An Awakener's Aura

Miharu Shishime noticed the girl right away. It was hard not to for someone like Miharu, who relied on her ability to perceive the aura of everything around her to get around in lieu of sight. From the moment that girl stepped through the school gates, Miharu sensed her with a prickly, goose-bump-like feeling that grew and grew as she drew closer.

As soon as the girl stepped into the entryway of the school building, Miharu got chills. The size, the sheer magnitude of the aura radiating off this person, was something unlike anything she’d ever encountered. For all living things, aura manifests itself in such a way that it gives an impression of the size and shape of whatever is emitting it.

For this girl, it was like a massive halo radiating out of her body, emitting a bright, warm light. An anomaly.

Was there ever a student like that at this school? No, this person had to be new. Something like this would have never gotten past Miharu otherwise.

“This girl is a transfer student.”

Ah. There it was! Yet how unusual for a student like that to transfer after the semester started like this.

Miharu recognized the aura of the boy flagged down by the new girl’s guardian. She knew he wouldn’t say anything if she followed behind them.

***

“You keep staring,” the boy with the animal ears laughed. Kaori flinched. She’d been following him to the headmaster’s office, but couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“S-sorry…” Kaori said, trying to avert her eyes.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. I must look pretty strange to you, huh?” he said, smiling. It wasn’t just his ears. It was his everything. Kaori had never seen a boy that handsome outside of idol magazines. “Just be careful with that habit because other students might care.”

“R-right!”

“Are you a first year?” he asked.

“Yes! And you?”

“I’m a second year, so that makes you my kouhai,” he chuckled. Something about his smile and his laugh made Kaori’s heart melt. “Since you’re a transfer student, I take it you’re an Awakener?”

“That’s right!” Kaori wondered if it was a good guess or if this happened often at this school with people like her.

“Are you nervous?”

Kaori shook her head. “I was at first, but now I’m feeling really optimistic.”

“That’s good!” the boy beamed. Kaori smiled in response. She wanted to know his name, but couldn’t find a good opening to ask. “Headmaster Kirin is really kind. All the students like him. I think you will too.”

“Kirin…?” Kaori’s imagination ran wild. Never mind what kind of person he was–what did he look like!? Did he have horns? A long neck?!

They stopped in front of an office. “Here we are!”

This was her last chance to ask this boy for his name. “Um…senpai?”

DING DONG~

“Oh, that’s the warning bell for homeroom! I have to go,” he said, giving a slight bow. The boy waved as he trotted off down the hallway. “I hope I see you around!”

“M-me too…” Kaori mumbled, clutching her chest. She’d have to get his name next time they met. Kaori hoped that it would be sooner rather than later.

Kaori took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself before entering the headmaster’s office, knocking twice before opening the door.

“Excuse me…” she said, quietly as she entered the office.

Sitting at a desk was an elderly man with long, white hair and a long goatee. No long neck, no horns…or hooves or scales or anything fantastical. Just a man who looked like a grandpa. Headmaster Kirin stood up from his desk at the sight of her.

“You must be Tachibana-san!” he said, beckoning her into the room. “I’ve been expecting you.”

“G-good morning!” Kaori said, bowing deeply.

***

Kentaro Shiba didn’t even spare Miharu Shishime a second glance when he brushed past her in the hallway.

“How cold of you. Even if I can’t see, I still know you’re ignoring me,” she said, following after him.

“Instead of following people, you should try talking to them,” Kentaro chuckled. He glanced over his shoulder to see Miharu following several paces behind him and stopped. Kentaro extended his hand only for the blind girl to slap it away.

“Don’t look down on me. I can get around just fine.”

“I see your pride is worth more than holding hands with a cute classmate,” he teased. Kentaro slowed his pace to match that of the much smaller Miharu.

“I’m not really a dog-person,” Miharu scoffed, waving him off. “But that’s beside the point.”

“Make it quick, then. I’m not trying to be late for homeroom,” he said, smiling. Kentaro clasped his hands behind his back as he walked.

“Did I hear it right? That transfer student is an Awakener? Not a mage or anything else?” Miharu asked, stopping suddenly.

She always tended to move her head around in an unfocused manner when speaking to people–a quirk of her blindness–but now, she seemed fixated on a point in space. It was the direction they’d just come from. Nothing visible to the naked eye that Kentaro could see, but he understood what it was she was “looking” at.

“She confirmed it herself.” He shrugged. Kentaro grabbed Miharu’s arm and started gently pulling her along. “Besides, it’s the middle of the week. Who else but awakeners tend to get transferred in a rush like that?”

“She does not have the aura of an Awakener!” Miharu yanked her arm out of Kentaro’s grasp.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “What are you even saying?”

“It’s…it’s stronger than anything I’ve ever seen before,” she said, biting her thumbnail. Miharu’s brow furrowed. “It’s like looking into the sun!”

Miharu was shouting, drawing the attention of other students in nearby classrooms who looked through doorways with curiosity.

“Shh!” Kentaro clapped his hand over her mouth. “What if someone heard you spouting that nonsense?”

“He’s going to find out anyway,” Miharu said, pulling Kentaro’s hand away from her mouth.

“Who is going to find out what?” a sudden, cool voice said from behind them. Kentaro’s body stiffened.

“Ah! Perfect timing, President!” Miharu smiled and pulled away from Kentaro. She trotted over to the side of the young, male Elf in the school uniform–Fern Greenwood, the Student Council President.

“Homeroom is about to start,” Fern said, giving Miharu a soft pat on the head. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were as cold and calculating as ever. “Why don’t we resume this conversation after school?”

Kentaro swallowed hard and followed after them.

That Awakener girl seemed perfectly ordinary to him, but he didn’t doubt Miharu. If what she was saying wasn’t an exaggeration, then the last person who needed to know that was Fern Greenwood.

***

As Kaori followed Headmaster Kirin through the hallways, she couldn’t help but admire her new uniform. The headmaster gave it to her after their introduction, and she had quickly changed in a bathroom without any time to really look at it. Everything about the uniforms here felt luxurious, from the fabric to the colors. Kaori smiled as she fidgeted with the golden yellow neck ribbon.

“The academy offers a comprehensive education for children from elementary through high school levels,” Headmaster Kirin explained as Kaori followed him through the hallways. “You’ll find that many students board here in the dormitories where you’ll be staying. Rest assured, you’ll always have like-minded company here.”

Headmaster Kirin stroked his goatee as he spoke. His long hair, tied neatly in a low ponytail with a gold ribbon, swayed back and forth with his swift movements.

For such an elderly man, he moved fast. His footsteps seemed to glide across the floor. Kaori struggled to keep pace with him. If it weren’t for the fact that his feet were clearly visible, she’d think he was floating.

“Um, I know I’m a special case, but how are students normally admitted here? I never took any entrance exam…” Kaori felt like she’d skipped the line somehow.

“We accept any and all students with magical abilities who apply,” he laughed. “No exam necessary. But the non-magical students who try to attend our school find our entrance exam to be quite impossible! Ohoho!”

“I see,” Kaori chuckled. It was endearing to hear him laugh at his own joke.

“Our curriculum combines the standard academics you’re used to with magical education by alternating the days of instruction on those topics,” he said, glancing at Kaori before stopping a moment to let her catch up. “I hope the schedule doesn’t confuse or trouble you too much as you adjust.”

“I think I’ll be fine. I consider myself to be a very organized person,” Kaori replied, gripping her backpack strap. It wasn’t the schedule that concerned her. “Um, can you explain what exactly the magical education is?”

“Certainly,” he replied, adjusting his walking pace to Kaori now. “I’m sure Mitsuba explained to you that you’ll learn how to control your powers as an Awakener here.”

“He did… But is there more?”

“In addition to that…Let’s see…abjuration, conjuration, transmutation,” he said, counting the different types of magic on his fingers. It all just sounded like a foreign language to Kaori. “This includes defensive and combat magic, of course.”

“C-combat!?” Kaori clapped her hand over her mouth, not having intended to raise her voice like that.

“Well, combat magic is a little advanced for a first year,” the headmaster said, giving Kaori a reassuring smile. “But we treat it a bit like martial arts. I’m sure your old school had clubs like that.”

That was true. Her old school offered stuff like karate, kendo, and archery. All combat abilities but now simply used for competition.

Headmaster Kirin stopped at the end of a hall. Kaori hadn’t noticed until then, but the wing seemed almost isolated from the rest of the school compared to the other classrooms she passed on the way.

“This will be your classroom,” he said, gesturing to the door.

She looked up at the classroom sign above the door. Instead of the usual “1-B” or “1-3” type of numbering, it said in big, bold letters “1-REMEDIAL.”

“R-remedial…?” Kaori said, deflating. That one word had simply exorcised her of any sort of optimism she’d had for this school.

Headmaster Kirin put an old, bony hand on her shoulder. “I assure you that this has nothing to do with your academic abilities, Tachibana-san. It’s just that we put all Awakeners into the remedial class so that they have a chance to catch up to their peers.”

“I see…”

“Rest assured, you will have opportunities in the future to transfer out of the class, provided your magical abilities prove skillful. I have faith in you,” he said, smiling. He was trying to reassure her, but Kaori couldn’t help but be frustrated by it.

She had worked really hard to get into her old high school and prided herself on having good grades. The only time her grades slipped was after her parents died, and even then, she pulled herself back up because she wanted to make them proud.

Maybe that was it, though. Mom and Dad were never the type to scold me about grades, she thought, reassuringly.

They’d be proud of her for trying her best and even just standing strong against all the misfortune that had been flung her way. Kaori sighed and smiled. She’d found her resolve again.

“Thank you, Headmaster! I’ll do my best,” Kaori said, bowing deeply. And with that, the headmaster bowed his head, then headed back in the direction they’d walked from.

Kaori put on a smile before opening the classroom door and stepping in.

KAORI’S DIARY ENTRY:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I hope you’re not upset at hearing this, but they put me in the remedial class at my new school. But it’s okay! If I do really well, I’ll get to move into a normal class later. I’m going to do my best and study magic really hard. I wonder how you study for magic, though…