Well, this is certainly not what I had expected for my day to start - being forced to stand straight with two buckets of water in each of my hands while wearing this hastily-made whiteboard that says “I violated school rules”.

Yup, that’s me, Fuutsuno Hakuren. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation. What, using the same joke twice in one day is lazy and uncreative? Well, how about you try to be funny for once?

But I digress. I’m still stuck here, and in front of me is, quite frankly, the most beautiful girl I’ve seen in my 17 years of life. It would have been an experience of a lifetime… had she not been the one to put me in this situation in the first place.

“Let’s see… Fuutsuno Hakuen, isn’t it?” The girl speaks in a sweet voice like a honeyed trap, though her words are more like iron barbs on a prison wall. “Model student, good grades, never got in trouble, despite his delinquent-like look…”

“Our school doesn’t actually ban dyeing hair or piercings, you know. I’ve looked at the rules.”

“Quiet. You’re still under punishment. That means…”

“I only say when you allow me to say?”

A glare is thrown at me akin to putting a sword on my neck. “... If you know, then stay shut.”

Pausing a while without hearing a reply from me, the girl continues.

“Basically, you’re normally okay. Now, explain yourself. Why were you late today, and why did you utter those words of harassment?”

Yup, I figured that this would be the case. But of course, I’d be an idiot to tell her my true intentions. I don’t have fuck-you money yet, so it’ll be hard to shut her up with a promise of cash I haven’t owned. It’s best to skirt around the issue or make some excuse here.

“I was too busy with house cleaning, so I didn’t notice the time.”

A trick to always gain others’ trust - only tell half-truths. I did have to clean the house due to Granny Yaga, and because of that, I did run late. It is this “truth” that masks anything left of my suspicious behavior, only leaving the image of a model student left.

However, my opponent is a tougher nut to crack than I thought.

“... And? You haven’t answered all of my questions?”

Ah, the part where I am supposed to avoid answering at all costs. Now, how do I get out of this situation…

“I haven’t seen you at school. Did you just join the Disciplinary Committee?”

“Don’t try to avoid the subject.”

Damn, she’s smarter than I thought. Okay, think, Hakuen. You need to bring this secret to your grave… How much is my face worth?

All right. Here goes nothing…

“I was mesmerized by your beauty, of course. In front of a perfect lady like you, who wouldn’t be expressing their love?”

A big smacking sound echoes through the room, and my eyes go dark for a second. Once I come to, it’s like I was dipped in flames and taken out, while in her hand is a rolled-up notebook. My face must be beet red by now, and not the good kind.

The single word that escapes her mouth confirms my suspicion. “Jerk.”

Well, at least I’m in the clear, for now.

“... But to answer your question, I’m not part of the Disciplinary Committee.”

“I thought you wouldn’t talk anymore?” I let out a light smirk.

“Do you want another hit?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.”

Had it not been for these buckets, I would have raised my hands to surrender.

“Anyway, the Student Council is asking for outside help from various clubs today. Some bigshot is coming to our school, so they want to have more people to control the masses.”

“Bigshot? Like, some political figure or something?”

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That’s strange. If there’s a character that important, I should have known about them.

“Try again. It’s a transfer student.”

“… Is a single transfer student really that big of a deal?”

“Normally, it’s not. But considering their previous school is that, you get the picture.”

The explanation can’t be vaguer, but for us in Midorikawa especially, there couldn’t be a clearer one.

“Shibuya’s Aoba, isn’t it?”

“Bingo. And the one coming here is supposed to be some prodigy magician.”

Aoba in Shibuya, Midorikawa in Shinjuku. I don’t know what exactly started this rivalry, especially considering that Aoba is supposed to be the elite school in Japan while we’re just… us, but this is something that has spanned generations. But that begs the question…

“Why would someone from Aoba transfer here?”

“How should I know?” The girl shrugs.

“You don’t seem to be that interested in them, huh?”

“Never been my thing, which is why I was asked to join the Disciplinary Committee for the day. But that’s why I’m not going to be here for long, so you best behave yourself, you hear me?”

As the words leave her mouth, the door to the room slides open, and from outside, another voice calls out:

“Natsume! He’s here! Get to your position!”

“Got it, President!” The girl, now revealed to be Natsume, yells back at the voice before making her way out the door, slamming it shut without letting me have another word. After a second, the door opens once more, and her head peeks in to give me one last warning:

“Remember, stay put!”

Again, withholding me from replying, Natsume runs off like the wind, leaving me with only an empty classroom and two buckets as my companions.

I try to raise my ears as much as I can, desperately picking up her echoing footsteps as they slowly shrink and disappear from the scene. And soon enough, the room is thrown into a deep sea of silence - Natsume has completely left the building, meaning that there is only one thing left for me to do.

“It was an honor spending time with you, my comrades.”

I put down the buckets and lightly open the door.

Good, the coast is clear. Time to scoot.

Turning around for one last check, I run across the hallway as fast as I can, trying to make my way to class. My intention is soon ruined, however, by a thundering cheer that erupts in the schoolyard.

“What in the world…” I mumble. To make things clear, the building that I’m currently in is the farthest away from the yard. It normally takes me five minutes just to walk from here to the yard itself, let alone cross it to the gates. I haven’t heard anything this big even in concerts and parties, let alone just a regular high school like this one.

Just what is happening there?

I know that I’m technically breaking the rules, and if I get caught, it’s gonna be even worse. But look, curiosity got hands, okay? How can I resist such an alluring sound?

I click my tongue. There’s no helping it. I need to know the answer. And so, from my original direction, I instead change my course to outside the building and make my way to the yard.

Holy…

Am I at the right place? What’s with this deafening screaming and shouting and this sea of people? Everyone’s fighting for their lives for a chance to slip through and get to what I’m assuming is the new kid, but this number is just too much. This easily goes over a hundred people, maybe even more? It might even go to half the entire school’s students! That should be around 500 of them, by the way!

But now what? I can’t expect myself to get through all of these crazy fans… No, I guess I don’t need to.

My eyes divert to the lower-height walls near the corner. If I can’t go through it, then I’ll go around it.

Quickly making my way to the wall, I take no time to grab onto it and climb my way out. Easy task for someone naturally gifted like yours truly. Now, to see what exactly is causing this chaos…

“Everyone, please! Can you calm down for just a second?”

Even through the booming crowd, Natsume’s voice still stands out like a soothing bell. But judging from the tiredness in her sound, I can tell that the Disciplinary Committee is struggling to keep them down. Not that it is unexpected, of course, since it’s at most a few dozen against literal hundreds.

“Ahem!”

A large cough interrupts the sea of people. Judging from its lower and rather hoarse tone, the owner of the voice must be a male. And upon further look, I am indeed correct in my assumption.

Standing with his back turned against me is a boy of rather average height, though it can be deceiving thanks to the giant top hat he’s wearing. Dressed in a black split tail coat, matching trousers, leather shoes, and a pair of white gloves, he is certainly what you would normally expect from a typical magician. But I don’t see what’s so good about him that everyone is losing their minds for.

As the thought runs across my mind, however, something that can only be described as “magical” appears before my eyes.

Out of thin air, countless crows fly down the yard, causing a blanket of black plumes to flutter at our feet. The flock circles the young man, making it seems like a regal cape has appeared on his back.

With what I can only guess is a smile on his face, he shouts:

“Thank you for your wonderful welcome, everyone! Do you want to see a land of magic?”

Following suit, the schoolyard explodes.

“Yeah!”

“Please!”

“Show us, Kuroba-sama!”

Sir? What is he, some kind of feudal lord? Where is the Disciplinary Committee…

H-hey, didn’t you say that you’re not interested in these types of things? Then why… why…

Why do you look so excited, with your face flustered and your eyes sparkling like that?

“Hey! Hotshot!” I instinctively step forward to grab his shoulder, causing the crows on his back to scatter away. “Enough showing off and get back to your class already!”

“Oh?” The boy turns back to face me. Despite the obviously fake mustache and the giant monocle hiding away his face, I can still tell that he is objectively incredibly handsome, the type that’s undoubtedly popular with the girls around him. “Am I hearing a dissatisfied customer?”

Meanwhile, from the crowd, another voice also sounds. “Wait, Hakuen? I thought I told you to stay put!”

Crap. I did not think this through. I need to…

Before I can do anything else, the prodigy magician has already got his hand under my face and lightly lifted my chin to properly face him, due to his taller stature. As his amethyst eyes shine, the boy lets out a smirk, leans close to me, and whispers into my ears:

“Then, may I suggest a duel?”