Jin opened his eyes to see his curtains shut, and his room dark. He had hoped that Akiko would wake him up again so that he could apologise for springing the sudden inconvenience of an overnight guest on her, but it seemed she was still keeping her distance.

On a normal day, it would take very little to convince her to not be upset, but with Max there, a stranger who seemed to possess very little tact, he imagined any attempt at consoling his sister would be rendered useless the moment Max opened his mouth. He got up and, after quickly donning his academy uniform, proceeded downstairs to see if Akiko was still in her room, and maybe to see if Max was awake.

His descent was met with the smell of eggs, and the sound of sizzling. He was glad.

Even when she’s upset, she still makes me breakfast. She’s so sweet.

He walked into the kitchen and his heart sank slightly as he was greeted by Max, who was fully dressed in the red long-sleeved t-shirt and black jeans he was wearing the day before. He was engrossed in frying two eggs in the pan at once. Luckily for him, the Akira’s still used electronic appliances, though Jin had forgotten that there was even a spatula in the house.

“Where’s Akiko?” Jin looked down the corridor to see her room door open.

“Oh man!” Max turned to him in surprise. “Try stirring up a noise when you walk into the room, dude. You scared me half to death.”

“Sorry,” Jin said calmly. “Is my sister still here?”

“I don’t think so,” Max took out the eggs and put them on a plate. “I heard her leave quite early this morning.”

Dammit. I should have spoken to her last night, Jin thought.

“Yeah, you should have,” Max responded suddenly, setting down his plate of bacon and eggs on the dining table.

“What?” Jin looked at him, surprised.

“You should have spoken to her last night.”

“So first you can use Translation, now suddenly you can read minds?” Jin looked at the table, curious as to why Max was making food when there was already food prepared.

“No,” Max looked at Jin confusedly. “You just said you should have spoken to her last night.”

“No, I didn’t say anything,” Jin looked down the corridor once more, considering how early Akiko must have woken up to avoid Max and himself.

“Did you cook that?” Jin pointed at the eggs and furikake on the table.

“Oh? No,” Max said, looking around the room for something from his seat at the dining table. “Your cousin was making that. I heard her yell ‘this is for Jin so stay away, you outsider’ from the kitchen so I figured I’d just make my own food.”

“That’s so unlike her. Why would she ever be so rude?” Jin said, more to himself than to Max. “And what are you looking for?”

“Bread, I guess?” Max looked at his plate.

Jin walked to one of the kitchen counters, opened it and searched for a moment.

“Sorry, I guess I’ll have to buy some on the way home,” Jin returned to the table. “You could just have some of what my sister made?”

“No,” Max said defensively. “I’m having my goddamn bacon and eggs.”

***

The duo must have looked awkward to other commuters. The use of magic that aided in speeding up travel time was only permitted for those who either had express permission from any given magic academy or those who owned a licence. The only exception was that on academy grounds (and other tertiary magic institutions), nearly all forms of magic were allowed. Jin would, on any other given day, enhance his physical attributes with Mana Augmentation to speed up his run, as this didn’t technically qualify as Traversal magic per se, but doing so in this instance would leave Max, who curiously seemed to be both magically inept and gifted at the same time, in the dust.

They took the train to the city centre, standing near the carriage door, where highschoolers were gawking at the black blazer and red necktie that showed Jin’s association with Yōsaishima academy. Some noticed the signet ring on his right hand, which made him self-conscious about whether his fingernails were neatly trimmed, or if the ring looked odd on his skinny fingers. He considered if maybe the effort of obtaining permission from the academy to use travel magic would offset the discomfort he felt when commuting in his uniform. He didn’t want the unnecessary attention to become a recurring issue.

Jin realised he must have looked especially odd standing next to Max, who was dressed rather casually in clothes he borrowed from Jin, and this made him look like a delinquent. People who dressed like he did and who wore the expression that seemed burned onto his face were rarely helping contribute to a safer society. The white T-shirt, the biggest long sleeve Jin owned, still looked a bit small on him, though the black jeans which Jin rarely wore seemed to fit okay. Max whined at the idea of changing out of his own clothes, but they were torn and had blood spilled on them from their encounter with Hitomi. Jin didn’t quite like the bland sombreness of the colour mix but it seemed to work fine on Max, whose fierce expression seemed to compliment the contrasting colours.

Max looked out of the train window in wonderment, and for some reason at odd intervals, quickly turned his head to look at the faces of those who were eyeing the two of them. Jin assumed he felt uncomfortable too and it was kind of relieving to know that he wasn’t the only nervous one.

Max took in the cityscape as it came closer into view, still amazed at the sight of cars in the air and the sight of people using magic to perform their mundane tasks in the streets. One man with a suitcase in hand was talking on his phone and flipping through a booklet that was floating in front of him in mid-air. At a flower shop, a woman who looked to be the proprietor walked out with a small bundle and handed it to another man in a suit. He opened up the top of the bundle and the flowers seemed to spring to life from inside, the bundle increasing in size as the flowers flourished up to their full length.

“Hey,” Max said suddenly. “If those cars can fly, can this train fly too?”

“No,” Jin answered, trying hard to ignore the other commuters around him. “The government tried to implement an aerial railway system, but the amount of mana required to keep a train in the air was so immense, it began to drain the natural mana in the surrounding area. There were several cases of workplace accidents. Some people even fainted because the air got so thin around them.”

“Oh, so the magic is in the air?” Max asked.

“Not only in the air,” Jin said pensively. “In all manner of nature around us. From within us, and outside of us.”

“You could not have given a more wishy-washy explanation.”

Jin ignored the sourness in Max’s tone.

“What I mean is mana is a natural substance, but it’s not exclusively an external substance. How powerful your individual magic is, is dependent on your internal mana. Though that doesn’t always dictate the amount of control you have over mana generally.”

Max returned his gaze to the window.

“So, the train was drawing in mana from the people around it?”

“To some extent, yes.”

Jin looked at the window that Max was staring out of. They were getting close to the city centre.

“Most internal mana can be unstable for those not so well versed in how to use it, so we mostly use it for spells that require an extra bit of power,” Jin went on. “For this reason, most people never end up using internal mana at all. But moving something through the air, such as a book, or a tray of plates, is a very simple form of Psychomantic magic, so you can draw on the mana in the air to use that kind of magic.”

“Sounds to me like you guys are just abusing nature,” Max said flatly.

Jin chuckled awkwardly.

“I suppose it can seem that way, but that’s why the train was taken down,” Jin continued. “People don’t like using too much of the mana stored in nature. It can be replenished, but it takes time, and it could be catastrophic if we use too much of it. That’s why we tend to make use of other more artificial constructs, like talismans, gemstones, potions and totems. Like this ring, for instance.”

Jin lifted his hand to show Max.

Max eyed it while fiddling with the ring that he himself had on the previous day, which he had kept hidden in his pocket and had barely looked at since he arrived in ‘Japan’.

“I’m pretty sure this is meant to be some kind of totem,” Jin continued. “Though I may be wrong about that.”

“It’s pretty ugly.”

“Finally,” Jin smiled. “Something we can agree on.”

The train slowed down to a halt.

“We get off here now.”

***

Max had just about seen all he could take when it came to the unbelievable sights of the world he found himself in, but nothing in the endless catalogue of entertainment media he had ever perused could prepare him for the scene that awaited him at the entrance to Yōsaishima Academy. The very sight of it all made it harder to deny the notion that had smacked him in the face the previous day and sat with him throughout the previous night.

The university itself was quite big, though his university was no different, if just a little less elegant in design when it came to architectural vision. The buildings were clearly built a long time ago and, despite some modern updates here and there, the age of the materials used on the original structures was quite obvious. Max could tell that the campus was built with grandiosity in mind, perhaps to honour the pomposity that accompanied a title such as ‘the most prestigious magic school in all of Japan’.

The academy was surrounded by a great wall made of stone that must have stood there for what looked like millennia. The entrance was large, with a great walkway for pedestrians. Next to the large iron gate at the entrance were the words ‘Yōsaishima Academy of Advanced Magic’, written in golden letters in both English and Japanese. No doubt someone would have stolen a letter or two had there been a similarly extravagant sign at Max’s university.

There was a constant flow of students pouring in and out of the entrance. Far off to the left end was another entrance with a similarly large open gate that led to a long driveway. This driveway led to parking spaces that were close to what looked like a student residential area, which was quite far from the student activity on the grass fields surrounding the academy buildings. If there was a parking space for cars that came in flying, Max couldn’t see it.

On the academy grounds, there were numerous stone-paved walkways that looked very good for their age, and the buildings themselves were a very rich brown, some of them more elegantly built than others. Many of the entryways were made of large glass windows with what looked like automatic sliding doors. Max didn’t want to guess as to whether magic was being used to establish the automatic nature of these doorways, but it seemed like the use of magic materials for such mundane functions cost more than it might have been worth.

What surprised him most was the sight of the students. For one thing, he could clearly see people from multiple cultures and all corners of the world. Japanese students were definitely in the majority, but for once he didn’t feel like a complete outsider. Or at least, he would have had that comfort if it weren’t for the fact that the students were doing things that Max could only dream of.

Upon entering, students would seem to immediately cut loose, some of them waiting only a split second after they entered before they kicked off the ground, lifting into the air and flying into the distance. Max had seen a lot of anime where people had all kinds of unique abilities, but flight was something quite uncommon, especially in the magic genre. In most anime that he had seen, it always seemed like characters were suspended in an unending jump.

These students, on the other hand, some of them most likely younger than him, were elegantly propelled off their feet by some unseen force, and were floating through the air with the grace of synchronised swimmers. Others had barely made it through the entrance before they immediately disappeared as if swallowed by the proximity of the academy grounds. Some students opted to walk instead because they were in large groups and were engrossed in the company that they surrounded themselves with.

On the fields that covered most of the ground around the pedestrian and vehicle pathways were students sitting around, talking in a manner that was reminiscent of Max’s own university. There was one group in particular who were standing in a large circle, slowly passing something around in the air that Max could barely make out. Jin himself spotted this scene and watched attentively as the two walked to the centre of the academy which held a large fountain with a relatively small stone carved statue of an open book in the centre, around which students were talking to what looked like a lecturer, or some random adult who somehow managed to convince those students that he was worth talking to.

“Where are we headed?” Max asked.

“I’m not sure. I don't know who the authority on ‘interdimensional travel’ is, but one of my lecturers did say that we should go to her if we have any problems. Maybe we should look for the staff building?”

“Staff building? Don’t lecturers normally have their own offices in whichever faculty they work for?”

“I did not think about that,” Jin admitted. “Have you been here before?”

“No. I just remember once I spent nearly an hour looking for the History department at my own university because the lecturer wouldn’t accept an emailed submission.”

Jin realised he never asked Max what year of study he was in, but decided to leave it be. He had already treated Max so casually, and didn’t want to feel guilty for acting so callously with a potential upperclassman.

They walked around the fountain up to the building at the centre of the academy grounds, which was supposedly where the Chancellor’s office was, as well as some of the seminar rooms where postgraduate classes took place.

“We can probably take a look in there,” Jin pointed out the building, which had ‘Main Staff Building’ written on it in letters of shining silver, once again in both Japanese and English. It was one of the grander buildings, sporting a large flight of stairs with six large pillars attached to a roof that extended from the stair landing and past the large glass entrance. There were a few students talking to a lecturer outside one of the two glass doors.

Mr Akira.

Jin heard Natsuno’s disembodied voice in his head again. He stopped at the foot of the steps while Max walked up midway before realising what was going on.

“What is it?” Max stopped and turned, walking back down.

Jin looked around for the tell-tale jet-black hair. He spotted Natsuno standing on the left side of the fountain.

Max saw her too, and his stomach lit up as if it were swarming with butterflies. Her extraordinarily familiar face made it harder for him to deny what was clearly the truth that he was struggling to accept; the ridiculous idea that had been floating around his head for most the day before. He avoided looking at her, or at Jin for that matter. His day was already turning out to be quite messy as it was.

“Good morning, Miss Haruki,” Jin waved his hand at her.

She walked over clutching a notebook to her chest in one hand and her brown leather bag in the other.

“Won’t you be late for class?” she asked him softly, her dark blue eyes coolly staring as if right through him. She was still wearing the thick-rimmed glasses.

“I just have something to discuss with Mashima-sensei,” Jin said with a shy chuckle.

“All educators assigned with teaching the Scions have been required to move their offices to our lecture hall building,” she said sternly. “We’re considered a faculty of our own.”

“Oh, I must have missed that.” Jin chuckled again, growing a little red with embarrassment at his blunder... as well as the vulnerability he felt under Natsuno’s gaze.

Max was watching the group who were still passing the small item around through the air curiously. One could swear it was a prayer group with the silence among them that was evident even from a distance.

“My mistake.” Jin turned to Max. “I guess you were right about lecturers and their faculties. We can just go straight to my lecture hall then.”

Max was quite docile, and simply let out a, “Lead the way.” His eyes were still darting around in every direction, as if distracted by every sound and sight that he took in. He had been doing it the entire way to campus as well.

“Would you like to walk with us, Miss Haruki?” Jin asked politely.

“I didn’t know we had foreigners in our class,” Natsuno said, leaning forward a little to look at Max who was still staring absentmindedly at the sights around him.

“No, he isn’t a student at the academy,” Jin corrected her. “He just needs some assistance.”

She carefully eyed Max for a moment.

“I apologise for being so intrusive,” Natsuno said quickly, nodding her head. “I think I’ll walk by myself.”

She turned to leave, and Jin felt it was better not to insist. Who knew what Max would belt out when Natsuno spoke to him and he didn’t understand?

“Who was that?” Max asked when she was finally gone. He knew the answer, but he asked anyway.

“That was Natsuno. A fellow student from my class,” Jin turned to face Max. “Let’s get going”

“Yeah,” Max said, gulping deeply. “Let’s.”

***

Jin’s lecture hall building, or rather, the Scion faculty building, was quite out of the way – almost as far back as the student resident apartments at the far end of the campus. There were students napping in a group on the grass opposite the faculty building, and once again Max was reminded of his own university, feeling for once that maybe he wasn’t so far off from the normal that he understood.

The Scion faculty was one of the larger buildings on campus, with glass doors, but not the large glass display that made up the entrance to many of the other buildings. It seemed that whatever was meant to happen in the faculty was to be kept from prying eyes.

The glass doors gave way to a large, clear floor with two well-polished marble staircases leading up to the second floor, which extended into a large landing, with corridors leading in opposite directions. There were two doors far apart in the middle of the second floor that Max imagined must have been alternative entrances to the lecture hall, which, judging from the two opposing rounded corridors on the ground floor with an entrance on each side, seemed to be the heart of the entire building. There were two additional staircases that led to an indiscernible third floor.

From the ground floor, they walked up the left stairway and turned down the left corridor, which was lined with offices. In front of each door was a sign that could be read from the mouth of the hallway with the names of each staff member whose office was in that particular corridor. Jin looked but didn’t find Dr Mashima’s name. They walked to the opposite hallway to find more offices. He spotted Mashima and they quickly walked up to her office door. He knocked, and she beckoned him inside.

“Mr Akira,” she said with a smile as Jin walked in apprehensively. He was surprised that she already knew who he was, though seeing as there were so few Scions, it was not surprising that all their lecturers could easily put names to faces.

She sat at her desk with a laptop open, next to a picture of what must have either been the doctor’s sister, or her weirdly mature-looking daughter. Next to that was a picture of a furry greyish-white cat, with a sour face that showed its reluctance to be photographed. There were some files on the desk, but these were all neatly stacked and out of the way.

Even Max had to note that Mashima was quite striking. She looked much younger than he expected. Somewhere between her late twenties, or very early thirties. Her sleek, golden-brown hair reached down past her shoulders, and she may have styled it a few days ago for some reason, but she obviously didn’t care about it enough to maintain it. Like Hitomi, she was (if only a little less) well-endowed, and her professional attire with its neutral colours seemed to complement the shape of her bosom quite effectively. She was undeniably attractive, but there was a clear weariness surrounding her dark brown eyes. Strangely, for someone so young in the lecturing profession, all signs present indicated that she was definitely married… to her job.

“In trouble already?” she asked. She looked at the clock above her door and back at Jin curiously. “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

“Good morning, Mashima-sensei,” Jin bowed. “I could really use your help. My friend here seems to be in a very unique predicament,” he gestured towards Max.

The lecturer eyed Max warily. The building was mostly restricted to students who wore Scion rings. There was to be minimal access for students from other faculties, and this much was clear from the sign in the faculty foyer. It was too much of a safety hazard for other students to be loitering around with all the power amassed in the building when the Scions were in class. She was also sure that they only had one foreign student in from Britain, and that the student was a young woman.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Jin waited for Max to bow, but he barely lowered his head without saying a thing. Jin was a little embarrassed, but it was to be expected. He wondered if Miss Brighton was having similar issues with getting accustomed to Japanese norms.

“Okay,” Mashima closed her laptop. “I’m listening.”

When Jin was done explaining, the lecturer did her best to hold in the surge of anxiety that arose from her gut. She held her composure as best she could and thought of what could be the best way to deal with the issue at hand.

“This is a very strange predicament indeed,” Mashima spoke finally. “Throughout all my years of education, the concept of being spirited away or transported to another world has very rarely come up. One could say it’s a very niche field of study. You’re sure your friend, Mr…?”

“Tenebri,” Jin informed her after Max didn’t say anything in response.

“Mr Tenebri. You’re certain he hasn’t simply had his memories altered or removed?”

Jin realised he had barely given that idea any thought. It made more sense than the idea of coming from another world; such occurrences were thought to be impossible, even with magic. It would then also explain the sudden subtle bursts of magic use from Max.

“He insists that he’s not an amnesiac,” Jin told her for good measure. “He knows his name and he knows where he’s from.”

“Memory alteration then?” Mashima suggested, looking over at Max who was sitting very quietly next to Jin on one of the two chairs in front of her desk. Up till then he hadn’t said a word, most likely because he didn’t understand what she was saying. He hadn’t used a Translation spell, and she couldn’t be bothered to set up a totem in her office. He spent most of the conversation looking around the room, and through the window behind her that looked out at the field across the street. Through the window, one could also make out the student residence buildings in the distance.

“Who would alter my memories just to set me off and make me look for Jane?” Max suddenly broke his silence.

He felt that the lecturer was watching him with a strange consideration. Mashima had then just realised that she was wrong. He did use Translation at some point, and impressively, it was a version thereof that didn’t require her to reciprocate. It was strange that she had missed it, and it was rude that he hadn’t asked her permission to do so.

Jin shot a look at Max, wondering once again when he had used his magic. He had done it with Akiko the night before as well, without making any sign of it or taking into consideration the other person’s privacy or autonomy.

“Is Jane some kind of phantom I’m meant to chase? For what? What could they possibly want with me?” Max asked with a new fervour in his voice. “I’m not important enough to have memories that would need to be altered. I also don’t care that I ended up here somehow. The magic is cool, Jin is pretty chill and all, but none of this matters to me more than Jane. I just wanna go home and find my girlfriend.”

Mashima considered the options at hand for a brief moment.

“We have mages on site who can examine you for any traces of memory tampering or Psychomantic activity,” she suggested.

“That would be a big help.” Jin nodded his head.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Max cut in, looking at Jin. “I already told you. I don’t want any more of that mumbo jumbo bullshit done to me.”

This one’s got a mouth on him, the doctor thought.

“I was always taught to call it like I see it,” Max said with a stern look in her direction.

Did he just read my mind? she thought.

If he did, he was very good at concealing it. It was a rule to not prod around an educator’s mind, and those properly versed in magic had techniques to protect them from such intrusion. It was highly unlikely that Max could hear what she was thinking, but, if he could, she made sure to clear her mind of any thoughts regarding her true intentions.

“This will help us find out the truth,” Jin insisted. Talking to Max felt similar to the times when he would chastise Akiko. “Stop being so stubborn.”

“I don’t need tests.” Max stood up. “I just need to find a way back. I just need to find Jane.”

“Please, Mr Tenebri,” said the lecturer, hoping a bit of kindness in her voice would help to convince him. She didn’t need him running off somewhere before she could get one of the higher-ups to see him. “We just want to be certain of the situation. It won’t take long, and some of these tests will feel like only a moment has passed.”

Max stood silently, wanting to defy, but knowing that there was nothing that he could do on his own. He looked at Jin, who nodded his head in what was meant to be reassurance, but seemed more like blind trust to Max. He really didn’t like the way the lecturer was looking at him.

“I do not want to spend all day here,” he finally said, defeated.

“At most, it will take an hour.”

“Alright,” Max sat down slowly. “Where do we go from here?”

“For now,” Mashima turned to Jin, “you go to your class. Ensuring that you learn to control your enhanced abilities is of the utmost importance to our academy. More important than you may realise.”

She paused before she continued, speaking softly and with a sincerity that Max hadn’t expected.

“If it were up to me, you and your peers would never have to learn just how important.”

Jin nodded his head awkwardly before standing up slowly, looking at Max with some concern.

“Mr Tenebri will be fine,” Mashima reassured him. “He’ll be safe in our hands.”

Jin picked up his bag and bowed.

“Thank you very much.”

He turned to leave, coming to a halt at the door.

“Good luck, Max. I hope you find your way.”

“Thanks. I hope that, for both our sakes, we don’t meet again.”

Jin smiled and nodded his head.

“I think… I understand.”

He left and hurried to the lecture hall.

***

When Jin returned to the class, the lecture was already in full swing. This meant that there was a silence among the students, which was awkwardly disturbed by his late entrance, despite his best efforts to take the discreet route into the class from the second floor. He hadn’t had time to memorise all the faces around him yet, but he felt a slight sting of judgement by the piercing glare of his peers. He walked in, and bowed in apology to the lecturer, who continued the class without losing steam, barely acknowledging him.

Upon scanning the room, Jin caught a glimpse of Natsuno eyeing him from two rows down. The look on her face made him feel as if he had somehow disappointed her in his coming late to class, despite his earlier explanation for why he might not make it on time. He wasn’t a slacker. Despite not necessarily producing the best grades in high school, Jin had been a diligent student. He rarely had any trouble with the teachers, and while he didn’t have many friends, the people in class at the very least acknowledged, and seemed to respect him enough to talk to him on occasion and invite him to group activities.

Nevertheless, he felt embarrassed under her gaze. She clearly took this course more seriously than he did. He had yet to decide if he would stick to it or drop out altogether. All that kept him going for the time being was curiosity, and now, because of her gaze, he felt the sudden desire to prove to Natsuno that he wasn’t what he thought she judged him to be.

He sat in the third to last seat in the second to last row of the class, and upon taking out his notebook, he looked to his left to see the glimmering sheen of Hitomi’s short blonde hair. He had almost forgotten that she was in this class, and unintentionally eyed her for a moment too long before she looked his way. She didn’t glare at him for his rude staring like he thought she would. Instead, she smiled, quite sincerely and, to Jin’s further embarrassment, made the effort of getting up and moving to the seat right next to his. He could feel the heat in his cheeks turning his face slightly red.

“Hey,” she whispered, leaning in close to him. He was painfully aware of her bosom slightly pressing against his arm.

“Nice to see a familiar face,” she smiled again. “I saw the ring on your hand yesterday, but I wasn’t sure if that meant you’d be in this class.”

“It’s good to see you found your way,” Jin responded with a smile, trying to avoid stammering in his shyness. She must have been wearing some kind of perfume, because she smelled very good. At this thought he pinched himself on the leg so that he wouldn’t blush again.

“I didn’t take you for the tardy type, though,” she gave him a sly grin. “You spend a little too much time painting the town last night?”

“No, no, nothing quite so extravagant,” Jin laughed nervously.

“More importantly,” he leaned in closer so he could whisper, unintentionally pressing his arm even deeper into her soft chest. “Are you okay? You seemed to get quite angry yesterday.”

She waved her hand at him lightly.

“No, I’m quite fine. I must apologise to you Mr Akira… For all the trouble I caused yesterday. I’m sorry. I just hate it when someone treats me like I’m an airhead.”

“It did cause quite a ruckus,” Jin laughed softly. “Is there anything I can do to help pay for the damages?”

Hitomi shook her head. Some strands of her golden hair swayed on her forehead. Her hair was not quite as radiant as her eyes when she used her magic, but it was no less captivating.

“Don’t worry about it,” she insisted. “That was my mess. And if anyone should be helping pay for the damages, it should be that Max.”

There was a hint of audible distaste when she said his name.

“He’s still on campus if you wanna hold him to it,” Jin laughed teasingly.

“He’s here!?” Hitomi yelled a little too loud, causing the whole class to turn towards them in surprise.

“That’s quite enough, the two of you!” the lecturer yelled from the front. His voice boomed throughout the room as if he were using a mic, but Jin knew it was more likely that he was using magic.

Jin’s face turned bright red as Hitomi exclaimed how deeply sorry she was for the disturbance. Natsuno turned to gaze at Jin again. This time, her cool, aloof expression was undeniably more sour and disapproving. Jin felt even more guilt, and dropped his head onto his notebook in shame.

***

Tanaka moved quickly upon receiving word from Mashima. He swiftly made his way to the infirmary, opening a portal between his office and the doctor’s waiting room. There he found one of the academy physicians, Dr Yamamoto Shouta, standing in front of the receptionist’s desk, likely attempting to flirt and once again making a complete fool of himself.

“Where is he?” Tanaka asked gravely as he approached the doctor.

“We have him waiting in my office,” Dr Shouta replied hastily, fully aware of Tanaka’s infamous impatience. The receptionist who was awkwardly smiling at the doctor immediately turned her gaze back to the workstation upon seeing Tanaka.

“Have you conducted any tests yet?”

“No, I was sure you’d want to speak to the young man first.”

“I do not,” Tanaka said in a dour tone.

“Mashima requested that the young man be tested for any signs of Psychomantic activity. The boy claims that he’s incapable of manipulating mana, but Mashima insists that he’s capable of some form of magic,” Shouta added, knowing Tanaka would likely want the issue resolved quickly.

“Take me to him,” Tanaka commanded. “Let us meet this... interloper.”

***

Max sat in the chair opposite the doctor’s desk, waiting for Dr Shouta to return. Since his and Jin’s discussion with Mashima, Max had been feeling very uneasy about the way all these officials were looking at him. Something about their gaze reminded him of how his high school Physical Education teacher looked at him when he said he couldn’t run the whole field like the other students because he had fallen and hurt his leg the previous day. The look of distrust was all too familiar, only this time it was especially annoying, because he wasn’t lying.

Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. He had been experiencing it all day, from when he woke up after hearing Akiko’s scuffling around the house, up to when he was in Mashima’s office. He was sure he heard her wonder if he could read her mind. His intuition had told him then to not react. If he showed her that her mind was vulnerable, he was certain that the results could have been somewhat unsavoury. It was a little harder to deny the reality of his ability now that he suddenly heard the voices in his head right through the door of the doctor’s office.

We cannot afford to take chances. If he came through the Gate, and is using magic, he’s dangerous. Perhaps much more dangerous than he’s letting on.

The voice was unfamiliar; it wasn’t Dr Shouta’s.

The office door swung open, and Dr Shouta walked in with a tall, slender gentleman, who looked to be in his forties. The man wore a dark blue suit, with a black tie and white shirt. He had very neatly cut black hair, a little shorter than Jin’s. He also seemed worn out, like someone who hadn’t seen a good night’s sleep in a month or two. The look was familiar to Max. The man was putting in overtime, and too much of it.

“Ah, Mr Tenebri,” Dr Shouta said with a reassuring smile. “I’d like to introduce you to the Vice-Chancellor of Yōsaishima Academy, Izunoto Tanaka.”

Shit, Max thought. I know that name, too.

Tanaka bowed slightly at Max, who made no movement in response beyond a slight nod.

“Hello, young man,” Tanaka said, with a complete lack of expression. “I hear you’re in somewhat of a bind.”

It was his voice that Max had just heard in his head.

Tanaka surprised Max. When he opened his mouth to speak, he spoke English but with a Japanese accent. It was different from when Jin spoke. Tanaka wasn’t using a translation spell. He had actually learned English at some point in his life.

“Yes, it seems that I’ve certainly managed to sink into just about a knee height’s worth of shit this week,” Max responded flatly.

Dr Shouta laughed nervously, looking at Tanaka who, for just a second, seemed to let a micro-emotion slip into his well-practised dull face. Max couldn’t see what it was, but he knew that his words were bothersome.

“I’m sorry,” Max said insincerely. “I’m a little out of it today with all that’s going on, so I apologise in advance for my poor vocabulary.”

Shouta laughed again.

“It’s completely understandable in your situation,” he said with an annoyingly obvious, fake, ass-kissing smile. “Won’t you please get on the bed and lie down? We’ll begin testing very soon.”

Max complied.

“Mr Tenebri, was it?” Tanaka said coolly, looking at Max’s feet. “It’s customary in Japan to remove your shoes when inside a doctor’s office.”

“If this goes as quick as you people claim it will be,” Max said defiantly, “then I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Tanaka looked at the doctor sternly, who just smiled awkwardly.

“We just have a few questions, Mr Tenebri,” Dr Shouta prodded.

“Go ahead.”

“You say you don’t know how you came to be in Japan?” Tanaka asked.

“Yes. I just remember being in my girlfriend’s apartment. I must have blacked out, because when I came to, I was here in Yōsaishima.”

“Where does this girlfriend of yours live?” Shouta asked this time.

“Not in Japan… if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“No, not at all,” Dr Shouta attempted to placate Max. “We just want to be thorough.”

“Look,” Max sat up on the bed, addressing Tanaka directly. “All I know is, one moment I was looking for my girlfriend, who’s still out there somewhere,” Max pointed at the door, “and then suddenly I was just here, waking up on some park bench near a high school, with this ugly goddamn ring on my finger!”

He took the signet ring out of his pocket and showed it to them.

Shouta shot a quick worrisome glance at Tanaka, who finally dropped his dull expression and looked aghast at the doctor.

“Where did you get that?” Tanaka asked Max grimly.

“I don’t know,” Max said, eyeing the two apprehensively. “I just found it on my hand.”

Tanaka subtly nodded his head at the doctor.

Once again, Max clearly heard Tanaka’s voice in his head.

We cannot let him leave.

Max began to recoil as Shouta quickly moved in to apprehend him, muttering something quietly.

He’s about to use magic, Max thought.

He felt his panic creeping up his legs and numbing his body. What were they planning? Who would help Jane if he was trapped in this world for even longer?

He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. The doctor began to raise his hands at Max.

Max closed his eyes. Whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen. He was sure of it.

I’m fucked.

Within a split second, he felt the bed beneath him give way. He started to feel a rush of air pushing against his body. He opened his eyes and started screaming.

He was thousands of feet in the sky, falling to his death.

***

It was close to the end of the last lecture session of the day when it happened. Everyone in the Scion class, including the lecturer, felt a piercing scream penetrate their minds, causing many of them to cover their ears in pain at the volume. Jin shut his eyes and covered his ears, screaming back at the agony of the piercing cry.

For some reason, just as quickly as the scream came, the sound disappeared. An eerie silence ensued throughout the entire class. Eyes darted left and right in search of answers. Jin opened his eyes, looking at Hitomi, who looked back at him in horror. The voice was very familiar.

|“What in God’s name was that?”|

|“I think I’m gonna be sick.”|

“Everyone, please remain calm,” the lecturer called out. “Please try to remain seated while we investigate what just happened.”

|“I knew it! It’s the aliens!”|

|“Does this mean we can leave early?”|

The class was getting noisier by the second.

“Was that...” Hitomi stammered. “Was that Max?”

***

Falling from the height that he was, Max’s panic had subsided, and he gave in to his fate. He was gonna die, and he couldn’t make sure Jane was safe before he did. As he saw the cityscape come into view. Each skyscraper rooftop, which looked so fascinating and inviting of wonder from the ground up, looked like the only thing they invited now was a quick, yet painful, dismemberment if he landed on any of them.

He had hoped that Jin was a nice enough guy to help him by looking for Jane in Max’s place, now that he was gonna die. Max didn’t care if he was her hero; he always knew he would let her down somehow. The same way he did everyone else. He had just hoped that she would be okay, no matter what happened to him. Jin, fortunately, was the saviour type and, given enough time, he more than likely would try to find Jane. That’s what anime heroes did. And that’s who Jin was.

Jin was the hero of Mahō No Gakusei. Some shitty anime Max had binged a week or two ago. He couldn’t deny the fact any longer. Somehow, he was inside the world of the anime. He was isekai’d, something that he believed was simply not possible. More impossible than magic, more impossible even than time travel.

Accepting the notion also helped him realise why he felt that he could rely on Jin from the moment they met. Despite how mediocre the anime was, Max did like the characters. He hated himself for it, but no matter what tropes the characters fulfilled, he always ended up liking those, the heroes and the heroines, who stuck their neck out for others despite themselves. No matter how generically written they were, or how boring they seemed at first glance.

He wished that for once he had been patient, and just watched the damn show with Jane...

No. It can’t end like this!

Max looked around, wondering if he could signal to someone below. Maybe someone below could slow his descent, stop him in mid-air with their fancy Psychokinesis before his body crashed into the ground. If it was possible, it was something worth trying.

At this thought, he planned to aim his fall towards any direction where it was likely that there'd be a large group of people. He was about to pull his arms to his sides when he took note of the cold metal he felt in one of his palms. He brought his hand up to his face with some strain to see the ring he had shown the assholes in the doctor’s office.

The ring!

He didn’t know how he didn’t feel it earlier, but he quickly slid it onto the middle finger of his right hand, hoping, against all his prior beliefs, that the magic he so vehemently denied would save him. When Jin explained what his own ring was that morning, it only served to further force Max to accept the reality of the situation he was in and who Jin was. His ring looked similar enough to Jin’s, so maybe it served the same purpose. Maybe, it too was a totem.

He shut his eyes, thinking of Jane as he did in Shouta’s office. Thinking of her safety, and how, despite his pride, she made him feel safe too. He opened his eyes and saw the ground was coming up closer and closer.

He closed his eyes again, focusing on the panic he felt in not being able to save her if he hit the floor. He started to scream when, without warning, he felt the ground beneath his feet. It took him a moment to realise, before, warily, he opened his eyes.

For some reason he was still screaming until it finally dawned on him what had happened.

It worked!

He looked around him, completely dumbfounded at his luck. He looked at the ring, which glimmered in the late morning sun. He could kiss the ugly thing, right before ripping it off and throwing it in the trash.

I can’t believe it worked!

|“Is everything okay down there?”|

“Shit!” Max realised he must have made a scene with his admittedly cowardly scream.

“Uh… all good. Nothing to worry about,” he said sheepishly, without looking up to see who it was that spoke to him.

When his response was met with silence, he finally took scope of where he was standing. He was back. He was outside Jane’s apartment building.

Somehow, he’d made it back.

He practically threw himself up the stairs to her apartment, taking three steps at a time as fast as his body could carry him. He reached her door in no time. When he saw that it was closed, a new wave of anxiety washed over him. He was sure he left her door wide open.

Did she come home? Did someone come looking after Max had been snatched away? His thoughts ran ahead of him, and he took a moment to calm his shaking hands. He would take any explanation he could get after the experience he’d had the last two days.

He knocked with a deep sense of apprehension. He could hear shuffling inside, but it took a few moments before the inhabitant finally reached the door.

“Hi there,” an attractive young woman in a loose t-shirt and shorts answered the door. An unfamiliar young woman. She looked around outside to see if anyone that she knew was accompanying Max.

“Can I help you?” she asked him timidly.

Max snuck a look inside the apartment behind her, and his hope quickly sunk back into his throat, where the panic had rested just a day before. It was the same building, and the same room, but it wasn’t Jane’s apartment. He didn’t recognise any of it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, with a forced smile. He used as much tact as he could muster to maintain a polite tone. “I seem to have knocked on the wrong door.”

“Uhm… Okay,” the girl said, clearly wary of how suspicious and sweaty Max looked. “Can I help you find your way?”

“Uh… you,” Max started to ask, afraid of the answer, “you wouldn’t happen to know about a place called Yōsaishima Academy, would you?”

“Yōsaishima Academy?” she put her finger to her chin in thought. “Oh, you mean the school in Japan? Yes, I’ve heard of that place. You’re uh… way far off if that’s where you need to be.”

Max chuckled sardonically.

“You don’t say, huh?”

“Maybe one of my professors can help you?” she asked, looking back and scanning her apartment for her phone.

“No,” Max quickly interjected, laughing again nervously. “Thank you so much but… no more professors.”

He greeted her with a quick, awkward bow and made his way down the stairs. She watched him as he slowly descended before shrugging and closing her door.

He was still in the world of Mahō No Gakusei, which it seemed was literally an entire world of its own.

He got to the ground floor and thought for a moment. He had nowhere to go. He couldn’t go back to that academy. His own apartment was probably owned by someone else, if it even existed in this world.

Max looked down at the signet ring, turning it on his finger a little. Engraved onto the ring was some kind of flower, with cascading petals that spread out from the centre. He didn’t know what it meant but he was glad he had it.

He thought perhaps about going home; to his real home, but that too likely didn’t exist… and going back there was no longer an option even if it did. Finally, he decided where he would go, and closed his eyes, thinking about the only person who might help get him out of this situation, and instantly, he was back in Jin’s house.