Tachibana-san’s secret

“Ka-zu-chi-kun!, wanna go eat lunch together?”

“Uhh sure.”

“So you’re okay not going out for lunch with Kido?”

“She's probably going to eat with her sister again. Uhh look, she’s already at the door waiting for her.”

*bell rings*

“Well then, let’s go?”

Tachibana-san and I made our way towards the cafeteria.

“Wait Kazuchi-kun, I think I left my wallet in the changing room. Could you please come with me so I can go and retrieve it?”

“Eh?! Me? Going with you to the girl’s changing room?! Uhhmm I could just pay for your lunch now and then you can pay me back later when you get your wallet back.”

“No! My pride won’t allow me to let you pay for my lunch!"

 "I need you to accompany me there because I’m still a little traumatized from yesterday’s incident. You can just wait outside as I look for my wallet. Please…...”

*sigh*

“Fine… I’ll go with you.”

“Yey, thanks!”

After a few minutes of walking, we finally arrive at the girls’ changing room.

“Okay, Kazuchi-kun, wait here.”

I stand outside quietly as I hear Tachibana-san rummaging through the stuff inside the girls’ changing room. Luckily there weren’t any students around the area, otherwise, I would’ve looked like some pervert waiting at the entrance of the girls’ changing room.

“Kazuchi-kun!!!”, Tachibana-san calls out to me from inside the room.

“Yes?”

“Can you please come in here? I need your help. The locker’s door is stuck.”

“Heh?! You want me to go inside the girls’ changing room?! No way!”

“Please… Just help me open this door and then leave the room immediately. No one will probably catch you since everyone is on lunch break.”

“But... It just feels wrong.”

“Kazuchi… Kazuchi… Kazuchi…”

"..."

“Fine!”

I hesitantly opened the door and entered the room.

“Pardon my intrusion”

The room was eerily quiet.

“Tachibana-san? Where are you?”

*sound of glass shattering*

The lights go off and the room goes dim.

‘Huh what’s this, two- no three fast moving objects headed straight towards me?! I won’t be able to dodge all- ‘

I tried to quickly shift my shoulders left to right in order to dodge the incoming projectiles, I dodge two of them but one still managed to scrape past my left shoulder.

“Ouch!”

I grabbed on to my left shoulder.

‘It’s just a small scratch, it’s not even bleeding that much.’

“Ughhhh I hate to say this but, you have really good reflexes. Now do me a favor and just die!”

Another projectile was now heading towards me once again. This time it was aimed at my right leg and I didn’t have enough time to react or dodge.

“Ahh my leg!”

There was a person standing there across the room.

Based on the vague body outline that I can see, this person must be a girl. Tachibana-san?

“Tachibana-sa- “

“Haaaauah… I guess there’s no point in hiding anymore since you’ll be dead in the next few seconds anyway.”

She swipes the window curtains open.

The sunlight entered and illuminated the room. And there she was… Tachibana-san standing there with a sinister looking smile on her face.

“Why- what are you doing?!”

Tachibana-san shakes her head.

“I’m just doing my job. And that is taking care of stray souls like you.”

“What? What are you talking about? Stray soul? Me? I don’t understand.”

“Alright, how do I explain this… You died once before. Isn’t that right? Toshi?”

“I don’t understand, what are you talking about?”, my right hand slowly crept towards my bag.

Before I could pull out my power adapter from my bag, a dagger comes flying in and the contents of my backpack falls to the floor.

*sigh* “There are really some unlucky people who somehow retain memories from their past lives.”, Tachibana-san raises her left arm, several wind daggers appeared and were now aimed at me.

‘There’s no way I can dodge all of those daggers. Huh, this kinda reminds me of how Tachibana-san ravaged that orb earlier.’

“Wait Tachibana-san, let’s talk about this. Hear me out.”

“Goodbye, I hope you reincarnate properly next time.”

I watched in fear and panic as the daggers close in on me.

Then I remembered, you don’t necessarily need a power adapter to use magic. It’s just there to keep a novice magician from over exerting and hurting themselves.

I knelt down and placed my hand on the floor.

“Ice wall!”

Ice formed near the area where my hand was making contact with the floor. It rapidly piled up to form a wall. The sound of ice being shattered could be heard as the daggers get intercepted by the ice wall that I erected.

‘Pheew, that was close’

I looked at the ice coating the floor and recalled the incident back at the practical exams. I then placed my other hand on the floor. The ice began to spread towards the floor below Tachibana-san.

“Huh, this trick again?”

Tachibana-san leaps into the air and unto a wind platform.

‘Right, wind magic can allow a person to hover in the air. Why didn’t I think of that?’

“You really won’t go down that easily huh?”

“Tachibana-san, please…. Stop this now!”

“I’ve been holding back, thinking that I won’t be needing that much effort to get rid of you. But now this is just becoming such a hassle. Now I’m going to show you, what happens when you annoy an S-level magician.”