When the morning had properly arrived, Jin made his way downstairs and found that Max was once again in the kitchen making food. He was wearing the academy uniform, though very sloppily. His shirt was untucked, his blazer was unbuttoned, and his tie wasn’t wound up properly. Even in Yōsaishima Academy-wear, Max couldn’t help but look like a delinquent. Jin wasn’t sure what to say as he strolled to the dinner table, so he just sat down and said nothing at all.

“Geezus!” Max cried when he heard Jin pull out a chair. “Why do you always gotta move so silently?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe you just don’t understand that everyone is not as noisy as you,” Jin responded sharply.

“Hey, easy now,” Max turned to look at Jin with a puzzled expression. “No need to be snarky.”

“Sorry,” Jin muttered, rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

Max brought over two bowls filled with noodles and topped with sliced up deep-fried chicken fillets.

“Is this your attempt at making ramen? There is not a single vegetable in this bowl,” Jin looked at it strangely.

“I wanted something we could both enjoy,” Max pushed Jin’s bowl towards him. There was an abundance of broth, and Max had noticeably more chicken in his bowl. “What, you too good for deep-fried chicken?”

“It's a very oily dish,” Jin said, poking at the chicken with his chopsticks. “Especially for breakfast.”

“Just eat the damn food!”

They ate in silence. There was a tense air in the room, though it seemed to mostly emanate from Jin. If Max was bothered, he was very good at not showing it. He ate his food heartily and didn’t seem to mind the silence at all. When they were done, he was the one to put the kitchenware in the sink.

“Do that thing you do,” Max instructed, standing in front of the sink, watching intently as if expecting the dishes to activate the spell themselves.

“Can’t you just do it?” Jin got up from his seat. “You’re a fast learner, aren’t you?”

“I guess, but if yesterday’s anything to go by, I don’t wanna assume what kind of magic you’re using and accidentally get us stuck in the fifth dimension.”

Jin performed the spell, and Max nodded his head in satisfaction.

“I gotta learn that one,” he said as he adjusted the academy’s pin on his blazer. On it was the crest of the academy, a sword hilt behind a shield in the centre, with Yōsaishima written in Japanese on the shield. If one looked closely enough, the academy creed was just visible at the bottom of the pin; “Power for Benevolence”. An ironic ideal, considering the way the academy staff had presented themselves so far.

The two made their way to the front door as the sound of scrubbing filled the kitchen. They put on their shoes, Max opting to put on his boots instead of the shiny new business shoes sent over by the academy.

“Is that really necessary?” Jin asked, tapping the ground with the tip of his foot to make sure his foot reached all the way into his shoe.

“These crappy church-goers barely fit me,” Max whined.

“You’ll break them in. Some people pay a lot of money for this uniform. Since yours is free, the least you can do is wear the full outfit.”

“Dammit,” Max sounded like he was gonna protest. Instead, he let out a sigh. “You’re right.”

After Max had changed shoes, Jin reached for the door when Max suddenly put a hand on his shoulder.

“Listen, Jin. I’ll get you your answers,” he said solemnly. “If it means I have to come back here somehow to do it. Once I find Jane, I’ll help you find answers. I’ll find out the truth about this world.”

Jin knew that it wasn’t a feasible plan. Max, as far as Jin knew, found himself in Yōsaishima accidentally. There was no certainty that he would make it back once he escaped back to his ‘own world’. But Jin knew what Max was trying to do, and he couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that Max wasn’t quite as thoughtless or tactless as he came off.

“Now stand still ‘cause I don’t know if this will work,” Max added.

“If what will wo–”

Before Jin could finish his question, his gaze shifted from Max to what stood before him, which was now the Scion faculty foyer’s staircases. Jin glanced around him, aghast. His legs felt a little weak and it felt like his eyesight needed to adjust. He had only ever teleported using portals, and since he was told to only use them in an emergency, he had rarely made use of them for convenience’s sake.

With portals, it felt more like walking through a passage, or an ethereal door that led from one space instantly into the next without any feeling of physical change. Dematerializing felt different, as if, for a moment, a brief second, all that he could see was nothingness, and all other bodily functions of touch and physical awareness were gone. Every sensation came rushing back upon re-materialisation like a surge of wind. It was an experience that would have made the uninitiated throw up. Jin could feel the fatty chicken stirring uncomfortably in his gut. Instant physical teleportation was by far a much more uncomfortable method of travel.

“Did you just… You know we just broke the law, right?” Jin looked at Max in annoyance.

“Riding the train is a pain in the ass. Why can’t we teleport?” Max asked, puzzled.

“Because other forms of transport exist! If we stop all public commuting, suddenly we get a shortage of jobs. Teleportation is only allowed for those who have a licence, and people with permits.”

“How- what?” Hitomi appeared behind them, shifting her head back and forth between the foyer and entryway in confusion. “Where did you two come from?”

“We tel–” Max started.

“We took a really early train,” Jin said frantically with an awkward smile. “Good morning, Hitomi,” he bowed.

“Oh, please excuse my manners,” Hitomi stopped a few feet in front of them and bowed as well. “Good morning, Mr Akira.”

“Uh,” Jin gave a shy laugh, scratching the back of his head. “I think it's only fair that you call me Jin… since I call you Hitomi, you know?”

Max discreetly slapped the back of his head, causing Jin to fire a quick annoyed glance his way.

“Why’re you here so early, blondie?” Max asked curiously.

“Where I am and when I get there is none of your business, you abrasive ape,” Hitomi retorted. “I was waiting for you two. I thought maybe we could get some early practise in, but I don’t think Dr Mashima is in yet.”

“How early did we get here?” Max glanced around them, noticing how empty the building was.

“Too early,” Jin said with stifled irritation, not wanting Hitomi to see him lose his patience with Max.

“You think they’ll be okay with us practising outside?” Hitomi asked Jin.

“I don’t think it will be an issue,” Jin said with a thoughtful look at the entryway. “I mean, everyone else seems to be using magic outside without any complaints.”

“Yeah well, good luck with that,” Max turned and made for the lecture hall.

“Max, you said you’d help us,” Jin called out.

“I said I’d help you after class, not before. I might as well get a nap in before class starts,” Max yelled back as he pushed past the large classroom doors.

“Then why did we have to get here so early?” Jin asked himself quietly.

“It's fine. We don’t need that idiot. For now, let's just practise by ourselves,” Hitomi suggested.

“I don’t think you want me as a lone partner,” Jin laughed again. “Max was surprisingly patient, but I’m pretty sure I annoyed him with how bad I was.”

“You really think I’m anything like Max? Please, never compare me to that twit. Besides, no way for us to get better unless we keep trying, right? Come on.” Hitomi grabbed his arm and made for the entryway. His face turned deep red, and he reflexively turned his head away so that she didn’t see his shy reaction.

The two used the field directly opposite the faculty building. When they had just crossed the street, Jin saw Natsuno making her way to the faculty. He averted his gaze, feeling a little strange about her after all that Max had said the previous night. Stranger than he had already felt since he first met her. He didn't wanna think about it, and thought it best to avoid her. It was senseless, since Max must have been wrong, but he couldn’t help himself.

Inside the empty lecture hall, Max got a seat in the very last row. He sat and rested his head on his arms in the same way he did back home. Only a few minutes had passed before he heard the door to the second-floor entrance swing open and someone come walking in.

The footsteps were soft, but he could hear them slowly approach his seat. He figured it was Jin or Hitomi, coming to spitefully disturb his nap for his wanton betrayal of their deal. When the steps reached behind him, they stopped. He kept his head down, bracing himself for something to happen, but the revenge slap he expected never came. After a while, the footsteps moved further away and he quickly glanced up to see Natsuno’s silk black hair.

The fuck? he thought. That was weird. Did she just hex me?

Max sat up to see her take a seat in the second-to-front row. He kept his gaze on her even when she turned back to look up at him. When she saw that he was watching her, she quickly turned her head forward and started to search for something in her bag, eventually pulling out a notebook and a pencil.

She kept her gaze forward, until she heard the seat next to her shift slightly. She looked next to her to see Max glaring at her in annoyance and slightly jumped in her seat in surprise.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked accusingly.

“Excuse me?” she asked, feigning confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her words were just as soft and steely as they were in the anime.

“Listen here, Yukinot-fooling-anyone, I don’t care what kind of weird shit you’re into, but if you’re gonna get your rocks off, do it to Jin and leave me the hell alone, ‘cause I’m spoken for.”

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to be funny or something, but I really don’t appreciate your tone, nor the nature of your accusations.”

Her fierce eyes met his, and his eyes suddenly went from excitable to sullen and dull. They locked eyes for what felt like minutes. Her gaze went from cold anger to confusion at some point amidst their shared, unending stare.

“W-what are you doing?” she asked him, her voice taking on a passion that he didn’t expect from her. Though she quickly looked away when she felt that her cheeks had become slightly hot and red.

“Does it feel good when I stare at you like that?” Max asked with a sudden sultry tone.

“No, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped,” Natsuno asserted, defiantly turning to glare coldly into his eyes once again.

“Well, now you know how it feels, creep!” Max suddenly raised his voice. “So perk up those damn eyes of yours, or stop staring at people. It feels like every time you look at someone, you’re plotting some way to slowly drain the blood from their carotid artery. Do you know how awkward that feels? It's fucking uncomfortable.”

Natsuno’s mouth fell open. She’d never been addressed in this manner. She didn’t know what to say, but she could feel her fist clenching tight, and white smoke slowly starting to emanate from her palm.

“And take off those idiotic glasses,” Max added. “It's not nice to listen to people’s thoughts without their permission.” He emulated Jin’s chiding before reverting to a more assertive tone. “You wanna know what I’m thinking? Just ask me. I’ll be happy to tell you.”

Max closed his eyes, and before Natsuno could protest, he disappeared, reappearing back in his seat. As if nothing had happened, he gently dropped his head onto his arms and went on trying to get to his nap.

Natsuno was flushed with a quiet fury. He had blind-sided her and somehow discovered her secret. She made sure to check everyone in the class on her first day to make sure they didn’t know what the glasses were being used for. She realised that one of the lecturers must have told him, most likely even Dr Mashima. She looked up at him again, feeling a hot burn in her chest that she hadn’t felt for anyone in a long time. She decided that she would expose him as the fraud he was. Whoever he was, whatever he came to do at Yōsaishima, he wouldn’t get in her way. And he would pay for the way in which he had spoken to her.

***

Outside, Jin realised that training with Hitomi was far more embarrassing than it had been with Max. She was a lot more patient, which made him feel worse for wasting her time with how bad his control was. They used a large coin which she had brought for the purpose of practise, but they weren’t outside for long. When he had passed it back to her too forcefully, she laughed cheerfully and assured him that she didn’t mind. This caused his face to burn up to his ears, and he couldn’t help but feel annoyed at Max for not having come out with them. At the very least, his presence would have offset a portion of the embarrassment Jin was feeling.

“That was good,” Hitomi said as they went back inside. “I can feel my control getting better.”

“I’m sorry… I know I’m not a good practise partner. I’m sure Max will be a lot more helpful later,” Jin said with a nervous smile.

“Oh, tosh!” Hitomi gave him a little shove. “We’re both still getting used to it.”

They entered the lecture hall via the ground floor entrance and saw Max with his head on his arms in the seat at the edge of the last row. Natsuno was sitting quietly in front, cleaning her glasses. Jin met her uncovered eyes, and as icy blue as they shined, it was hard to deny that they were quite beautiful.

Jin waited for Hitomi to decide where to sit, and she squeezed into the back row to take the seat right next to Max. Jin sat in the seat right next to her, realising it was pointless being overly concerned about personal space when she would likely just make him move closer anyway.

“Thanks for nothing,” Hitomi seared at Max. “We got by just fine without you.”

Jin looked down at where Natsuno was sitting and saw her turn to face him with clear anger in her eyes. He turned away instinctively, as he noticed her gaze pan over the trio. He wondered if he had done something to offend her... or was it Hitomi? No. He knew who it must have been. Though he didn’t wanna throw around unwarranted accusations.

Max sluggishly lifted his head to look at them.

“Congratulations, your life must have a whole new meaning.” He closed his eyes again and lay his head down. “Don’t let me get in the way of this newfound euphoria. Pretend I’m not even here.”

“After you made such an effort to join the class, are you really just gonna sleep?” Jin chided him.

“I came to learn to use magic. I don’t care about its history,” Max mumbled sleepily. “Gave up on that subject a while ago.”

“You might learn something that's actually helpful. Max? Max, wake up!” Jin reached across Hitomi to shake his shoulder.

Hitomi suddenly blushed, and Jin, not realising what he was doing, saw her face and looked down to see his arm rubbing against her chest. He quickly retracted his arm.

“I’m soooo sorry!” he stood up and bowed profusely. “That was an accident, I swear!”

Hitomi looked around at the now-filling class, who were looking up to see what the commotion was this time. The trio were starting to gain a reputation.

“Jin, it's fine,” she smiled nervously. “It was an accident. I know.”

Max sat up slowly.

“What’s wrong with your faces?” he asked, his gaze passing between Jin and Hitomi’s crimson blushes, coming to rest on her large bust. His eyes shifted to Jin in an accusing manner as his lips curled into a wry smile.

Hitomi drew up her hand and slapped Max across the face with a painful sounding clap, causing him to topple off his seat to the floor.

“I blame you, you lazy bum!” she hissed. “Don’t come to class if you’re just gonna kip throughout!”

“Hitomi!” Jin looked at her aghast, taking note of the eyes watching them from below.

|“The circus is putting on another show, I see.”|

|“Like, why did they even come here if they’re not actually gonna learn anything?”|

|“Being gorgeous doesn't mean you don’t have responsibilities! Or maybe it does… I don’t know, it's too early to face such thoughts!”|

“What the hell?” Max sat up and rubbed the side of his face where Hitomi’s hand had left what looked like a scalding imprint. “What’d I do! Jin’s the one who needs to keep his hands to himself!”

Hitomi’s face turned a deeper shade of crimson. She raised her hand again, and the speed with which it dropped against Max’s face caused him to slide from the edge of the table up against the wall.

“Hitomi,” Jin said in a feeble voice, looking down at the now eerily still Max. “I’m not sure how many times he can come back from being murdered like this.”

***

The lecture period, at least to Max, felt like it would never end. He sat with his chin resting on his arms for most of it, floating in out of sleep. The sting on the side of his face definitely made it harder to concentrate on anything else. When it was finally over, everyone prepared to move up to the training room. He was the last to react, and got to his feet with what looked like a great deal of effort.

“Why must you dress like a hooligan?” Hitomi assessed his rugged uniform with disgust.

“What are you, my mother? Get off my ass,” Max retorted, sounding disinterested yet clearly irritated.

“I’m embarrassed to even be seen with you! It looks like you have no respect for this institution.”

“I don’t have any respect for this institution,” Max said curtly. “If you don’t wanna be seen with me, then stop skulking around me.”

“Skulking!? Around YOU!?”

Jin watched the two with an awkward and uncomfortable smile as they broke out into yet another argument. He didn’t know them for long, but he wished they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats nearly every time they were together. Though, he thought with some unease, despite their adversarial nature, there was a clear chemistry behind the way they interacted with each other. Like an understanding, or a mutual respect between them that Jin just wasn’t a part of. It only made sense. They had met each other first, after all.

“Shall we move, you two?” Jin interrupted.

Hitomi walked ahead and he followed closely. Max, in his sleepiness, lagged a bit behind them.

“Oh, I think I forgot my bag,” Jin stopped when they reached the stairs. “I’ll catch up with you two. Don’t kill each other now.”

“You keep your distance. I wouldn’t want you thinking I’m skulking!” Hitomi yelled at Max.

Jin ran back to the class and quickly retrieved his bag. Upon turning to leave the room, he found Natsuno blocking his way.

“Oh, Miss Haruki,” Jin said, cautiously moving closer to her. “Can I, uh, help you with something?”

“Who is that… thing?” Her cold voice held a tone of fierceness, accentuated especially when referring to the ‘thing’.

“Who? Max?” Jin looked behind her. “It's not really my place to speak for others, but maybe you should speak to him yourself. He’s a pretty honest guy, for better or worse.”

He attempted to walk past her, before she suddenly raised an arm to stop him.

“Who. Is. HE?” she asked again, the menace in her voice growing steadily.

“He’s just a student, like me and you. Did he say something to offend you? I apologise if–”

“That thing is not a Scion like us!” Natsuno cut him off.

“Yes he is. He’s from the Masayoshi guild,” Jin argued feebly.

“You and I both know that he has nothing to do with the Masayoshi guild. I also know that even if the Masayoshi hadn’t disbanded years ago, no one in the guild had any foreign relatives.”

“Maybe he’s adopted. Maybe they saw the talent he has and chose him as their Scion. After all, since they have no members, someone has to take on the role.”

“That’s not how the rings work,” Natsuno promptly dismissed his reasoning. “Do not take me for a fool, Mr Akira.”

“You seem rather knowledgeable about all this,” Jin said with an uneasy smile.

“Not everyone is here to waste time like you. I take this class, and my role as a Scion, very seriously,” she countered.

“You can feed me,” she went on, “and everyone else in this class whatever lies you want, but whoever that man is, he does not belong here. If he gets in my way, I will expose and destroy him. Not only to the class, but to the whole school. Not Mashima, nor anyone else in the faculty can help you hide whoever he is then.”

“I’m not here to waste time,” Jin protested, not sure why his integrity was the thing he chose to defend.

“Save it, Mr Akira. Your words are meaningless. Only what you do will prove your worth, and from where I stand, you have proven to be far below inadequate.”

Their eyes locked for a while. It felt as if any sudden move would set her off, and he didn’t want to cause an unnecessary fight. He turned his head towards the second-floor exit and made for the door.

“We’ll see,” she added, causing him to pause in his tracks, “just how seriously you take this role at the tournament. I’ll show you just how meaningless your words are.”

***

“You wanna use the room, huh?” Mashima asked the odd trio when class was over. “But you’ve all managed to perform the necessary tasks. Some of you,” she cast a wary eye over Max, “much better than the others.”

It was strange to her that anyone would actually want to spend more time with him.

He didn’t seem to be paying attention, as he was looking around the dojo, taking in the size of the room.

“If it's okay with you, sensei,” Hitomi bowed politely. “We’d like to practise for just another hour or two.”

“Two hours!?” Max cried, breaking away from his reverie. “Jesus, how long do you expect this to take?”

“Please sensei,” Jin bowed as well. “We’d like to get better before the tournament tomorrow.”

They had waited until every other student had cleared the room. The last student to leave was Natsuno, who threw a distasteful glance at the three. Hitomi didn’t seem to notice, but Max and Jin certainly did.

“Okay, but I’ll only give you another hour. We need to close this training room at six, and I don’t wanna be the last to leave the office.”

Well, not again anyway, she thought.

“You poor woman,” Max shook his head sympathetically.

Her eyes narrowed at him, but she held back the desire to induce an aneurysm in his head, which she very easily could have.

“Thank you very much,” Jin and Hitomi said in unison.

“Don’t wear yourselves out,” she said as she was leaving. “Tomorrow’s competition is looking fierce.”

She stopped at the door and looked back around the room.

“I suppose this is much too big for just the three of you.” She touched some keys on a digital interface next to one of the entrance doors. The room suddenly shrank to half the size it was before, though it was still a little out of proportion with the faculty’s structure. The three looked up in awe. It was the first time any of them had seen such technology.

“It's a simulation room,” Jin thought out loud. “Isn’t this is state-of-the-art magic tech? I didn’t know these were even distributed for universities.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Remember, one hour,” Mashima reminded them as she closed the door with an amused smile.

“Nerd,” Max remarked unnecessarily.

“I was just impressed!” Jin retorted.

“Alright, you two,” Hitomi smiled at the two. “Let’s get started.”

She took out the coin she had used earlier with Jin, and tossed it at Max who seamlessly nabbed it out of the air and made it orbit his hand, with a cheerful smile.

“It seems like such a trivial thing,” he said absentmindedly. “But it just never ceases to amaze me.”

He didn’t notice Jin and Hitomi smiling at him, and when he looked up, the coin fell into his palm, and he suddenly looked very shy, which was an odd look on him. The two laughed at his embarrassment.

“Do you want my help or not?” Max asked bitterly.

“I’m sorry,” Hitomi chuckled through her words. ”It’s like watching a kid see magic for the first time.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing my little sister react that way too, once upon a time,” Jin laughed lightly.

“You have a little sister!?” Hitomi asked excitedly.

“Uh,” Jin’s face lit up red. “Yes, her name is Akiko.”

“What is she like? I bet she’s soooo cute!”

“She’s just a bundle of joy,” Max said sarcastically. “The joyful little thing, she is.”

“I think she’s super cute, but she finds it annoying when I tell her that. Though is it really that big a deal that I have a sister?” Jin asked with a nervous laugh. “Do you have any siblings?”

“I do,” Hitomi said, sighing softly. “I just always wanted a sweet little sister. Or even a feisty little sister! Anything but the idiot brother I got stuck with.”

“I’m sorry. Sounds like he was tough to live with,” Jin smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, but I imagine you’re getting a pretty good idea of what I had to deal with,” she eyed Max annoyedly.

“Piiiiiiss off,” Max narrowed his eyes at her in return.

Jin laughed softly.

“Max really isn’t that bad to live with,” he said. “At the very least, he seems to respect privacy a lot more than anyone expects.”

“What about you, miscreant?” Hitomi asked Max. “You got any siblings?”

He said nothing for a moment, just looking at the two with a blank, oddly angry expression, and eyes that Jin had never seen on Max before.

“Hm… Are we doing this or what?” Max asked, with a sudden sardonic smile. “We don’t have all day here.”

Max started moving the coin around again, this time bending and shaping it easily. Jin and Hitomi shared a concerned look for a moment. For the first time, it seemed like there was a topic Max was uncomfortable discussing. Prodding wouldn’t be good, but Jin hoped that at some point, whatever it was that made the topic uncomfortable would come to light.

They returned their gaze to Max, noting his concentration and fluid control of his mana.

“Dammit all!” Hitomi raised her hands in exasperation. “Now I wanna learn that too. How do you lose your memories but still control your mana so well?” she asked with a pout. “It's not fair.”

Max shifted the coin from his control to Jin’s, who quickly grabbed it out of the air before he could lose his hold.

“I don’t see why it's so difficult. Haven’t you been doing magic for years?” Max asked them both.

“If we combine our internal mana with natural mana, sure we can. But I myself rarely make use of purely internal mana for spells,” Jin said pensively. “And the natural mana in this room is still completely gone.”

“It is?” Max looked at the air conditioner-like machine in the corner which was softly whirring. “It's not like I notice the difference, really.”

“I would really just like to knock your block off, you know,” Hitomi said, raising a fist at Max. “Where do you get off with this humble crap? You’re obviously some kind of magic prodigy!”

“I’m seriously not,” Max folded his arms in annoyance.

“He really isn’t,” Jin confirmed sombrely.

“Hey, you were saying the same thing she was not two days ago,” Max gave him a foul stare.

“Yes. And my mistaken beliefs have been corrected,” Jin sighed.

“That actually pisses me off…”

Hitomi’s head dropped in defeat.

“Maybe we’re just clueless,” she said sadly. “I mean, that girl with the glasses was killing it in class today too.”

“I wouldn’t bother comparing yourself to her,” Max shook his head. “If anyone in this class is an actual prodigy, it's probably her.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Hitomi,” Jin said with a concerned expression.

“Yeah, I mean you’re both pretty useless for sure,” Max added bluntly, causing Jin’s head to drop as well. “But trust me, so is everyone else, including me!” He raised a thumb at himself with a confident boyish smile.

The two raised their heads to face him in confusion.

“These little coin tricks may be easy to do, but when it comes to what I really wanna do, if I were really as naturally talented as you think I am, I’d have been gone by now, and you’d never have to deal with me again. But I’m still stuck here, so I still got a lot to learn, just like everyone else.”

“If you really don’t wanna be at the academy so bad, can’t you just leave? Max is not actually stuck here, is he?” Hitomi looked at Jin inquisitively.

“Oh, he means, uh… stuck needing to learn at a slower pace,” Jin rattled off, not expecting Max to say quite so much.

Max scratched at his hair, realising his mouth was too big for his own good. Luckily, Hitomi seemed to accept Jin’s explanation and Jin sighed in relief without her noticing.

“Anyway, Jin’s right,” Max went on. “Being hard on yourself is senseless and does nothing but slow you down. Despite your shortcomings, you’re here, putting in the effort, trying to improve yourself. That alone is truly worth commending. It means in a sea of uselessness, you’re slightly less useless than the rest, which says enough about you to alleviate this pointless grief you’re giving yourself.”

Jin eyed Max curiously. He had seen it first when they were with Akiko, but this was different. Max didn’t mince his words, and clearly spoke his mind a little too easily, but there was something more to him. Something he clearly didn’t like too many people seeing. Something that showed a heart existed beneath the harsh words.

“Maybe you’re right,” Hitomi said. She clenched a fist, annoyed at how brashly Max had put it. It was also hard to accept that he had, for once, said something that actually seemed to come from a place of kindness. It meant she couldn’t bring herself to reject his words.

“For now, standing here feeling sorry for ourselves is a waste of time. Let's get to it.”

They practised moving the coin around a bit more. While Jin was slowly getting better at not feeding the coin too much power, it was clear that it came at a great effort.

“Can I ask you two something?” Max called out as Hitomi was receiving the coin. The two paused their attempts and gave him their attention.

“What is it that goes through your head when you’re holding onto the coin or the egg?”

“Hmm,” Jin put his hand up to his chin. “I guess I’m mostly focusing on maintaining a stable force, not giving the coin too much or too little power.”

“I’m mostly maintaining my breathing. It helps keep me centred and helps me maintain control,” Hitomi answered.

“Huh… have you considered thinking about what it feels like when you hold the coin? Or the egg? What its weight is in your hand? That’s all I think about when I’m moving it. You wouldn’t grip an egg too tightly, and you wouldn’t hold onto it too loosely,” Max said. “So mostly, what’s going through my head is how they would feel if I were physically holding them in my hands.”

“That’s it?” Hitomi asked with a tone of disbelief, stupefied by the simplicity. “That’s what works for you?”

“I spent most of last night trying it out and that’s really all that worked for me,” Max shrugged. ”I won’t lie though, at first I just willed it to move and it did. But when I gave it some thought, that’s just what occurred to me. I wasn’t thinking about energy or force. Hell, I don’t even feel an energy or force.”

Hitomi narrowed her eyes at Max.

“You don’t feel the mana? What are you using then? Oh no…” she exaggeratedly raised her arms defensively in mock fear. “Are you an alien!?”

“Ha ha. Real funny, you cow,” Max snapped at her.

“Look, what I’m saying is, stop thinking so much. Stop thinking about the energy, or the ‘flow’. It's not something you push or feed. Instead…” Max nodded his head at Hitomi’s hand.

She didn’t understand at first, but following his gaze, she opened her palm to show the coin in her hand. It lifted gently into the air and sped over to float above Max’s hand.

“Maybe think of your internal mana as an extension of yourself. It's inside you, right? It's a part of you.”

The coin floated over his head slowly as he spoke.

“It’s not some outside force you need to maintain control of. It’s just an extension of yourself that you’re allowing to reach out and grab, or throw,” the coin quickly jumped from one hand to the other, “or squeeze, or bend, or anything that you want it to do really.”

He slowly passed the coin back to Hitomi, who physically grabbed it out of the air.

“That’s why I think of holding the coin physically. It's me that’s suspending it in mid-air. Not some outside force that I need to control.”

Hitomi and Jin glanced at each other curiously, and then shifted their eyes back to Max.

“Who are you, oh strange wise person who absolutely cannot share the same mind as Maxwell ‘the extra-terrestrial’ Tenebri?” Hitomi asked sarcastically.

“Woman, you are testing my patience,” he retorted. “And it’s just ‘Max’.”

“I’ll give you the house if you get rid of the other Max Tenebri,” Jin piled on.

“Guys, come on,” Max ignored him. “I thought you were taking this seriously.”

“Hmm… I guess I’ve never thought of it that way. I think, in my head, I’ve always separated myself from mana,” Jin scratched at his cheek. “Since I knew internal mana could be unstable, I especially tried not to make much use of it, and never thought of it as something truly internal.”

He turned his attention to Hitomi.

“It’s a bit simple, but I’m sure we can give it a try. We don’t have a lot of time left, anyway.”

“Alright,” she agreed. “Let's try the alien’s method.”

“I’m warning you, I am not above hitting women,” Max said flatly.

“Quiet,” she hushed him. “Let me focus.”

She began to lift the coin, and it wobbled and spun as it rose. Slowly, it began to stabilise its position in the air. Hitomi’s eyes widened in cheer.

“This feels so much better!” she smiled at Max. “Maybe the alien method isn’t so bad.”

The coin dropped to the floor due to her distraction, causing her to whimper and pick it back up.

“Pay attention, dumbass!” Max barked at her.

Their passing the coin seemed to be going more smoothly, though it seemed Jin was still having some difficulty when it came to passing it to Hitomi, who opposingly was having a much easier time passing it back. Max, surprisingly, knew exactly what was going on.

There was a clear reason as to why Jin may have been apprehensive to so intimately associate himself with his mana. His past, the interesting parts from the anime that Max could remember at the very least, would make anyone wary of getting too comfortable with the source of power that Jin had stored behind his quiet, unassumingly kind, black eyes.

Eventually, Mashima came in to let them know their time was up, and the three made their way downstairs.

“Feeling more comfortable?” she asked as they made their way to the door.

“Much!” Hitomi smiled.

“That’s good to hear,” Mashima nodded. “And you, Mr Akira?”

“I think I’ll get there by tonight,” Jin laughed nervously. “But Max was a big help.”

“Is that so?” Mashima eyed him with interest, but couldn’t look at him for more than a moment without getting annoyed.

“I really didn’t do anything,” Max went on. “The potential is there for both of you. You’d have aced that shit tomorrow, whether I was here or not.”

Mashima’s eyes narrowed at the trio. Max was right, but she was surprised to hear him saying it either way. They passed her by, and she couldn’t help but give a slight smile.

Perhaps there’s hope for the little turd after all, she thought as she walked back to her office.

Hitomi bellowed out a large sigh as she walked through the faculty entrance.

“Somehow it feels like I’ve used a lot less energy than I did in class. But I’m still pretty knackered.”

“Yeah,” Jin smiled. “We spent a lot of energy today. It can really take a lot out of you.”

“Tomorrow,” Hitomi stopped and turned to face the two who were following her outside, “we meet in the tournament as rivals. Jin, you better keep winning so I can take you on.”

He smiled at her confidently.

“I won’t let you down.”

“Come at me with everything that you’ve got,” she smiled cheerfully, turning and continuing on ahead of them. “I’ve gotta get home, I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Hitomi,” Jin nodded at her.

“Peace,” Max nodded.

“Max,” she called when she was a distance away. “If you’re not taking part, don’t bother coming at all!”

“Shove it, whale tits!” Max called back out at her.

A group of students who heard Max stared at him and Jin with an air of distaste as they walked by. Jin laughed shyly and awkwardly waved at them, then immediately wondered why he did something so senselessly idiotic.

***

When the two got home, Max went to his room and stayed there for the rest of the day while Jin cooked dinner for them. Akiko came home and was quite cheery with her brother, until she heard a shuffle from the guest room. She glared in the direction of their corridor and became defiantly quiet, choosing to sit at the TV as opposed to sitting at the dining table, where she normally sat when Jin was in the kitchen.

When Jin was done cooking, he called out that Max should come get his dinner to no response. He looked down the corridor with some concern and called out again. He decided that he wouldn’t impose on Max’s privacy and had dinner with his sister in front of the TV. Her show, Wished Upon, was on its final episode before a mid-season break, and it seemed to be quite an emotional episode for Akiko, who was quietly sobbing by the end of it.

Jin was happy to see his sister enjoying the things she usually did and patted her head to make her feel better about needing to wait for the story to continue. She went to her room with a smile after she had a talk with her brother, where he made sure to convince her that he was fine, and that what she had seen the previous night was nothing to be bothered by, as it had sorted itself out.

Jin washed the dishes by hand as a way to kill time, and to see if Max would come out of his room to have his dinner. When he was done, and Max still hadn’t come out, he decided to take the food to the guest room himself.

“Max?” he called as he knocked on the door. “I’m coming in.”

He opened the door to see the room was empty, though Max had clearly been on the futon. The window was open, so Jin put down the tray of food. He looked around the room and noted that not much had been moved around at all since Max had begun staying there. One of the books that had been on the shelf was on the floor next to the futon where Max must have rested his head.

I definitely did not take him to be a reader, Jin thought.

He was glad to see Max making use of the wardrobe, which was left open, for his uniform, though it seemed the tie had fallen out. Jin walked over to pick it up and was about to put it back in when he noticed something strange about the wall at the back of the wardrobe.

Cautiously, he looked back to make sure he was alone, and moved the uniform out of the way to see a large, blood-stained dent at the back of the wardrobe. It was quite deep, and whoever made it clearly used an enormous amount of force. He had always wondered what it was that had bloodied Max’s knuckles that day he was nearly apprehended, and it seems Jin finally found it. He reached out a curious hand to touch the broken wood, but after seeing all the dried blood, he quickly retracted it.

How angry was he? he thought. It was truly a deep dent.

He looked back worriedly and called out to Max, hearing a response from out the window.

He walked over and looked outside.

“Max?”

He heard a faint response come from above him.

“Max? Is that you?” he called up. He climbed out through the window and looked up at the roof, seeing Max sitting at the edge, right above his room window.

“What are you doing up there?”

“Wait,” Max said, looking down at him with a mischievous smile. “Stay right where you are.”

Max closed his eyes.

“Max, don’t you dare, I’m not wearing a ja–!”

Max opened his eyes and Jin felt another bout of the discomfort from being entirely disembodied, finding himself rematerializing on the roof next to Max. He wobbled, struggling to find his balance, before quickly dropping down to sit and hold his position. Max was laughing at his plight.

“Sorry, I tried something that I saw Mashima do last night and now I can’t stop doing it,” he explained with a grin.

“Come on, you could have killed me!” Jin wrapped himself up in his own arms.

“Man, who are you kidding? You’d have been fine and we both know it.”

“What are you even doing up here?” Jin started rubbing his arms.

“Will you relax? It's not that cold,” Max said, midly amused.

“Says you. Aren’t you freezing up here?”

“Nah, I’m alright. I came up here to clear my head. The moon’s quite beautiful out tonight,” Max said looking up. “Tsuki ga kirei, or something like that, right?”

“What? How– How did you do that?” Jin’s eyes widened in wonderment.

“Do what?” Max asked confusedly.

“You spoke actual Japanese…”

“Dude, it's just the name of an anime,” Max chuckled. “What, does it not actually mean the moon is pretty?”

“Your usage of the phrase was correct. I guess I’m just impressed…”

“I’m telling you, it’s really not a big deal!”

Jin shook his head in disbelief. He wasn’t sure he knew anyone as young as Max who could speak more than one language. He found himself both fascinated and a little embarrassed. He knew no English whatsoever.

The two sat looking at the sky in silence for a while. The wind was causing little shudders in Jin, but after a while of sitting bunched up, he started to feel a bit warmer. Jin realised he forgot to ask Mashima for the compensation, and felt foolish for not having accepted it directly when it was offered. If Max was still around when the season brought in the cold weather, he would need warmer clothes.

“You keep talking about all this stuff you practised last night, how long were you up?” Jin asked suddenly, only just realising how much Max seemed to learn in one night.

“I couldn’t really sleep,” Max shrugged. “I kinda felt bad about being such a dick last night, so I just started moving around a little coin I found in the kitchen at some point. Before I realised it, the sun had come up.”

“It’s cool though,” he smiled amusedly. “I managed to learn that teleportation trick, at least.”

Jin stared at Max for a moment, who immediately returned his gaze to the sky.

Jin was annoyed at himself. He had never considered why Max was so tired, why he still looked so groggy all morning, or why he was up just as early as Jin was. It made Jin feel a little guilty about how irritable he had been at breakfast. It felt like he kept misjudging the visitor.

“So, why are you hiding your power?” Max broke the silence.

“What do you mean?” Jin looked at him confusedly.

“You can’t fool me. I’ve seen too much. I know about your Kyoukai Kossetsu,” Max’s lips curled into a wry smile.

Jin searched his face, wild-eyed and confused, before resigning to a defeated and bitter smile of his own.

“Saw that in the show, did you?” Jin asked, looking back up towards the sky.

“Why are you hiding it?” Max pressed him again.

“If you know what it is, then you know it's not something to be taken so lightly,” Jin shuddered once more. The wind was picking up.

“I guess it is kind of dangerous to just use it willy-nilly,” Max said in realisation. “Sorry, I’m being an idiot.”

“It’s caused numerous incidents in the past, so I’ve never truly been comfortable with the spell,” Jin smiled. “It really scared Akiko, so I try to refrain from using it when it's not absolutely necessary.”

“Sounds like someone got hurt, huh?” Max said sullenly. “I suppose we got something in common.”

“What do you mean?” Jin asked pensively.

“Let’s just say, you’re not the only one trying to keep shit under wraps,” Max nodded his head. “But don’t worry about that. I was just curious about it.”

“Though it's impressive you remembered that,” Jin said after a moment. “You don’t seem to remember much details about the show.”

“I won’t lie, it's an ability I’ve seen in many shows before. Your way of using it was just unique ‘cause of your fighting style. Though even family-based martial arts is not a new concept.”

“You know about that too?” Jin shook his head. “I guess it's harder to deny just how right they got stuff in this show. Sure sounds like you know a lot more than you first let on.”

“Hey, I wasn’t letting on anything. I still have a hard time accepting this… situation I’m in. Besides, there’s plenty I don’t know,” Max said sternly. “I didn’t know about your parents’ death for one thing.”

Jin said nothing, and kept his gaze fixed on the waning moon.

“Sorry,” Max said quietly. “I guess it's not something you just talk about with a random freeloader.”

“That’s surprisingly sensitive of you,” Jin laughed sheepishly. “Don’t worry about it.”

They sat quietly again, watching the sky, listening to the woosh of the breeze. When the wind quieted down, Jin could hear the swish of cars driving in and out of the neighbourhood. It was a surprisingly comforting atmosphere, and he wondered why he never considered coming up to the roof to clear his head before.

“If it makes you feel better,” Max started again, “I’m an orphan too.”

Jin quickly looked at Max, but maintained his silence.

“I don’t know who my parents are, though. I’m told I was just found in the middle of the street. It was quite a scare to the guy who found me, seeing as he nearly ran me into the ground with his car.”

Jin opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out.

“Ha, it actually just occurred to me; me showing up in this world is almost the same as the way I was found back then. The Sisters at the orphanage said it was like I fell out of the sky, wrapped up in a warm blanket and dropped on the Earth like a gift from God.”

Max laughed lightly.

“Maybe Hitomi was right. Maybe I am an alien, even in my world.”

Another brief silence ensued. Jin realised he hadn’t ever asked if Max had a family waiting for him back home. He was no less guilty of the ignorance he had given Max a hard time for the previous night.

“I wanna say I’m sorry, but a part of me feels like it’ll only annoy you,” Jin finally spoke, quietly and subdued.

“Oh no,” Max laughed again. “Don’t misunderstand – I was one of the lucky ones. I had two foster families pick me up, and the second one took to me quite well, and let me stick around. So my life wasn’t necessarily as gloomy as it sounds. I was only so much an ‘enigma’ because there didn’t seem to be a shred of information about my real parents, which was actually just the Sisters blowing smoke up my ass, since that was pretty common among the kids at the orphanage.”

He chuckled sardonically.

“So, I’m pretty sure every child I grew up with was something like a gift from God. Or an alien. Besides…” Max looked at Jin solemnly, “I should be the one apologising for bringing up your parents. You’re clearly still dealing with their passing. I’m sorry, I won’t bring it up again.”

Max watched a car slowly passing by the house in the proceeding silence. The fact that the cars looked so similar to the ones back home was another one of those strange things that brought him comfort. It kept his homesickness at bay, though it wasn’t like he was particularly homesick.

“They died when I was eight years old,” Jin spoke, more to himself than to Max, who didn’t look at him so as to avoid putting any pressure on him to share.

“I’m told their death had something to do with guild business, and that they were ‘heroes’. They told me, ‘That’s how you should remember them, young man. As heroes.’”

He let out a forced, cynical chuckle.

“To me, they were just my mom and dad. My dad, who had a weakness for candy, and my mom, who was incredibly shy, even at her age. I knew we were a guild family, and that my dad and mom were pretty high up in the rankings… But I had no idea that it meant they needed to be heroes. That they’d need to fight. That they’d need to risk their lives.”

Max could tell by the crack in Jin’s voice that speaking about it was difficult. While he wanted to stop him from continuing before the pain could physically manifest itself in Jin’s eyes, he ended up deciding not to. Maybe Jin needed to talk about it. Maybe it was something he felt too uncomfortable sharing with anyone who he thought wouldn’t understand.

“Because I didn’t know,” Jin continued, a sudden passion rising in his voice, “because I didn’t know that there were any risks, I just treated them like they were. My mom and my dad. I fought with them. I got angry at them. I gave them so much trouble. Because I didn’t know that at any moment, they could be gone.”

He paused to swallow the ache welling up in his throat, his eyes glistening in the light from the streetlamps.

“I didn’t know until my uncle’s car pulled up to pick me up from school instead of my mom’s. I didn’t know until I got back home to a house filled with strangers who I’d never met before, telling me to remember my parents in ways I’d never seen them. It angered me,” Jin’s voice turned steely, and bitter.

“Who were they to tell me how I should remember my own mother? Who were they to tell me to not remember how carefree and cheerful my dad was? People I’d never seen before, and who I haven’t seen again since, imposing on the memory of my parents for me because it took the guilt off of them, and their guild.”

He went quiet for a moment.

“I held onto my anger for a long time. And for a while, my anger towards them, towards the guild, turned into anger at my parents for never preparing me for the fact that I might lose them. For never letting me know that at any moment, they could be gone, and that one day, their house would be filled with strangers, all eager to ditch any blame they had for not being there to help my mom and dad.”

Max looked at Jin, and it was there. He didn’t see when it started, but he could see it clearly now; tears streaming slowly from Jin’s eyes.

“And then, at the end of the last year, I got this… damned ring,” he angrily looked at his hand. “And I’m told that my parents died protecting it. And that I was chosen to wear it, and use it. And I couldn’t help but wonder… Am I just as much to blame as those strangers?”

Jin’s voice began to falter again.

“If only I knew. I would have been better. I would have appreciated them more. I would have fought less. I wouldn’t have helped my mom give my dad a hard time for eating so much sugar. I would have said, ‘Eat all the candy you want!’ I would have saved my mother from the trouble of ever needing to talk to adults on my behalf. I would have reminded them every day that I loved them… If… if only they’d let me know…”

“I, for one, am glad that they didn’t,” Max cut in.

Jin looked at him, stupefied.

“It sounds like they let you be an actual kid,” Max continued. “Do you know how many people I know who would have loved it if, for just one moment in their life, they could have just been an actual kid?”

Jin wiped his eyes, and lowered his gaze.

“And please,” Max shook his head, “don’t take that as me telling you to compare your life to others. Or theirs to yours. That doesn’t help them, and it most certainly won’t help you. I’m just saying that after all I’ve seen, I, personally, am glad your parents let you be a normal, carefree kid who got mad, and acted as bratty and childish as kids should. If your parents didn’t allow you that much, you wouldn’t be allowing Akiko to do the same now.”

Jin kept his gaze down.

“You wouldn’t be who you are now if they didn’t let you be who you were then. And I think they’d be damned proud of who you are now.”

Max spoke very casually, as if not to acknowledge Jin’s sadness, perhaps as a method of dispelling it.

“And as to whatever blame you think you have in their death? Put that shit out of your mind. Put it in a bucket, shit in it and throw it in a fucking volcano. ‘Cause you had nothing to do with that. But if you’re still uncertain, I believe I’ve already told you. I’ll help you get your answers. I give you my word. Which, if we’re being honest, is really all I have left to give anyone.”

Jin lifted his gaze. He was uncertain of how long they had been sitting there, and was hoping Akiko wasn’t worried about them. He was entirely unaware of her presence at the window of Max’s room, listening to every word. With pensive sadness, she left the room and went back to her own, relieved to hear him finally open up about how he really felt. Even if it wasn’t directly to her.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Jin cleared his throat after a long silence between the two. “How did you know Akiko was my cousin and not my sister? Was that in the show too?”

Max started chuckling.

“Holy shit, I was right!?”

“Yeah,” Jin’s head snapped to face Max. “So, that wasn’t in the show?”

“Damn, you had me thinking I was on some bullshit! I don’t know, after a while of seeing the shit I’ve seen, you just start to pick this stuff up. Clearly I’m not right all the time though, and it's more than likely you probably did mention it in the show. When I saw her, I guess I just knew.”

Jin started to laugh as well. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

Max looked at him expectantly.

“I wouldn’t say it's that obvious, but either way, spill it out. What’s the story?”

“I’m not gonna tell you if you’re just gonna black it out again later. You say it might have been in the show, but you clearly didn’t pay attention.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if your show was boring as shit sometimes.”

Jin shook his head and kept laughing.

“You really are an asshole.”

Max began laughing with him.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Max said. “But don’t worry, I’ll call her your sister from now on.”

“Thank you,” Jin smiled. “I appreciate that.”

They sat up there for only a few more minutes.

“You better kick some serious ass tomorrow,” Max said.

“You got it,” Jin nodded with a confident smile.