Chapter 7: Candy Girl! / Gin, Agin, And Augain!!

“Oh. Right, Akari was going to be coming over soon.” Evan said, checking the clock

“Coming over? You aren’t going to go get her yourself?” Rin asked

“Well… lets just go to the study. Rai, you’re coming too, right?” Evan said

“Yeah. Cotton candy seems like an interesting person. I’m looking forward to meeting her.” Aunt Rai said

They didn’t need to go down to meet her. She stood in the doorway.

“Evan, I came up here since I couldn’t find you, but what is this place? A modern home? Wait… hold up. I don’t remember you guys having more than one kid? I didn’t think you two were the type of people that take yearly family photos, either.” Akari asked, looking around.

“Oh! Akari! Yeah, this one's Rin.” Evan said, introducing her

“Ah, right! It’s nice to meet you, my name is Rin kami, or kami Rin. My dads told me about you.” Rin said, bowing

“Oh my. Polite. And cute! Then what is this nice little guy over here named?” Akari asked

“I’m Renji! It’s nice to meet you Mrs cotton candy!” Renji said, smiling.

“Holy crap he’s cute. Oh! Hey lime! And… who is this? Don’t tell me you got a wife other than lime.” Akari said

“Oh god no! I can barely handle lime and reina, you think I can deal with more than that?!” Evan asked

“Darling, we take care of you.” Lime said

“Oh.... True.” Evan said

“Then who is this?” Akari asked

“I’m right here, you could just directly ask me?” Aunt Rai said

“Ah. Right, sorry. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Akari, what’s your name?” Akari asked

“I’m Aunt Rai, it’s a pleasure to meet you, mrs cotton candy.” Aunt Rai said

“Where did the cotton candy bit come from, anyhow? Are they talking about the cotton candy from when I tried setting up a festival in the other world? Your cotton candy got people way too addicted. It became a disaster...” Akari said

“Wait, hold on, Aunt? Whose sister? Evan said he had one, but......” Akari said

“Hmmm. Maybe I should refer to you as lady konpeito, then. It’s also fitting, right?” Said Aunt Rai, lost in thought

“That attention span's the same as Evans, but I don't feel like you guys are siblings.” Akari said

“Huh? Oh, we aren’t. I’m their aunt, but I’m not related to Evan or lime.” Aunt Rai said

“Oh. So just a friend, then? No… it does seem more like family, I guess.” Akari said

“That’s pretty much right.” Aunt Rai said

“Huh. Well then, you needed me?” Akari asked

“I did. I called you to help teach them. Lime doesn’t have anything to do with magic right now, Renji can’t use it, and I suck at explaining or teaching. Plus the mana thing? I made it work according to my convenience. Since nobody else really travels through dimensions regularly it doesn’t change much for anyone else.” Evan said

“Wow. That really is convenient.” Akari said

“You’re telling me. This dimension has a pretty distinct feature when it comes to mana. It’s mana absorption in relation to other dimensions jumps back and forth. So I twisted it to automatically be convenient for me at all times. It’s time progression is syncing up to yours forcefully. In all honesty it makes virtually no sense. It’s easier to say that it just works.” Evan said

“You’re rambling again, dear. Nobody understood that.” Lime said

“I did.” Akari said

“Akari, dear. You are like my husband, it doesn’t really count.” Lime said

“True. But you understand what he’s talking about, too.” Akari said

“That’s because of experience, dear. I’ve sat through this stuff enough to just understand it.” Lime said.

“Well, is this world like mine? This looks like a normal suburban home… wait. We’re in Japan? Oh, right. Ah, headaches, who cares, lets just go. I wanna go around and explore this place after, so hurry up.” Akari said, heading to the study

“Things make no sense when you guys are in the same room together, as always.” Lime Sighed

“Yeah, but… that Personality is like an irritated female Evan. But young. Well, not exactly, but you get what I mean, right lime?” Aunt Rai said

“Yeah. Different people but the same… they do seem to act the same when they snap. It’s quite uncanny, actually.” Lime said

“There’s nothing I feel from this except weird.” Rin said

“Then let’s forget about it and carry on. Also, we do not act the same when we snap.” Evan said

“Well, you don’t snap often. It’s been eons since I last saw you angry. Upset, sure. Angry? No. Dear, you don’t really need to worry about it. It’s not important. You guys were at least confusing enough to disinterest Renji, at least. Maybe next time you should do it in another room and in a way that doesn't skip lots of information that confuses everybody. Anyway, you needed Akari for something, right?” Lime said

“Hmm. True. We have other stuff to do.” Evan said.

“Yeah, so can we go do that stuff or not?” Akari asked

They headed to the study

“So. What have you been taught so far? What do you two know?” Akari asked

“Well, I’m working on learning how to make a magic sphere and add the fire element to create the fireball spell.” Rin said

“I just started learning how to make a magic spear, I think I got how each of the elements work. So I’m practicing adding elements to the mana spear, and creating an elemental spear from that.” Aunt Rai said

“Oh. You're using the elements method?” Akari asked

“Yeah. I don’t think they need to know about the core method.” Evan said

“So we just wanna go with the classic magic style, right? Not the core and neutral mana dilution, or the current core style. Weaker, but that’s better in this case. So you want Rin to be the 'basic student that’s secretly a magician' thing? You can’t hide this from Renji forever, you know. Though, I guess this is the right way to do things. He can’t use magic, after all.” Akari asked

“No, he can’t. So I need these two to protect him.” Evan said

“They seem awfully attached to him. He is cute, though.” Akari said

“You aren’t going to ask why I’m training them?” Evan asked

“I can feel the mana in this place. Besides, the information you gave me on the dimension is a dead giveaway.” Akari said

“I’m actually pretty glad Sora asked me to take you to the other world. It was a damn good decision. You’re a really good help in times like these.” Evan said

“Sappy. Ignoring that, though, I wanna go look around this place. So let’s hurry up with the lesson. You two, what do you know about magic and mana? Since this isn't the core method, I need a bit more information than just what spell you're working on.” Akari asked

“What? Oh. Most of what we know comes from the books over there. Dad’s lessons are easy enough to understand, but he doesn’t teach us that kind of knowledge much.” Rin said, pointing at a shelf of books that were marked as translated

“Alright, gimme a minute. I’ll read them.” Akari said

Akari walked up to the shelf, picked up a book, and flipped through the pages quickly

“What? You can’t read all of them in that short amount of time, let alone learn them.... Actually, wait. If not for this entire situation, I would have thought magic was nearly impossible. Honestly, compared to that, it’s starting to sound a lot more believable.” Aunt Rai said

“I said she had a good memory, didn’t I?” Evan said

“That’s a bit of an understatement.” Akari said

“True, but what I told them wasn’t just that, obviously. I told them that you had photographic memory.” Evan said

“Yeah, that about sums it up. Kinda.” Akari said

“When dad talked about it, he said you remember basically everything perfectly all at the same time and remember it forever. Does that mean your thinking and remembering bad stuff constantly?” Rin asked

“Well, unlike some other people I can pick and choose. It’s like I have folders with every memory, and I can have multiple pictures up at once. Or close the ones I don’t want open. But I can go through the folders and remember it by the title to know which I want to remember. I guess it’s hard to understand unless you experience it.” Akari said

“Oh. That sounds pretty convenient. So, reading or seeing a page opens up something like a new image tab, and saves that image into a folder? And it’s doing that every time?” Aunt Rai asked, interested

“Oh. I guess you do get it.” Akari said

“No. I’m lost.” Rin said

“Oh. Sorry Rin. Let’s just move on. I finished reading a few seconds ago, anyway.” Akari said, slamming a book shut in her hands

“What are you going to teach us?” Rin asked

“Well, for starters, how to fight. Second, as long as Evan approves it, less pitiful magic. This is a decent library. What you're working on is pretty much spitting in it's face. Although, I kinda agree with how Evan's staying hands off. I mean, he’s only helping with the stuff you can’t learn in a book. I’m guessing after I’m done teaching here, lessons will be over completely. You guys should be able to practice by yourselves at that point. I just gotta get you ready.” Akari said

“Wait, really? Dad, are you going to stop teaching us?” Rin asked

“Well, Akari is, for the most part, right. But there are always going to be parts of learning that others took ages to understand by themselves, but is easy to learn if you know how. Those bottlenecks are where I will provide a little help sometimes. Other than that? Maybe if you don’t recognize a term or there’s something really dumb going on, I can step in.” Evan said

“So that means..?” Rin asked

“Yeah, no more lessons. You graduate, I guess. I'll stop protecting you. You are nowhere near done, though.” Evan said

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“I don’t think I know exactly how I would do this without your help, Dad.” Rin said

“That’s why I’m here. This idiot isn’t very good at that stuff, so I’m here to teach you how to learn magic individually. I’m here to cut off your dependence on Evans lessons. Though, I guess there are a few things you should know.” Akari said.

“I won’t baby you. I won’t coddle you. I’ll hit you hard. I won’t apologize. So you do the same. You grow strong. You stop relying on me. You get back up. And you say thanks.” Akari said

“That’s.. a bit extreme isn’t it?” Rin asked

“For me? Sure, hit as hard as you want. But that isn’t really right for someone her age.” Aunt Rai said

“As I said. I won’t baby you. I guess I should also say, I recognize you have a difference in what you can or can’t withstand. A hit that flings Rai to the wall, but doesn’t hurt her, would break bones if you use the same force on Rin. So I won’t. I’ll hit you with the strength to fling each of you against the wall, without injury. So the punch will have the same effect. It’s only that I use a different amount of strength, so you guys are going through the same thing pretty much, I’m just compensating for your age. Plus, even if you get paralyzed I can just heal you. So I can go as strong as I want if I really really wanted to. Well, assuming Evan isn’t here. But I wouldn’t anyway. My goal isn’t to cause pain specifically, rather it’s to build your character, your endurance, your skill, your reflexes, your adaptability, your experience, your spirit, and you yourself as a whole, for the parts I didn’t include.” Akari said

“Wow. That was… long. So basically you will be hitting us so that we become okay with being hit?” Rin asked

“Oh, god no! Of course not. Endurance isn’t exactly just taking a punch. You guys are going to be working out your muscles and storing up more mana, as well as sitting in here and studying. Your mind, your muscles, your magic. If you want to add anything else like learning in your free time, that’s fine too. Of course Rin, you have school to focus on as well.” Akari said

She thought for a moment

“Hey, Evan. Are you sure you wanna let me do this? I will be causing pain. I might injure them. Are they okay with that?” Akari asked

“I don’t mind getting hurt. If it was injuries that would stay, I would say no, but you said you can heal me. Besides, Evans lessons can only go so far on their own. I’m guessing he specifically limited how much he would be allowed to teach us. He said something about the second floor having basic spells. He hasn't opened it yet, and what we learn from his lessons seems to be more of how to control what we know already. We aren’t learning anything new, at least not from him. We’ve learned some stuff from the books that I've been translating, but I’m guessing we’re going to be stuck here on the first floor if we can’t prove our ability to develop on our own. But I can’t let Rin go through your training. That’s too much.” Aunt Rai said, shaking her head

“This is… some pretty good determination! Damn, while your skill is nowhere close to them, I wish the students at my academy had that mindset. But the decision is up to Rin. Of course, if you complete it yourself you can just bring Rin with you up to the second floor to learn more, but again, it’s the mindset. I actually recommend that you don’t do the training Rin, I’m pretty sure your dad called me to jumpstart this with just Rai. He has always been a massive pain. You’re a middle schooler. You need to focus on your life. If anything, I recommend setting only one or two days a week to practice magic and read these books. And only three hours at most. You can join in on our training a little whenever the schedule lines up I guess.” Akari said

“I’ll do that. Magic’s cool and all, but I don’t want to just drop my entire life to study it. I only want to learn what I need to. I guess combat is the one that I’m interested in though. I don’t know anything about that. So a lot of my knowledge is useless.” Rin said

“Introducing her to magic young worked perfectly! Magic did indeed lose the shine that tends to blind people. If you had just found out about magic existing now, I’m pretty sure the curiosity would have driven you to lose focus on your life. You got used to it, thankfully. I’m glad to see that my daughter isn’t a fool. It’s surprising that you’re a first year middle school student still, and that you’re only a year older than Renji. I mean, it’s not everyday you find someone who will stop and look at their situation practically. Well spoken as well, I have to thank my beautiful wife for that. And a wide vocabulary, as well as a larger than average pool of knowledge. You study surprisingly well, too. Again, it’s hard to find even a high schooler that’s that mature.” Evan said, praising his daughter

“He’s right you know, I don’t know how the hell you manage to raise such amazing kids. Come to think of it, what’s with Renji anyhow? No matter how I look at it, it’s incredibly weird. Highly immature for one of you and limes children. Well, more accurately, he’s about as mature as everyone else his age. Not only that, but he can’t use mana at all. I can’t even see his valves. It’s really weird. There’s a story there. What’s up with Renji?” Akari asked

“Oh, well. He’s normal. As in normal, normal. Not many people have visible or even existent valves. It’s harder to find people like Rai or Rin. Which reminds me, Rin. I know I said you have bad compatibility with magic and average potential, but I guess I should have mentioned that being able to achieve even that is incredible. A person can develop their valves depending on their personalities, and good luck. Rai probably has a somewhat clear and sharp mind, so it’s not surprising that she developed mana valves. But having them at such a young age is incredible, it’s pretty special. The kids at Akaris academy, for example, get their personalities tested and basically get mana shocked, jump starting the development. That’s not really a very good thing, it can cause them to develop damaged valves, which can hinder them later on. Speaking of, do you still do that, Akari?” Evan asked

“Yeah… unfortunately we do. We’re still trying to find a way to bring forth development at a young age without side effects. But you forgot to mention the benefit of the mana shock.” Akari said

“Hm? Oh! Right. The core development process gets skipped. Their personality helps their core develop its category before it's formed sometimes. Though it’s not a mana core, so it isn’t unique. Honestly, it’s a good thing. It stops a lot of chaos. The core just becomes a category or subcategory that already exists. It’s like the heart of your mana. What did you guys call it? An aptitude test? A magic evaluation? You guys categorize the cores into levels, don’t you? Like the f rank e rank, d rank, c rank, b rank, a rank, s rank, etc? If I remember correctly, the creation core is Rank SSS, right Akari?” Evan asked

“No, the creation category for cores is Rank SSS. An actual creation core is way beyond that. Though there have been subcategories like weapon creation or equipment creation that have become a little more common. I think that the top student right now has a weapon creation subcategory type. So basically it’s a subcategory within a subcategory. He can summon or create any kind of sword I think. It includes magic swords. So it’s pretty good. It’s around Rank S. There’s a few others with similar skills. Pretty interesting, actually. It makes me realize exactly how strong we are.” Akari said

“We are literal gods, Akari. Let’s just train. I’ll watch.” Evan said

“Yeah… okay. But... Do we have anywhere that isn’t a library, perhaps, that we can train in?” Akari asked

“Ah. No, I-“ Evan Started

“We do. I got a studio all set up. It has everything we need.” Rai said

“When did we get that? And how?” Evan asked

“Just the other day, I bought it with the help of a friend.” Rai said

“Oh. Wait, how much did you spend, I’ll pay you back.” Evan said, feeling his pockets for his wallet

“You gave me a card to use for the magic training that has millions on it. I used that.” Rai said, holding up a credit card

“Oh, right. Forgot about that.” Evan said

“How much money do you have, exactly? And how did you even get it?” Rai asked

“Oh. That’s easy. Lime is in charge of the mafia or yakuza or whatever. Like, actually in charge. We work with the government to help monitor and control criminal activity hotspots so damage is kept to a minimum. I did the same thing back when me and lime went to school together. She's the boss of all organized crime so she can keep crime organized, which can help stop incidents on a widespread scale. Basically, it’s a good guy job in a bad guy profession. Since she’s doing the same thing I did back then, it isn’t traced back to us unless we want it to be.” Evan said

“Oh, so that’s why all those guys with the guns are watching us! They aren’t attacking, they’re protecting us!” Rai said

“Yeah. Actually, they are pretty nice people. These guys at least. They are bodyguards, but they're allowed to use more extreme methods. But I was going to call them off, and have them protect other people. As things are right now, they can’t protect you as well as you can protect yourself, Rai. The ones following Rin and Renji will stay.” Evan said

“Wait, what? There’s people who are always following me?” Rin asked

“Uh. Yeah, if you’re uncomfortable with it, I can call them off whenever. Actually, Akari, you have a daughter, right? Is Rin old enough to have a phone yet?” Evan asked

“Don’t ask me! I’m a horrible parent!.... Which actually kinda explains why she turned out that way. I coddled her way too much. Ask Rai, she seems like she would know.” Akari said, shaking her head

“First, you aren’t a bad parent. Akane is just special in the head. Second, I agree. Rai, what do you think?” Evan asked

“Yeah... Isn’t it maturity that should be measured for this? Not age?” Rai asked

“So that’s a massive yes, then. Alright.....Oh, right. Another thing. I guess I should introduce you guys, I’m gonna be talking with this guy a lot. Even if you never see it. Hey, Gin, can you come out, please?” Evan asked, calling out to the shadows

“Yes, master. I heed your words, and obey your command.” Gin said, melting into existence from the shadows

He looked around 25. He had white hair down to his hips, a blindfold over his eyes, and a sword on his waist.

“Jesus! What the heck!” Akari said, startled

“I told you. Bye the way, It’s not magic, but it is a supernatural power. Thats why you couldn't detect him. Gin is one of the fox spirit things.” Evan said

“Yeah, but his mana doesn’t match this dimension, who the heck is he?” Akari asked

“Oh. Gin is a very, very old friend. I mentioned my school days with lime, right? He was one of my friends, and my bodyguard back then, too. Not where I met him, but that's at least how far back I remember him being by my side. Wait, I think I met him before the war. Ah, whatever. He is incredibly skilled at everything he does. It would be incredible if I had more of him. I’d have Gin protect you guys. Also, don’t be afraid to talk to him. He’s just stiff and nervous. So he always seems a little unapproachable.” Evan said

“Master. I have something which may help with that situation. It just occurred a few hours ago.” Gin said

“Huh? What do you mean?” Evan asked

“I, Uh… these guys split off of me. I have no idea how to explain it other than that. Apologies master.” Gin said

Two children, one with gold hair, one with silver, melted out of the shadows like Gin. They were basically Gin, but as a child.

“These two. They seem to think for themselves, but they haven’t talked much.” Gin said

They bowed before Evan

“Greetings, master.” They said in unison

“It’s nice to meet you two. You guys can relax, stop being so stiff. If what I’ve gathered is correct, Gin seems to want to assign you two as guards for Rin and Rai. Is that okay with you two?” Evan said

The two little Gin copies relaxed, and seemed sociable to a certain extent. The original Gin was the same as ever, him having become so used to it that his stiff behavior was relaxing to him.

The gold one went up to Rin.

“Child of gold. Master, may I protect the child of gold?” The gold one asked

“Hm? Oh! Right. Yes. That’s fine by me, as long as she is okay with it.” Evan said

“I’m… fine with it? It’s nice to meet you, I’m kami Rin, or Rin kami. You are?” Rin asked

“I’m gold. Just gold. It’s an easy name, and it fits. Gold shall protect the child of another gold!” Gold said proudly

“I… shall serve you… then?” The silver one asked

“This little guy is adorable. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rai.” Rai said, talking to the nervous silverhaired boy

“I’m.. Gin… well, I’m gin and he’s also gin, but he’s gold. You can call me silver, instead. I’m…. normal compared to those two. I’m pretty sure it’s fine to be casual. Should I refer to you as Rai?” Silver asked

“Yes. You’re a lot calmer than gold. And you guys aren’t as stiff as Gin is. Also, why did none of you guys point out their ears or tail. They’re floofy.” Rai said

“I’m actually the one who’s more active than gold is. That’s the most excited you will probably ever see gold get. Look. He’s stone faced now.” Silver said

“Ah! You’re right. Why was he so hyper?” Rai asked

“He said she was a child of gold. Gold is a child of Gin, meaning silver. Not me, but Gin. Silver is considered lower in the hierarchy, so I would assume that she has a higher status than he does. As such, he seems to want to gladly follow her. I’m completely separate from those two, so I’m not too sure. If anything, I feel weirded out by ths entire situation. As such, I recommend we move on. We were heading towards the studio to practice.” Silver said

“I see. So both you and Gin have names that mean silver. Guys, silver has a point, we should head to the studio.” Rai said

“I don’t think we will get back before Rin has to go to bed, so do you want to stay or go?” Evan asked Rin

“Mom would probably hit you for asking that. Of course I don’t want to go. I need sleep.” Rin said

“Figures. Technically, you don’t need to come to practice anymore. Everything else from now on will be self study, other than the practice I’m holding over the next week.” Akari said

“Oh, right, Gin. Can you get me a phone for Rin?” Evan asked

“Wait! Hold on. Let Rin choose one herself.” Akari said

“Oh. Now you know what to say.” Evan said

“Well, I’m sorry. I haven’t had to raise a child in…. eons? Besides. I can’t have another kid after what happened, now can I?” Akari asked

“There’s always adoption, if you can't have a child.” Said Rin

“Ah. I forgot about that. Hm. Maybe I do have some stuff to do now.” Akari said

“Oh. Are you going to raise them normally or as a mage?” Evan asked, interested

“Normal. I’ll mark this dimension. It seems like a good place. Plus, unlike you, I’m smart enough to not raise suspicion.” Akari said, using magic

She turned into what looked to be a 30 ish year old version of herself.

“Ah! You're right! Wait, no. I can’t stand the feeling of transformation magic.” Evan said, shuddering

“Ignoring that, hot DAMN!” Rai said, looking at Akari

“Huh? What’s going on?” Rin asked

“Akari, you want to raise them here?” Evan asked

“Yup. Seems nice.” Akari said

“I’ll get everything ready, papers and stuff. I’ll arrange a house and stuff, too. How are you going to find a kid, though?” Evan asked

“I want two. Like you, but the same age. I’ll adopt from one of the orphanages in the tower. There’s still….lots of them.” Akari said sadly

“Oh. Is there anything else you need me to arrange? If you adopt from there, they’re going to have working mana valves, most likely.” Evan said

“I’ll cast a binding spell on them. The most they will be able to do is a small flame, gust of wind, a drop of water, or sparks. All only good for looks.” Akari said

“It depends on how you use it. The flame can still set stuff alight, the sparks could be used in a fight, or to break into somewhere, and small balls of mana are super annoying. If you use dark magic you can make a smokescreen. Light magic can still blind people. And you seem to forget that you can still strengthen the body with that much magic. Even if only barely.” Evan said

“I’m not gonna teach them anything. If they get too cocky or annoying, Rin can teach them a lesson for me. I’ll be right back.” Akari said

She poofed to the tower

“Wait, what? Hold on! Gimme a second! I didn't think you meant right now! Damnit! Liiiiiime!” Evan called, rushing upstairs

"They really are similar." Rin said

"Yeah, they are. What now?" Aunt Rai asked

"Let's head up in a minute, I want to talk with these guys for a second. It's a bit weird to have someone following you all the time. I just wanted to set some rules, and clarify a few things." Rin said, referring to the trio of Gins.