Loyalty is magic

“Inviting an old friend for a drink at an old bar in such a hidden corner; you’re setting a new personal record, Akihiko.”

The man wore a tank top and held a cigar in his left hand while chugging beer with the other.

“I can’t afford to be heard; we’re putting innocent lives in danger.” Akihiko answered.

“So, you finally broke a seal. Would’ve taken us years… How’d ya pull that off?”

“Got lucky is all.”

Akihiko set his mug aside; he hadn’t drunk much anyway. “You said you found another seal for me.”

“Yeh, my boys are working day’n’night. This one wasn’t so hard to find, but I think you could use help breaking in.”

“How so?”

“Place’s a fortress, the Guards won’t let a fly in.”

“I’ll handle it.”

The man slid a paper across the counter and raised his mug, “To the death of Akihiko Hayato.”

“To that.” Akihiko matched, they drank and parted ways.

The teacher walked down the street heading to the motel where he decided to stay that night. He and his students were tired, some wounded; staying in a shrine was out of the question. Or at least, so was he convinced by Himawari. Inori and Seishiro both caught a terrible fever, the group was to settle down for a while.

“‘I’ll watch over the two today, you can go to town, have fun for the rest of the day.’ That’s what he said, but truth is he needs time to think about everything.” Said Himawari with well-earned confidence. If anyone knew the group best, it must be her. “Come on, brat, let’s getcha something to eat.”

Shouta followed, confused; he wasn’t half as noisy as usual. Yuusuke went along as well since he had something to discuss with Himawari. She knew his intentions, but was not going to let him speak until Shouta had his fill for that day. With money, freedom, and a lot of negativities to deal with, Hima knew she had to pick carefully. The morale of the boys and potentially the efficiency of the whole group depended on her choice—or so she thought.

“An arcade! I don’t know if we can find one nearby.” They did with not much more than some asking around.

Purple lights, noise, losses and wins… fun. All alien words to us—the wounded. Joy is just a mask we wear to hide scars. Himawari walked into the arcade and handed a bill to each of the boys; she held their hands and fastened their grip around the money. “Use it wisely, okay? Make sure you enjoy every last yen of it… please”

They nodded, feeling the weight of her feelings.

Yuusuke inserted a coin in a combat game; one hand on the joystick, the other mashing a button. His face keeping an intense smile, he was doing his utter best to enjoy. He needed to, how else would he repay her?

Shouta stood behind him, watched as he lost as quickly as one can lose, laughed and inserted another coin, “I’ll teach ya how it’s done, big guy.” Only to lose the game himself. They tried another game—a racing game—which proved easier though Yuusuke still lost his temper and couldn’t win.

As for Hima, she watched them with a smile so wide her pretty face looked half-silly.

Hours passed like seconds, and before they realised it was night already. Himawari bought some sparklers with the money they spared; they then headed to a park with very few lights they’d noticed earlier on their way to the arcade. Once there they sat down and lit the sparklers and watch as they flickered, shone and dimmed. As soon as one sparkler turned off, they’d light another and watch it. It went on for twelve sticks—none dared to speak a word. Only when the last one lost its light did Yuusuke speak, “Hey, Himawari… Take Shouta and run away. With us, It’s dangerous and will get riskier, so, I’ll give you money, enough to find shelter and food until you get a source of income...”

“Tut.”

He went silent but looked at her still.

“I realise the risks… Honestly, I’ve been with sensei for so long I don’t think I know what life would be without him.” She paused, sighed and stood back up, “Even so, he saved our lives just like he did yours. If this thing matters to him more than our safety then so be it, we would all be dead if not for him anyway.”

“What about Shouta?”

“I’ll protect him.”

They went back with a higher spirit and stronger determination than ever.

“Sensei, we’re back” she entered followed by the other two, “I’m taking a shower.”

Shouta headed immediately to bed. Inori had gotten a little better, enough to stand up and welcome them back then return to sit by Seishiro who was breathing heavily because of his fever. “He will be fine,” she said, “Sensei mentioned something about it being normal given he spoke his first spell.”

Yuusuke sat by, giving her a listening ear—one she most surely needed.

“Seishiro is awesome, don’t you think?”

He nodded, “he is.”

“He found me back in the forest, he followed the witch on his own… do you think he was scared?”

Yuusuke kept his silence, what could he say anyway? That he knew nothing about Seishiro? That was out of the question.

She put her hand on his forehead, then stood up and headed to sleep. Yuusuke stayed for longer but eventually left as well.

That morning, Akihiko woke up early thinking he would be the first. He wanted to make them an apology meal, but it seemed like someone had had the idea before him. He could not hide how proud he was when he found out Seishiro had already prepared breakfast. Proud not because of the meal itself, but partially because he himself stayed in bed for weeks the first time he cast a spell, and partially because the boy was growing up to resemble his teacher more and more. Not that Akihiko thought he was the perfect role model, but such is the pleasure of parenting.

“Good morning, Sensei,” he said with that fake smile of his. In reality, he was still sick and weak, but the boy would sooner die than show it.

The teacher helped him finish preparing the meal before the rest started waking up one after the other. They had breakfast—the first of its kind, as it was the first time they sat down at a table ever since Yuusuke joined.

“So,” said Inori, “You know where the next seal is, right?”

“I’ll go alone.”

Seishiro, Inori, Himawari and Shouta put down their still-half-full bowls and backed in their seats without a word of sprotest against his decision—a habit of theirs, as it turns out.

“It’s too dangerous this time, I’m serious.”

No reaction.

“Hey Hima, what’s the old man talking about?”

“No idea, Inori, better not pay him attention.”

“Seishiro, you’re dumb as well, did you understand what he said?”

“‘Dumb’?” he mocked her with a smirk, “You did not seem to think so last night at all, you know, when you said something about Seishiro being awesome.”

Her face reddened as she screamed, “Did not happen!”