NAOKI

He could see the Higashi Academy from where he was. Well, actually, he could see just most of it. He knew from feeling the winds around him that he was roughly a kilometer away from the Higashi Academy’s dome horizontally. And he was exactly three hundred meters up in the air.

The dome of the Higashi Academy was huge. So huge that even this far away, Naoki couldn’t see both ends of it in one look. It was big enough to fit a town in. Even the outer ring surrounding the dome was huge. Naoki was hovering three hundred meters up from the ground, slightly less from the top of the Higashi Academy’s entrance gate. The outer ring was a whole kilometer thick, and here was the only part of the outer ring in sight that wasn’t full of trees.

The dome of the Higashi Academy was a patchwork of white and gray, and the occasional shiny reflection of sunlight where there was a window.

Incidentally, this side of the Higashi Academy had the highest concentration of windows Naoki could see.

He glanced at his watch again. 08:26:20 A.M. He had exactly three minutes and forty seconds to get to class on time.

He could float down and run the rest of the way. He’d make it to the entrance of the dome in time.

But that wasn’t enough. He had to look for the auditorium as well. He suddenly regretted not having looked at the map that had come with the letter of acceptance. Which he didn’t have with him at the moment, of course.

He’d have to make a heck of a dash toward the dome.

He had another problem. His dad had told him not to freely show anyone his abilities. He would know when it was safe. Just hang on until then.

Right. He took stock of his current situation. He was in the air, having been teleported there by Shizuka Minamoto, the “ace” of the Higashi Academy. He was about a thousand and fifty meters away from the entrance of the dome. And he couldn’t show his abilities to anyone. At least, not yet.

He’d somehow know that it was alright with Shizuka, so the thing hadn’t really crossed his mind, but here he was.

He squinted at the area around the entrance. There was a clear path he could take where there were no windows—no one to see him, and it meant he had to pass as close as possible to the dome and redirect his straight line sideways toward the entrance. No one would see him.

For the second time, he pulled his miniature katana from his pocket and winced when the sudden pain in his chest reminded him that Shizuka had, in fact, shot him.

The bullet had been a mass of Teleportation Magic, so it hadn’t actually done physical damage, but Naoki could feel the pain just as well as if it had been a real bullet.

He gritted his teeth and willed the pain away to the back of his mind. He wore his headphones again. The loud music finally alerted him for the first time of the buzzing at the back of his ears.

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Somehow he’d missed it all throughout his brief meeting with Shizuka. The sound was much louder than he’d ever heard it, and even his music barely completely covered it. But he’d missed the sound. He’d even remembered to check for it when he’d fought the first Shade.

Oh well, he thought. There was no harm done there. Missing the sound had helped.

Then again, the sound was still present. Was it because of the lingering magic of Shizuka’s Teleportation Magic?

Then he made his katana expand to its original size. He unsheathed it and held the blade to his nose.

Rose Wind Style. The martial art his dad had created back when he had been a student in the Masters’ West Academy. His dad had taught it to him as a kid and suggested that he create his own moves to perfect the style for himself.

He had eight special movements to choose from. He once again reviewed the route he had to take.

Actually, he didn’t have to choose. Only one movement was easily executable in the air.

Third Movement: Kamikaze.

He kept the blade to his nose and waited until his music reached a buildup phase. Then he shifted his position in the air, rotating until he was facing his target, the air just shy of the corner the forest made with the dome.

He closed his eyes as the music built, then opened them as the song neared its drop.

He felt the familiar tingle in his left eye, the tingle that always bugged him whenever he used any one of the special movements of the Rose Wind Style.

The drop came.

Rose Wind Style, Third Movement: Kamikaze.

He felt the familiar pull of the air as it brought him forward and down a thousand and fifty meters toward the dome.

And only when he was close to where he was supposed to change his direction did he realize that his plan had one major flaw: he couldn’t use the air as a foothold, at least when he was going this fast.

He blindly shifted his trajectory toward the trees. He was forced to land on the ground and slash upward with his sword, cutting down eight trees.

So much for being inconspicuous.

He didn’t have time to change his direction, so he was still a hundred or so meters away from the entrance.

And even worse, he became aware of another sound besides the annoying buzzing and his music.

He looked back and cringed at the pick line he’d made in the air. He really hated that color.

He looked up, and realized that his entire plan had failed.

Above him, on the second floor, where there had only been white and gray panels before, was the auditorium. And the walls had been replaced by glass windows.

And the other sound he had heard was the sound of thirty or more girls his age clapping at his “grand entrance.”

Feeling heat slowly rise up his neck and cheeks, he did his routine after using his blade. A quick flourish, after which he stared at his own eyes reflected back at him on his blade. Then a quick sheathing of his katana.

That was met with more applause.

Naoki lowered his head, but as he did, one of the glass panels slid open.

There was a teacher on the podium, looking like she had been taking attendance.

“Yanatake?” she looked right at him.

He raised his hand, suddenly breathless. “Present.”