Chapter 16:

Judgment Day

Misfortunes of a Real Magic High School Vol. 1


Good afternoon students. It’s Saturday, July 24th, decision day. Report to the auditorium at 12:30 PM sharp for the results announcement at 1:00 PM.

The message was short, crisp, and to the point. After one week, The Hunt competition had come to an end. In just an hour I would learn if any of my hard work and strategy paid off.

My phone buzzed again, still in my hand. A message from Sakura lit up the screen.

Did you see the announcement? Results are being announced in the auditorium at 1:00 PM. Do you… want to head over there together?

Well, I definitely didn’t expect that. Sakura and I did exchange contact information out of conveniences sake, but this was her first time actually contacting me. And she was asking to head to the auditorium together? Slowly but surely she was breaking out of her shell, with me at least.

Of course. I’ll met you in the lobby of Sugawara Hall at 12:15 PM.

And sent. At least I would have Sakura by my side when learning the results of The Hunt. After all the trust she placed in me, I prayed the results reflected she made the right decision.


I paced back and forth nervously in the lobby. Eventually, the elevator door chimed and out stepped Sakura, wearing a flattering sundress. It was my first time seeing her not in school attire, and I was taken aback. Somehow, even months into the school year, I still was not accustomed to seeing my classmates in casual clothes.

“Hi Nakamura.”

“Hey Sato. That’s a nice dress.”

Her eyes shot straight to the floor as she lowered her head. “Oh… thank you.”

Great, I made her feel uncomfortable again. I was just trying to compliment her outfit. It was time to try and change the subject.

“Well, we don’t want to be late, so we should get going.”

“Right. Let’s go.”


The walk from Sugawara Hall to the auditorium wasn’t a particularly long one, but it felt like one today. I hadn’t felt this nervous since I faced the threat of expulsion in front of the school board.

“I hope we do well…” I muttered under my breath.

“You devised an amazing plan, Nakamura, I’m sure we will do fine.”

Sakura was surprisingly reassuring. It was rare to hear her speak confidently.

“Thank you for trusting me. I know we struggled to get the Class B, C, and D members on board, but in the end you didn’t doubt me.”

“I know how hard you work and study. You are the smartest person I know. You thought this all through.”

Having her vote of confidence helped calm my nerves. Just before 12:30 PM, we arrived at the auditorium.

The seats inside were already filling up. It had a roughly 500 person capacity, and with only 112 first year students, the auditorium would get no where close to full, or so I thought. There were some upperclassmen in the crowd I recognized, including Class 2-A darling Kaori Sakata. The Hunt was a first year exclusive event, so watching the results unfold was probably some form of entertainment and stress relief for the upperclassmen as they prepared for summer break. Perhaps it allowed them to reminisce on the time when they had to take this exam.

Students were sitting by year and class. Most of Class 1-A was already seated. Sakura and I made our way over to the group and sat down. I glanced up towards Yukino, who was sitting beside Emi. Our eyes locked for a moment, before she averted her gaze. I wonder how her group ended up performing.

Before student conversations could continue much longer, the sound of an adjusting microphone reverberated throughout the auditorium. Standing on the stage were all four of the first year teachers, and three of the five members of The Board. It was a grand group of some of the most important people in the lives of first year students.

Ms. Kurokawa, as the teacher of the highest ranked first year class, stood at the podium first.

“Good afternoon students! For those of you who don’t know me yet, I’m Ms. Kurokawa, home room teacher of Class 1-A. The end of the first term is upon us, and that means it’s time to hear the results of The Hunt! But, I will delegate that task to someone else.”

She drew laughter from the older students in the audience as she backed away from the podium. Mr. Honda, the teacher of Class 1-C, stepped up to the podium with a look of confusion. This seemed to be an impromptu delegation of duty from Ms. Kurokawa.

“I know you all have busy lives to attend to, and the fleet will be departing the island this evening, so we don’t want to hold you here too long,” Mr. Honda said. For most students, including myself, summer break was our first opportunity to get off the island and go home. He wouldn’t hold the crowd’s collective attention for very long, even if he wanted to.

“Without further ado,” he continued. “Here are the results of The Hunt!”

The screen hanging at the back of the stage illuminated with a fancy graphic, showing a numbered list one through eight. The content of each numbered point was hidden. The staff was really milking this reveal.

“In eight place, Team Benzaiten!”

I scanned the rest of the Class 1-A audience looking for any sort of reaction. Mitsuo Muto and Fumiko Sakurai, sitting aside one another, dropped their heads in unison. Ranked 11th and 13th in our class, finishing last was certainly not going to help their case.

“Seventh, Team Daikokuten!”

Again I searched the crowd. My heart sank as I watched Shun’s face turn from one of nerves to one of disappointment. Sorry man.

“And in sixth place, we have our first tiebreaker! Fifth and sixth finished with the same number of points, so the average team rank tiebreaker came into play! Finishing sixth was Team Jurojin!”

Team Jurojin, the team I sold out to Yukino. I found Kaede Kuno, the currently second ranked student in Class 1-A, in the audience. She sported a look of fierce rage as she stormed towards a back exit of the auditorium. By exchanging information for a figure from Yukino, I helped her knock down one of her rivals at the top ranks while also helping myself. Two birds. One stone.

“And in fifth, edging out Team Jurojin by tiebreaker, Team False God!”

And there was the other domino from my cooperation with Yukino. She gave me the False God figure, and I correctly identified the team captain, none other than our top ranked student, Ryu. He was probably furious finishing fifth. I spotted him in the audience, zero reaction. If he were angry he certainly did a good job disguising it. Hikari, his teammate from our class, also gave no reaction. What was going through their minds?

“We are now into the top four teams! Congratulations to you all if you made it this far!” Mr. Honda continued. “For the final four teams, I will pass my announcer duties back to Ms. Kurokawa!”

He shuffled back in line with the rest of the teachers. Ms. Kurokawa shot him a side eyed glance before coming back to the podium.

“Alright let’s get this over with. In fourth place, we have another tiebreaker, Team Hotei.”

I was no longer searching the audience for reactions. At this point, I was completely locked in. Team Ebisu was a lock for the top three. Were my calculations correct?

“Third place, beating Team Hotei on tiebreaker, Team Fukurokuju.”

It all came down to this. Team Ebisu was moments away from potentially winning The Hunt. Had I not interfered with our submissions at the last minute, our name would have undoubtedly been called by now.

“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for, second place belongs to Team Bishamonten, which means your winner for The Hunt this year is Team Ebisu!”

I could hardly hear myself think over the applause of the audience. The upperclassmen didn’t even know who was on each team, yet they were all applauding. I guess this event really was a celebration of sorts.

“We did it Nakamura!” Sakura yelled. Was she yelling out of joy, or to make sure I could hear her over the applause of the crowd? Either way, it was the first time I ever heard her raise her voice. It was a nice change. The next thing I knew I felt two arms draped around my shoulders, and felt the warmth of an embrace. Sakura had leaned over and given me a celebratory hug. I could feel my cheeks flush alongside my embarrassment.

After the heat of the moment, Sakura realized what she had done, and quickly pulled away from me.

“Sorry…” she said, quiet once again. Back into her shell she went.

“It’s okay,” I replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of my head. Well, hopefully no one saw that.

“Alright kids, that’s all we’ve got! Enjoy your summer break! But be ready to work hard when you get back.”

Ms. Kurokawa walked off the stage. As she passed by the three members of The Board, their expressions of disbelief could not be more obvious. Perhaps they knew the roster construction of each team…

“Hey Sato, want to go celebrate? The fleet doesn’t depart for a few hours, we could grab some food before leaving?”

I felt as though Sakura and I had grown close enough that asking her that question was appropriate. I don’t know if there was anyone else on the island I would have felt comfortable asking.

She beamed with a smile. “Of course.”


Apparently, others had the same idea. The entire city was bustling with activity. Students from all years and all classes, mingling happily before the start of summer break. Sakura and I eventually found seating on a patio outside an American style diner restaurant. This island really had everything.

We were only afforded a moment of peace after placing our orders. We were spotted at our table through the crowd, by none other than the usual suspects.

“Hey Nakamura! Is that you?” The voice calling out to me of course belonged to Emi, no one else I knew would shout without shame in a crowded city center. I looked over to Sakura, our eyes locked. She was visibly uneasy. Then it hit me. She had never spoken to Emi, or Yukino, or anyone. I was the only person in class she talked to. Seeing a group of people walking towards us obviously made her uncomfortable.

“I can ask them to leave us alone if you want,” I said out of consideration.

“It’s okay,” she replied quietly. “I don’t mind.”

I gave the group a soft wave as they made their way over. I don’t think I could have stopped them even if I tried. Thankfully, Sakura was quite understanding.

Emi, Shun, Yukino, and Honoko joined us on the patio. All of them grabbed spare chairs from the surrounding tables and pulled them over, making themselves comfortable. All except Yukino.

“Listen, Nakamura,” she said, calmly as ever. “Despite what people may think of me, I can admit when I am in the wrong. I owe you an apology.”

Yukino was apologizing, to me? What for?

“Uh, an apology for what exactly?”

“For over a month now I have been ignoring you, that was wrong of me. I should not let superficial means drive me to cut off an acquaintance. I do apologize for that. And even so, your teams performance in The Hunt shows you demand respect.” Yukino bowed before me. She sure was formal, and it was unnecessary. Like she said, I was just an acquaintance to her, she didn’t even consider me a friend. She didn’t need any rhyme or reason to cut ties with me.

“You don’t need to bow. Honestly, it’s all good. Water under the bridge.”

“Thank you for being understanding.”

And with that, Yukino grabbed another spare chair for herself and pulled it up to the table, taking a seat between me and Emi. With this small table now jam packed with six students, I was as far away from Sakura as possible, who was sandwiched between Shun and Emi. Right, I should probably have introduced her already.

“I’m sorry too man!” Shun shouted. “A brother should never leave another behind. It’s just- never mind. I’m sorry man.”

“It’s fine, Shun. We’re still cool.”

I hoped that was the end of the apologies. Two was plenty. And I still needed to introduce Sakura.

“Oh yeah everyone, this is Sakura Sato, she’s one of our classmates.” I quickly pointed around the table. “That’s Yukino Yukimura, Emi Ichinose, Shun Adachi, and Honoko Hayashi. Hopefully we can all get along okay.”

“Nice to meet you all…” Sakura said quietly.

Emi, not one for respecting personal space, clasped her hands around Sakura’s.

“Hi Sato! It’s awesome to meet you! Welcome to the friend group!”

Emi’s zealous energy was likely overwhelming to poor Sakura. But she was toughing it out okay. When the waiter returned with my and Sakura’s food, he took orders from the rest of the group. Soon enough, we were all eating and chatting away. Things almost felt, normal.

We stayed and enjoyed ourselves for well over an hour. At that point, one by one, the group began to file out, packing and planning to go home for a well earned summer break. Once everyone had gone, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was an email from Ms. Kurokawa.

Nakamura, We need to have an important discussion. It cannot wait until after summer break. Wait outside the staff apartment complex on 15th. 9:30 PM sharp. Don’t be late. - Ms. Kurokawa

That left me plenty of time to finish packing my things, but I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling her email left me.


I sat on the cool pavement outside what had to be the nicest apartment complex on the island. Even though the complex was only 3 stories tall rather than a high rise like the dormitories, the modern architecture and decorated interior exemplified just how nice the place was. The complex of course hosted a large majority of the teachers and employees of the island. Such luxury would never be afforded to mere students. But, Apex System certainly spared no expense on their employees. What did Ms. Kurokawa want to say to me so urgently? Summer break officially started after the reveal in the auditorium, couldn’t this conversation wait until after the break?

I remained rooted to the pavement, periodically checking my phone for the time. Ms. Kurokawa requested for me to meet her at 9:30 PM, and here it was rolling up on 9:25 PM, but there was no sign of her. At exactly 9:30 PM, the doorbell system cackled before a voice came through.

“I’m unlocking the main door, Nakamura. Enter after you hear the beep. I’m in apartment 303.”

Before I could respond, Ms. Kurokawa disconnected from the sound system. The door beeped, and I pushed my way inside. With only three floors, I opted for the stairs over the elevator.

Knock knock. I got two knocks in before Ms. Kurokawa opened the door. She wore a frilly pair of shorts barely visible beneath her oversized collared shirt. Was it really appropriate for me to see my teacher in this state?

“Don’t just stand in the hallway, come in.”

Nervously, I entered the apartment. The sliding door closed and locked behind me. For some reason that made me nervous, even though I had no reason to be.

“Congratulations on your win with Team Ebisu,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a team perform so well with such a low average rank.”

“Oh, well thank you. It really was a team effort. I have to admit things started rocky at first, but we really pulled together at the end.”

Ms. Kurokawa rose from her lounge chair and walked towards me. It felt as though she were staring directly into my soul as she approached. She slammed her hand on the wall behind me, right beside my head. She leaned close to me, maintaining eye contact the entire time. I could feel myself stop breathing.

“Cut the crap. I know you were behind the entire scheme that brought you team out on top. You don’t need to stick to the cliches with me.”

“No, really, it was-”

“I said cut the crap.”

Ms. Kurokawa released her hand from the wall and stepped away from me. I felt my heart rate return to relatively normal levels of palpitation.

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me,” she continued. “Like I said, you were one of the best performing teams I’ve ever seen.”

Did she really call me here just to compliment our performance? No, there must have been something I was missing.

“Is there another reason you told me to meet you here?”

She took her seat back in the lounger. She wore a look of extreme disappointment, like she was let down that I hadn’t pieced it together yet.

“I told you to cut the crap, so I will too. Let me get straight to the point, Nakamura. I know you figured out who the traitor was on Team Ebisu, and you did not submit the name to me.”

Her revelation shocked me. She figured me out? I couldn’t slip anything past someone like Ms. Kurokawa. She was simply too smart and too experienced.

“Oh… I, um-”

“I don’t need to hear a half baked excuse. Just know that I am disappointed in you, greatly.” She rose from her lounger again, unable to pick a comfortable spot and remain there. “This trial carries weight in the class rankings, you could have earned yourself and all your other teammates more points if you provided me the name of the traitor. But instead, you chose not to.”

The truth was, I was too soft. I kept the name of the traitor hidden to avoid punishing one individual of the group, even if it meant we earned less points as a collective. My calculations in that regard were still correct, we ended up winning the competition. What I didn’t calculate was Ms. Kurokawa figuring me out and taking exception to my decision making.

“You’re already so behind the curve since you don’t know any magic!” Her voice was raising, and fast. This must have really touched a nerve with her. “You have no excuse to not accumulate the most points possible. Do you want to get relegated and expelled from our school?”

“No ma’am, I don’t.”

“Well then you better start acting like it. And if you won’t on your own, then I’ll have to make you.”

I paused. “In what way?”

“The updated class rankings are not going to be officially released until after summer break,” she said. “But I’ll give you a quick sneak peek to show you I mean business.”

Ms. Kurokawa paced towards the table and grabbed a folder. She pulled a single sheet of paper out of it. Almost certainly our class rankings.

“It’s obvious that you and Sato sported the worst average ranking of Class A students,” she continued. Of course, we were ranked 15th and 16th after all. “So not only performing well but outright winning The Hunt did wonders for your rankings.”

She handed me the sheet of paper. My eyes darted across the paper as I nervously searched for my name. I was having no luck, until-

“Or, it should have.”

There I was, still at the bottom of the list. Ranked 16th in a class of 16 students. I put in all that effort to win The Hunt, and still came up empty.

“I… don’t understand.”

Sakura skyrocketed up the rankings. From lowly 15th all the way to 11th. She made up serious ground and was now firmly out of the relegation zone.

“I know Sato wasn’t in on your little scheme to protect the Class D traitor. And neither was anyone else. I know it was all you. And now you’ve learned what I hope is the most valuable lesson of your first term. If you don’t give your fullest effort, you won’t survive here.”

“I just didn’t want to harm anyone else…”

“Well, in the end you only harmed yourself. You may not be able to use magic, and while that may annoy me, you’re still a bright kid. But when you or anyone gives a half assed effort, that’s when I need to lay down the law.”

Ms. Kurokawa snatched the paper out of my hand and returned it to her folder. She let out a sigh of disappointment. Honestly, she was right. If I wanted to survive here, I couldn’t be buddy-buddy with everyone. Hell, I already wasn’t with Ryu and his clique. I had to scratch and claw for every opportunity I could, given the massive disadvantage I faced.

“I understand. It won’t happen again Ms. Kurokawa.”

“I hope not, or this will be your only year at the Apex High School of Magic. Now get out of my apartment before someone shows up and gets the wrong idea. The last ship from the fleet leaves at 10:30 as well, you don’t want to miss it.”

And with that, I left Ms. Kurokawa’s apartment, and my summer break officially began.


TO BE CONTINUED