A strange excursion through the forest.

Insufficient light filtered through the dense treetops, casting an eerie gloom over the forest. Ayumu remained vigilant, feeling somewhat scared by the noises coming from the undergrowth.

‘What was that?’ he wondered, his imagination conjuring images of wolves and bears. The young man’s mind wandered to the terrifying possibilities that lay ahead. Sometimes, Ayu had to sprint to catch up to his companion, as Ayu had fallen behind. Nora was quite calm, paying little attention to the surroundings. After a few minutes of walking, a bright flash surprised both in the distance. Ayumu’s eyes lit up. 

‘The exit!’ the boy ran until he crossed the invisible finish line, raising his arms to the sky; celebrating the ridiculous victory as Eleonora approached him. ‘Did you see? I did it!’ Ayu showed off proudly, before he was surprised by the shocked expression on the girl’s face. ‘What’s wrong?’ he followed Nora’s gaze to the sign next to the path that read: Nankaina 5 kilometres, with an arrow pointing in the opposite direction of the forest. ‘But that can’t be…’ Nora’s expression turned disgusted as the girl shifted her gaze to the intriguing engraving that had caught her eye. Nora turned around. Ayumu took his time before to react, ‘hey, wait!’ the boy followed Eleonora again. The girl watched what was happening around her.

‘Here and there too.’ Eleonora remarked, noticing that the mark was repeatedly engraved on the wood of the trees lining the path to her left. After a brief walk, Nora suddenly stopped, causing Ayumu to collide with her and tumble onto the ground.

‘You could have warned me!’ the boy stood up again. A noise caught his attention, and he approached it before turning around. Nora took a few steps, her gaze focused on the mark now appearing on the right, mirroring its previous position. ‘Delphi…’ Ayu tried to warn her without looking. The young woman’s arm was extended toward the air, causing it to ripple like water, and the mystery was solved.

‘A mirror, that’s it!’

‘Delphi!’ Ayu caught Nora’s attention. A loud noise became clear at that moment. The young woman swiftly averted her gaze and spotted the girl from the bus station. Unexpectedly, that black-haired girl accidentally pounced on Ayumu with brutality, as if she were a moving train.

‘Ayuuu!’ that girl was still weeping. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I don’t really mean all those nasty things I said… believe me.’ She realised that Ayumu, in her arms, was knocked out from the impact. ‘AAAAAH!’ Delphi looked at them with a bit of embarrassment. ‘Who did this to you, Ayu!? I won’t let them get away with it!’ A dark aura emanated from her. The raven-haired girl scanned the area and ended up locking eyes with Nora. ‘It was you! Wasn’t it!?’ The accusation caught her off guard.

‘What? No, I…!’ The blonde girl tried to deny it, crossing her arms, making an X; the other girl stood up, her eyes burning with fury and piercing the blonde.

‘I don’t even know why I’m asking. It’s obvious it was you!’ the black-haired girl pointed at Nora.

‘I already told you it wasn’t me! It’s you who…’ The ribbon’s girl tried to astonish Nora with a quick movement. She swiftly leaped backward, using her hands on the ground to propel herself. While the other girl was attempting to strike Nora’s head with excessive force using her heel. Nora finished the backhand spring, witnessing the slab Nora was previously standing on shatter as if it were made of glass, because of the powerful missed hit. ‘She’s fast.’ The first-year student was surprised. A whitish, almost imperceptible aura was surrounding her opponent. Their gazes locked once more, and this time the black-haired girl attempted a kick. The blonde effortlessly executed a backflip with graceful acrobatics, evading her opponent’s attack.

‘You won’t escape!’ The raven-haired girl attacked ferociously. A whitish aura also enveloped her opponent’s body too. Nora took another small leap backwards at great speed and avoided her for the third time. A frenzied pursuit began between both, whose agile movements were supernatural. ‘Stop running!’ the ribbon’s girl tried to reach the blonde girl. Her enemy hopped backwards, avoiding branches, bushes, roots, and logs, demonstrating impressive reflexes. The raven-haired girl’s pace decreased, and she fell behind. Eleonora took advantage of this to catch her breath, leaning against the trunk of a tree.

‘A little exercise doesn’t hurt,’ the blonde girl stretched out her back, her whitish aura fading away. ‘I’ve accumulated so much fatigue from the trip that almost caught up with me. I didn’t see that coming…’

‘Got you!’ The raven-haired girl appeared in front of her again, catching her off guard. They looked at each other again. While the enraged student prepared to give her a savage punch, Nora whispered something. The impact hit that tree with so much force that it fell.

‘Impressive!’ Nora down at her opponent from above, surprising her. As the raven-haired girl turned around, annoyed, she yawned. ‘But kind of boring.’

‘Damn it! Who the hell are you?’ Eleonora pointed at herself, somewhat confused. ‘You can’t be just a first-year student. The complexity of that technique surpasses the capabilities of a first-year.’

‘Oh!’ the blonde clapped. ‘You noticed, incredible. You’re more capable than I thought.’ She stood up on the branch and stretched. ‘Well, it’s my turn, isn’t it? I warn you, I will not hold back.’ The whitish aura surrounded Eleonora’s body again. The blonde launched herself at the other girl, unleashing a veritable hurricane of wind behind her. Nora moved with such haste it sounded like she had teleported. Their eyes connected once again. It was too late to turn back, and the black-haired girl knew it. Her face looked startled.

‘For real!?’ the third-year student’s voice escaped her throat, before the blonde girl gave the ribbon’s girl a gentle tap on the forehead. She was leaving her opponent unconscious from the shock, and laid her against a tree.

‘Spectacular victory!’ Eleonora turned her gaze back to where she had come from. ‘But it’s seen I have plenty of work to do yet.’ Nora took off her jacket and covered her adversary, and winked. ‘Take care of my jacket, okay?’

***

A young woman stopped in the middle of the road upon seeing a fallen Ayumu lying on the tiles.

‘Hey! Are you okay?’ That woman ran towards Ayumu, worried, with no response, and crouched down to confirm if the boy was still alive. The woman’s brown hair reached down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a suit and carried a folder. She brought her hand to Ayumu’s neck to locate his pulse.

‘Don’t move!’ with an authoritative tone Eleonora addressed her. The woman turned around and caught sight of the blond girl over a tree.

‘Wow! Are you the one causing such a commotion? They may not have told you, I suppose they were too busy laughing at the joke; but I must warn you that using magic is completely prohibited outside the school limits or in Nankaina. I’ll have to report this.’

‘If I had any other choice,’ the blonde remarked, placing her hand on her skirt as she gracefully descended from the tree, positioning herself at the same level.

‘And the other girl?’ The woman swept the scene with her eyes, looking for someone else.

‘What other girl?’ The girl closed her eyes and thought. ‘Ah, the weird girl with the haired ribbon!’ Nora’s eyes were opened, and the girl drew a cheerful expression. ‘It’s been a good warm-up, don’t worry. I haven’t been too hard on her. A little exercise won’t hurt us. Although I left her unconscious, but I covered her with my jacket, so she wouldn’t catch a cold.’

‘Warm-up…? Too severe!? Exercise!? Unconscious!? Covered her with…!?’ The woman’s mind clouded with dirty thoughts. ‘But what are you saying!?’ Her face turned red, imagining weird things. ‘Do you realise I am your teacher!? Young people today have no shame!’ The student did not understand how it concerned the teacher.

‘It was just a friendly brief fight, and besides, that maniac attacked first,’ Eleonora clarified. ‘What the hell are you thinking!?’

‘A-ah!’ The woman trembled, putting on a forced smile and shifting the topic. ‘I’ll deal with that later. Anyway, the priority is the boy.’ She turned her attention to Ayumu, studying him. ‘How strange.’ the teacher leaned in closer to the boy’s face, seeing in him the resemblance to someone from her past. ‘I could swear that…’ Ayu forced his eyes open, having regained consciousness, and tried to get up from the ground. His lips collided with the brown-haired woman’s, much to Eleonora’s incredulous gaze. He opened his eyes, surprised to look directly into the astonished woman’s hazel eyes. Blushing, he hurried back.

‘It was a…!’ The woman fell silent for a moment before coming to her senses, her face turning red, and slapped Ayumu hard.