An entire month had passed after I first entered the school, two weeks after I was attacked. Things had been quiet since, no surprise strikes being thrown my way.

“Tomorrow’s the day, huh?”

I asked Antonio, who sat across from me in the cafeteria. He didn’t seem to worry the slightest, at least he didn’t show it. He munched down on his curry, the same menu that I ordered.

“Have you been thinking about it ever since I told you that?”

I nodded.

“It’s just… I can’t let it off my mind.”

I had asked Mina and Aliya to stand guard on those dates. I couldn’t explain to them what was going on, so I could only ask them to prepare for the worst.

Mina replied with a simple ‘Ok’ while Aliya panicked thinking something was going to happen because she didn’t respond to my message earlier, which was completely unrelated. I ended up explaining most of the things, but I didn’t mention who was wielding the wind, nor did I mention his relationship with Antonio.

They didn’t seem to act differently after that, though, and neither did Antonio. Am I the only one who felt restless facing the issue?

“You think something will really happen?”

I asked Antonio who finished eating and started drinking his water. He put the glass down and shook his head.

“Ever since that tornado two years ago, I always felt worried every time I approached that date, but until today, nothing ever happened. This year may stay the same, but it may also not.”

“Because of me?”

“The blame is all mine. Had I not found your ability, he probably would not consider you a threat. Even after I found your ability, you should not have been involved in my family matters.”

“And you said you won’t take any blame for this.”

“Have I said that? I do not remember-”

Antonio stopped and straightened his back. He looked around, rather frantically. I looked around as well, noticing the sudden rattling of the windows. The other people around us seemed slightly bothered by it as well, albeit not taking it as seriously as us.

I scanned the area, searching for anything off. Being inside the administration building, I couldn’t see the shield that covered the exterior. Not many colors came into view. None of the food ware glowed, and out of all the students there, only five had shields on them, excluding Antonio. Nothing else seemed weird, though.

“Something is up?”

“No…”

I took one more look. Everyone else continued their activities, with nothing seemingly out of place. I shook my head.

“Anyway, I was saying, truth be told, you have no responsibility in participating in this. I brought danger to you, and that was my fault.”

“But you helped me find this ability in the first place.”

He took his glass and drank the rest of his water, before putting the glass back down.

“I never told you what you would be getting into. I did not expect him to show himself to you and attack you.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

I was reminded of something he said a while ago.

I’ll be your friend and help you find your strength, and in exchange, you’ll help me with your strengths

“We made a deal, didn’t we?”

“Ah, that. Still, I do not think it would involve actual danger-”

The windows rattled once more.

“Come on, let’s go. We are friends, aren’t we?”

Antonio looked at me and smiled.

“Yes, we are. Let’s go.”

I took my glass and chugged down my water. We took our empty plates to the side and walked out of the cafeteria. Upon exiting, we noticed the clear, bright summer skies. Since all the windows in the cafeteria rattled, I would assume it got something to do with the wind. While it was true that even clear days could be windy, the sight felt very off. The skies felt like it was too clear to be a natural occurrence, but maybe I only thought that way because I knew about the things happening in the background.

“Concentrate on the skies. Maybe you would be able to see the airflow.”

I did as told and looked around, focusing my mind to search for the airflow. Eventually, some thin lines of light green started appearing, all heading for the cafeteria.

“It’s all-”

I didn’t finish my sentence when it all disappeared. My sights became clear once more.

“What happened?”

Antonio asked, scouting the surroundings with me.

“It all disappeared. There were a lot of wind lines heading for the cafeteria, but it all disappeared.”

“He stopped the attack. The light green lines that you see are high concentrations of air particles being moved at great speed. The fact that it all disappeared meant he stopped all of his attacks. Could you see any leftovers?”

I scanned the scenery, focusing on only the sky and searching for any wind traces, but I came out empty.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Nothing we could do, I guess. But that does mean we need to be careful. He is now actively acting.”

The thought made me shudder. The threat that previously seemed unreal now became more apparent. It felt like tomorrow something big really will become reality.

“You still have time to back off, I hope.”

“Huh?”

Antonio put his hands into his pockets, walking back toward our class.

“I do not know whether he will stop attacking you if you back down or not, but you do not have to go through with this. This is outside what we agreed upon.”

I followed him, walking behind him.

“I’ll help. I’ve been useless this entire time. I want to be useful now.”

“Shall I ask you to carry my stuff for me, then?”

“Not that kind of useful!”

Antonio giggled as we entered the school building. We entered our class. Mina and Aliya already sat down in front of us. I went to my table and prepared my books. It would be time for the Fundamentals of Magic class, a very important class for future magic wielders.

Aliya was talking with someone when we entered, while Mina wrote something in her book. Upon sitting down, Antonio opened his notebook and started writing something. He and Mina felt weirdly similar in that way, sitting front to back, both writing something. I opened last week’s homework, intending on checking it before submitting. Aliya noticed me sitting down beside her. She said something to her friend, causing her friend to walk away, before looking back at me.

“Any updates?”

She asked.

“Updates?”

“Regarding tomorrow.”

She must have been thinking about it as well.

“The cafeteria was hit by a strong wind all of a sudden. It caused the windows to rattle.”

“Really, but the skies are clear, aren’t they?”

“I think there could still be strong winds despite the sky being clear.”

“Yeah, but the winds made it feel weird. You see anything?”

“light green lines heading to the cafeteria. But yeah, you’re right in that case. It was an attack.”

“But why would they attack the cafeteria, though? They’re invisible anyway, so shouldn’t they strike you directly?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to involve me if possible, and is trying to scare me.”

“Will you still continue this investigation, though?”

Aliya didn’t know who I was doing it for. I only told her that it was for an acquaintance of mine. Naturally, she thought it would be Antonio, but I told her that for reasons, it would need to be kept secret. She decided not to push further.

“I couldn’t. The person also told me that I should stop, but…”

Should I tell her that I would continue because I felt useless otherwise? That I did this, endangering myself, just because I want to be helpful?

“... I’ll accompany you tomorrow, from morning till the evening.”

Her words caught me off guard.

“Wait, you don’t have-”

“You can’t protect yourself, can you? I’ll be there if something happens, and you can use your ability to spot the enemy for me.”

She said resolutely. Hearing Aliya’s words, Mina glanced at us.

“I’ll go… too.”

“Great, we should be able to defeat them if he shows up.”

I glanced at Antonio, who gave me a smug smile.

“I guess I have no other option.”

I looked at the three.

“Thank you.”