yes (which made her stand out), Honoka advanced on quick feet in the direction of the outer garden, Tatsuya following at a pace that was neither faster or slower. —With a face that said he knew all.

"Well, Tachu..!"

The private spot on the school grounds (it made a passable confession spot) she knew of was in the shadow of a tree behind the robot research garage. (However, there was no special legend attached to it.)

Honoka stood in front of Tatsuya, vigorously presenting a small wrapped box held steadily in both hands — with all her heart and fumbling her words.

Honoka froze in that position.

Her long hair, fastened in two ponytails above her neck, did not conceal her burning red ears. Her head hanging down showed off the part in the middle of her hair, that little slice of skin displaying the fact that she was completely red.

She couldn't make the slightest movement. She also couldn't speak. She could neither advance or retreat. Both of her arms trembled weakly, her heart throbbed loudly. Other places on campus were producing similar ripples but the waves produced from her heart were as strong and big as anyone else's. The form of the wave was pretty and unbundled like the ping produced by a tuning fork. —Guiding the bud of ego of a trembling soul with no heart.

"Thank you, Honoka."

From both of the stretched out hands of Honoka, who was strangled by her own passion and unable to move, Tatsuya gently disconnected the wrapped box of chocolate to prevent it from breaking. And in exchange, installed a slightly smaller gift bag in the palm of her hand to grasp.

The uncertainty over the unexpected action might have (temporarily) overcome her shyness; Honoka pulled the gift bag to her breast with a blank expression on her face.

"Uh, Tatsuya san, this.."

"For the time being, a return gift. Since I'll give you something different next month, that one you'll have to wait for."

(In Japan, girls give gifts on Valentine's day and one month later boys give a return gift on White Day)

Honoka wiped the tears out of her eyes in confusion as she steadily opened her eyes and clumsily smiled.

"Uh, um, I never thought.. Uh, Tatsuya-san, is it alright if I opened it?"

"Of course."

Honoka stared at the present she took out of the bag as if afraid that it would cease to exist.

"..Honoka, don't you have to get to class soon?"

Until Tatsuya spoke to her, Honoka had kept standing stock still.

Tatsuya had paid attention to make certain no one eavesdropped or spied upon them. That being said, he had not gone as far as using Elemental Sight. He did not risk the damage of the discovery of a highly confidential skill for Valentine's Day.

However — Tatsuya should have used Elemental Sight.

Certainly, there were no signs of an eavesdropper. Since until just before now, that thing had not possessed consciousness.

Within a nook in the garage built on the grounds of First High, that thing that was slumbering within the doll without a heart was stirred awake by a wave that resembled the one that had drawn that thing into this world.

The word awake might invite slight misconceptions.

Bathed in a strong pure thought that resembled a prayer, a new self sprouted in that thing.

Reconstructed the self is probably a more accurate way of saying it.

Within that thing residing inside the doll with no will of its own, a consciousness was born.

A consciousness resided in the doll.

When Honoka arrived at the class room, as soon as she put her things down she rushed into the restroom.

Dragging along Miyuki who had arrived slightly before her. Her goal was not the private stall but the mirror in front of it.

She impatiently took off the bands that tied up her hair, then in a complete change, she carefully collected her hair.

And used the pair of bands she had just received from Tatsuya as a finishing touch. The bands were of a simple design with two small balls hanging down from the closure. However, even though the design was uncomplicated, it didn't mean that it was made from cheap materials. Not only was the loop for tying the hair rubber, a covering had been molded on to the loop, and the form of the silver colored closure had thin claws grasping balls that were spheres of highly pure crystal.

Rather than being a decoration, crystal was recognized in modern times as a valuable medium that assisted magic (as it was said to effectively enhance the directionality of thought waves). As Magic High School students, the girls naturally had a deep interest in such minerals, and Honoka understood its value. She would have been very happy with a present from Tatsuya even if the balls had been cheap glass, make no mistake, so she was deeply moved.

"Hey, Miyuki, how do they look? Not strange? Do they suit me?"

Honoka questioned, with slight unease, the hair ornaments held in both hands.

Miyuki answered seriously with no trace of amusement or disgust. "Be at ease Honoka, they suit you quite well."

"..Really?"

"It's the truth. There's no way Onii-sama could possibly choose an unsuitable gift."

Honoka nodded, blushing in response to Miyuki's words.

With her head in the clouds, Honoka did not notice that Miyuki voice had an aura of someone reading a script.

After parting from Honoka during the short distance to his own classroom,

Tatsuya battled the feelings of self-hatred that welled up in him. The feelings of guilt caused by the actions that seemed to deceive the girl and the regret for making his sister an accomplice to that caused pain in his heart like that of a gradually widening cavity in a tooth.

To tell the truth, the hair ornament he'd given Honoka had been chosen by Miyuki.

If that was all it was, he would let it go as "the end justifies the means." It wouldn't change the fact that it was a 'present from Tatsuya', and it was definitely not necessary to disappoint Honoka.

However, the reason for preparing the present was not such an innocent one as that.

Tatsuya could comprehend just how thoroughly the gift he gave in thanks for the chocolate she gave him had unfortunately inundated her consciousness. The matter of giving and receiving Valentine's chocolate naturally invokes the images of 'feelings' being exchanged, of the relationship of two people being bound by a 'promise'; it is truly completely to be expected that such things would float to the surface of her mind.

That was the reason he prepared a return gift on this day; Honoka's reactions completely met Tatsuya's calculations.

Tatsuya had trifled with Honoka's affections.

He had resigned himself to accept the guilt a long time ago.

He couldn't do anything about the fact that he was a brute who couldn't comprehend human emotions, and even if he used social graces to deal with that or possibly even to receive retribution, he thought of it as reaping what he'd sown (If you didn't call it resignation but noncompliance, it would be completely correct).

However, even knowing his sister would never contradict something he had decided on, in order to postpone the inevitable, he made use of his sister in a makeshift ploy and he could not help but feel regret.

—The fact that he could think this way was proof that he was not as wicked as he thought himself to be; however, unfortunately, there was no adult around Tatsuya to tell him that.

"Hey, did something happen this morning — you look worn out."

He had probably not gained control of his emotions soon enough. Those words came at him the moment he entered the classroom.

Tatsuya raised his hand to also greet Leo, who had raised one of his hands while straddling his chair.

"You, on the other hand, look pretty healthy for someone who just got out of the hospital yesterday."

"Hey, you two, the a.m. greeting is 'Good Morning'."

With a laugh that said "there's no help for you two," Mikihiko came over to take part in the conversation.

"Ah, good morning Mikihiko."

"Yo."

Tatsuya obediently returned the morning greeting. Leo persevered in keeping to his own personal style — there's probably no deep meaning to this.

"Good morning. Leo, you look very much as you were." When he said "as you were," Mikihiko meant "as usual," but,

"Right, the doctor really didn't want me to leave the hospital, but since I was too healthy, he couldn't do anything about it."

Maybe Leo understood and maybe he didn't, but he responded with an exact explanation as a reply.

According to that first medical examination, he should have stayed in the hospital at least a month; that the doctor was quite skeptical about a rejuvenation power defying common sense was unavoidable, he thought.

However, since the doctor couldn't see anything wrong and the patient wanted to leave the hospital, the doctor could not detain him in the hospital room. For that reason, Leo came back to school today.

"Um, Tatsuya, did you have a fight with your sister this morning?"

"Impossible."

The statement was not Tatsuya's, but Mikihiko's.

He wasn't fully satisfied with the snap judgment, but he couldn't decide on an excuse that wouldn't lead to misunderstandings.

"Isn't it more likely that he's tired of the spectacle? Today's Valentine's Day."

Leo gave a big nod of agreement. That also grated on Tatsuya's nerves, but getting angry over it here would, unfortunately, get him bogged down in the subject.

"Those who have not decided on someone do not get caught up in the spectacle. Mizuki. You're late."

Tatsuya forcibly and very stupidly tried to use Mizuki, who had just entered the classroom, to blatantly change the subject.

"No, I just stopped by the clubroom for a bit. Good morning, Yoshida-kun, Leo-kun."

To be frank, Mikihiko looked regretful at the change of topic, but being completely unaware of that was one of Mizuki's idiosyncrasies.

"Leo-kun, you're resuming school today. You've gotten well quicker then I thought you would, great."

The truth was that Leo left the hospital yesterday and came to school today; last week, when they visited him in the hospital, they had heard the details of his condition, so naturally Mizuki was also aware of it.

Therefore, if it was true, the statements just now were bizarre, but Tatsuya, Mikihiko,

"Oh, thank you, for visiting me so often," and Leo, himself, continued smiling.

As soon as Mizuki arrived at her seat, she passed a small, palm-sized box to each of the three of boys. Her attitude was truly light; she did not put on airs, she did not appear nervous, and she did not appear embarrassed in the least.

It was the face of someone taking part in an annual tradition.

One of the boys looked a little miffed about that, but since the other two received the impression that the person in question intended to endure it with a poker face, they said nothing.

The sympathy of warriors. Incidentally, that person was not Leo.

However, he was gazing at the small box he received as if it was something amazing.

Apparently, this was the first time he had received chocolate on Valentine's Day from someone other than a relative.

That was fairly unusual, but they had no way of knowing what kind of student he'd been in his middle school years, so neither Tatsuya nor Mikihiko voiced their amazement.

Erika, who had just entered the classroom, interjected herself into the conversation.

"I thought you got out of the hospital real fast; so you were after the chocolate."

"There's no way that could possibly be true! Stop screwing around, you simpleton!"

Not simply retorting, Leo kicked his chair as he stood up. "Ooh, could I have hit a bulls-eye?"

It was an absolutely adequate explanation for the extreme reaction, if it were looked at with those suspicions in mind. —If forced to come up with an explanation, however. If viewed literally, the sound Leo was unleashing, "Gununununu," was a composite made from grinding his back teeth and growling. However, Tatsuya had been thinking it was the forerunner of retribution and was unable to leave things alone, so he threw his friend a lifeline and spoke to Erika.

"Good morning, Erika. You're late today."

Erika turned her entire body to respond to Tatsuya. "Good morning, Tatsuya-kun."

Naturally, dropping the matter left Leo at a loose end.

"February the fourteenth, it's awful every year. Because we have a large number of guys."

Obviously, Erika preferred honestly grumbling over toying with Leo, and it appeared that her mind had shifted in that direction.

"If I don't give them any, it won't be just one or two who sulk like spoiled children, and that's not limited to the very skilled ones, so I can't ignore any of them; it's just awful."

She repeated awful twice, probably because her true feelings were that strong on the subject.

"Wouldn't it be better if you only gave to the ones who wanted it?"

"If I did that, there would be guys who would make a fuss over my playing favorites. And this is the only thing they're united on. Usually, the guys don't know the meaning of the word 'Harmony'." Erika was fed up to the bottom of her soul.

"Under the pretext of amity between the trainees, my old man puts up money for it; I really wish he would use it to buy us some female students instead."

The look on her face made Tatsuya feel like he should pretend to feel sympathetic.

"That really sounds like hard work."

"That's sure true! I'm so tired of it.. It would be so much better if Valentine's Day and the like ceased to exist."

It seemed like stress was bursting out of her as she talked. Erika's indignation was real and extreme.

"It must be great at Miki's place."

At times like this, some people ran amok, striking at people near them to release their stress.

"Aren't most of your disciples female?"

The target she chose this time was Mikihiko. "Every year, don't you take your pick?"

"Yoshida-kun.. is that true?"

Mizuki did not really understand why she had said that, herself. Or rather, she was not conscious of that reason.

And on Mikihiko's side also, for some reason he did not consider probing why; he received more damage from that one line from Mizuki than Erika's needling.

"That's not true!"

Out of reflex, he responded with an answer.

If you considered the background a little, then you could quickly make a reasoned response that would take care of the various aspects of the conversation; however, that might be a little difficult for a teenager to do.

"In general, it would be ridiculous to undertake our discipline holding that frivolous attitude."

Even so, this outburst was quite foolish.

"Backtalk, huh. So why do you want to call my dojo frivolous?"

"Uh, no, I didn't mean to say that.."

"Then what did you mean?"

As Mikihiko began to burst out in cold sweat, Erika steadily glared in his direction and Mizuki looked at both of them with a similar stare for some reason, Tatsuya and Leo exchanged wry smiles.

? ? ?

The curriculum of Magic High Schools is the same as a normal high school, with the addition of the study of magic. The modern education system supported a policy of advancing to specialized subjects in quick stages which was not limited to Magic High Schools. Perceptibly, that meant that there were 'Literary Arts High Schools', 'Science High Schools', 'Fine Arts High Schools', and 'Sports High Schools' to develop students with talents in specialized fields important to the education system. The curriculum of specialized high schools differed from normal high schools because part of the institutionalized integrated doctrine of education at a high school had been removed and the specialized educational subjects were jam packed. Nevertheless, it was said that even in comparison to other specialized high schools, there was even less give in the curriculum of Magic High Schools.

Consequently, Magic High Schools' students are industrious. While they are in the middle of lessons, they hardly ever gossip, daydream or waste their time in other ways, like playing. It's unfortunate, but it should probably be said that this practice is followed more by second course students than first course students at First High School. This is probably more due to their fear of being left behind than their fighting spirit to conquer adversity.

However, even here there were exceptions. Apart from the practical skills of magic, time had been set aside for normal physical education, wherein even the tense atmosphere loosens. Especially today, somehow no one could concentrate on their schoolwork from the morning onward on a day like February the fourteenth; the unpredictable ambience wafting throughout the day was that prominent.

Changing out of the female school uniforms took more labor than changing out of the male school uniforms. This was not limited to First High School alone, and was probably the same for every school. In the first place, the issue was not limited to uniforms. A portion of the advocates to abolish sexism demanded that there should be a cultural change to unisex attire and the like, but the majority of males and females did not wish to do so.

In the short break period before P.E. class, the atmosphere in the changing room was always saturated with busyness. Everyone was in a great hurry as they took off their clothes carefully, put them on a hanger in their lockers and then changed into their gym uniforms. More bio-keyed lockers had been prepared than there were people to use them, and they had to register the vein pattern of the user each and every time, so that also took up time.

That being said, by February, even the first years were used to it, so while their hands moved briskly, they could chat with their classmates using the locker next to them and also feel less ill at ease (?) with the underwear clad bodies of their classmates. The changing room was a degree noisier than usual today.

By this time of year, the locker positions were generally decided. Miyuki, as usual, was changing in front of her locker in the middle of the right wall. The one to her left was Honoka's and the one on her right was the one used by Shizuka; however, Class A had less members taking instruction than usual lately. Nevertheless, today Lina had come to take the place on Miyuki's right.

"Oh, Lina. Is your usual spot occupied?"

Miyuki asked this question as she finished stowing away her CAD and information terminal in a locker cubby. The locker Lina usually used was near the door. At first, all the Class A girls thought she would use Shizuka's locker, but Lina had chosen an open locker near the door where there weren't a lot of people. When Miyuki talked to Tatsuya about it, he had said "She probably chose a place she can make a quick escape from" and she had thought "I see." There was no proof that Tatsuya's guess was correct. It could certainly be said that this was the first time Lina changed her clothes beside Miyuki.

"That's not the reason."

Miyuki did not ask what the reason was. She did not have any interest in the answer and had been busy taking off her jacket as Lina spoke.

Nonetheless, perhaps because she thought her answer just now was too unfriendly, Lina, of her own free will, added to her answer while stripping off her jacket as well.

"Everyone's asking who I am going to give chocolate to.. I know no one's doing it out of meanness, but I've gotten a little sick of it."

"Everyone is wondering about it. Since you are so pretty, Lina."

Miyuki said that with a serious look while taking off her necktie; Lina puffed up her cheeks in frustration.

"Then why do I have to suffer a barrage of questions from you Mi..yuki."

The instant Miyuki extracted her bare right shoulder from the dress portion of her uniform, Lina had cut off her response mid-sentence. Lina's eyes were glued to this not very extraordinary deed and her tongue no longer functioned properly.

"Huh? I wonder if it's because I lack sex appeal."

Miyuki's remarks had made Lina irritable for some reason and she didn't know why. Lina was not aware that she was energetically stripping off her dress in a competitive fashion.

This time, Miyuki let out a sigh at Lina's half naked body that was emerging from underneath her uniform.

"Lina, your figure is so nice. I am envious."

There was no trace of timidity as she spoke, Miyuki was also only wearing her underwear.

"Is that sarcasm? In what way does Miyuki have reason to be envious of me?"

As she spoke, Lina, with her hands on her hips in an imposing pose, peered intently all over Miyuki's semi-nude body and got in Miyuki's face.

"After all, your hips and bottom are just the right proportions and extremely sexy. You're not thin, but extremely fit, Lina."

Miyuki reached out with her right hand and patted the narrowest part of Lina's waist. It was completely without lust, from a certain point of view; it was an innocent touch. Even though Lina knew that the touch was not accompanied by any lesbian lust, it was hard for her to retain her self- possession. The sound of someone swallowing their saliva could be heard here and there in the changing room; the scene probably threatened people's peace of mind even if they were only looking at it.

Of course, Lina was too busy to worry about the gallery. "Mi, Miyuki, you..."

As she spoke, Lina reached out her hand. However, she hesitated just before she touched Miyuki's bare skin and drew her hand back.

"There aren't really any spots where you're too thin — your very womanly body makes me so jealous."

Miyuki sent a devilish little smile towards Lina, who couldn't handle being stared at and was turning red, and released her hand from Lina's hip.

Just then, a loud crash rang out behind Miyuki. Miyuki turned around; Lina moved her eyes.

There they found that Honoka had lost the use of her legs and was clinging to her locker.

Somehow, Miyuki surveyed the area and became aware that her classmates had paused partway through changing their clothes and were now averting their red faces in an unladylike manner. Normally, Miyuki ignored anyone staring at her, so she had not been aware until now that they had drawn everyone's attention.

"..Why don't we change quickly." In response to Miyuki's proposal, "Yes."

Lina, who felt the same, nodded as well as spoke her reply.

? ? ?

Immediately after school, the capricious ambience flourished. During instruction, the students had probably practiced self-restraint. And now it seemed that they couldn't hold back any longer; scenes full of pain and pleasure that made you want to throw cold water on them unfurled here and there across the campus.

The situations varied.

For example, among his circle of friends, a slightly too potent scene of chocolate gifting unfurled between a betrothed couple, whose match was approved by themselves as well as by their parents. Apparently Kanon, the

Public Morals Chief, invaded the Student Council Room, and used a smiling face to apply pressure on Isori, the Treasurer, to eat all of the homemade drops of chocolate in the nearly overflowing stenciled ornamental box the size of a female student's bento box.

For the next example, let's take the case of a certain shy but strong willed girl. Apparently, she had politely and solemnly disregarded her status as a second course student to overcome the lofty threshold of the first course classroom, in order to present her beribboned package with her face red and eyes cast down to a male student wide eyed with surprise when he received the gift, and even now looked like he was ready to dance for joy. So it was for people like the Kendo and Kenjutsu couple.

For today only, the students of First High were not 'magicians to be', but 'high school students' rejoicing in their youth.

Those who couldn't get into the festive atmosphere wanted to avert their eyes.

"Oh, Tatsuya, you're on patrol duty today."

A voice called out to him from a table with a look that didn't bother concealing the owner's boredom and search for amusement, sealing Tatsuya's fate by making it impossible for him to ignore this sight.

"All of the upperclassmen seem to have previous commitments, so it's just the first years today, Morisaki and I."

Normally, the thought that he had a compatriot would have probably made him feel a little better. However, since even now Morisaki had not dropped his unfriendly attitude, his arrival would only change his mood slightly.

"That's quite a tactful way of saying that they unloaded their duties on you and left."

"I did not intend to be that blunt."

The resignation in his voice was quite the opposite of the high pitched laughter made in response to it.

"By the way, Tatsuya-kun."

Perhaps she had enough of laughing for a while, thought Tatsuya when Mayumi called out to him. —For some reason he avoided looking at the seat across from her.

"Could I have a little bit of your time."

"That would not be a problem, but before that..."

As he spoke, Tatsuya cast his eyes on the upperclassman who had fallen prostrated on the side of the table across from Mayumi.

"What on earth happened here?"

The spot they currently were in was in a corner of the cafeteria, a line of partitions cordoning the meeting spaces in this area.

Since they had no roofs and no ceilings, the sound of conversation carried.

Still, the fact that it wasn't a quiet private space probably made it feel more secure than if it was.

The high popularity was actually only among the third years in the first course; it was rare for an underclassman to set foot here unless accompanied by a third year. Incidentally, Tatsuya also had not used it yet.

As for why he was here now,

"There shouldn't be any poisonous substances inside the school. What on earth did Club Management Group Leader Hattori eat?"

In the middle of his patrol of the school grounds, he had stopped by the café to quench his thirst when the sound of an extremely painful moan entered his ears, so he checked out that situation first.

"No. Well.. not poison. Of course." He soon realized who the culprit was.

After all, directly in front of Hattori, Mayumi sat with a perplexed look on her face.

Her slightly puzzled bearing could be called strange.

Even now, her gaze was inviting him to partake her hospitality. "..Shiba.."

Tatsuya was still deciding on how to deal with the situation when Hattori, who still looked like he was about to faint, called out to him in a hoarse voice.

"..water.."

It was the voice of a traveler who had used up all his strength in front of an oasis.

"Just a moment."

Only the request was clear.

For an instant, he debated between getting mineral water and going to the water cooler, but he chose the water cooler since it was closer. He placed one of the water cooler cups full of cold water on the table.

Hattori clumsily grasped at the cup, sluggishly got his limbs moving, and aimed the cup in vicinity of his mouth as he listed from side to side and guzzled it down in one gulp with a grimace.

He keep his eyes closed, slowly gathering himself; the clock ticked ninety seconds off before Hattori opened his eyes and gave a deep sigh.

"—Shiba, my thanks."

What could have really happened. The duel they had had in April had not made them enemies, but even now you could not call Hattori's and Tatsuya's relationship friendly.

Tatsuya did not harbor any grudge on his end.

Nor did Hattori carry any malice or hostility, although people do not always recognize the emotions they hold, but even so, the docility with which he was thanking Tatsuya created an insuppressible sense of wrongness.

"..Are you okay?"

"..Hm, I'm okay now."

To prove his words, Hattori stood upright.

—The feeling that he was straining himself was undeniable.

"It is just a matter of time. Since no special problems should arise, you shouldn't worry about me. Well then, Presi-, no I mean Saegusa-sempai, I will be off."

Hattori politely bowed in Mayumi's direction and straightened his spine. Wow, that is probably one big bluff, thought Tatsuya as he watched him.

"Umm, for the time being could you give me a moment?"

Mayumi directed Tatsuya into the chair, her smile laced with fake innocence.

The reason for Hattori's weirdness was unmistakably her; that she was trying to pretend otherwise was obvious, but he could see that it would be rude to expose her when Hattori himself was covering up for her.

Consequentially, Tatsuya forgot act one as -->>

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