I had envisioned my future school life spent with her. We would study together. Perhaps a date after school. Or maybe just read a book together. Honestly, I wanted to try a lot of things with her. I wanted to see more of her smile.

But, in the end, I wasn’t so lucky.

I lived in a world where magic existed. Sort of. That’s why it was surprising, but wasn’t exactly out of place, when one of these mages suddenly walked in class with my homeroom teacher. The mage wasn’t just any mage, but rather, a Protector. Like in the television, the Protector was wearing their signature black robe with the Griffith Academy insignia on their left chest. Her eyes stared sharply at everyone in class.

One of the Protector’s jobs was to pick up mages that just found their power. Guess who was the student she was going to take away. That’s right. Me.

When my teacher mentioned my name, I froze in my seat. I could feel the gaze of everyone else in the room. They all look surprised and worried, especially Aoi. I could see that she had a mix of worry and sadness on her face. My teacher called my name again with a louder voice, and I finally stood up, grabbed my backpack and walked out with the protector.

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I thought she was mistaken at first, and I told her that my power disappeared. But the Protector denied, saying that the power was merely dormant, waiting to wake up again. That my fever was caused by my overuse of my power. Which confused me, because I didn’t know how I even started using it.

We were walking down the hallway and just about to arrive at the stairs when I heard someone running to us. It was Aoi.

“Do… do you really have to go?” she asked.

The protector explained that my power would endanger myself and everyone around me as long as I stay there. And despite my vow to keep her happy, she cried. I know it wasn’t my fault, but I felt a sting in my chest.

The Protector comforted her with a hug, saying that she would add Aoi to my list of contacts, so I could keep in touch with her. When the protector let her go, I hugged her, then we crossed our fingers. She made me promise to one day return for her, and I made her promise to open up to the others in class and make friends. She gave me the book with a heart cover to remind me of her.

That was 9 years ago...