as he waited in line. He was already 2 out of 3.

During the aftermath of Okinawa, Captain – now Major – Kazama had sworn the entire magical division of the Onna Airborne into secrecy before it was disbanded months later. Now reborn as the part of the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, only a select few know of the truth of what happened that day.

The Captain had created an alias for him: a magician named Ooguro Ryuuya who was capable of strategic-class magic. With his ability to convert matter into pure energy, Ryuuya annihilated a small fleet off of the coast of Okinawa, while simultaneously shielding the military base from harm. His exploits were legendary in the ranks of the military.

However, more curious was the defensive magic used to protect the base. Creating individual barrier cells, and then reinforcing them together as if it were one unit. A reinforcement defensive-type barrier was unheard of, and easily drew the attention of military officials.

When asked the identity of the developer of the technique, dubbed 'Iron Testudo,' Captain Kazama gave them a random name. Shiba Tatsuya. Who was Shiba Tatsuya?

The man in person chuckled to himself as he recalled his first meeting with the officials.

"This is Shiba Tatsuya?" One of the men whose breast was lined with medals and decorations pointed in Tatsuya's direction. "He's a kid...Captain is this some sort of joke?"

"I assure you not, sir. This child was the first one to develop the skill. He gave it to Special Lieutenant Ryuuya to use."

"Really now. Okay, Shiba. Explain to me this barrier of yours..."

It was safe to say that Kazama's diversion held, and the military was completely baffled at Tatsuya's intellect.

They even tried recruiting him into the military's research and development division, but his mother had stepped in before anything drastic could occur. The JSDF agreed to ask again once Tatsuya had graduated from University years from now.

That was how he had gotten into the Magic Index, and that was also the precise reason why he was going to fail his entrance exam right now.

"Shiba Tatsuya, please step forward."

Tatsuya got up upon hearing his name, and weaved through the crowd. Hundreds of students were crowding around those dozen machines, earnestly waiting for their chance to prove their strength. Parents cheered on their children while upperclassmen stood to see who would be the top freshman in this upcoming semester.

"Good luck, Onii-sama." Miyuki smiled as she passed him before joining with the admiring crowd. Her beauty and incredible performance dazzled both audience and instructor alike. It was easy to see jealousy on some faces, and awe in others. One of the upperclassmen even bet money that she would place first.

One of the instructors pointed him to his examination machine. Tatsuya stood in front of the little car and the track, CAD in hand. Accelerate the vehicle from point A to B, and stop. That was the test. Simple, but effective.

"You may begin." Tatsuya grinned before raising his hand. He focused on the car, and invoked his magic.

(First High School)

"How did this happen?" Miyuki pouted as she just met her brother. They had each left to get the results of their examinations and subsequently their uniforms, but he did not look at he had appeared. That giant empty spot on his shoulders and chest made her downright furious. "Onii-sama, why are you a reserve?"

Her brother only smirked.

"Calm down, Miyuki. This year's freshman representative shouldn't get so flustered over something as trivial as this."

"Trivial?" She hollered. "How can you say this is trivial? You should be the one making the speech. Not me!"

"Now let's not draw too much attention to ourselves. My test scores were horrible. Let me show you." He pulled out his tablet and logged into his student database. There was his exam score, the rankings in each one, and his overall ranking. "Out of all of the accepted applicants, I'm in the bottom 10% for both magic power, and magic theory. How can you say I deserve to wear that flower when my scores are this bad?"

Miyuki looked over the scores. Then again, and then again. No way. There's no way. It was impossible. How had her brother performed so poorly? It just wasn't possible. He was the greatest magician in the Yotsuba family. Next to their aunt, Tatsuya was the pinnacle of magical power. His activation speeds broke records, and he could cast almost any magic without the use of a CAD. How did her brother fail so hard?

"Hey, Miyuki. Don't look so down." She felt him pat her head, and give her a hug. "Do you trust me?"

Of course she did. But instead of saying anything, she just nodded her head. There was no way those results accurately depicted her brother's magical talents. That data must have been fake... She only hoped her brother knew what he was doing.

She scratched that thought out of her mind. What was she thinking? Of course he knew what he was doing.

...

Tatsuya watched as his sister walked away with a dozen eyes on her. She had caused a small little commotion, but it wasn't overly serious. Her little outburst turned a few eyes towards the siblings, but they didn't linger. At least not on both of them, anyways.

She was the talk of the town. Highest score in both the practical exam, and the written exam. Freshman representative. Beauty and power all mixed into one. It was perfection.

He looked down at his tablet, cringing at the scores on the screen. It was true. His scores were absolutely terrible. Bottom 10% of the applicants. Had he not decide to answer one of his written questions correctly, he might have failed the entrance examinations for First High completely. That was what he hated. Not placing low, or scoring poorly, but he despised the look of fear on his sister's face when she saw his scores. He had cut it a little too close.

Cheating his way out of the written exam was easy. He deduced answering 3 correctly, and everything else incorrectly would barely get him enough points to pass. After all, these questions were at some of the highest levels of magical engineering. Proving obscure theorems proven only a few years ago. If he completed every problem, he feared it would draw too much attention. It's better to look like any regular student, and no regular student could score anything above say a 70.

He mentally chuckled at the last question on the exam. It was an in depth explanation behind the structure, processes, and applications of his very own Loop Cast System. Most of the world knew about Taurus Silver's revolutionary Loop Cast System that increased the speed of the activation sequences by up to twenty percent, but only a handful of magical engineers knew exactly how it worked. He made sure to get that question completely wrong.

All in all, barely passing the written exam was relatively simple compared to tweaking his practical score. The practical exams used a machine that would calculate the time difference between initiating an activation sequence by the CAD, and the acceleration of the car. The gap of time between initiating a sequence and the manifestation of its effects is known as the Free After Execution (FAE) Theory. Highly classified, Tatsuya was only able to do any research on this through his connections in the Yotsuba.

Nobody could take advantage of that tiny time gap through human means. It was simply impossible. That was why this examination was nigh flawless. It was impossible to take advantage of the magic after it had been activated. The speed of your cast was the speed of your cast. There was nothing else to it.

Nigh flawless.

However, Tatsuya had an advantage over everybody else, and that was his conscious Magical Calculation Area. He could consciously control any magic to its fullest extent. Constructing the magic sequences in his mind, it was a simple matter to rewrite any phenomena without the use of a CAD.

"You may begin."

The first thing he did was construct the proper accelerating magic sequence in his mind. It wasn't long, and he already had the code in mind before he even stepped up to the machine.

Next was to activate the magic in his CAD. Tweaking that sequence very slightly was not difficult. As everyone was assigned an individual CAD long before the exam, Tatsuya found more than enough time to change a few lines of code. It was a relatively simple activation sequence, anyways.

Magic flowed and the activation sequence appeared. Completely useless. All it did was show that a magic sequence had been activated, and the computer began the timer. He only hoped that nobody else noticed the slight difference in activation sequence, but sure enough, nobody said a word. Everyone was too focused on staring at the car to even think about looking at the code.

The he counted. 750 ms was what he was aiming for. From the times he saw, somewhere around 750 ms should get him in, but keep him as a Course 2 student. All it took was some accurate timing.

Less than a second after his bogus activation sequence initiated from the CAD, Tatsuya released the magic sequence in his mind. The car began to advance as he readied himself, quickly constructing the proper decelerating sequence. Counting once more, he timed his fake activation sequence and magic sequence properly and stopped the vehicle.

He looked at the panel, hoping he was accurate. 776 ms. Close enough.

Hey, if it got him into school, it was good enough. But why did he purposely want to be placed in the lowest section? Because of the one thing that differentiated Course 1 from Course 2: teachers. He didn't want teachers. He didn't want lectures. Chances are, they would have been able to teach him nothing. The Ten Master Clans generally had tutors that were more than adequate to teach at a high-school level. Usually, these children had practical examinations that were were incredibly good, but their magic theory was usually lacking. The Ten Master Clans were based off of magical strength, after all. Smart magicians weren't necessarily strong magicians.

Tatsuya supposed he was lucky he was both.

Instead of sitting in class, he opted to take all of the free time designated to Course 2 students towards developing his own projects. New magics, new CAD software, proving new theorems. With a teacher standing over him at all times, such matters would be impossible. That was why he so desperately tried to score within the lower 100 students. Being a reserve gave him the freedom he needed to expand his own interests.

And expand he did.

Tatsuya sat down on one of the courtyard benches and pulled out his terminal, briefly scanning his surroundings before deeming it secluded enough to begin his work. Everything that he wanted to do was far too advanced for a standard Course 2 student. If he walked around flaunting his intellect, people would notice, and people would question. Being under scrutiny was exactly opposite of what a Yotsuba would do. He wasn't prepared to get caught so easily.

He read line after line, looking for the error in his code. The theory was sound, but the sequence simply didn't work. Replicating the Juumonji's Phalanx would prove more difficult than he had expected. Completing the Iron Testudo would allow for his barrier to be nigh impenetrable. The structure of his Testudo was mechanically superior to that of the Phalanx; the honeycomb tessellation optimally distributed the force of any impact throughout the entire shield, dispersing it. Breaking the shield would require breaking the entire structure itself or separating the linkage between the cells, unlike the Phalanx whose weakness was its straightforward rectangular shape.

He deduced a single powerful attack, concentrated onto the center of the barrier could potentially pierce through all the layers, and therefore the regenerative capabilities of the Phalanx. Its threshold for force, while high, was definitely not up to the Testudo's level. It was like comparing plate armor against chainmail.

However, its regeneration allowed for it to be kept sustained indefinitely. As long as the Juumonji had energy to keep the barrier alive, there would be no need to recast it. Also it's simple shape allowed for the barrier to act as a weapon, slamming into enemies and crushing them as if they had run headfirst into a barrier.

Tatsuya mentally rolled his eyes. Only someone as straightforward as a Juumonji could think of using a shield as a weapon. They use their defense as their best offense. Tatsuya was certain Sun Tzu had said the exact opposite.

But Tatsuya believed in the exact opposite. Instead of hybridizing his magics for both offense and defense, the Iron Testudo would be his ultimate defense. If he could only figure out how to replicate the regenerative nature of the Phalanx...

"Are you a new student? It's almost time for the ceremony." Somebody spoke, right above him. What? Right above? He snapped his terminal shut, fully alert. His eyes quickly rose up. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Tatsuya quickly stood up and rose to see who had snapped him out of his work. How could he have been so foolish as to lose himself in the code. He had been so deeply in thought he became unaware of his surroundings. That level of inattentiveness was unacceptable.

His eyebrows rose when he met face to face with a young girl. Perhaps not face to face, as it seemed like he needed to look down and she needed to look up for them to even make eye contact. Nevertheless, this girl with her long flowing black hair, and piercing red eyes had a beauty that could give even Miyuki a run for her money.

But Tatsuya wasn't about to say that, nor was he ever going to tell his sister. He was surprised that thought had even crossed his mind. The only few people he had ever appraised for their beauty was his sister, his mother, and his aunt. The latter two purely out of courtesy. He narrowed his eyes. Who was this person?

His sight strayed down, then back up, and then onto the little flower pinned onto her jacket, and then onto the CAD that was around her wrist. A Course 1 student, and an executive board member to boot. Only executive board members or the public moral committee members were allowed to handle CAD freely on campus, and judging by her lack of an armband, she must have been on the executive side. Whether it be student council or the club management group, he didn't know.

He just knew she was an upperclassman, and was probably quite knowledgeable. He hoped she hadn't recognized his work.

"It's quite alright. Thank you for letting me know." He gave a polite bow before trying to walk away. Her voice, however, kept him where he stood. He knew better than to walk away when someone spoke to him.

"A screen-type, huh? I see it's seen some use." She pointed to the condition of his terminal. The paint was coming off, and the hinges were loose. It was old but handy.

"Yes. It's much more suitable for reading." As opposed to virtual terminals that displayed holographic images outright, screen-type terminals allowed for one to scroll through texts as if a book were in your hands.

"Ah, one who enjoys reading as much as I do. I'm glad." She almost squealed in delight. It was the strangest thing to Tatsuya's eyes. He had never seen anyone this happy and active before. "Ah, I beg your pardon. I'm the student council president, Saegusa Mayumi."

He narrowed his eyes. So he was right about her being an executive member. Student council president. That meant she was one of the most powerful people on campus, and a Saegusa too. That could prove to be an issue.

"Nice to meet you, Saegusa-sempai. Shiba Tatsuya." He politely bowed once more. He could almost see the curiosity in her eyes. There was wonder, and there was thought. Perhaps he was being a little too polite? Could his mannerisms be used to deduce his lineage? What was she thinking...

"Hm... Nope. I have no idea who you are... but... your name does seem to ring a bell." Her eyes narrowed, examining him. Nobody knew who they were. But to be this close to a Saegusa, even Tatsuya was mentally sweating.

"Ah, you might be referring to my sister. Shiba Miyuki." He tried pushing the conversation in a different direction.

"Hm...maybe. She's the one the freshman representative, right?" He nodded. "I didn't know you were related."

"If you are referring to my situation as a reserve, then I must admit we do not share much in common. However, I assure you we share the same blood." ...The blood of the Yotsuba.

"Oh no, no, no. I didn't mean that." She shook her head in embarrassment. "You just don't look like twins to me, that's all."

"No worries. My sister and I were born 11 months apart. I was born in April, and she in March. That's why we're in the same grade." At his words, she pulled out her own screen-type terminal and scrolled down some list. He wondered if he was allowed to leave, but in the presence of his president, he opted to wait a little longer until he was dismissed. Luckily, she spoke relatively soon.

"I see... Then Shiba-kun, may I ask a question?" Tatsuya rose an eyebrow quizzically.

"Of course. I'll try to answer it as best as I can."

"Good," she giggled. "I'd like to know how you managed to cheat it."

"I beg your pardon?" Cheat what?

"The examination system. How did you do it? It's supposed to be flawless." What...? Whoa.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. She did not just ask that question.

He stood there, staring at her for a brief second, stunned. He quickly recovered and hid his surprise.

"I'm not sure I follow. What examination system?" Playing innocent would be the best option. If he refused her claim enough, she would expect it to be false. All he had to do was make sure he didn't say anything even more revealing.

"The practical exam. Cheating the written exam would have been easy. All you needed to do was write some wrong answers, but how did you manage to get a low score on the practicals?" She was sharp. How she was deducing this, he had no clue but she seemed to know everything. But he was sure to have kept his practical examination flawless. There was no possible way anyone could have guessed he had a second Magical Calculation Area. There was no evidence of any of that.

"I'm sorry, but I believe you're mistaken. My score reflects my skill, and as you said, the systems are flawless. There's no way I could have cheated."

"Only based on the current theory and knowledge that we now possess." Tatsuya looked at her. This girl was full of surprises. "Magic theory is actually one of my strong points."

Ah, so that was why. She actually knew what she was talking about. However, she still had no proof.

"Perhaps, but that would suggest that I, a mere reserve, know something that a Course 1 student didn't know. That no other magician would know. Not only is that a dangerous thing to infer, but also highly improbable."

"Then explain your low written exam."

"Those were difficult questions. I assure you, I had not the slightest idea how to solve some of those problems, like the Loop Cast one."

"Impossible. You were just reading an article on cutting-edge reinforcement-type magics. Some of the information there would be much more difficult than what was present on the exam. If you can understand that, then there's no explanation for your low score." So she had seen what he was doing. He mentally cursed his luck. He was careless, and now he was being punished. She continued. "Unless you failed the exam on purpose."

He supposed he was lucky she didn't recognize the 'article.' He was lucky his research was all written in the format preferred by the military, and subsequently the magical community. After all, 90% of magical research is done by the military for the military. Rarely are magicians seen outside of combat.

"And how does this lead into your suspicions about my practical exam?" He might as well see where else he screwed up.

"Well the simple fact that you're hiding your theoretical knowledge opens the gate for the possibility that you're trying to hide something morel. This, and the fact that your sister is Shiba Miyuki, the one who scored a record high on the practical exam, makes me think your lying. How you managed to trick the system is something I'm curious about."

Ah, so he deduced his skill through lineage. It was true, magicians were born and made through blood. There was no such thing as a son born from two powerful magicians who was not a magician himself. Perhaps magician was the incorrect word. Tatsuya was one such case. Instead, it could be said that these children were Psion-receptive. While Tatsuya in the most basic sense cannot be considered a magician, his other abilities, decomposition, regrowth, and elemental sight, were all based on his innate proclivity towards sensing the Psions around him.

Mayumi was correct in her deduction. But even so, she had no proof. All he had to do was deny everything.

"Hm. An interesting theory, however incorrect. My practical skills are truly eclipsed by my sister's, and as for my written exam. Suffice to say, it was a bad day. I completely understand the Loop Cast system, however during the test, my mind simply drew a blank. I am ashamed to say it, but that's all there is to it."

"No. I refuse to accept that. There's no way you could have scored that low. Even if you say you're skills are eclipsed by your sisters, give her score, you should at least be in Course 1. What you claim is a physical impossibility." Tatsuya mentally swore. She knew too much.

"...Thank you for the conversation, Saegusa-san. However, I must be going. I wouldn't want to miss my sister's presentation." Tatsuya walked away, leaving Mayumi standing there. He knew she was probably angry that he avoided that last notion.

He had no rebuttal. No excuse.

From his one mistake, his one moment of carelessness, she had ripped his entire disguise apart. Perhaps if he had not failed the written exam, his original excuse would hold, but it was his mistake. Despite that, Tatsuya only inwardly smiled to himself as he left for the auditorium.

First High had some interesting people after all.

(First High, Student Council Room)

Two people sat in the student council room with papers scattered all across the table. The beginning of the year was always a mess. Finding new candidates to fill in open positions was rather stressful and time consuming.

"Ah, Mayumi. Why the angry face? You seemed mad the entire orientation." Watanabe Mari laughed as her friend pouted. Mayumi was usually happy, nonchalant, and active. Rarely was she ever this moody.

"It's because of this guy..." Mari let out a little gasp. She rose her eyebrows suggestively. "No! Mari! It's not like that!"

"Uh huh. Okay. Who is he?"

"He's a lying jerk!"

"Aw, how long has this been going on for?" Mari giggled at Mayumi's sputters. The president could barely speak, and her face flushed red from both anger and embarrassment.

"Mari!" She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, okay. I'm just teasing. What's the guy's name?" Now she was actually interested in this person. Whoever made Mayumi this mad must have been something.

"Shiba Tatsuya."

"Shiba? The freshman representative?" Mayumi shook her head.

"Her brother."

"Huh. I didn't know she had a brother. I don't think I saw his name anywhere up on the student list."

"Did you look at all the students?" Mari shook her head. She only looked through the Course 1 students to search for potential candidates for the Public Morals Committee.

"Then that's why."

"Wait. That would mean he's a Course 2 student." Mari almost burst out laughing. "You were so riled up by a Course 2 student? What happened?"

"He's lying, that's what. He's not supposed to be a Course 2 student. He cheated to get in."

"What do you mean?" Her mood turned serious. Cheating on exams was not tolerated at all. If this Shiba Tatsuya truly did cheat on his exams, then it was her job was the Chairwoman of the Public Morals Committee to get him expelled, and replaced.

It was strange, though. Even if he cheated on the written exam, if he had the same magical talent his sister did, he at least would have gotten in as a reserve. In fact, he probably should have been in Course 1 with how heavily the practicals were weighted.

"He somehow cheated on the practicals. I don't know how, but I'm almost certain he did."

"Do you have any proof? We can get him expelled, you know." Mayumi suddenly stopped walking.

"What! No! Mari, you can't get him expelled!" The president shook the chairwoman by the arms. "You can't!"

"Why not? He cheated!"

"Yeah, to score lower." What?

"What?" Mari had to think about that twice. "Did you just say he cheated to get lower?"

"Yeah. I think his scores should be higher. I talked to him this morning, but all he did was make excuses, and then when I cornered him, he avoided the question by leaving! Suspicious! And rude!" The president crossed her arms across her chest. Mari stopped to think. She had never thought about anyone who would want to purposely do worse.

"Do you think it's because he purposely wanted to fail the entrance exam? Maybe it's an issue with home. Rebellion against his parents." If it were a case of simple rebellion or even domestic abuse, the Public Morals Committee were the ones who investigated to make sure the well-being of the students were upheld.

"Nah. If he wanted to just flunk out, he wouldn't have answered any of the questions on the written portion at all. He purposely answered a few correct, and a few wrong."

"Maybe you're just over thinking this. Maybe he's just bad at theory." It was possible, common even. In fact, there were actually many of the students could improve in terms of theory. However, society's current place for magicians was in the military, so combat and applications were preferred.

"I caught him reading some article on advanced applications of reinforcement-type magic. Some really complicated stuff. It's the kind of thing where people make up an application in their head, and a magical engineer is tasked to figure out how to make it a reality."

"Really... Huh. That is strange."

"I told you."

"But isn't reinforcement-type magic mainly used for structural systems, and defensive magics? If it were a new type of defensive magic, I think I know just the person to ask..."

"Mari, you're a genius! Call him over!"

Not minutes later, a knock came from the door. Juumonji Katsuto strode in, his height and tall frame dwarfing the other two.

"You called?" As Club Leader, Juumonji had been working with the rest of the clubs for the annual showcase. New students could roam around and figure out what clubs they were interested in. It was a rather large event.

"Juumonji-kun! You're here. We need some help." Mayumi beamed. Perhaps Katsuto could shed some more light on this mysterious man named Shiba Tatsuya.

"Yeah, Mayumi's obsessed with a guy." Mari teased her friend. It was entertaining to watch the president get embarrassed and flustered. She tended to do that a lot.

"Mari!" Mayumi complained.

"Sorry, sorry. Juumonji-kun, do you know anyone named Shiba Tatsuya? He's been doing some research on reinforcement-type magic. I hoped you or your family could help us out."

"Because that's our expertise. Hm. Shiba Tatsuya... Shiba. Can't say I have. Let me give my family a call." Katsuto pulled out his phone and walked over to the corner to make the call.

It was only a matter of minutes, but he returned, shaking his head.

"Nothing. We'll dig deeper a bit later, but my family has more pressing domestic matters to sort out first. It may be a while before they can find anything. May I ask why this guy's so important?"

"He cheated on his exams. Mayumi here thinks he purposely scored lower than his skill level."

"Perhaps he had a personal reason. Have you thought of simply leaving it be? His 'cheating,' if it can even be called that, does not endanger anyone in the school, nor does it change the overall total applicants. If anything, all it did was boost the person right in between Course 1 and Course 2 up to Course 1."

"No, no, no. That's not the point! It's more than just him cheating. It's about how he cheated. The reason magicians believe the system the examination uses is perfect in determining things like activation speed is because of something known as the Free After Execution Theory. Currently, the gap between initiating a magic sequence, and the manifestation of its effects is so small that nobody can control it.

"But Shiba-kun managed to somehow extend that time. He managed to change something normally thought to be impossible. Don't you get it? If that was true, then a magician could control the magic even after it's finished casting! This is perhaps one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern magical theory!"

"Wait, Mayumi. Calm down for a second. This is preposterous. First of all, we have no solid evidence that this is true. It's actually possible that his practical scores just happen to be that low. Despite his relation to his sister, maybe this is all just a fluke. You can't just accuse someone of a huge breakthrough in magical theory. Let's think of the other possibilities," Mari said. "What about casting a second magic?"

"With what CAD? Only a single CAD could be brought into the examination room, and those were the ones assigned to the individual takers." This time, Katsuto spoke. "I'm thinking somebody helped him. Outside magic."

"But to do that, the person would have to be inside the examination room as well. They couldn't possibly predict which machine would be taken."

"What if that person was inside. Another student who could bring in a CAD."

"But who would want to do that? You only get this chance once! Nobody in their right minds would do such a thing!" Mayumi couldn't understand. For an exam that important, everybody focused on doing his or her best. Nothing else. "And why would he go to such lengths just to fail an exam? It seems like this was more of a personal or solo-thing."

"She's right, Club Leader. If we do believe the reason is highly personal, there's little chance that he would have planted another student to throw away their exam by programming their CAD for a separate magic. Even so, having multiple people try to rewrite a phenomenon would only create interference. I don't think this is probable."

"...What if he didn't use CAD." At Mayumi's words, both Mari and Katsuto looked up at her in shock.

"That's impossible –!" Mari tried to say before she was cut off by Katsuto.

"No it's not. But do you know what you're accusing?" He was staring straight at Mayumi. The girl clutched the edge of her chair. "President, you are stepping into dangerous territory."

"I don't know... Nobody knows why he did it. Any possible explanation gets ruled out as 'improbable,' but what if it's the truth?!"

"Okay, can somebody clarify what's going on? How can somebody cast magic without the use of a CAD?" The reason Mari didn't know what was happening was because she wasn't a member of the Ten Master Clans. Only a select few have ever heard of it, and even fewer have seen it in person. How it happens, nobody knows. But it is an undeniable truth that it is possible, but only by a single group.

"...Yotsuba." Mayumi barely even spoke that name. She spoke in a hushed whisper as if she was calling the reaper himself. For some, that name equated to death.

"There are some urban legends within the Ten Master Clans about people casting magic without a CAD. Each and every legend, however, has one name in common: Yotsuba. Mayumi, you cannot think that he is part of the Yotsuba clan." Even Juumonji stared with a grim expression written on his face.

Mayumi only shook her head. An eerie silence descended.

Even Mari knew of the Yotsuba. Their secrecy, and their deceit. They lived in the shadows, few in number but each and every one as deadly as a hundred men. They were every child magician's nightmare.

"Okay, we need to stop drawing these baseless conclusions." Even Mari knew how ridiculous their conversation had derailed. They somehow ended up concluding that Shiba Tatsuya was a member of the highly secretive Yotsuba clan. If that were true, then his sister –

"No. We need to go back, and get more evidence. Think about this again. We missed something from somewhere, because there is no way this conclusion could be true." Mayumi and Katsuto agreed.

"Okay. I agree. We're not basing this off of anything concrete. We'll observe him, and see if anything else pops up. We'll take this one step at a time, but I assure you: as president of First High School, we will find our answer to this mystery."

But sometimes, some things are just meant to stay hidden.

(Shiba Residence)

Miyuki opened the door to her brother's room, a tray of food in hand. She had prepared dinner, and brewed some tea. Over the past 24 hours, her brother barely slept, and spent most of his time thinking. He didn't do work. He didn't talk. He simply sat around the house, thinking. Occasionally, he would curse to himself, and get up to walk around. Sometimes he would move around from the living room couch to the dining table, to the desk in his room. She was worried.

"Onii-sama, I made some – oh." She stopped herself. Her brother was at his desk, head down. It seemed as if the constant thought had gotten him drowsy, and put him to sleep. She placed the tray beside his sleeping self, and turned to peak at his sleeping form.

His head lay turned on its side, cushioned from the hard wooden surface by his hand. There were no furrowed brows. No scowl. He looked nothing like a person who held the powers of a god in his hands.

Her brother looked at rest. Her brother looked serene.

She hadn't even realized how close she had gotten when he snapped her out of her thought. His eyes jerked open, and locked onto hers. She quickly backed off, blood rushing to her face. She could feel her cheeks and ears burning red with embarrassment. She had been so close to him!

"Miyuki." He picked his head off of the table, eyes never leaving hers.

"Uh, heh. I, uh. I made you food... You seemed stressed out lately, so I made you dinner." As she spoke, her voice went higher, and her volume went lower until she was whispering and squeaking at the same time. The only one who could make her do this was the man before her. How she hated her brother for making her feel this way.

Tatsuya said nothing, but picked up a spoonful. Spicy curry with vegetable chunks on top of a bowl of white rice. The food was peculiar. Slightly burnt. Nevertheless, he bit into the food.

"Sorry. The curry is a little burnt." Miyuki looked at the less-than-satisfactory job she did of making the food. It wasn't like she couldn't cook. On the contrary, she usually did a fabulous job making dinner for the both of them. Usually. There were times when she made a mistake. No harm done. Normally she would remake but they had ran out of groceries. She had meaning to go shopping. "I should have made something else. I'm sorry, onii-sama."

Tatsuya said nothing while he finished his bowl. He then took a sip of his tea.

"It's good." Good? She knew it wasn't good. It was a little better than military rations. There was nothing 'good' about that. "Thank you, Miyuki."

Why did he finish eating her cooking? It wasn't good. She knew it wasn't good. He was lying, and she knew it! Why did he have to do that? It was her fault. She was the one who messed up, but he said nothing. He even finished all of it, and said it was good. He was always protecting her. He was always sacrificing himself to make her happy.

Miyuki's flustered mood only got angry. Why did her brother have to keep doing this? It was unfortunate that she had difficulty controlling her magic when she got emotional. While it was relatively difficult to get her emotional in the first place, her brother seemed to be able to incur her ire.

She didn't even realize what had happened, but she heard a bowl break, as shards crashed onto the floor. Her brother fell from his chair, and landed on the ground.

There was no blood. His healing was too fast for that. She knew he was fine before he even touched the ground. It was so quick. Regrowth happened in an instant.

He did, however, grumble as he got off the floor, picking out a few shards that had scratched his skin. He wouldn't need to regenerate for something as small as a scratch. Anything a little more fatal and painful, yes, but using Regrowth on something so trivial was unnecessary.

"...I'm sorry, Onii-sama." She quickly ran out and grabbed the first aid kit before rushing back in. Surprisingly enough, the shards were no longer on the ground. Instead, the bowl, fully repaired, sat on top of his desk. "...Here."

She pulled out a few bandages, and began covering his wounds. They were small, but there were many of them.

"Why did you need to eat it, huh? I told you it was bad. It was my fault. I should have just made something else instead of forcing you to eat that." She was angry. Angry that he had eaten her food. Angry that she had failed in making her brother happy Angry that she had hurt him. Angry that he didn't even respond, much less get angry back.

"Anything made by my little sister is delicious to me. It tastes the best because you made it, so don't look down on yourself. You need to take a break."

"..." She couldn't even say anything. Her brother knew how to make her feel better. He always knew. "You're the one who needs a break."

"I suppose I do," he laughed. "But I need to make sure my secret isn't found. You know our aunt would be furious if we led the Saegusa to her doorstep."

Miyuki sat down on her brother's bed. It was comfortable.

"Onii-sama...," she began to ask.

"Yes?"

"Why do you hide your true strength?" It was a question that had been bugging her all throughout the day. Ever since she had seen his scores, she had trusted and believed in him. She knew he knew what he was doing. But still, she wanted answers. She wanted to know what he was doing too.

"Because that's just what we do." We. He was using the word 'we' to indicate the collective whole. The Yotsuba family. Born in secrecy, they lived in the shadows, unseen and unheard. Nobody knew who the Yotsuba was. For all anyone really knows, they could have been anywhere. They could be anyone. And that was what made that name a nightmare for any magician. They could be everywhere, and they were everywhere. "And plus, you know my true strength. And that's all that really matters, right?"

"Right." Of course. As long as she knew what he was capable of, she was content. While she would like it for others to revel in her brother's greatness, it wasn't as important.. As long as she knew, he was happy, and as long as he was happy, she reckoned she could live with herself.

After all, she was the only one he truly cared for. Right?

Tatsuya waited until Miyuki was asleep before going into the living room. The large TV monitor was connected to a secure communications grid that allowed him to securely call home. He stood in front of the monitor, staring at the three dots as it connected him back to the Yotsuba mansion. There was a soft dialing tone.

"Tatsuya." His mother appeared on screen. "It's late. You should be in bed."

"I could say the same for you." Tatsuya genuinely smiled at the face of his mother. Ever since Okinawa. No, ever since the operation, she had been taking better care of herself. With Sakurai Honami at her side, she looked better than she had in years. He was glad she was recovering.

"Yet you were the one to call me." The hour might have been late, but both mother and son knew the other wouldn't be resting just yet.

"Hm. Touché ." She did have a point. But the call was important. Necessary, even. "But I needed to talk to you. I don't know how to proceed."

"With what?"

"My situation. A Saegusa managed to figure out that I faked my entrance exam scores." He could see his mother's face cringe in disgust at the name 'Saegusa.' "I know she'll investigate."

"Do you think she'll get far?"

"Possibly. She saw my work on the Iron Testudo. She's had suspicions, and when she cornered me, I dropped the conversation under the pretense that I was going to be late for Miyuki's orientation speech. That only made me seem even more suspicious."

"How suspicious you seem doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not you left a trail of breadcrumbs straight to the Yotsuba doorstep."

He tried to think. Could there be any possible way for the Saegusa – Mayumi – to conclude that he was a member of the Yotsuba family? It was doubtful. Unless she specifically asked her father...

"Her father. Saegusa Koichi knows you, doesn't he?"

"That was over thirty years ago. He doesn't remember me. That much, I'm sure. Worst case, that name will lead anyone to your father and Tatsurou has left no evidence of his connection to this family."

Tatsuya's father was always a difficult subject. He knew his mother cared little for the man. After all, his purpose was to produce magically gifted offspring for the Yotsuba family. In turn, they would fund the company he was VP of, Four Leaves Technologies. The man only cared enough for his children to stay within the Yotsuba's good graces.

He honestly spent more time having an affair with his previous partner, Furuha Sayuri. Miya knew, but never cared. He had done his job, and that was what mattered. Their marriage was a business trade. Both parties benefited, emotions and everything else was aside.

Despite his infidelity, at least Tatsurou was efficient at clearing his own tracks. Tatsuya supposed there was a thing or two he could learn from his father.

"...There's nothing else that I can think of."

"Are you certain?" Miya was skeptical.

"No." There was always room for error.

"Then give them a fake track to follow. Lead them down a separate road so they'll miss the clues in front of them."

Yes, create a diversion. Create a plausible excuse, and let the Saegusa draw the wrong conclusions. At the very least, the red herrings would confuse those investigating. He quickly thanked his mother before ending the call. There was another one he needed to make.

He phoned the 101.

(Tokyo Military Base: 101 Magic Equipped Battalion)

"Onii-sama, is this really necessary?" Miyuki pouted as the pair walked out of the car.

"You didn't have to come you know?" He laughed, but that only made his sister pout even more.

"You know I did..." She grumbled under her breath.

"Special Lieutenant. You said you would explain why you're here. You sounded quite urgent over the phone." Of course he did.

"Shiba. This is unexpected."

"Sorry, Major. I need to talk to you immediately. Can you send a cab in the morning? As early as possible."

"Tatsuya, calm down. Explain what's going on. Wasn't today your first day at school?"

"Yeah. I'll explain later, but please send a cab as soon as possible. And Fujibayashi-san as well. Is she off duty?"

"Uh, yeah. She is. Look, I'll send a cab over to you at 6:00. 4 hours. Just stay put, and relax. You can brief me when you get here."

"Thank you, Major."

"Take care, Special Lieutenant."

"Sorry, sir. Is she here? Can we speak together in private?" Kazama nodded, and led the siblings through the base until they reached the Major's office. Second Lieutenant Fujibayashi Kyouko was already seated.

"Tatsuya-kun. What happened? The Major said you had an emergency."

"I do. My identity may have been compromised." Tatsuya said, a grave expression on his face. He felt a small bit of fear. It was an emotion he rarely felt. This wasn't the same as the true fear he experienced upon seeing his dying family in Okinawa. No, this was more of a lurking dread, overhanging and threatening to crush him slowly.

"Already? It's been one day. As Ooguro Ryuuya?" The military was more focused on ensuring that Ooguro Ryuuya was not compromised. That was their primary concern. Anything else would be considered personal, and therefore secondary.

"Nobody knows of Ryuuya. I doubt the students even know he exists. No, my identity as a Yotsuba will soon be under scrutiny. They'll find out I'm a member." Tatsuya placed his face in his hands and sighed. This was stressful.

"First of all, who is 'they?'" Kazama inquired.

"It's not even a 'they.' At least not yet. The only person who's had her suspicions is a girl, a third-year and Student Council President of First High, a member of the Saegusa clan. However, I expect she has either told her family or others by now."

"Saegusa... I can see why you're having a problem. How did this happen?"

"I was careless. She learned a few things she shouldn't have. One, I unknowingly confirmed my blood relation to Miyuki, currently the highest ranked freshman and representative." While it was subtle, Tatsuya praised his sister. "Two, she learned of my atrocious exam scores in both the practical, and written portions. And three, she saw my experimental research reports on the Iron Testudo." The last one was the one that tied everything together.

"She knows you made the Testudo?" Kazama slightly paled. That was military-grade secret that should have been locked down. Tatsuya shouldn't even have been able to take it outside a military base, but the higher ups agreed that his constant improving of the magic would be more beneficial. If this information was leaked out...

"No, she doesn't know the specifics. Only that it's high-level reinforcement-type magic."

"So it's not enough to deduce you were the creator of the Testudo. Good." The Major sighed in relief. That would also mean the Yotsuba wouldn't have to be on the military's rear end; more specifically, his rear end.

"But it was enough to deduce that my scores were a poor representation of my intellect. Having her see my research was my second mistake. The first was failing the written portion anyways. I should have simply done well on the written exam. Then this wouldn't even have happened."

"So she thought you were lying. That opens up the possibility that you were lying on your practicals as well, and with your blood relation to Miyuki, one could generally assume you had an equally inherent talent for magic." Kazama sat down on his chair and rubbed his temples. "This is quite the problem."

"Yes, but luckily, I can control the damage. I need to lead her off course." Tatsuya turned towards Kyouko. "Fujibayashi-san. I would like your help. More specifically, I need the Electron Sorceress."

Fujibayashi looked at him quizzically. He wanted her help. More specifically, he wanted her skills as a magician.

"Oh? I'm surprised you would need my skills. What do you want?"

Her moniker, the Electron Sorceress, came from her unconventional application of magic. Whereas most combat magicians fought head to head on the battlefield, Kyouko dominated cyberspace, hacking into security networks and databases; she would bypass the initial security system, gather all of their data, and leave while crippling their network's defenses. She was a nightmare for cybersecurity.

Her skills would be perfect.

"I need you you to hack into a machine's hardware."

"Not networks or databases?"

"Not necessary." He only needed to know how to rig a physical machine.

"Aw, and those were the most fun, too. Well, that's okay. I'm assuming you want to get into your examination machines. Am I right?" He nodded. She caught onto his plan.

"Can it be done?"

"Certainly. If we could get our hands on one of those machines, I could generate an activation sequence that would give you your desired output. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting one of those machines. Lucky for you, the machines used for practice in the schools are identical. I'll pay a visit to Second High."

She looked at Kazama. He would need to approve of her time off, and subsequently the mission.

The Major rummaged around his office, checking each folder that was stacked on his desk. They were an assortment of reports from the soldiers, and requests from his superiors. He made sure there were no conflicting missions that required the Second Lieutenant. There was a covert operation scheduled a week from then.

"Okay, Second Lieutenant. You've got five days. You're needed for an operation one week from today. I want ample time for you to be briefed, and prepared. You know to keep communications online at all times. If there's an emergency I expect you to return as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Fujibayashi stood, and saluted. "Tatsuya, I'll get back to you by tonight."

She never thought she needed to go back to school...

(Kokonoe Temple)

Movement was the essence of fighting. The best fighters were not the ones who could hit the hardest, or lift the heaviest. It was the one who could move the fastest, darting back and forth, light on his or her feet. Jabs so swift a victim could see only a blur out of the corner of his eyes before feeling the impact against his chin.

His teacher had told him the very first day that if he ever stopped moving during a fight, he might as well have died.

Being motionless meant being an easy target. It meant not going on the offensive. It meant losing the fight, or possibly worse. No, the best fighters were surely the ones who could keep on moving the legs, their arms, and their bodies.

This was why acceleration magic was so potent in Tatsuya's fighting style. This was also why a single Yotsuba could take out a hundred normal men.

The principles of Flash Cast were based on removing the use of a CAD. Constructing activation sequences from memory, users could rewrite phenomena without any outside assistance. Not only was it convenient, but it was quick, hence its name. By cutting out that middle man, the CAD, the Yotsuba were able to reduce their activation speeds to a fraction of the time it originally took.

Tatsuya took it one step further. Instead of constructing activation sequences that would be sent to the subconscious Magical Calculation Area where it would be processed into magical sequences and then manifested as modern magic, Tatsuya directly constructed the magic sequences in his conscious mind.

The artificial Calculation Area integrated in a conscious part of his brain allowed him to create magic at will. It was the only true Flash Cast. It was instant. It was perfect.

Tatsuya weaved in between the numerous enemies, blocking every punch thrown at him and retaliating with a fist of his own. His hands were a blur, moving so fast it could only be accomplished through magical augmentation.

He accelerated his arms at the joints, letting them fly out at inhuman speeds and smashing into the guts of his opponents. He constantly kept his body moving. He brought his leg up for a roundhouse kick, and used magic to fire his leg like a rocket. It was unfortunate. The victim careened off to the side and crashed into a wooden wall.

Luckily, the wall was heavily reinforced. Unluckily, the impact knocked the man unconscious and most likely gave him a concussion.

Tatsuya rolled over to his side, barely dodging a hook aimed straight for his head by the strongest of his enemies. The two locked eyes before Tatsuya dashed forward.

No, dash wasn't the right word. He barely moved his legs at all. He gently leaned forward and pushed off of the ground before activating acceleration magic. His body gained speed, but he felt no different. Acceleration magic wasn't applying a force onto an object. There was nothing physically pushing him to move faster. There was no impulse, no force, and therefore no reactionary jerking feeling.

Isaac Newton had no laws here.

All Tatsuya saw was the world around him blur, his vision narrowing as he recognized the all too familiar sight of high speed tunnel vision. The world around him spun out of focus, and disoriented him, so he did the only thing he could.

He closed his eyes, and opened that inner third eye.

Elemental Sight.

And suddenly, that high speed blur seemed like nothing to him. He knew the location of every enemy. He knew what they were doing. How fast their arms and legs were moving. The amount of strength placed in each punch, and kick.

But more importantly, he knew where he was going. Without Elemental Sight, Tatsuya wouldn't know when to stop. That was the largest drawback in combat with acceleration magic. Had he not used elemental sight, his vision would remain a blur, and he would continue to move in a straight line until he crashed into something.

An opposite, reactionary deceleration was needed to stop his movement.

Not a fraction of a second had passed, and Tatsuya opened his eyes. In that split instant, he had traveled enough distance to be right in front of his enemy. Face to face. And the very next instant, his fists exploded like pistons, rocketing out from his body and blasting into the chest of his opponent.

It was fortunate that Tatsuya was using reinforcement magic on his hand, otherwise the recoil from his own punch would have fractured a few weaker bones in his wrist. In the end, magic had to follow the laws of physics. While phenomena rewriting seemed to defy any scientific law, the mechanics of a punch would remain consistent.

He barely even registered the pain shooting up his arm. Reinforcement magic ensured his hand wouldn't break. Nobody ever said it stopped the pain.

And to make matters worse, his opponent was a highly trained combat expert as well. At the location of Tatsuya's punch, his enemy had reinforced his own body through a form of ancient magic. Ninjutsu rendered Yakumo's body a block of solid steel that Tatsuya had the pleasure of driving his fist.

His teacher fell onto the ground and clutched his chest.

"Yeaow! That really hurt, Tatsuya-kun. As always, your hand-to-hand combat is unmatched." Tatsuya walked up and offered his teacher a hand, pulling him to his feet. "Not even 50 against 1 can beat you, huh?"

The rest of the students were on the floor groaning, clutching different parts of their body, or were completely knocked out. They would all be fine. They were hardy individuals, after all.

"I doubt I would've won had I not augmented myself with magic. Defeating 50 experienced opponents alone without magic would be a feat only the greatest martial artists could accomplish. I can barely hold my own against you in that regard."

"Nonsense. Let's test that claim right now." Yakumo dusted himself and cracked his knuckles, returning into a fighting stance.

"You are still able to fight?" The man did take quite a few hits.

"Of course! You don't think a master like me would lose to someone half his age, do you? Ready yourself, Tatsuya-kun." The man dashed forward, swinging his leg to kick Tatsuya in the face. "And one more thing. No magic."

Tatsuya had enough time to raise his arms before another leg flashed out a kicked him in the ribs. He backed off slightly, thankful his teacher had let up on the aggression.

No magic, huh? Well he wasn't a guardian for nothing. He, too, positioned himself in a fighting stance.

(First High, Off-Campus)

That afternoon, Tatsuya was tired. Normally, his body would revert to a point if his combat capabilities fell below a certain threshold, but that was only physical fatigue. Tatsuya, however, was experiencing a mental drain.

He had a restless night. Then in the morning, he met with Major Kazama. After that, he had his daily training with Kokonoe Yakumo at his temple. Then right after getting his ass whooped in the one-on-one, he had to leave for school, where he had to put up with immature, arrogant Course 1 students who continuously harassed his sister.

Normally, he wouldn't care. She didn't seem bothered by all of the students surrounding her, and following her, so why should he? After all, seeing his sister showered with adoration was something that cracked a grin on his face. As long as Miyuki said nothing he would say nothing.

He wasn't the first to act, but he was most definitely the first one to react. All he wanted to do was go home with his sister. After a grueling day of being constantly denied her company, he was tired. It was selfish, not that he cared. She was his sister after all.

A group of Course 1 students had once again, been pestering Miyuki to stay a bit longer. He had asked if she wanted to go home. Miyuki, however, was too sincere of a person to directly reject their advances. She wasn't cut-throat like he was. She wasn't desensitized. She had genuine feelings for others.

And while she would have put her foot down if he asked her to, he said nothing but the usual request to go home.

It was Mizuki who had first voiced her opinion on the Course 1 students' collective complaints. He was actually surprised at how fast the situation escalated. It seemed like all of the tension built up between the Course 1 and Course 2 students was instantly released the moment Morisaki Shun had dropped that bomb.

'Weed.'

Mizuki was the first one to explode. Then came Leo. The boy provoked Morisaki to act.

"I'll show you!" Morisaki Shun pulled out small pistol shaped CAD from his holster. They were technically off campus, so possessing CAD was not uncommon. However pulling it out against a fellow classmate? Unheard of.

The moment he saw the glint of the steel casing of a CAD, Tatsuya reached into his uniform. His hand grasped around the grip of his most prized weapon. By the time Morisaki pulled out his pistol, Tatsuya already had the Silver Horn Custom dubbed 'Trident' aimed and primed.

Obviously he couldn't decompose Morisaki Shun, although that thought did cross his mind. That would leave too much of a mess to clean up. Not physically, but verbally. How could he possibly explain deleting a classmate from existence.

Instead, Tatsuya swapped out the magazine holding the key sequences for his three-step decomposition. He opted for something much simpler. Gram demolition would be more than adequate to disable a few novice magicians.

However, he never even fired once. Before Morisaki could even activate any magic, a baton quickly knocked the CAD out of his hand. Erika reacted a moment after Tatsuya, albeit her strategy was a tad bit more direct.

One of the Course 1 students, upon seeing a baton hit Morisaki and a pistol aimed down their direction, activated her own magic. Tatsuya moved to blast her magic away, but he wasn't expecting a Psion Bullet fly all the way from another direction. However, his finger was already in motion. He pulled the trigger.

It's not like anything would have happened. Gram Demolition was just a large torrent of Psions flying towards a single position. They couldn't cause damage. The girl would be fine.

It was truly a surprise when something crashed into his side. Whatever it was, it was fast. He didn't see it from the corner of his eye, nor did he use Elemental Sight. It blind sided him, causing him to lose his grasp on Trident, the customized Silver Horn dropping to the ground.

He managed to recover, turning around and gripping his side. The damage wasn't enough to break any bones, but it managed to knock him back, and would cause quite the bruise on his side. Once again, Regrowth was not necessary.

He looked up to see a wooden blade pointing at his face, and a woman standing above him.

"You're under arrest. Follow me."

This day just couldn't get worse...

Ah, Chapter 3. This one was quite a bit harder to write, but I managed to push through it in the end. As you can tell, I'll be omitting Canon parts that I don't think will change. Meeting Mizuki, Leo, Erikia and Mikihiko is the same as canon, and therefore unecessary to write. I did however rewrite scenes that I feel will change like the meeting with Mayumi.

Yes, she will be playing detective.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, or criticisms, please leave a review and let me know what you think.