Capítulo 18: Chapter 18-Missed Targets!
Chapter 18
MORISAKI SHUN
Morisaki Shun was a member of the numbered clans and was hailed as one of the prodigies of his clan. He had expected that coming to First High would allow him to cement his place in the upper echelons of the Magician Society of Japan, and yet that hope had been dashed on the first day.
Shiba Miyuki, the black-haired topper of the matriculation exam, was a rarity unlike any other. Blessed with both unparalleled beauty and magical prowess, she was the perfect asset for him and their clan to further themselves in Japan's magical society.
It was widely known that magical prowess was quite intimately related to genetics, and he believed that she would be the perfect asset for himself and his clan to rise from their current status and join the infamous Ten Master Clans, and if not those, then the 'eighteen' numbered families.
She was a naive girl, blessed for sure, yet the magical world was rather cut-throat, and so he planned to offer himself as a guide through this perilous world, and yet all his plans had been foiled.
He could hardly understand her obsession with her brother, who was nothing but a peasant compared to himself. He was a simple course for two students, one of whom did not know his place.
Even now, he was convinced that in their match, the bastard had used some sort of trickery, or if not him, then it was that bastard Yotsuba had made him lose.
And even now, thinking about that white haired bastard made his heart boil.
Yotsuba, a name they were all told to fear from the day they were born. The boogeymen of the magical world, and yet they were known for their secrecy, and so when a first-year had appeared bearing that second name, he had thought it to be a simple coincidence.
Yet it was not that, and it was indeed the real thing.
And he had learned firsthand why those bastards were as feared as they were.
That bastard had intervened in his plans, crushing them, humiliating him infront of Shiba Miyuki just to pounce on someone else.
By now, that bastard's affair with the school's Saegusa Princess was quite the gossip, and it was rumored that the boy was blackmailing her to be his girlfriend.
He looked up and searched the bus for that bastard, but, to his surprise, he did not find him.
"Hattori-san," he began as he stood up from his seat.
"Yes, Morisaki-kun," the vice president answered.
"I do not see Inei-kun in the bus. Has he decided to drop out of the competition and disgrace the First High School?" he asked, hoping for an affirmative answer. Despite his protests, he was locked up in a team with the bastard for the Monolith Code.
Despite the protests of the two other team members and the team engineer, the council refused to budge.
"Inie-kun chose to stay back because the President was late. He will reach the venue with President Saegusa and escort her to the building. We had to leave because the larger buses were faulty, and so the school had to dispatch these smaller one's and divide the students into sections," the man answered as he stood up and looked around.
"Now listen to me. In case of any emergency, I want each and every one of you to listen to me. As soon as we reach the hotel, we will wait in the parking for the bus with the engineering staff and the female first-year contestants," the Vice President answered, and he was the only one who had supported him and his friends in their request of removing that damned Yotsuba from their team.
Not that it had been allowed in the end.
The larger school buses had suddenly become faulty, and they were forced to divide up students so that they could fit on the smaller buses. Thus, there were now six buses leaving the school rather than the initially planned two.
Two for engineers. Two are for first-year contestants, and two are for senior contestants.
"Hattor..." and he watched as the Vice President suddenly raised his hand and frowned and turned towards the driver in a hurry while reaching for his CAD.
"STO...."
BOOOM!
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MAYUMI SAEGUSA
Mayumi ran out of the school building, trying to put down her hair as she tried to make it in time for the busses. As she walked towards the grounds, the two buses still stood there, yet the lack of students made her frown.
She slowed down and walked upto them. She looked around and found only one person standing there.
"Inei-kun, where is everyone else?" she approached the white-haired boy standing there leaning against one of the buses and tapping away at his phone.
He put it down and looked at her with a raised brow.
"Would you mind looking at the time, Mayumi-san," he said, and she did and immediately gave a stifled laugh as she saw that it was now two hours past the time set for leaving, yet she had been called away for clan business. Business that had involved a rather lengthy discussion about the boy standing infront of her.
"The rest of the student body left a few hours ago. I volunteered to stay behind so I could escort you to the hotel," he said, and she raised a brow.
"That is noble of you. But you did not have to do that. I would have managed on my own," she replied sheepishly, and he shrugged.
"I did not want to ride with the other students as well. As you know, I am not quite favored company in my own classmates," he said as he began to walk towards the main gates behind which his car lay parked.
"But why are the buses still here?" she asked.
"The buses had an issue. So, they divided the students into six smaller buses. Hattori-san oversaw everything," he replied, and she nodded as they entered his car.
"So, you are saying that you waited two hours for me?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, I did," he replied as he began to drive off while she looked at him with a narrowed gaze.
"Why?" she asked, her mind racing much like her heart.
"Because I wanted to," he said with a small smile that made her flush as she looked to the side.
"You shouldn't say things like that to a girl unless you mean them," she chastised him.
"And who says I do not mean them," he answered after a short silent stint, and immediately, her head snapped towards him as he drove fast, cutting across lanes while hiding a small smile.
During the meeting, she was pressured by her father to reveal to him the details about Inei-kun's prowess, more or less repeating the very questions Katsuto-kun had asked her.
Yet, despite his insistence, she kept her mouth shut, and her reluctance kept her late.
"What were you doing on your phone earlier?" she asked.
"Nothing, just a bit of speculative investing," he answered when she suddenly saw him receive a call as Shiba Tatusya's name appeared on the car screen.
"Yeah, what happened, Shiba?" he asked as he attended the call.
"Inei-kun, have you left the premises with the President-san?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, I have."
"Then I believe you should hurry up. We have an emergency," he said, and she gasped immediately as Inei-kun's eyes narrowed.
"Send me your location. I will be there in a second," Inei-kun said as he turned off the call and switched the car control to full manual.
"Mayumi, hold on to your seat." And in the next instant, with a jerk, the car raced forward at speed, blurring past the other cars as Inei-kun floored the race pedal.
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KUDO RETSU
Years ago, Kudo Retsu had taken over three young magicians under his wing. Three young magicians from Japan's two premier families. Of the three, two of them had been the Yotsuba twins, while the other one was the current head of the Saegusa clan, Saegusa Koichi.
"It is rare to see you grace my halls, sensei?" the boy magician spoke as he looked at him through his sunglasses.
"Is it so unusual of this old soul to wish to check upon one of his old students?" he replied slyly, and Koichi smirked.
"If only it were so simple," the boy replied, ending the ruse. Saegusa Koichi was no less of a prodigy than Maya Yotsuba when it came to magic and was an equally astute and ruthless political animal.
"I believe you are here to ask me about the same topic—no person has been making a ruckus all around our society," the young man said as he leaned back and folded his arms.
"That Yotsuba boy," he guessed correctly, and of course, he would. The Saegusa ran the largest official Intelligence Organization in Japan called as Sector Three. Official because even he was unaware of the reach of the Yotsuba intelligence network.
"I should have expected nothing less from you, Koichi," he said as he sipped his own tea and put down the cup.
"The Yotsuba's martial prowess has always been a point of contention for the Ten Master Clans. Even now, only the Saegusa could compete with them, if even them at all," he said, not mincing his words.
"And now, with the addition of another Strategic-class magician, the Yotsuba simply hold too much power and are becoming a threat to the country," he added.
"Though you already know that and have acted of your own accord," he said with a smile, knowing full well how Koichi was pressuring his own daughter to give him intel about the boy in question.
"And yet I am against alienating the Yotsuba. Moving against them will have consequences. As you know, they are rather closely associated with the military," Koichi added.
"Many factions in the military share my reservations. Inei Yotsuba's presence strains our relationships with the USNA and will disrupt the peace talks with GAA as well. Already, the Yotsuba have opposed making peace with GAA because of their history with Dahan. I can only say that Inei Yotsuba's presence will only make that stance more sterner and force us into confrontation," he called up.
"The boy shares the grudge of his family. From what I have gathered, he was rather estranged for quite some time. I doubt he would care much for Dahan because of that," Koichi said as he rubbed his chin and his eyes glinted.
"He would only share a grudge if he himself had a history with that organization," he guessed correctly, and there was the infamous 'sly fox' making leaps of logic so soundly.
"A history you seem aware of?" he questioned.
"I have heard things," he did not deny it.
"Things apart from the STARS massacre," the boy asked, and he nodded.
"And you will share these with me if the Saegusa put their backing behind this madness," he asked.
"Indeed, but do understand this. If things continue as they currently are, in three or maybe four years, the Yotsuba will have not just two but around four Strategic-class magicians," he told him, and he saw his eyes widen at his words.
"Four?" he gasped out, and he nodded.
"Indeed. Four, and that is apart from their other arsenal of magicians and soldiers. They would become too powerful, and we will stand no chance against them. We will have no choice but to dance to their tune," he added.
"Who else has given you your baking?" Koichi asked.
"Many share my fears and beliefs. As of now, the Jumonji's and the Ichijou's have put their weight behind us. If the Saegusa join the cause, we will be strong enough to contain the Yotsuba. After all, the only clan who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Yotsuba is yours, Koichi."
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