(Haah… In the end, all I could do was this much, huh.)

(Given your limited learning ability, being able to do this much is already considered a miracle, sir.)

(You're mocking me aren't you? AREN'T YOU!?)

It was day of the First year's opening ceremony. Toura was currently sitting on one of the benches in one of First High's courtyard. As it would look weird talking to himself, he and Aria were currently engaging in telepathy.

"Hey, look at that." "Ah? Another one? For weeds, they sure are early."

Just then, two upperclassmen walked past. Toura could only look blankly at them as they walked away.

As they had pointed out, Toura's school uniform was crestless. Basically, he belonged to the bottom half of the cohort, out of 200 freshman being enrolled. Though he scored perfectly for normal academic subjects, he could only get average scores for papers regarding magical concepts. Not only that, he was among those with below average scores for the practical examinations.

(I could have blown the practical test away without using the CAD. Damn it.)

Toura lamented. The day after he arrived, he went over to a magic facility to buy a generalized CAD of his own. He was shocked at how easy to get one, as he considered CADs as weapons and thought they were heavily restricted. He once considered breaking into a store to get one if he could not get one openly.

Since then, he had tried practicing with the default magical sequences loaded in the CAD, but his invocation speed was slow. After all, he had always been casting magic without any magical aid for a long time. If he was asked to use magic with aid, and with a foreign aid to boot, he could barely manage. Even with a month of training, the results were not that satisfactory.

"That being true, you would have become an exception in this world, where almost everyone is dependent on using CADs. One of your world traveling principles is to not stand out, is it not?"

(That's right… but… Argh, I can't help be frustrated.)

(I think it's time for you to stop acting like a spoiled child, sir.)

(You're mocking me again aren't you? One day I'm going to-)

"Is this seat taken?"

A voice outside brought Toura back from his telepathic communications. Though it was rude, as the opposite party did not know of this, Toura did not mind.

"No, it's not, here."

Toura shifted to the left side of the bench to provide a more comfortable space for him.

"Thank you."

Accepting the offer, he sat down. He had black hair that barely went down his neck, and had sharp eyes. He was around the same height as Toura. Toura looked over to his uniform.

'Crestless as well, huh?'

"Are you a new student?" Toura asked.

"Yes."

"That makes us the same then. My name's Toura Mcdowell, you can call me Toura, nice to meet you."

"Likewise, I'm Shiba Tatsuya. You can just call me Tatsuya."

"So, Tatsuya, are you here to pass some time?"

"Sort of. This part of the school seems isolated, so I came over."

"Looks like we have a lot in common, huh. Ah-ha!"

After that, both Toura and Tatsuya talked for quite a bit, until it was time for the opening ceremony. However, within that short span of time, Toura was able to analyze him, rather, because of his many years of experience, he could judge someone's character from first glance. What he felt from Tatsuya, was not that of a typical 16 year old. He was mature, no, too mature, and he could see that he went through countless battles.

'Is he the same as me? Or is it simply because he went through a lot? If it's the latter, then he must have went through hell for his age. Hmm… intriguing.'

He could not help but grin. After all, after living for so long, he had picked up various weird hobbies. One of them was that he love to observe people. Once, he spent his entire time in a particular world observing a target. He even transformed to a girl to approach him and observe how he would react when a love rival other than his girlfriend appears.

(I was pretty wild back then~)

(I'm pretty sure that was just obsessive stalking, sir. I had a pretty hard time in that world, and I have yet to receive my compensation you promised, sir.)

(Shut up!)

Another thing that he noticed was that he kept glancing over to his neck. As he did not want Aria to attract any form of attention, Toura hid her inside his uniform. If Tatsuya kept looking over, it meant he had the ability to see things other people could not, and was able to comprehend that Aria was not something ordinary.

'Intriguing, really intriguing…'

"So it's about time. Shall we head over?"

As Tatsuya said that, he stood up.

"Alright then."

Keeping his thoughts back in his mind, they headed over to the school auditorium.

Five minutes before the ceremony, Tatsuya and Toura were already seated in the auditorium.

"Um, are these seats taken?"

A female voice called out.

"Ah, they're free. Help yourself."

Toura replied.

As she politely bowed, three other girls came over and sat down beside her.

"Umm… I'm Shibata Mizuki, nice to meet you."

"I'm Toura Mcdowell. And this over here is Shiba Tatsuya."

"Ah, I'm Chiba Erika, nice to meet you!~"

The girl called Erika that sat beside Mizuki abruptedly introduced herself.

'A conservative type and on-going type respectively huh? Oh ho~'

"But still, isn't this a coincidence? Our last names all sound the same that they rhyme~ 'Shibata', 'Chiba', 'Shiba' 'Toura'. 'Ta', 'Ba', 'Ra'. Tabara, Tabara~"

"I can't believe you noticed this, hehe."

The girls giggled to themselves.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, 'Toura' is actually my first name…"

"Eh?"

"I'm from American descent, so I introduced myself that way earlier. Sorry for the confusion."

Toura's personal background was like this: His family moved over from America to Japan in the early 21st century, when his American great-grandfather married his Japanese great-grandmother. His parents' lives were lost in the war three years ago, and he had lived alone since then. The school he went to and such were all common-names and with the help of Aria, she made it such that his appearance in the schools and his activities were all documented.

If need be for an investigation, Toura would personally alter memories, however, that's only for a last resort. It's not guaranteed for altering to succeed, even for Toura, and it might cause the people to lose their memories instead. This was something Toura did not want, as he treasured memories more than anything.

"Ah, don't mind, don't mind~"

Erika said as she waved her hands.

"It's time for the ceremony to start, everyone, please be seated."

An announcement came from an upperclassman on the stage. With that, we straightened our backs and faced forward to look at the stage.

"Hey hey, Tatsuya, Toura, which class are you guys in?"

Erika asked. It was after the opening ceremony, and everybody were strolling outside the auditorium and towards where the classrooms were.

"Both of us are in Class E."

Tatsuya replied on both their behalfs.

"Eh~ Then I guess the four of us will be in the same class then!"

Erika said cheerfully as she held Mizuki by her arms.

"Umm… Hope that we get along well!"

Mizuki said as she bowed.

"Ah, un. Likewise." Toura replied as he waved.

'You don't have to be that uptight.'

He thought in his back of his mind.

"So, do you guys wanna check out our homeroom? It's just around the corner."

Erika suggested. It was the first day of school, and there were no classes for the day. As such, everyone is permitted to leave after the ceremony on their own time.

"I'm fine with that. What about you, Tatsuya?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, but I promised to meet up with my sister."

"Umm, by sister, you mean, the First year representative, Shiba Miyuki-san right?"

At Tatsuya's answer, Mizuki asked.

"Ah, yes."

"Eh, are you guys twins?"

"We get that a lot, but we're not twins. I'm born in April while Miyuki's born in March. However, I'm amazed that you can connect the both of us together, as people also often say we don't look that alike."

"Ah umm… How should I say this, the gazes both of you have…"

"It's their aura right?"

Toura interjected. With his many years of travels across worlds, he had picked up various abilities. One of them is to the ability to discern a person's motive or character through the aura he or she emits. If it's a person that would not cause harm, a soothing aura could be felt, and if a person wishes to do harm, a red aura that reflects bloodlust could be seen. Relatives also tend to emit similar auras as well, as such, Toura was able to see the similarities between Tatsuya and Miyuki.

As Mizuki could also sense these 'auras', Toura thought it was common for people in this world to sense it, as such, he had not thought of anything when he interjected and gave that comment. However, seeing the slight shocked expression on Tatsuya, he felt that he made a blunder.

"I see, both of you have good eyes, it seems…"

His cold comment made Toura shudder.

(Ah, I really messed up.)

(I knew you would, sir. As always.)

(I'm going to throw you away one day, I swear.)

"Onii-sama, sorry for the wait!"

Just then, as Toura was bickering with Aria in telepathy, a female voice called out. She squeezed out of the crowd and presented herself in front of Tatsuya. Accompanying behind her was Mayumi Saegusa, the student council president.

"We meet again, Shiba-kun."

As to return the greetings, Tatsuya bowed. Toura and the two girls followed suit.

"Umm, Onii-sama, these people are?"

Miyuki looked over to the girls when she asked the question.

"This is Shibata Mizuki-san, and Chiba Erika-san. The one behind is Toura Mcdowell. We're in the same class."

Without a moment delay, Tatsuya answered her, after all, he had nothing to hide.

"Is that so… though isn't it a little too soon to be dating your classmates?"

Her adorable head tilted to the side as she asked. Her lips formed a lady-like smile, but her eyes were not smiling.

'Am I invisible? Or is she including me in this?'

Toura asked in his mind, as cold sweat began to form on his forehead.

"There's no way that could happen, right, Miyuki? We were just chatting while waiting for you. And also, I don't have a thing for other guys, you know."

Tatsuya answered as he glanced over to Toura. His reply made Toura feel at ease.

"Sorry for my rudeness. Good day, Shibata-san, Chiba-san, and Toura-san."

Hearing his reply, a look of resignation flashed across Miyuki's face for an instant, before fixing up an even more gracious smile on face and greeted his brother's classmates.

Then and there, the girls introduced themselves again.

As the girls chatted, Tatsuya realized that the student council was waiting behind them. Noticing this, Tatsuya interrupted.

"Miyuki, are you done with your business with the student council? If you are not, I can go kill some time myself, you know?"

"It's fine."

The one who replied was Mayumi.

"I'm here to just say hello for today. We'll catch up on another day, Miyuki-san."

With that said, the student council party left, however, a tongue clicking could be heard from the boy beside her.

(If I'm not wrong, he's the same guy who was the announcer at the opening ceremony.)

(Yes sir. He's the vice president of the student council.)

(Is that so… An elitist huh…)

Toura could only shrug to that thought. He could tolerate cocky people, as he had seen many people of those types. However, liking them is a different matter.

"Well then, since we're all here, why don't we go get a cup of tea or something? I know a good place!"

Erika suggested, and no one declined.

After that, everyone went on their separate ways.

Back at the Shiba household, the siblings were having dinner. They were discussing about their first day of school and being able to spend some quality time with her brother was something enjoyable to Miyuki. However, she felt a certain unease coming from him that night.

"Is something the matter, Onii-sama?"

Miyuki asked. When it came to Tatsuya, Miyuki knew almost everything about him, even the expression he makes when he's thinking, or when he's angry. As such, Tatsuya was not shocked when Miyuki knew that something was in his mind.

"Looks like nothing can escape your eyes huh. It's about Toura Mcdowell."

"Toura-san? He seems nice, what's wrong about him?"

Miyuki's first impression of him was good, as he was quite gentlemanly. At the cafe Erika introduced, he helped Erika and Mizuki with their seats (while Tatsuya helped hers) and had the proper dining etiquette.

"Yes. I agree he's nice. They way he acts, and everything, are all natural. Rather, it's too natural that it's unnatural."

"In that case, Onii-sama is the same."

"Is that so?"

"That is so, Onii-sama. I think you're just overthinking things, Onii-sama."

"Is that so… I hope that is the case…"

In his mind, the way he acted around him was not the only thing bothering him. Rather, it was the wealth of experience he felt Toura had that was unbefitting of his age, and also the item that he hid, that made him feel suspicious. Though, the same could be said for himself. Realizing that her sister's words held some truth, he threw these suspicious thoughts away.

"Really… It may seem we do have lot of things in common…"

Sup, Scrya here! Do take note a few things!

1. Words in () are communications in telepathy. Words in ' ' are thoughts. Words in " " are direct conversations.

2. I'm mainly following the light novel version. (Though it's currently licensed, ow)

3. Also, after this, I will only update every weekend, as I'm kind of busy on weekdays!

4. I will try to reply to PMs as much as I can, as long as it's not about important plots that I don't intend to reveal!

And lastly, if you have any comments, criticisms, or any suggestions, please feel free to say so! :)

To a certain PM and to everyone else that's interested:

No, I don't intend to make this a harem. Though I might steal a potential love interest off Tatsuya (woops), I'm not going to make this a harem.

As to which world he originates from, it's a secret. :)