A Ghost From The Past

Lying on his bed in his dorm, Tomoki was deep in thought. He had his eyes focused intently on the ceiling while his head replayed through his first magic lesson with Professor Sasaki. “An Asura Magus…,” he sighed. He immediately sat up, putting aside those thoughts for now. His attention was now focused on the unpacked boxes in his dorm room. The room itself was the same size as his previous apartment. It had a personal shower and a small kitchen and a bedroom; in the living area was a sliding door that led to a balcony. Moreover, the dormitory building was located in Kyōto. Tomoki was at first surprised that he wasn’t sleeping in the other world, but then he remembered what Professor Sasaki told him about magi living among humans.

He proceeded to get to work on unpacking his boxes. He had gotten through three boxes—one of clothes, one of dishes and cups, and one of manga—when there was a knock at his door. Tomoki walked over and opened it. On the other side was a girl with short red hair and scarlet eyes. Her face was small and cute like a doll’s. However, contrasting with her doll-like appearance, she wore boyish clothes.

“Hello, I’m Kinoshita Mei! I’m in Room 404! It looks like we’re neighbors!” introduced the girl cheerfully.

“Ah, I’m Kimoto Tomoki! I’m in Room 405,” responded Tomoki with a small laugh.

“Oh, I remember now! You’re that transfer student everyone’s been talking about!” exclaimed Mei energetically. She then leaned over and saw the unpacked boxes inside. “Say, Kimoto-kun, if you don’t mind, I can help you unpack!” she offered happily.

“Oh, um, sure, thank you very much,” accepted Tomoki a little too quickly and carelessly.

“Coming in!” announced Mei cheerfully as she stepped inside. She immediately went to work with a bright smile on her face.

Tomoki closed the door and was about to return back to unpacking when another knock stopped him. He turned back around and opened it. Ruka stood in the doorway with a softer expression on her face than the ones she normally showed to Tomoki. “How’s the dormitory? Have you finished unpacking?” she asked him in the most sincerest of tones he had ever received from her.

“Almost,” he told her.

“I see. Well, if you need help—,” she began to offer.

“Hey, Kimoto-kun, where should I put these?” came Mei’s voice from the living room.

“Oh, those can stay in the living room! I’ll arrange them later,” Tomoki answered back. He turned back to face Ruka and saw her sporting one of the most displeased faces he had ever seen on her.

“So? Who is that?” asked Ruka with a snarl. “You just moved in and already have a girl over? A man-whore if I’ve ever seen one.”

“No, you got it wrong!” Tomoki told her. “She’s just a neighbor and she offered to help and—.”

“Kimoto-kun, who are you talking to?” asked Mei, popping up right beside Tomoki. “Oh! It’s you, Konoe-sama!” she beamed. “My name is Kinoshita Mei, and I’m in room 404!”

“Good evening, I am Konoe Ruka. My room is 208. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” greeted Ruka with a bow.

“Everyone knows who you are!” said Mei excitedly. “Say, do you know Kimoto-kun?”

“Ah, yes, we are in the same class,” said Ruka, flashing Tomoki a deadly glare.

“Really?! How lucky!” said Mei to Tomoki, playfully pounding her fists on his arm.

“Lucky, huh? I guess,” agreed Tomoki half-heartedly with a half-smile, his eyes darting to the left.

“Might I inquire, how do you know Sir Tomoki?” asked Ruka.

“We just met this evening! I came to introduce myself as his neighbor and offered to help him unpack when I noticed that he still had a lot left to do,” explained Mei.

“My, how generous of you,” said Ruka with a polite smile.

“Oh, you think so?” laughed Mei with a hand tossed behind her head.

“Well then, Miss Kinoshita, I must take my leave. I apologize for my interruption. I had only wanted to see whether Sir Tomoki had moved in comfortably or not,” said Ruka. She then bowed and took her leave.

Once Ruka was gone and Tomoki had closed the door, Mei turned to him with a pair of brightly sparkling eyes. “I didn’t know that you know Kinoshita Ruka, the Lotus Princess of Magus Academia!” she shouted enthusiastically.

“W-Well, she was the one responsible for my transfer,” admitted Tomoki.

“Really?!” shouted Mei, her eyes glistening even more than before.

“A-A-A-Anyway, we should finish unpacking,” said Tomoki, changing the subject.

“Say, Kimoto-kun, what’s that around your neck?” suddenly asked Mei, pointing to the amulet around Tomoki’s neck.

“Oh, this thing? I was told it was some kind of magical item. It’s kinda stuck to me. I mean, I tried to take it off before, but nothing worked,” answered Tomoki.

“I see….”

With the power of two people, Tomoki finished unpacking in less than two hours. Once they were done, Mei said farewell and returned back to her room before Tomoki had the chance to offer her a drink. This was the first time someone he didn’t know went out of their way to lend him a hand. Usually, people avoided him and, if they did provide some (often short) assistance, they would not stay long enough to make small talk or speak a single word to him at all. But Mei—she was different. “Hope I see her again,” he said to himself.

The next day, Tomoki got his wish. He had just entered through the school gate when he saw Mei running up to him. “Kimoto-kun, good morning!” she greeted him with a cheery smile.

“Ah, Kinoshita-san,” greeted Tomoki with a smile of his own.

“Wah, scary!” Mei suddenly exclaimed. “I guess you don’t really smile often, huh?” she said with a little laugh.

“I actually smile very often,” Tomoki told her. Though that wasn’t necessarily a lie, it wasn’t 100% true either.

“Ah-hah, I see,” said Mei, laughing. “It just looked a little unnatural on you.” Tomoki let out a long sigh. Mei pointed at his face with two fingers and said, “That’s it! That’s the face that looks the most natural on you!”

“Please, I’m not too happy to hear that,” groaned Tomoki.

“Miss Kinoshita, Sir Tomoki, good morning,” greeted Ruka as she passed them.

“Ah, Konoe-sama! Good morning!” returned Mei. Ruka threw a glance at Tomoki before facing forward and continuing without a word. “Well, shall we?” Mei asked Tomoki.

They made it halfway across the courtyard when Edwards appeared behind them and issued the following challenge: “Kimoto Tomoki, I, Nathaniel Edwards, challenge you to a duel!”

“Me? A duel?” asked Tomoki, surprised by the sudden challenge.

“The first person to surrender or run out of magical energy loses!” said Nathaniel with a cunning smirk.

“Wait, wait, wait, why the duel? Can’t we talk this out instead?” offered Tomoki.

“Are you trying to make a fool out of me?” snarled Nathaniel. “Or, perhaps, you are now aware of my power?” he added smugly. “Nevertheless, this duel shall proceed! What’s more, you, an outsider, had the great Konoe-sama give you a tour of this school! Unforgivable! Oh, how I would trade everything I have to get a chance to speak with Konoe-sama!”

‘Uwah, what is this guy’s deal? He sounds like a nutcase,’ thought Tomoki with a face. “Listen, Konoe and I—.”

“You dare refer to her without a proper honorific?!” shouted Nathaniel. “Just what is your relationship with Magus Academia’s Lotus Princess?!”

‘Ah shit, this has become even more of a pain,’ regretted Tomoki. “Konoe, um, -sama is just someone I know. I mean, she was the one responsible for my transfer and she did stay over at my apartment twice…but our relationship is nothing more than that of acquaintances!”

“T-T-Twice? She stayed over at your apartment t-t-twice?!” stuttered Nathaniel in horror. His body shook with anger and it only empowered his resolve even more. “Duel me, Kimoto Tomoki!” he demanded.

“Listen, I—,” began Tomoki.

“You can do it, Kimoto-kun!” cheered on Mei. Tomoki quickly turned to her with a horrified expression, only to see her hold up two thumbs-up with an empowering smile.

“Incanto: Sol – Solar Pressure!” casted Nathaniel. A blue magic circle with runic symbols around its edges appeared; in its center was the image of a giant sun with massive rays.

As soon as the circle disappeared to give way for the spell to take form, Tomoki felt the area around him getting hotter and hotter as if the sun was actually beating down on him. Sweat was pouring down his face and neck. He looked around and noticed that everyone else were doing fine. ‘Is this just me?’ he wondered, wiping the sweat off his face with the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

“Now all I have to do is wait for you to surrender,” said Nathaniel with a smirk. Behind him was a giant sun—the same one from the spell he casted. “This victory is more than certain! Admit defeat or suffer a heatstroke, your choice.”

Tomoki gritted his teeth. ‘Don’t go getting a big head now. Guys like him are the worst,’ he said spitefully to himself. Despite the massive heatwave beating down on him, he refocused all of his strength into his right arm and lifted it up. But now that his arm was up and ready to cast a spell, he didn’t know what to cast! The heat was beating down him so hard now that it was impossible for him come up with a clear plan. His legs were slowly growing weaker and weaker.

“Summon Yuki,” said a voice into his ear.

Without any hesitation, Tomoki took the mysterious voice’s advice and casted: “Vocatios: Evocare Yuki!” Immediately, the usual white magic circle appeared. This time, in its center was the image of long-haired woman in robes. That image soon took form. Now, standing before Tomoki was a tall female figure with long black hair and snow-white skin. The clothes she wore was a black kimono with snowflakes. “Yuki, get rid of his spell!” ordered Tomoki.

Yuki, whose eyes were initially closed, opened them to reveal light-blue pupilless eyes. She then raised her hand and a giant snowstorm blew in. The cold clashed against the heat. But unlike the false sun, the cold could be felt by everyone in the courtyard. This was evident of just how strong Yuki was; her strength was undoubtedly more powerful than Nathaniel’s mirage and the latter’s fake sun was quickly shattered.

“I-Impossible!” protested Nathaniel. The quick drop in temperature made his body shiver and his teeth chatter. It was quickly becoming too much for him to bear! “I surrender! I surrender!” he announced shamefully.

Tomoki, who recovered thanks to the cold, acknowledged Nathaniel’s surrender and called back Yuki. The temperature quickly returned back to normal and everyone in the courtyard was relieved. Tomoki also breathed out a sigh of relief.

“I may have lost this time, but I will defeat you!” declared Nathaniel. He then left for class and the crowd dispersed.

Tomoki also turned to leave when was suddenly pulled back by some unknown stranger. He turned to see a girl with chestnut brown hair and yellow highlights and sharp jade-green eyes staring daggers at him with a murderous frown. ‘Shit, is she one of his fans or something?’ thought Tomoki uneasily.

“How? How did you summon one of his familiars?” she asked him with a tone as sharp as a knife.

“His familiars?” repeated Tomoki, confused by her question.

“First, Senpai didn’t come back to school. And now, some stranger is using his familiars,” said the girl, her expression growing more and more tense. “Just what did you do to Senpai?” she asked Tomoki accusingly.

“Senpai? I—,” protested Tomoki.

“Hua-chan,” came Ruka’s voice to Tomoki’s rescue.

“Konoe-senpai!” replied the girl with a brighter expression.

“Sir Tomoki here is a new student here at this very academy. He is a magus in training just like you and I. Please, I ask that you treat him with the same respect that you show me.”

“Konoe-senpai, are you seriously standing up for this person you don’t even know? What’s more, he’s using Kurama-senpai’s familiars! He must’ve did something to Kurama-senpai to acquire this power!” objected the girl.

“That is not true,” replied Ruka.

“Then do you know what happened to him?” asked the girl with pleading eyes.

“I…don’t,” answered Ruka with a darkened expression.

“You!” shouted the girl, pointing a finger at Tomoki. “Tomorrow, I challenge you to a duel! If you don’t come, I will do everything in my power to get you kicked out of this academy!”

“Hey, wait a minute, isn’t that a little too far?” protested Tomoki.

“If I’m being honest, I say it’s not far enough,” snapped the girl harshly. She then turned around and left.

“Just who was that?” asked Tomoki once the girl was out of earshot.

“Yamagami Tianhua,” answered Ruka. “Just as her name suggests, she’s half-Japanese and half-Chinese. Her mother originally came from Shanghai, but she passed away when Tianhua was only three years old.”

Upon hearing that last part, Tomoki's expression softened a bit. “That's rough,” commented Tomoki sincerely.

“She’s a year younger than us. When she first came to school, she had no friends and was often left alone. But one day, she changed. And the reason for that change was Isaburō. He opened the world for her. It was because of him that she and I are acquainted.” As Ruka said all of this, she had a very nostalgic smile on her face and a longing look in her eyes that strove to relive those happier days....

Laying down on his bed with his eyes glued on the ceiling above, Tomoki remembered the nostalgic face Ruka donned today. Those eyes and that smile…the elegant beauty that naturally emanated from her and the soft kindness behind the emotion she bore combined to create an effect that made Tomoki blush. Not once had he himself ever felt like that. In fact, he preferred to ignore a good chunk of his own past. What little memories he did hold dear to himself still weren’t powerful enough to illicit the same kind of response from him. But besides the nostalgia and emotions, the one other thing Tomoki took away from today was probably the most important of all—Kurama Isaburō.

“Is that the name of the guy I saved that day?” he wondered to himself.

The amulet around his neck suddenly glowed very brightly as if a fire was being lit inside. The sudden action took Tomoki by surprise and he immediately sat up. The amulet continued to grow brighter and brighter like a device building up power to explode. Once it reached its zenith, Tomoki could see a figure taking shape in front of him. But the blinding light made it impossible to clearly make them out. Then, just as quickly as it had glowed, the light dispersed and the amulet became dim once again. Tomoki jumped out of his bed and quickly turned on the light. He then looked over at his bed and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Ah, hello there!” greeted Kurama Isaburō. Due to the state he was in when they first met, Tomoki didn’t really get a chance to see Kurama Isaburō clearly. But now, he could see that the guy was a very handsome and princely guy with shiny short silver hair. His eyes were a very calming celeste that was as bright as the clear blue sky like two bright topaz gems. Although his face was on the small side—some might say a little childish—it still possessed a princely quality like that of medieval European royalty. He was wearing the very same things that he had on that exact day; except they were clean, almost like new.

When Tomoki looked closer, he could see that Isaburō appeared to be transparent…. Transparent?! Tomoki didn’t understand what was going at all and remained very still. He was afraid to move for fear of eliciting some kind of negative reaction from the ghost(?).

Isaburō floated off the bed and made his way to Tomoki. The latter was beyond surprised and scared to see the former literally float over to him as if it was natural to move through the air and not with one’s feet on the ground. Isaburō stopped right in front of Tomoki and tilted his head. He then held out a hand and smiled. “Finally, we get to officially meet each other,” said Isaburō. “My name is Kurama Isaburō.”

“K-Kimoto Tomoki!” yelped back Tomoki in a high-pitch voice. “N-Nice to meet you too! Please don’t hurt me!”

“Hurt you?” asked Isaburō. He laughed merrily at the joke with his hands clutching his stomach as he rolled over in the air. “Why would I want to hurt you?”

“Well, y-you’re a ghost, aren’t you? That means that you’re here to haunt me because I have your powers, right?” reasoned Tomoki.

“But I gave you my powers, didn’t I? Why would I try to haunt you for something that I did of my own volition?” asked Isaburō logically.

“Y-You’re right,” agreed Tomoki. He let out a sigh of relief. “So I’m not being cursed. That’s a huge relief.”

“Say, how was Cleos and Yuki and the others?” asked Isaburō giddily with sparkles in his eyes.

“Oh, uh, they were….” Tomoki stopped himself before he could complete the thought. Isaburō’s voice sounded very familiar to him—and it wasn’t because they had previously met each other before either. That’s when it hit him. “The voice that told me to summon Cleos in that battle in the city was you, wasn’t it? And the voice from today’s battle too. They were all you!”

“Ah, guilty as charged,” admitted Isaburō with a laugh.

“Does that mean that you’ve been watching over me this whole time?” asked Tomoki.

“Something like that,” said Isaburō, turning over in the air with his back to the ground and folding his arms underneath his head.

“How?” asked Tomoki with intrigue. Isaburō pointed with his finger at the amulet on Tomoki’s neck. “The seal?” asked Tomoki.

“That’s where I’ve been the entire time,” explained Isaburō. “It was the seal that transferred my powers to you after all.”

“The seal did?” repeated Tomoki, wide-eyed.

“I just did my duty as the seal’s keeper, that’s all,” said Isaburō. “It sensed my own end and chose you to become its new keeper. As the seal’s keeper, you must now lay down your life to protect it from evil in order to preserve the balance of the universe.”

“T-That’s a little too heavy all at once, isn’t it?” came Tomoki with a little anxiety in his voice.

“You’ll get used to it,” Isaburō reassured him a little too easily. “If the seal chose you, then that means that you must hold some hidden power within you.”

“Power? But I’m just a human,” objected Tomoki.

“That hidden power could very well be a very strong potential. Especially one that no other regular human possesses,” suggested Isaburō.

“C-Can that really be called a power, though?” said Tomoki with a small laugh. “Anyway, what are you doing here, um, Kurama-san?”

“Just call me Isaburō,” said Isaburō.

“I can’t,” objected Tomoki politely. “It just feels a little…inappropriate.” As he said that, he couldn’t help but look the ghostly Isaburō up and down.

“Hmm…. Then how about Apollo?” suggested Isaburō.

“Apollo?” repeated Tomoki with a tilt of his head.

“Ah, that’s my magician name: Vocatios Apollo Lupus,” explained Isaburō with a gentlemanly bow.

“I-I see,” uttered Tomoki. Though he was still confused by the concept, he decided against going any deeper given the time of day. “Well, Apollo, since you’ve been watching everything from inside the amulet, I’m pretty sure you know about the upcoming duel with your junior (kōhai) tomorrow, right?” Tomoki asked the ghost. 

"Of course," confirmed Isaburō.

“To be honest with you, I don’t really want to go through with it. I mean, in the end, she’s not wrong about what she said about me. And she has every right to be mad about me using your powers.”

“Don’t worry about it,” reassured Isaburō casually.

“Of course I worry about it!” responded Tomoki seriously.

“There’s no going back now,” Isaburō told him with a shrug of his shoulders. “First of all, it is proper etiquette to accept a duel regardless of who it is with or what your current situation is. The only exception being extreme injury or illness. Secondly—,” he turned to Tomoki with a smile, “—you must prove yourself as the new keeper of the seal. The seal never lies. It chose you for a reason.”

“But—,” Tomoki wanted to protest.

“You’re my successor,” declared Isaburō, flipping onto his back in midair. "You asked me before why I'm here, right? I just wanted to see what kind of person you are. Even though I trust the seal, I still wanted to see with my own eyes the kind of magus you are." He then glanced back at Tomoki with a smile filled with trust and hope. "But more importantly, what kind of magus you will become."

Tomoki glanced down at the amulet and sighed. “I guess there’s no going back.”