Love is Quick like Lightning

Feathers dancing in his stomach, Yukio lingers behind the doors of the auditorium. Minutes before 9 am, he remains paralyzed to steel himself for an upcoming ordeal.

Just last night, he decided he will finally confess to his unrequited love, university idol Risa Takanashi. Her short, brown hair waves elegantly at every head turn. Without a sign of struggle, she manages to astound her professors on every exam and project. Without question, she emits the essence of nobility. Because of her brilliance, her peers are afraid to approach her, but maybe Yukio is brave enough to find out her true colors.

"I already decided today would be the day" Yukio said to himself. 

"If you're so worried about the exam," from a sweet voice behind him, "then maybe have some gum to calm down."

Risa unveiled a pink stick of dry gum wrapped around glistening aluminum foil with a gentle smile.

"Umm..." he hesitates, "I shall accept it graciously." He grabs for the gum but she firmly clenches the foil. For a moment, she gave off a glare.

"Only touch the gum, let me keep the foil" she said.

"Sure" as Yukio rushed to pluck it out. Risa walks into the auditorium in a rush. 

Could this be her way of hiding her feelings? Maybe she is also in love? No, there are better things to focus on now. With a couple of deep breathes and double the exhales, he proceeds to take the last exam of his first year at university. Unlike other students though, he has to maintain his focus for his unusual part time job afterwards.

Later in the afternoon, he arrived at a crowded Yakisoba shop. Usually, students would fill the seats and saturate the grills, especially today after exams, but for Yukio he took a sharp turn into an alley, a small gap between vibrantly colored vendors. He walks up a flight of secluded steps while tempering his expectations for whatever he will see when he opens the rusted door to the second floor.

Inside is a caucasian man in a green vest and rounded sunglasses sucking on a juice box. "You took your sweet time to get here," the young man says with a spin of the chair "I got an important job for us tonight." He rises from the chair and plays with his keys, floating them in the air and propelling them to his opposite hand. "If we don't take this I think it'll be over for us." This man is the eccentric Jordan Halloway. He is not only Yukio's boss but also his master in magecraft.

"Maybe for you. I can always find another job" Yukio complained, "but how much is the pay this time around?"

"I think it'll be enough to..." Jordan quickly counts his fingers "pay off your tuition and then some."

"Then it's something illegal this time?" Yukio exclaimed with growing suspicion and skepticism. "The last time we cleaned up a mage's mess it was at a bank and we had to make sure it didn't look like a robbery."

"This is different," addressing the elevated concern, "this time we are protecting precious cargo for a mage. And with my magic it should be easy I can move the cargo anywhere."

Despite appearances, Jordan Halloway is a gifted mage with the ability to redirect metal. If he were more talented... or disciplined... he would be a more attractive target for recruitment. Instead, he is living off paychecks from random jobs in Osaka.

...

Mages operate in secrecy to avoid the judgement and persecution from the rest of humanity, to which they call the masses. It is not uncommon for mages to smuggle supplies relevant to their magecraft via hidden trade routes. Later that night, however, a ninja infiltrated the transport of cargo manufactured by a renowned mage family. 

The kunoichi, adept and swift in handling men near twice her weight, did not waste a single moment toward completing her mission, the disposal of the cargo's contents. The silent beauty and Jordan lock eyes. Without hesitation, she aims a jab at his neck that barely grazes him. As she unsheathes her short blade, she takes two critical seconds to analyze a subtlety only mages give off. Reading his face, she realizes he is more concerned about her hands than a lethal blade. In that moment, she realized his magic may involved metal.

Mages carry themselves with a sense of superiority, knowing they are but a select few with abilities that no other human can accomplish. But unlike how fiction tends to present them, mages can, for the most part, only use one spell. And it is the duty of subsequent generations to improve the strength of that spell through a slight modification or enhanced practice. 

Jordan, standing with upmost confidence, initiates his spell. A bullet, a knife, a blade... none will be able to hit him. "Yukio," he exclaims while pointing at the unsecured canister of cargo "get with the program." The kunoichi lunges in and goes for a lethal slash. Her blade's trajectory did not change at all. Not because of the speed or distance of her attack, though that may be the case, but rather it was one a few blades crafted by a near extinct line of sword smiths that ignores all magic. 

Upon realizing his critical mistake, Jordan begins to recount what lead him to this point. His lackadaisical attitude... his lack of discipline... but mostly the absence of ambition. Before thinking any further, he is saved by his apprentice. Yukio, following pure instincts, tackles the assailant. 

There, he confesses to his master's opponent and not long after passing out from exhaustion. The stamina of a university student, after all, is limited. Seeing that all the guards and hired lesser mages have been defeated, the kunoichi imbues her kunai with focused mana and hurls it at the cargo. Releasing a buzz through the wind, the kunai pierces through the metal container, inducing a suppressed explosion. 

"We're just hired hands. We'll get paid whether you take the cargo or not," Jordan says on his knees "just let the kid go he has nothing to do with this." 

"I believe you," she plainly says. Reading the widening pupils and struck expression, "I can see your employer did not tell you the cargo was full of mana-triggered explosives. Perhaps that is why transport is not supervised by the employer themselves." Remembering the twisted methods of mages, she sharpens her resolve. "You mages--" with bitter disdain, "value your own lives over many others." Easing her grip and adjusting her face mask "if you truly value the life of your apprentice then leave with your remaining dignity."

Jordan, expecting no mercy, dragged Yukio up by the shoulders and launched him onto his back. After briefly thanking his merciful opponent, he runs away from the dock.

"And you--" turning to a young woman in a white sundress shielding the rain with a clear umbrella, "look satisfied with either outcome."