My mom opened the letters and read, "We are pleased to welcome you to the Maho Academy of Chi Manipulation. Please pack your bags and go to the outskirts of Tokyo's city border, and there will be a man to assist you. PLEASE BE THERE BEFORE 9:30 am. We are looking forward to your attendance. Your ID numbers are:

Kaede: 982

Class 1A

Akarui: 981

Class 1A

Be there on 26 August 2026 at 9:30 sharp."

My mom spoke confusedly, "You guys are in the same class. But 26th of August is tomorrow."

Kya broke the silence by saying optimistically, "Well, Kaede should go pack. See you tomorrow."

Kaede added, "Yeah, I need to pack and say goodbye." She waved and left.

I went to my room, and when I almost finished packing, I took two bracelets and my scarf. I held my scarf and spoke in a sad tone, "I will make you proud."

I put it in the suitcase. "Akarui, dinner's ready!" my mom called out to me.

"Coming," I replied. I headed down the stairs to see a lavish variety of food. "Mom, I haven't seen half of these foods before," I said in a confused tone.

My mom answered with enthusiasm, "It's time you knew about your family."

I shot, "What?"

She said in a bit serious tone, "You are half Indian and half Japanese."

I roared, "How?" Well, it isn't too surprising since we follow Indian practices, but still.

My mom spoke calmly, "Your dad took my family name, 'Hikaru.'" She continued, "Your dad is Indian while I am Japanese; that's why we follow lots of Indian practices."

"Well, that explains a lot of things; cool! Let's eat!"

We started to eat, and my mom asked, "Will you be all right?"

I smiled, "Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

She also gave a warm smile and said, "Ok, if you say so, eat up and go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."

Her face turned a bit sad. "Akarui... It's not your fault. They know that. And so do you too. Stop beating yourself up."

My face turned dull. "I know you guys think it was not my fault, but it is. I couldn't move. But Kosuke could. He could have split it equally among us 3, and there was a chance he could survive."

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Tears started to appear no matter how much I wiped them. "Hell, he could have used all of it for himself. But he didn't. And I didn't make it in time to help Big Sister. I am a failure."

Mom said with pity. "Akarui... you can either cry about it or you can make their death worth it. Now eat up; you have a big day tomorrow." "That's from the colossal mission; we watched it yesterday."

My mom said, embarrassed while laughing, "Well, either way I had to make you feel better."

I couldn't help but give a smile.

I ate quickly and went to bed. This is it after two years of constant training. We made it. I will avenge you. Or die trying.

I stretched, the morning sun filtering through the curtains. "Ah, another day in the grand adventure of life."

My optimistic inner voice chimed in, "Indeed! Time to tackle the simple tasks that make me feel like a responsible adult."

I folded laundry with determination: "Socks, you rebellious creatures! Why must you always play hide-and-seek?"

My sympathetic inner voice responded, "They're probably off having socks parties in the washing machine. Can't blame them."

Sitting down for breakfast, cereal box in hand: "Alright, cereal, let's dance."

My inner food critic took over: "A symphony of crunchiness, accompanied by a milk crescendo."

My mom came into the living room spinning her car keys. After I finished eating, she said, "Let's go, Akarui."

"Akarui!"

I turned to my right to see Kaede running towards me with a suitcase, screaming, "Wait for me!"

"Aye yo, chill."

She replied angrily with her arms on her hips, "How am I supposed to chill? You were going to leave without me!"

"No, I wasn't." I continued after one second, "-Ish."

"Yeah, right," she murmured, clearly not believing me.

"Honest."

She laughed and cooled, then said, "Fine, let's go."

We walked until we got to the meeting point. There was a man in a casual dark blue t-shirt, black track pants, green messy hair, pale skin, gold eyes, about 6 feet 1. He had a book and pen. We approached him. He said in a welcoming way, "Yo, welcome. Tell me your ID numbers, please."

"981 and 982."

He searched through the book; he stopped at a page and said very cheerfully, "There you guys are; thank the Buddha. Oh wow. No way. A Hikaru. I taught your sister, Akarui. She was an excellent prodigy." He continued in a sadder tone, "I was very heartbroken when she died." He leaned in closer to us and spoke.

"Our little secret, but I like you guys." He pointed at the forest and added, "Go straight in for about two minutes, then you should see a large crowd of people waiting; wait till 9:30, then it will pick you up."

Kaede pointed out, "What's 'it'?"

He smiled even more and said, "That is a surprise."

"Okay? I guess." We walked for two minutes, then we saw a huge crowd of people gathered in a clearing. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and anticipation.

Kaede nudged me, "Look at all these people. Do you think they're all going to the academy too?"

"Probably," I replied, scanning the crowd. "It's going to be interesting to meet everyone."

We waited, and as the clock struck 9:30, a loud humming noise filled the air. Everyone looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Suddenly, a fleet of flying boats descended from the sky, their sleek designs glinting in the sunlight.

Kaede's eyes widened. "Whoa, is that our ride?"

Each one landed one at a time to pick the students up. Luckily, we managed to get at the first. "Akarui; this is really happening right." Kaede asked cheerfully. "Yeah, it's about to get realer."

"Akarui, do you know anything about the academy?"

"Yep."

"Then tell me."

"Over my dead body."

"Didn't your sister tell you anything since she went here?"

"She did."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Trust me, see for yourself."

We were sailing in the sky. The clouds started to clear up. "Well, I don't need to tell you now. Look there." The clouds revealed a huge floating island with a huge building.

Kaede's mouth dropped; she said, stuttering and amazed, "Wow, it's beautiful." We landed shortly after, and we were greeted by a tall old man. We got down, and he said loudly, "Welcome to Maho Academy. I am the principal, Musashi, and I will be showing you to your classes.