Ever the wild dog, aren’t you, Tanaka?

Kyoko Mashima was ascending the Scion faculty stairs, making her way to her office. It was only a few minutes before the students would start their lectures. Luckily, Imiya was able to ensure that the student body returned to classes the very next day after the widespread telepathic attack. He managed to abate the panicked parents of the younger students, while many of the older students weren’t all too shaken up by the event. It was not their first experience with school-wide phenomena, after all.

Mashima, however, was still seething. The scream that pierced the students’ minds supposedly stemmed from that lost outsider that Jin Akira had brought to her. After the scolding she had received from the Chancellor, she knew it was a mistake to have informed Tanaka of the boy’s presence first. It was clear that if the Vice-Chancellor had had his way, the news of the stranger would never have reached Imiya at all.

The boy’s magic was strong, maybe made more so by the ring he had allegedly hidden in his pocket. Where he stole that ring from was something that would puzzle all staff associated with the Scion Initiative. There were very few students in the Scion class compared to regular university classes, and all of them had been accounted for the previous day. So, either the ring was some kind of amulet resembling a Scion ring, or there was a guild that was holding out on Yōsaishima Academy. It was already an immense task to convince the guilds in possession of Scion rings to cooperate. Many of them were averse to the task that was handed down to them by their predecessors, but the need for the Scions had arisen, so there was no room for disinclination.

Having received a call early that morning to make her way to the main staff building before heading to her office, she knew that she was going to receive an earful. What she didn’t know was that Tanaka would be on the receiving end of a scolding from the Chancellor along with her. When Imiya’s rage at the ineptitude with which they’d handled the strange visitor had subsided, Tanaka made no attempt to apologise for his incompetence directly to Mashima. He undoubtedly believed he was in the right, though that didn’t mean that Mashima would hold her tongue.

She had only been a lecturer for four years but, because of Izunoto ‘the Collared Beast’s’ actions, Mashima had likely lost the trust and respect of one of her students for the first time in her career. Considering the importance of the Scion class, it was essential that each and every student in attendance had complete faith in her and the rest of their instructors. What he did could have compromised this bond for good.

It seemed, however, that Tanaka’s greed and self-obsession caused him to make an overzealous choice to try and detain the young man without consideration or estimation of the boy’s abilities. Tanaka was a brilliant mage, supposedly at the top of his class for magic theory as well as application. He was not only an alumnus of the first magic academy ever established, the Albion School of Higher Order Sorcery, but he also made the effort of attending and excelling at a non-magic university. Supposedly, he was on his way to becoming one of the youngest Chancellors to run a magic school of his own, until a former boss of his exposed Tanaka’s habit of speaking a little too harshly, almost aggressively, when addressing the magic-incapable at some of the education institutions he had worked at.

Thus, Tanaka was put under the charge of Kitsuro Imiya; a man who knew how to put down radical personal ideals. There was no doubt that there was a lot that Tanaka had said and done in his time at Yōsaishima that Imiya did not know about. However, when the Chancellor was paying attention, even so much as a shadow out of line was reason enough for a stern chiding.

However brilliant Tanaka was, he, as well as every other staff member in the know, was fully aware of how unpredictable the power of the Scions were. After a thorough verbal lashing outside the Chancellor’s office for dragging down her name and degrading her integrity to one of her students, Mashima made sure to remind him of this unpredictability. Tanaka insisted that it was this unknown potential of the Scions and their enemies that made him want to restrain the stranger, but Mashima knew that what Tanaka was really after was credit.

If he managed to trap one of those who may have been influencing the Gate, he could undermine Imiya by reporting it directly to the Minister himself, earning him back some of that respect he had lost after it was exposed how much of an intolerant bigot he was, or how much worse his disdain for the magic-incapable had become.

Mashima had demanded an apology – since Tanaka wasn’t forthcoming with one of his own – and demanded that he explain to the young Akira that it was his decision to attack the stranger, and that his intentions had nothing to do with her. Tanaka offered a reluctant obligatory bow of apology, but refused to explain himself to a freshman just to ‘protect her integrity’.

“Perhaps you should have tested the boy yourself, instead of laying off your responsibilities on Shouta. Before you go pointing fingers, consider your own role in this mess. You’re just as much to blame, if not more so.”

Tanaka’s words nearly caused Mashima to throttle him. Not with magic, but physically, just to get the satisfaction of seeing his face when he felt tainted by physical violence rather than the magic he devoted his ideals to. Thinking about his sanctimonious face, and how helpless she was in exposing his disgusting persona caused Mashima to nearly crush the railing on the staircase that she held onto as she walked up to the second floor of the Scion building.

She stopped at the landing and took a deep breath. Finally, the day had come when the students would get a real class, since the previous day’s activities were cancelled so abruptly. She had hoped that, this time, the classes would go off without a hitch.

Mashima felt a little embarrassed, but was determined to apologise to the young Akira. He seemed to have put his faith in her and she let him down by exposing his friend to the venom of the Beast. She also had to apologise for lying to him and letting him go home thinking his friend was safe, albeit it the case that she was unsure of what the situation was at the time. She had made the mistake of trusting Dr Shouta, who she now knew was nothing but a coward and a kiss-ass.

She reached her office and unlocked the door. She absent-mindedly walked in and kicked off her high heels to get comfortable, not noticing the rowdy stranger sitting in her office chair.

“This room smells kinda musty,” the intruder said. “Like a stale mattress or something.”

Mashima’s eyes shot up and she quickly threw out her hand, limblessly grabbing the intruder by the neck and raising him into the air.

“Cool it, Lord Vader!” Max choked out, groping at his neck.

Mashima held him for a moment, her eyes narrowed in fury, before she came to her senses and quickly dropped him to the floor. Before he could make any other moves, however, she psychokinectically took hold of his arms and spread them out towards his sides.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she fumed.

“I’m sorry,” Max strained. “I knocked, but you weren’t in, so I got inside before anyone else saw me.”

“How did you get in here?” Mashima looked back at her door, assessing it for any damage she may have missed on her way in.

“Let’s just say I may have learned a trick or two in the last couple of hours.” He smiled wryly.

“What do you want from me? I… I had nothing to do with the people who attacked you!”

Mashima didn’t know why she explained herself, but decided that she wouldn’t have Max question her integrity either, even if he had the manners of something that crawled out of a hole.

“You and I both know that’s not true. You were setting me up from the start. You just didn’t know how far they’d take it.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter. I came ‘cause I need your help.” He resisted a little, trying to force his arms back down. “Any chance I can get my arms back? I swear I’ll play nice.”

Mashima eyed him for a moment, before finally lowering her hands and letting go of her grip on him.

“Don’t ever break into my office again.” She closed her eyes, and in an instant, she and Max had switched positions, with her standing at her desk and him standing at the front door. “And don’t ever sit in my chair again.”

Max looked a little stirred by the sudden position swap, but she didn’t care if he was uncomfortable with magic being imposed on him, as he seemed quite unbothered when imposing it on her.

“That was… odd.” He assessed himself, smiling curiously. “Pretty cool, though. You gotta teach me that one sometime.”

Mashima noticed that Max was wearing the signet ring she had been told about. She couldn’t see what crest was on it, but it no doubt belonged to a guild. If it was a forgery, it was extremely well done.

“What is it that you need help with?” Mashima settled into her seat. It was warm. He must have been sitting there for quite some time. She didn’t appreciate the warmth. Judging by his behaviour, he was well below her age – maybe even younger than a freshman – so his warmth was not the kind she wanted to feel. It made her chair uncomfortable to sit in.

“I wanna join the Scion class,” Max said with a coy smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mashima said unconvincingly.

“Riiiight,” Max sat down on one of the chairs in front of her desk, with his leg hanging over one of the armrests. She didn’t like how casual he was acting in her private space.

“And I suppose you also haven’t heard of that cushy manor that the faculty is hiding on campus grounds then?” he went on, quite pleased with himself.

She closed her eyes in exasperation, raising a hand and snapping her fingers. Max’s posture in the chair, as if reset by some real-world glitch, was corrected. Both his feet were on the floor, and his hands square on his lap. He looked down with a hint of wonder and slight embarrassment, before he defiantly leaned onto the left armrest.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to. This is a single year course for students whose parents want them to take up important positions in their respective guilds. That’s what this faculty was made for, and that’s all there is to it.”

Mashima considered if perhaps Max might have gleaned this info by reading Tanaka’s mind just as she was sure he had read hers the previous day.

“My knowledge of the Scion class is extensive, and I didn’t receive any of it from Tanaka,” Max cut in, causing Mashima to narrow her eyes at him. He was intruding yet again.

“Look, I know you’re not a bad person, and I want you to believe I’m not the enemy either. It doesn’t matter how I know what I know. What matters is that I somehow have this ring,” Max held up his right hand, “and it seems to respond to me. I just wanna learn to use it so I can get back to my own world.”

“Firstly, stop reading my mind,” Mashima said coldly. “Keep doing it, and I guarantee you will not come out unscathed. Secondly, do you really still expect us to believe this story that you’re from another world? You’re clearly capable of magic, and supposedly you know more about this academy than you were letting on yesterday. How am I supposed to trust that Tanaka wasn’t right to assume you’re a threat?”

“That’s why I came here.” Max slid the ring off his finger and pushed it slowly onto the desk. “As a gesture of good faith, and to show that I’m not lying about who I am. I want you to check my mind for signs of… what was it, Psychosomatic? Psionic? Uh… Panasonic?”

“Psychomantic.”

“Right, Psychomantic. I want you to check for signs of Psychomantic activity.”

“What good will that do?” Mashima pressed him. “Finding no signs of activity doesn’t prove your story.”

“No, but it only makes sense that if a spell exists to tamper with memories, there must also be a spell to read memories. Maybe even to determine the real ones from the knock offs.”

“And you’re hoping I can perform said spell?”

“It would be somewhat disappointing if you couldn’t at least try it after a Google search or something, given your position.”

Mashima eyed him, thinking for a moment.

“Even if I agree to help you and manage to corroborate your story, what makes you think the Scion class could be of any use? We don’t specialise in magic that opens up gates to other worlds. You might very well be trapped here for good.”

“Maybe. But if anything can get me back sooner, I have to give it a shot.”

Mashima’s eyes closed for a moment in annoyance at herself and how easily this young man riled her up.

“I mean, if there are ways to teleport halfway across the world, there has to be some knowledge regarding portals to other worlds,” Max continued. “You’d have to be stupid to deny the possibility, and I’m willing to bet a week of cleaning up your cat’s shit that with enough knowledge, and practise, we can find some way to send me back.”

“And when we do, you can take this ugly thing off my hands,” he gestured towards the ring. “Pawn it off for all I care, ‘cause I won’t need it.”

Mashima was uncertain of what to do, and bitterly annoyed at the mention of her Mochinyan. If Max was an enemy, it was better to keep him close and under observation. He seemed to know a great deal about the Scion Initiative, and even if he was just a victim of the Gate, that knowledge made him dangerous. There was a lot of incentive to keep him in the class where they could assess what he was capable of. It might have even been safer to ensure he took up residence close to the faculty where they could keep an eye on him. It was not only unsafe to let loose a potentially unpredictable enemy supposedly affected by the Gate, but it was even more dangerous to have an unsupervised Scion who had already accessed the powers of his ring.

Mashima made up her mind.

“I’ll consider accepting your request, but I have conditions.”

“Naturally,” Max replied curtly, clearly enjoying the back and forth. He didn’t seem to be taking his situation very seriously.

“For one thing, stay the hell away from my cat.”

“Alright, I’ll keep my hands off little Mochi.”

She winced slightly and cleared her throat, attempting to regain her composure and keep herself from reaching over her desk and strangling the insolent child with her bare hands. She smiled in delight at the thought, and he gulped down a little apprehension as he pretended not to notice.

“We’ll want to observe you as much as possible, so you’ll have to stay at one of the student res–”

“If it’s all the same to you,” Max cut in before she could finish, “I’d really prefer to stay on with Jin. After all, it seems that my life is in far more danger on campus than out there.”

“This is not a negotiation. Do you want my help or not?”

“If I can’t stay where I feel safe, then I’d rather figure things out on my own.” Max stood up. “Maybe it’ll take a while, but for Jane, I’ll find a way.”

“Wait,” Mashima stopped him, looking at the pictures on her desk as she thought for a moment. He sat down quietly.

“Perhaps I can have a word with Mr Akira's family. If they agree, an arrangement can be made to keep you under observation at their house. Though, if they’re not comfortable with it, will you then accept a residence on campus?”

She was not elated at the idea that she had to meet the contractual needs of this entitled brat, who didn’t seem to mind pushing the furthest reaches of her patience.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m simply looking to avoid any more shitty situations like yesterday,” Max said calmly. “But if Jin’s folks don’t like it, then yes. I agree to stay on campus.”

“Alright then. Secondly, if you’re allowed to join the Scion class, you will not be exempted from the rules that govern said class. You will follow them as the others do, and you will abide by all other academy rules as others do.”

“Following this, I can’t deny that you breaking any of these rules will likely lead to a far worse punishment than any other student will face, and you will likely be treated as an enemy for it. Tanaka will have no one to stop him from restraining you as he had planned to. Do you agree to these terms?”

Max thought for a moment.

“Yeah,” he finally replied, surprisingly solemnly. “I can agree to those terms.”

“Good. But there’s one final condition.”

“Lady, I already agreed to leave the cat alone!” he raised his arms in exasperation.

“You know about the Scions, so you know that they’ve been gathered for a reason,” she continued, her fingers tapping agitatedly on the desk in annoyance. “If you’re to be treated no differently, it means you’re obligated to take on all the responsibilities of a Scion. No matter what those responsibilities may include.”

“I thought I just agreed to this?”

“You don’t seem to understand.” Mashima’s expression turned wary. “If your story is true, it means that the enemy our academy has been preparing for has finally begun to make their move.”

“Your coming through the Gate, should it be the case that that is in fact what happened,” she continued gravely, “means that those who bear the rings will be faced with a powerful adversary. One that has been taking its time and planning its moves carefully. Should they strike before you or anyone else among the Scions are ready, the probability of you returning to your world will not only drop to a finite zero, but you may very well lose your life, or worse. Are you prepared to face that responsibility? To face that risk?”

Max gave her a puzzled expression and suddenly let out a breathy chuckle.

“Holy shit.”

“Excuse me?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Someone I once knew, who I think is actually getting to be your age soon, used to look at me with the exact same face you have right now,” he laughed sardonically. “You must be terrified.”

Mashima thought about her response, silently taking in his words.

“There is reason to be terrified. It is my responsibility to ensure you understand the seriousness of the situation,” she finally said.

“Well, I’ve got no other choice, regardless,” he affirmed. “So I’m in, one way or the other.”

“Then I believe we have ourselves a deal. Though remember that I warned you, even if your story proves true, there’s no guarantee that educating you as a Scion will aid your return to this supposed other world. So don’t hold it against us should your plan ultimately fail.”

“It won’t fail,” Max responded, once again in a surprisingly sombre tone. “I won’t let it.”

Observing this response, for the first time, Mashima’s annoyance at the young man subsided into something of a worry. The determination in his eyes was fierce. Despite his intolerable demeanour, there was a clear desperation to reach his goal. This person he was after clearly meant a lot more to him than his irreverence let on. The issue was, that kind of desperation could either give someone great strength, or lead them terribly astray.

Either way, she needed to think about how she was going to approach the Chancellor about this plan should Max’s story pan out. It wasn’t gonna be easy to convince him, but she knew going to him directly was the best move. Imiya wasn’t as thoughtlessly reckless as his Vice-Chancellor. He knew all that was at stake and had enough reason to see the sense in the plan. The hardest part would be to convince him to allow Max to stay at a site off campus, but she decided that that mountain would be scaled when she reached its base.

She got up and walked over to stand behind Max’s seat.

“I’ll need you to close your eyes,” she requested. “And be warned, you might experience some discomfort… and pain.”

***

“That disgusting pig has no respect!”

“Please calm down, Miss Brighton,” Jin laughed nervously, trying to placate Hitomi who, from her reaction to seeing him, seemed to be just as mad at Jin as she was at Max.

“I’ve never dealt with such an insolent vagrant in my life! Who does he think he is?”

The class was just about to start, and the lecturer seemed to be late. When Jin walked in, he half expected to have been stopped by Dr Mashima, who would no doubt take her frustrations for whatever Max says out on Jin. He wasn’t exactly fully sure of what Max’s plan was.

“Don’t worry, I know exactly what to say,” was the last thing Max said before going to bed after their eventful night. By the time Jin woke up, he was already gone. Whether or not he made it to Mashima, Jin was unsure, but, at the very least, his absence made the morning commute somewhat less uncomfortable. Students were still staring, but he was less self-conscious about any judgement he may have been receiving for his association with what looked like a foreign delinquent.

Jin could also make it on time faster. He zoomed from his front door to the station at a superhuman speed and caught the earliest train he could. He had a lot on his mind and was glad he had the time alone to sort through his thoughts. One of those thoughts being that the neighbourhood was certainly going through a rough patch with such a blatant attack on multiple convenience stores in one night.

The police had told him that the clerk was lucky that he and Max were in the vicinity, as one of the other store clerks suffered near-fatal burns due to the robber’s overly enthusiastic use of Elemancy. His use of Fire may have been elementary, but that made it no less effective against the magic-incapable.

His thoughts also drifted to Max. Despite the ease that came with travelling alone, Jin was still worried about not seeing him that morning. He had quite a large gash on his forehead from the fall he took, and Jin had wanted to give him an elixir to help mend the wound, seeing as he refused any medication from the paramedics that had been on site.

At the same time, Jin couldn’t help but think about Max’s dark, seemingly untraceable aura. If one didn’t see the flash in his eyes, you’d swear he’d never used magic at all. Most mages left some kind of trace behind when they performed even the most menial magic. Any aura that Max had emanated seemed to be very well hidden; normally a sign of an extraordinarily gifted mage. Max’s magic was a strange, and potentially dangerous, phenomenon. It was hard for Jin to deny the fear he felt when watching Max grab the throat of the masked man. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have any intention of killing the attacker, and the police could take over where the two left off.

The robbery made Jin consider whether he and Akiko should move to another one of the Akira family’s homes in a safer area, though he knew Akiko would rather risk staying in a deteriorating neighbourhood than leave the house the two of them had made so many memories in. For her sake, he hoped Max would find a good place to stay off campus. It would have likely been easier for the academy to get him a place in one of the on-site student residences, but Jin didn’t trust that this wouldn’t leave Max unexposed to such a clear and present threat from university staff. Still, Jin wanted to make his sister comfortable, and would have been glad to help Max wherever he was allowed to stay in some other way.

He wanted to go up to Mashima’s office and see if Max had found his way, but upon reaching the Scion faculty entrance, he realised that he was flanked from behind by Natsuno, who was slowly making her way to the lecture hall. For some reason, under her observation, he felt compelled to continue on towards the class. It was kind of sad, but he didn’t want her to think even less of him as a student than she probably already did so far.

When he got inside, Hitomi was already there, earlier than most of the students for some reason. She must have heard him come in, because she looked like she was on her phone, which she quickly put down before waving him over. Once again, it was quite embarrassing that she could act so casual and familiar despite having met him just two days ago. He had hoped that Natsuno wouldn’t get the wrong idea, then immediately questioned why it mattered if she did. Her mind was clearly on the course, and what Jin did with other people wouldn’t matter to her in the slightest.

Immediately upon sitting down, a single chair’s space away from Hitomi so as not to invade her space, she began her tirade of frustrations about Max and how he rudely dismissed her call the previous night, despite the fact that she was calling to make sure he was okay. She got up and closed the gap between herself and Jin, sitting in the seat right next to him, making his face burn with blush.

“I’m sorry, this is not your problem,” she finally concluded and cooled off. “He just irks me so much!” she said, folding her arms frustratedly, defiantly raising her bust.

Jin sat quietly, not wanting to make excuses for Max, mostly because he didn’t know how to excuse Max’s behaviour, but also because Hitomi had a nice rosy fragrance on her again which, oddly, made him too nervous to speak.

“Though, thank you for letting me know what was going on,” she said with a smile. “Sorry for calling you so late. I imagine your parents must have found it to be very inappropriate behaviour for a girl.”

“Oh no,” Jin reassured her. “It was very nice of you to make sure he was okay. I’m sorry he ended our call so rudely. I would like to have greeted you properly.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Argh, no bother! There’s no need to say goodbye if we’ll just see each other today.”

“I guess you’re right,” Jin laughed nervously, his eyes shifting away from her exuberant smile.

“Hmm… will we be witnessing another clown show today?” a cold, sour voice came from behind them.

They turned to see a very handsome young man, with slicked back bright red hair. His face produced a condescending smirk.

“I mean, I expect nothing less from gaijin, but I truly expected more from a fellow guildsman like yourself, Mr Akira,” his narrow eyes rested on Jin.

“We weren’t trying to disturb anyone,” Jin said sternly, controlling his annoyance, recognizing the face that now so rudely disregarded Hitomi as some outsider.

“And it seems you could learn some manners yourself,” Hitomi seethed at the handsome man. “If you feel like we’re disturbing you, file a complaint. From the look of the snot on your face, you seem used to running to mummy and daddy. In case it's not glaringly obvious, you’re interrupting a conversation between me and my friend, so I would appreciate it if you made your way back to whatever palace excreted you.”

For a moment, Jin forgot the man’s presence upon hearing Hitomi address him as ‘friend’. Even more surprising were the words she so easily spat out at their interloper. He stole a quick glance, eyeing her determined face, before returning his gaze to the red headed young man.

“You would do well to hold your tongue, woman,” the handsome man hissed. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that sounded like a challenge.”

“I would rather eat week-old socks than be saddled with teaching manners to a spoiled prat like you,” Hitomi stood her ground, clearly aware of the self-important air stemming from the condescending young man. “Now, I believe I politely asked you to leave, so we’ll be ignoring you from here on out.”

She turned to face forward. Jin, lagging a bit to look at the handsome man’s reaction, quickly turned as well, his eyes widened in surprise. He thought Hitomi was feisty with Max, but whatever he had just witnessed was very different. He could feel something colder in the manner with which she addressed the redhead. At the same time, it dawned on him that this week, fate was working quite hard to make him stick out like a sore thumb.

The redhead seemed to linger around for a moment.

“This is a serious class. Some of us are here to learn. I don’t care who you are, or what family you belong to. Get in my way again, and you will be dealt with,” the young interrupter persisted. “I’ll see to that myself.”

They made no effort to show that they were paying any attention, and Hitomi went so far as to ask Jin if he was excited for practical classes to start before their intruder could even finish his threat. The young man huffed in annoyance, and left to take a seat closer to the front of the class. The lecturer finally came in, ten minutes late, and wasted no time jumping into a history lesson regarding one of the earliest recorded uses of Psychokinesis.

“Seems he’s no stranger to you,” Hitomi whispered, leaning in close to Jin. His heart thumped as he felt her breath on his cheek.

“That’s Ryunosuke Sawada. His family is the namesake of the Sawada guild,” Jin whispered back.

“Explains why he seemed to be basking in the smell of his own fart.”

“We’ve met once or twice. My family often attends banquets hosted by the Sawadas. We’re not particularly friends. Most of our exchanges have just been for the sake of pleasantries.”

“Oooh,” Hitomi nudged him with her elbow. “Your family must be a couple of big shots, huh?”

“I suppose some people see them that way,” Jin smiled nervously. He shifted his eyes back to Sawada. “I don’t like the guy, but he’s quite easy to avoid at those parties. I never would have imagined that he’d be a part of this class.”

“At least one of us gets to smack some sense into him at the end of the week,” Hitomi slammed her fist into her palm. “I don’t like using magic for combat, but if it means I get to throw him around a bit, I might actually get a little excited for this Class Representative tournament.”

Jin had forgotten about that. The last two days had been filled with so much activity; he was more focused on answering the questions about what was going on behind the course, and forgot that he actually needed to apply himself to what was going on in the course itself. For one thing, he hadn’t really been preparing himself to use serious magic against his classmates at all.

“I wouldn’t underestimate him,” Jin said sternly. “I’ve heard he’s quite a skilled fighter, and that his father even considered sending him to help the Americans combat some insurgents in Eastern Europe last year.”

“Honestly, I think he’s just an arrogant prick,” a voice next to Jin interjected. “And I’d pay to see blondie shove her foot up his bougie ass.”

“While I don’t appreciate the language, I certainly wouldn’t mind to oblige,” Hitomi looked over at the source from the seat next to Jin with a humoured grin. She returned her gaze to the front before doing a double-take.

“Max!?” she yelled.

Jin shot a look next to him.

The class once again turned to face them. Ryunosuke’s face did nothing to hide his satisfaction at the fact that he was right to call out that they’d be a disturbance. The class didn’t hide their annoyance at this second disturbance either.

|“Those two? Again?”|

|“Sheesh. Lots of foreigners in this class. Talk about fancy.”|

|“How are boobs that big even legal?”|

“Is there some kind of problem back there?” The lecturer’s voice rang throughout the room.

“No!” Hitomi quickly stood up and bowed. “My apologies, sensei.”

The lecturer scanned the three, his eyes coming to a pause on Max for a moment before asking Hitomi to try to keep discussions to a minimum while there was a lecture in progress. He continued his class and she sat down, glaring at Max who was smirking amusedly.

“When did you get here?” Jin whispered frantically.

“I just popped in,” Max looked around the lecture hall. “Is this your class? It’s so much smaller up close.”

“What… What happened to the scar on your head?” Jin’s eyes widened. Whatever gash Max had the night before had completely vanished.

“You could get in trouble just for being here, you idiot!” Hitomi whisper-yelled.

“She’s right, you better get out of here before the lecturer notices you’re out of place,” Jin confirmed.

“Nah, he’s already fully aware that I don’t belong in this class,” Max said, looking down at the lecturer. “Plus, don’t worry, by the end of the day, this’ll be exactly where I belong.”

He raised his hand to show Hitomi the ring on his finger.

Jin noticed that they were being stared at by Natsuno, who hadn’t taken her eyes off of them since Hitomi’s outburst.

“He’s a Scion!?” Hitomi turned to ask Jin.

Jin chuckled, “Uh…yeah, about that…”

“Mr Akira,” Mashima’s voice came from the front of the class.

The lecturer had halted his discussion and the three only noticed after a moment that the class had gone silent. Some of them turned their gaze to Jin once again.

|“He’s done it now.”|

Jin stood up.

“Yes, sensei?”

“Can I have a word with you outside please?”

“Of course, sensei.”

|“Aww man! I’d kill to be punished by Mashima-sensei…”|

|“Gross. Who said that?”|

Jin picked up his bag and was about to stumble past Max.

“Bring that potty mouth with you.” Mashima looked at Max, who was grinning at Jin mischievously.

The class watched them in awkward silence as they walked down to the front entrance. Jin looked back at Hitomi, who had a concerned expression on her face. He saw that Natsuno seemed to be glaring at him yet again.

This was certainly turning out to not be his week.

***

Max and Jin followed Mashima to the main staff building and sat on one of the two sofas outside the Chancellor’s office. Jin had a clear look of quiet panic on his face.

“Try to calm down,” Max suggested, leaning his head back on the sofa. “You’re not in any kind of trouble.”

Jin looked at him apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to seem judgmental, but you really haven’t told me much about your plan and you’ve proven to be quite volatile.”

“Let me start off by asking you this.” Max sat up. “Would it be a terrible imposition if I were to, say… spend most of my time in Yōsaishima crashing at your place?”

Jin’s eyes narrowed in clear annoyance at the suggestion.

“Yes,” he said gravely. “My sister might actually kill me and you in our sleep, for one thing.”

“Well, then I suppose we may have run into a slight sitch,” Max chuckled.

“This is no time to joke around. What did you do?”

***

“I couldn’t get anything past him waking up near Hiromitsu High School. It’s as if he didn’t exist before that moment,” Mashima explained to a pensive Imiya, who was seated at his desk.

“There were no signs of any other form of Psychomancy. His memories haven’t been fabricated as far as I can tell.”

“And you’re sure he wasn’t barring sections of his mind?” the Chancellor considered. “These students are young, but some of them are rather knowledgeable.”

“I may have also been administering slight electric pulses to his fingertips to keep him concentrating on the pain,” Mashima admitted.

“Mashima-sensei…” Imiya said with a tone of faux reproach.

“I couldn’t help it!” she exclaimed with a guilty smile. “I’ve never met anyone as annoying in my entire life, and I’ve met Shouta-sensei.”

The Chancellor was somewhat amused. Mashima was very caring of her students, and has always treated them with a gentle touch. However, Tanaka, who maintained a generally steely demeanour, also seemed to be quite perturbed by this Max Tenebri’s behaviour the previous day. He must have been something fierce to work up both of the younger staff members.

“If he was blocking me out, he’s extremely good at hiding it. He seemed to be an open book, though. I scanned through most of his memories from the moment he appeared in Yōsaishima,” Mashima continued. “Judging from the intimacy of some of the memories I gleaned over, there’s reason to believe he wasn’t holding back.”

The Chancellor stood up and slowly walked with his hands behind his back towards the window next to his bookshelf.

“Then this boy might truly be an unfortunate victim of the Gate. Though even if we were certain that this were the case, it’s a great risk to let him leave academy grounds. If there’s even a slight chance that an unaccounted-for Scion has anything to do with the Gate, we are treading in deeper waters than what we first believed. We must use extreme precaution.”

“Tanaka made him feel unsafe on academy grounds. He refuses to stay here now, and I can't blame him for feeling that way. But he trusts the Akira boy, sir.”

“If he proves to be a threat, we very well can’t afford to consider his comfort. We are at war here, Mashima-sensei. None of us are particularly comfortable.”

He looked back for a moment, his gaze shifting over the picture of his family before quickly returning to the world outside the window.

“He’s a Scion,” Mashima argued. “One that was possibly pulled in from another world. If they are using him, we could use that to our advantage. If he’s being honest, and I’m currently inclined to believe that he is, there’s no harm in adding another member to our roster. We certainly could use all the help we can get, whether it was handed to us by the enemy or not.”

“Let him stay with Jin Akira, where he’ll feel safe,” Mashima said more calmly. “And if he’s not who he says he is, at some point he will let his guard down, and perhaps the Akira boy can inform us if anything seems shifty.”

The Chancellor stood thinking for a while. He didn’t like using his students, but there wasn’t much of a choice. They were dealing with a situation they’d been preparing for for over a thousand years, and suddenly there appeared to be twists taking place before them that they needed to get a grip on. Max was one such twist. And the Chancellor considered that this might just be the first of many.

“Okay,” Imiya said, finally. “First bring in Jin Akira.”

***

Max sat and waited for quite some time after Jin left before he finally came out of the Chancellor’s office. Jin paused to stand in front of the sofa, as if still considering something.

“You’re gonna be the one who tells Akiko, and you’re gonna insist that I had nothing to do with it,” Jin said with an annoyed tone.

Max wasn’t surprised at Jin’s generosity, but still felt a heavy sense of relief mixed in with a healthy dose of guilt.

“I’m okay with that,” Max smiled.

“They still wanna talk to you. I’ve gotta go back to class,” Jin pointed ahead. “Max, please try not to annoy the Chancellor too.”

He made his way to the stairs.

“No promises!” Max called out with a grin.

He wondered what they had told Jin. More than likely, they asked him to watch Max, and report any suspicious behaviour to them. Max was happy to admit that he had nothing to hide, except the fact that he had knowledge of what lies ahead, albeit limited knowledge.

He remembered one clear thing he hated about Mahō No Gakusei and other magic school anime like it: after eight episodes, there was still no real main antagonist. Quite some time had passed in the anime before any real threat could rise to the surface, and the main villain was always some vague entity. Given the anime’s shitty pacing, it at least meant that now he could bide his time. Though he’d still need to learn as fast as he could to get through to his own world. It didn’t matter if Jane believed him when he got back. All that mattered was finding her and making sure she was safe.

He was still unsure of the reality of it all. After all, there was still a chance that this was all in his head. Maybe he was sick, and passed out in Jane’s room. Maybe something was wrong with the food she’d bought them, something that made him faint, and dream of the colourful world he was in now. Things surely felt real enough to his senses, yet everything he sensed had an ephemeral quality.

Sitting with nothing but his thoughts for company, Max couldn’t help but think back to the night before. He recalled the rush he felt when he willed himself to teleport after the assailant. The feeling of power was undeniably intoxicating, even if that power was severely limited by his complete lack of knowledge. Whatever he had done to make the assailant pass out was clearly a fluke, something he saw and mimicked in a supernatural horror TV series he used to watch. His lack of knowledge regarding the types of spells that existed prevented him from really seeing how far he could push what he was capable of, which only further motivated his desire to get a spot in the Scion class.

On the other hand, he knew he couldn’t allow himself to lash out in that manner again. While he felt the raw power of control, he still felt powerless. Powerless to something deep within him that the robber had let loose when he threw Max halfway across the street. A part of him that he thought he had long since buried. His instinctive use of magic somehow kicked in because of one simple issue; he snapped. Something that he had once promised both himself and the Sisters he would never do again.

It was clear that his adrenaline must have numbed him to both fear and any sense of pain, because he started coughing up blood as soon as he reached the guest room at Jin’s place when they had finally gotten home.

Apart from the head injury he’d sustained that one of the paramedics had bandaged up at the convenience store, the robber’s psychokinetic push had done more damage than Max had anticipated. The pain caused him to slump down on the futon in agony, and he had wanted to call out to Jin for help, but decided against it. It was enough to be taking advantage of the anime hero’s kindness when asking for a place to stay. He didn’t want to be any more of a burden.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. Wasn’t he pushed in a similar fashion on his first day here? Didn’t he somehow make it out of that alive? Jin claimed that he used a potion to help Max heal. In his desperation to fight the pain he felt, he had wondered if there existed a spell that could pick out any one item in a house and make it appear before him. Surely there had to be.

Max had tried to remember what the potions in Mahō No Gakusei looked like, but all he could think of was the cartoonish image of potions that he saw in the inventories of video games. He cursed at himself for how little attention he paid to the details of the show.

In the end, he decided that all he could do was tough it out for the night, and he immediately started wishing that there was perhaps some way he could use magic to heal himself. It was a stupid thought. The world of magic wouldn’t work like that. Nor should it. Somehow it felt like that would make things unfair. It wouldn't make sense considering that mana use most likely came at a price. At least, it did in most of the shows he’d seen. Without balance, the scale would be tipped in the favour of mage, and the idea of a world without balance really bothered him.

Who’s to say that the price for mana use wasn’t life force itself? Did it matter if in the end he would never be able to find out? It wasn’t like he was about to bother Jin to ask something that was likely common knowledge. He figured he’d probably need to leave a message for his host, in case he didn’t actually make it through the night. What would he say?

Yo.

Sorry. Guess I croaked sooner than I thought. Find Jane. Stop calling Hitomi, Natsuno is more your type.

If anyone asks, that ‘work’ folder on my desktop belongs to me. Jane has nothing to do with it.

- Max

It didn’t matter what he had to say. If he died, he wanted to die knowing that someone was doing something in his place, and that his being dragged into Yōsaishima wasn’t for nothing. Maybe he could use his blood to write it out? No, a little too morbid. And it was definitely a bad sign if he had enough blood coming out of his body to pass along a substantial message. He was far too scared to give that option a try.

If only I could send a message, somehow…

Before doing anything, he must have passed out, because he didn’t remember at what point he fell asleep. He woke up with a strange, yet welcomed newfound energy.

He did remember nearly stumbling and falling because of the speed with which he got to his feet, immediately wanting to check the head injury. He took off the bandage, and felt smooth skin where the large wound had been before he passed out. He assessed his body in wonderment and stretched his limbs. He looked at his hand, adorned with the signet ring, wondering if a self-healing spell had even existed in Mahō No Gakusei.

So much for balance...

He was still caught up in the awe of his luck when he heard Akiko shuffling noisily as she left her room. He looked out the room window and saw the clear blue sky indicating that it was morning. Deciding that it was best to not test her patience by invading her space so early in the morning, he quickly changed out of his once again blood-soaked T-shirt, and back into the red T-shirt he had come here with, which Jin had cleaned and left in the room for him. Upon hearing Akiko’s light footsteps pass the guest room door, he closed his eyes, concentrating on Dr Mashima’s office. He opened his eyes to see the results of his success with a haughty smile at how good he was getting at teleporting on command.

He looked around her office for a moment, which smelled kind of musty, before he slumped down onto her large swivel chair and thought about what he would say to persuade her to let him join the Scion class. He went with what he did best back at his own university; wing it and come up with something on the fly. At the very least, he remembered just enough about the anime to make it seem like he was well informed. Enough to at least get a foot in the door to whatever room it was where the hushed whispers were being passed between executives.

In Mashima’s seat, he looked at his ring and questioned the origin of the magic he was suddenly capable of manifesting. He had seen isekai anime in which a character with some skill in the real world was given immense power in another world. Conversely, he had seen one too many shows where isekai protagonists who were useless in their normal life turn out more useless in the other worlds they got sent to.

He wondered, what side of the spectrum was he on? Some of those kids in isekai shows were absolute gaming beasts, while others, like him, just tended to spend a lot of their time not doing much. Therefore, it was only rational to assume he was on the Konosuba end, which meant he was likely pretty useless, even if he could somehow pull out a trick or two. After all, two OP characters could not occupy the same space. Only one character could truly be overpowered, and Mahō No Gakusei decided that that person was Jin Akira. And that’s the way Max wanted it to be.

So then, where did the sudden onset of magical abilities come from? Did it matter? If it got him to where he wanted to go, he didn’t care. Whatever was happening to him in Yōsaishima would likely leave him just as sporadically once he got home.

He assessed the lecturer’s work desk, eyeing the cat in one picture, and Mashima with her sister in the other. Both the cat and the mystery sibling were quite the lookers, though undeniably there was more appeal to the greyish-white furball. He looked at the large shelf in the back corner of the room, and considered getting up and checking what was there, but decided it was better if he didn’t leave a trace. He’d intruded enough – he didn’t need anyone thinking he was an actual creeper.

Before long, it was clear that maybe dealing with Akiko’s sour disposition would have been a more appealing alternative to sitting in the stark and boring silence of Mashima’s office. He had already been spending a lot of time in Yōsaishima simply doing nothing, and her office was the worst place to be doing nothing in.

For most of his time at Jin’s place, he simply sat in the guest room, on the futon, staring out the window. He wasn’t the kind of guy who could simply sleep the day away, but he couldn’t bring himself to do something entertaining to pass the time when all that he could think about was Jane, and how much time was passing between his staring at the empty sky and her having disappeared. He could maybe have used his phone, but somehow it evaporated from his hand as a result of his being drawn into this world. Apparently being isekai’d not only meant that your life would be turned upside down, but also that you had to leave behind any of the conveniences you had in your own world.

In retrospect, it was likely better that he didn’t have his phone. He would have kept pointlessly calling her or looking at her picture, and that would have driven him insane. Passing the time in the guest room and waiting out the hours like he did when he was sitting in Mashima’s office was the penance he needed to pay for walking out of that apartment like he did in the first place...

Pulling him from his recollection back into the present, Mashima called him into the Chancellor’s office.

Max got up tentatively and slowly strolled in. The Chancellor was different from what he expected after having seen the show. He was definitely bigger around the waist than Max could recall, and age was certainly not the man’s friend. His office looked a little old fashioned, with a nice oak desk which had two lavish leather chairs in front of it. Bookshelves covered most of the back of the room, though one shelf next to a window on the left side of the room seemed disconnected from the rest. The Chancellor greeted Max with a warm smile.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, young man. I am Chancellor Kitsuro Imiya.”

He too spoke English with a Japanese accent, though it was slightly thicker and rougher around the edges than Tanaka’s. Despite this, his English vocabulary was rather exceptional.

“Mashima-sensei, I believe today is your first class with the new students. Perhaps it's better if you don’t keep them waiting.”

Dr Mashima bowed, and smiled curiously at Max as she left the room.

“Please,” the Chancellor gestured to one of the fancy chairs, “have a seat.”

Max walked up to the chair and cautiously sat down.

“Mr Tenebri is it? That’s quite a unique name. Not quite common among Westerners, hmm?” the Chancellor asked curiously.

“No, not that I’m aware of,” Max said, adjusting a little to his seat. It was a lot more comfortable than any of the seats in Mashima’s office.

“Indulge me for a moment, I’m rather curious. Could you spell it out for me?”

Max gave him the spelling and the Chancellor tilted his head for a moment in confusion.

“Oh, so it’s pronounced ‘Ten-ner-bree’?” he asked.

“No, it's pronounced ‘Ten-ner-bry’,” Max corrected him, somewhat more defensively than intended. “It originates from Latin. So I suppose it might be a bit confusing when reading it.”

“My mistake,” the Chancellor’s face very clearly showed his uncertainty. “I suppose it truly is a unique family name then, Tenebri-san.” The Chancellor emphasised the pronunciation that Max gave him.

Max’s eyes darted all around and the Chancellor seemed to be letting him take in the room.

“This is quite a schmancy office,” Max said, trying to read the names on the books on the shelf next to the window.

“Leading a fine academy like Yōsaishima comes with its benefits,” the Chancellor said, leaning back in his chair.

“I’ll bet,” Max said flatly.

“Though I won’t lie about just how much work it is,” the Chancellor continued, standing up and walking to his window.

“Anything that the academy takes responsibility for is on me. If the students fail, I fail. If the lecturers are sick, I must tend to their ailments. If the mana around us begins to evaporate, I would walk out of this office, down the stairs and into the academy’s central courtyard, where I would allow our students to feed off of my mana so that they may continue their education.”

Max shifted in his seat, unable to gauge the atmosphere surrounding the Chancellor. He tried his best to not allow his magic to expose the man’s thoughts. Nothing good could come from challenging the ego of the leader of the ‘most prestigious’ magic school in all of Japan by exposing his mind to an amateur mage.

“You know what the worst part is?” Imiya turned his head to look at Max.

Max shook his head without saying anything.

“Idiot educators who don’t know that this job is as much about learning as it is teaching,” he gave a wry smile.

Max returned the sentiment, feigning amusement and hiding his discomfort. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the sincerity of the Chancellor. Rather, he didn’t like the uncertainty that he felt in the air, nor did he like that the anime never put Imiya in a position to show just how superior his magic was to the average lecturer. That made him unpredictable, and not someone to take any chances with.

“Allow me to sincerely apologise for Tanaka’s actions,” the Chancellor bowed towards Max. “He is young and overzealous, but he has the safety of the academy in mind, so don’t hate him too much for what he tried to do.”

Max thought for a moment, sternly watching the Chancellor.

“I uh… I guess I understand,” he finally said. “You don’t need to apologise on his behalf.”

“His failures are my own, so I believe it is my responsibility. He seems to have made you feel unsafe in these academy walls, and no student of ours should feel unsafe.”

The Chancellor straightened up and sat back down at his desk.

“So it’s been decided then? I’m joining the Scions?” Max asked, watching the Chancellor slowly take his seat.

“Yes, but I’m certain you already knew this. And I believe you’ve already discussed conditions with Mashima-sensei?”

“Right,” Max confirmed, “and I guess this means those conditions are okay?”

“Yes. As Akira-san no doubt informed you, you will indeed be staying at his house from now on while you attend classes at our academy. You’ll be delighted to know that the Scion faculty is one that requires no tuition, to make up for the hard work it takes to make it through the course.”

Max raised an eyebrow in thought.

“What is it that you’re preparing these students for?” he asked cautiously. “What, do they like, need to fight the demon lord or something? Or like a giant end-of-world catastrophe? Is it a tsunami? No, those have probably long been dealt with. Right? Or… is it like a giant magic tsunami… from the demon lord?”

Imiya let out a quiet chuckle, before gesturing towards Max’s hand.

“As a student of the class, I believe your time is better suited getting accustomed to your new guild ring. Mashima-sensei tells me it's one belonging to the Masayoshi guild.”

Max looked down at his ring.

“Yeah, I don’t know where it came from to be honest. I just woke up and found it on my finger.”

“It means your mana resonates with the ring. It chose you, and it will always find its way back to you. Though I will admit, to my knowledge, the Masayoshi guild is nearly extinct. And they are not among those who have been tasked with protecting the Scion rings,” the Chancellor added, hoping to prod Max for information.

“I was under the impression that Dr Mashima explained my situation? So you probably know that I don’t know anything about the ‘Masayoshi’ guild. And that this ring is just a means to an end for me.”

“I suppose you’re right, Tenebri-san,” Imiya smiled.

Max sat quietly, looking at the Chancellor with uncertainty.

“Well, it will take some paperwork, but I don’t see why that should be a deterrent. There is no time to waste, so I think perhaps you should now finally get to your new class. We shall have the necessary documents sent to Akira-san’s house. You know where the faculty is, I’m sure?”

“Yes,” Max stood up. “Thank you. I suppose I’d better go check it out.”

Max made his way to the door.

“Tenebri-san,”

Max stopped and turned to face the Chancellor.

“As I said, I am responsible for all that takes place at Yōsaishima. Including the things you do that may end up hurting students. Please be aware of the lengths to which we’re going to allow you to join our academy and know that your actions will be scrutinised. If you’re seen as a threat, we will deal with you accordingly. Do you understand?”

Imiya’s tone was sterner than it had been for the entire meeting.

“I understand,” Max said tentatively before making his way out of the Chancellor’s office.

He took a few steps and stopped to look back. Despite seeing that he wasn’t being watched, Max decided it was safer to walk to the Scion faculty instead of teleporting as he had planned to do. Something familiar in the Chancellor’s demeanour told Max that he was not the kind of man to be taken lightly. A trait he was all too familiar with in men with overblown notions of ‘power’.