Synopsis: Scene: alley. Panko figures out how to use Princess Kiss without all that icky "touching your mouth to things" business, heals up, asks questions, makes resolutions, and generally acts like a magical girl. Picky makes witty responses. Then she goes home.

Alone in an alley, Panko slumped against a wall to rest. The pain in her chest reminded her of her last spell, the one that Picky had cast before giving her her powers. Her costume blurred again, this time replacing the cat suit with her frog suit, and Panko named her spell, "Princess Kiss." Then she paused to think of how exactly she was supposed to kiss herself. She tried a peck on her hand, which gave her hand a pastel aquamarine glow. She traced the hand along her wound. The cut, blood, and grime disappeared as the light passed over it.

Now, Panko had time to think about what had happened. Or, she would, if a familiar pink animal wasn't descending from the roof above her. "So, since when do you not care about people seeing you in silly costumes, eh? I bet you're gonna make a couple blogs tonight."

"Shut up, Picky," Panko pouted, hugging her knees.

Picky landed next to her. "So, not very fun getting your butt handed to you, is it?"

"I... I was... it was scary, fighting him." Panko's voice was very measured and distant. "Not just when he hit me, but when I hit him, too. I was scared that I'd hurt him. I don't know, it's... he could have killed me, and for what? And what about these other people, are they going to try to kill me? And for what, Picky? Tell me, why is magic so important that we have to fight over it? Don't things work just fine without it?"

"So, you're asking that again. I'll give you the same answer as before; it doesn't matter what they're fighting about, it matters why you're fighting. You're fighting because they're going to hurt you if you don't. I guess you could lay down and die, if that--"

"I want to be stronger." Panko cut him off. "I'm sure they're scared when they fight, too. And I... if I'm strong enough, I can stop all this fighting, right? Then no one will have to be scared anymore, I guess." She sounded less confident as she ended.

"You want to be stronger?" He sounded amused, like a father who hears his knee-high son ask if he can mow the lawn, too. "That's good, Panko, I'm happy to hear it. At least now you're only scared when you fight, and not fighting because you're scared." He chuckled to himself. "That was pretty clever, I should write that down." Panko was watching him, like she was waiting for him to say something else. "Erm, right, so, we'll get on that soon-ish. For now, I guess you can just go home. You've done enough today. Sayonara."

Panko was alone again. She got up gingerly, trying to avoid aggravating her cut. Then she remembered it was gone. She tapped her wrist, and the little girl in the frog suit was replaced by a teenager in her pajamas. She would have to remember to put on proper clothes before transforming next time. Embarrassed, Panko left the alley and made her way home.

Sighing, Alex let the image in his grandmother's hand mirror collapse with a wave of his hand. Another phantom zone. That was like, the fifth today? He couldn't remember. The scrying had left him with a splitting headache and precious little information.

That will do. Miranda murmured coming in for a soft landing on the couch back. The dove's amber eyes went to the mirror, They certainly aren't wasting any time. She observed, a hint of grudging admiration in her voice.

"Good thing we aren't either." Alex replied softly, pushing himself off the couch and onto the hard wood flooring of his living room. He winced as his muscles protested the move; they'd been pushed to their limits yesterday in an all too real training session with Miranda. Those swords of her's weren't for show, and she was a lot quicker then those wings made her look.

Small blessing she'd blunted her swords with her magic, otherwise he'd be covered in cuts, not just ugly yellow bruises. He sighed again as he turned toward the stairs to the second floor of his home, At least she left my face clean. He thought, managing a wry smile. A smile that lasted only a second before the pain in his head reasserted itself and made him wince again.

"Small blessings indeed." He muttered, walking slowly back to his room. He needed a nap.

How are you holding up?

The query from Ivy was met by a noncommittal grunt. Iriumi twisted to one side as she avoided another vicious tentacle, her muscles protesting, her heart racing. She ached to rest, but something inside her (and no, it was not her familiar) insisted that she kept at it. Her arm rose and fell, a little slower this time due to fatigue, but her aim was improving and the lash of the Eternal flame caused the attacking vine to recoil from her.

"Just... a little... longer," she said inbetween her breaths. Ivy didn't say anything. The number of vines increased, dancing and writhing around her, looking for an opening in the protective cage of flames she had erected with her sudden movements. The familiar was surprised, actually, to receive such enthusiasm and self-motivation from her user. Ivy merely had provided the support and foundations, and Iriumi is building like a crazed, genius architecture/engineer of some sorts. She was more worried that Iriumi would burn herself out like this if she was to train so intensively.

Iriumi danced to the left, and a vine swept through livid fire, igniting and burning away in an instant. Her body jerked and ducked as a second tried to strike. A thump heralded the success of a third vine contacting Iriumi's leg, bringing her to one knee. In frustration she responded by grabbing the offending appendage and passing her other hand over it, igniting it in fiery glory.

Her leaf shield took the attack of a fourth before Iriumi took the offensive. Her whip roared twice, felling a vine. She plunged forward, enveloping another in her passing flames, fell back, dodging and burning one more, and lashed out at the last one, pouring some augmented magic into her attack. The resulting flames wiped out the three other vines that were just emerging from the zone. Iriumi got the impression every time she snapped the Eternal Flame, it was like a viper, fangs dripping with venom, flashing out. This time, it was more pronounced, with two large blade-like flames that raked the air.

But she'd been tiring throughout this entire ordeal, and responded to Ivy's warning too late. Three vines slammed into her from behind and pinned her to the ground painfully, constricting the breath out of her. Then, a moment later, the unbearable pressure vanished, leaving Iriumi lying there gasping for air.

... I think we'll call it a day, Ivy commented as the last menacing vines melted away into nothingness. She waited until Iriumi clambered to her feet before reabsorbing the phantom zone she'd created, taking the barrier jacket along with it.

~~

Out in the backyard of the Hana family's abode, Sakura was waiting a bit anxiously. Ivy promised they'd be back by now, and it was already late afternoon. Their parents will be back soon. Where was she?!

And speaking of the devil, Iriumi appeared in an implosion of black motes, staggering and barely catching herself, now out of her barrier jacket. She felt a lot weaker now that she lacked the support of the sturdy armour she'd worn. Sakura ran to her, concern dribbling out of all her body movements. Iriumi accepted her helping hand, and allowed her sister to limp her indoors.

Tonight was going to be a long, painful night.

Mern stared blankly, confused with the sudden outcome as he switched his gaze between the leaving duo and Mero, whom calmly spoke as if understanding the complexity of the situation, his expression pained as he rubbed his back soothingly.

"Well, we didn't exactly lose the battle. If anything, we technically won by default... How does it feel to have beaten a fellow comrade with such force, you monster." Mero teased Mern with mock sarcasm as he looked with a sense of guilt.

"I don't get it. She did some heavy damage on me and even managed to dodge me quite a few times, so it wasn't like she was disadvantaged. It was no ambush, but an organized fight which her partner approved of."

"That I wouldn't know, although it seems that she had yet to learn or adapt to the harsh reality of combat... which I must admit, you're warming up to it pretty darn fast. Are you sure you don't have some hidden agenda you're training for?"

Mern twitched as if she touched a nerve.

I nearly saw death, both mine and when you tried to defend me. If I don't ready myself to fight, then neglect will cause me to lose what I would wish to protect. More over, while I do feel the sort of anger and distrust for those who have done ill against me, I don't feel driven to retribution, but rather in proving... else... It's hard to put to word, I admit." Mern shifted back to his normal size, finally aware of his rather distinct appearance to the hypothetical random passerby.

"Ah... In that case, you know what you need to make yourself more intimidating to your foes?"

"Stronger basic skill mastery? Flashier or more mysterious techniques?"

"Those would help. But what you need is a well developed catchphrase!" Menarker stared at his cat with dumbfounded astonishment as she smiled as purely and innocently as any naive child has done.

"... You're shitting me." Mero's face darkened slightly as she tried to press the point.

"No way! I'm absolutely serious here."
"As if."
"Suit yourself. Mind you, it's not meant to be used as an announcement, but as an..."
"You're just trying to pay me back for my suggestion of swinging you by the tail as a team attack." Mero hissed with infuration.
"YOU SAID MY FEET LAST TIME! THE TAIL IS EVEN WORSE!"

Mern lazily surveyed what moments ago was the battleground, curiously introspecting as to the results of the spar.
"What really confused me was the last two hits... Even though I have seen firsthand the speed her cat form has before, it doesn't mean that her senses were capable of keeping up with the speed I was using. While I was kinda rushing, I thought my speed and timing was appropriate... and yet both time I was countered."

Menarked sighed as he pondered the events of the day with such focus, that he neglected to look back on the memories of the park, as he previously intended. Taking a step forward and slightly slouching, his eyes shot open as he winched in agony.

"Agghh... aww, shoot. I'm going to really need to walk it slow tonight. My back is feeling something horrible." Mero shifted to her larger form.

"I'll carry you home. Hop on."

"In some ways, you have really improved. In others, you are still fumbling and grasping for knowledge. Maybe you didn't get what you came for... but I think it was still worthwhile... And yet, I have this intangible feeling, on the tip of my tongue. I don't quite grasp it, but I feel like I saw something truly amazing which I have not yet realized.

Her spear was grating against the silver-blue disc of Akari's shield, Mitsuko gritting her teeth as she tried to pierce through it. Behind her she had a sense of premonition. Whipping her head, she saw the last of Akari's homing bullets shooting towards her.

The scene halted.

"In summary, despite serious tactical errors at the commencement of this training battle, you showed acceptable recognition of these errors and adaption to avoid repeating them." Bright Day said.

"Can't I sleep?" Mitsuko whined. Technically she was asleep, but you wouldn't think it with all this dream invasion going on.

She looked up at the frozen tableau of her and Akari locked together in battle. An uneasy feeling ran through her looking at it - was a little creepy to watch yourself fight. Diffused slightly by Bright Day regularly pausing, replaying or highlighting things to tell Mitsuko that she was doing it wrong, of course. Mitsuko for the most part had been forced to agree. She'd been doing nothing but headlong charges at the start and hadn't thought of taking to the air.

"With this review analysis completed before predicted, it was planned to next focus on the Celestial Sphere technique to improve options at range." Bright Day said, with what sounded eerily like a note of pride in the Device's calm voice.

"I'm sorry, but its the first day of school tomorrow and I need to be able to focus there." Mitsuko had found Bright Day ignored complaints.

Bright Day paused. "You are correct. Initial goals have been fulfilled and continued strain would be unwise at this point. This session is over."

"So I did alright?" Mitsuko asked in a small voice.

"Yes."

The simulation faded out into true sleep.

* * *

The alarm in Mitsuko's phone went off. An arm emerged from beneath the bed's covers and fumbled around on the bedside table. She sat up as she picked it up, yawned, and switched it off. "Uuuwh, I thought I heard singing." she mumbled, shedding the last vanishing wisps of a dream.

Looking around the bedroom blearily, Mitsuko regarded her laid out uniform with distaste. The last few days had hardly been idyllic and now there was a new school to deal with too? She sighed and pulled on the navy blue skirt and top, hiding Bright Day under the collar.

She went downstairs to have breakfast, finding two out of three siblings and one mother at the kitchen table. She sat down and began resignedly tucking into her own breakfast.

"You're tired today." Ryuichi commented. "What exactly were you doing yesterday?"

"Oh, this and that." Mitsuko said, waving a hand at him and trying to look innocent.

"Hmph, well you'd better hurry up or you'll be late." he declared, taking his plate to the sink and getting ready to leave for college.

"Oh no, the school's only..." Mitsuko froze, one hand raised. The new school, Tohou, was a longer walk from here than Chuuko had been. "We have to go!" she gulped.

"You still have plenty of time." Megumi said amusedly, watching Mitsuko trying to cram down the rest of her breakfast. "You've been so stressed lately. You don't need to get so worked up about changes like this."

Mitsuko almost jumped. "Changes?"

"A first day at a new school is nothing to worry about." Megumi declared with conviction.

Mitsuko didn't quite fall off her chair.

The Shimizu sisters made it to the new school, finding their homeroom in the nick of time.

There'd been a lot of new students milling around in confusion, some identifiable by the fact they were still wearing the Chuuko uniform - with so many students transfering in, there'd been a shortage on the new uniforms. Mitsuko didn't have enough to last the week herself.

But they'd eventually found the homeroom and there was no sign of the homeroom teacher yet.

Success!

Mitsuko sighed in relief, looking around the classroom to look for an empty seat (hopefully a window seat) and get a first impression of her new classmates.

Dressed in little more then underdrawers, Alex stared balefully down at his bed. Back to wearing this thing everyday. He thought with a grimace as his blue eyes flickered over the dark grey pants, white collared shirt, red tie and navy blue blazer spread out on top of his covers. He shook his head with a sigh.

Putting it off won't make it go away. Miranda coolly chimed from her perch on the windowsill.

I know... Alex's reply trailed off into another resigned sigh. He took a deep breath as his eyes settled back on the uniform, and raised his palm over the bed. Blue eyes serious, he swept his hand over the uniform, red sparks of magic falling over the shirt, pants and blazer. The sparks settled into the fabrics, and vanished.

Moments after, the clothes began to writhe, fibres pulling at the bonds holding them in their shapes. Alex breathed another sigh, this one of relief; it had worked. The uniform exploded in sprays of coloured threads. They surged toward the blond youth and began swirling themselves around him. Then stilled, hanging on his arms, legs and chest loosely, before clenching tightly around each other and pulling themselves back together into their former shape.

Holding a sleeve up to his face to inspect it, Alex grinned. "That worked." His smile faded as his eyes returned to the lone red tie on his bed. His eye twitched at the sight.

Just put it on. Miranda said impatiently.

"Fine." Alex grumbled, snatching the last piece of the uniform from the bed.


Alex had arrived at school far earlier then usual that day, a fact he blamed on the white dove that, even now, was flitting her way around the school grounds. But, he actually had his pick of desks for once, something he wasn't entirely ungrateful for. He chose one a row away from the window, in the mid-front of the classroom.

He pulled at his tie absently as he sat in his desk, waiting for the day to start. His blue eyes had a far away look to them as he stared out the window, not paying any real attention to the entrance of the various students. Even if he probably should have.

Three girls and two boys arrived at an intersection. Shimizu turned to address Takuya and Chihase. "All right, you two. Have a good first day at school."
"Okay!" Chihase said, then roughly tugged Takuya's arm. "C'mon, Takuya! Let's go or we're going to be late."
"But we're not late," Takuya grumbled, then nodded to his stepsister. "Take care of yourselves. I'll see you back here soon."
Shimizu waved them off and turned to Kiyuri and Kazuki. "And now it's our turn to go to school. Ugh, this sucks. I have to work tonight, too."

"I can come visit you tonight, right Shimizu?" Kazuki asked.
Kiyuri smirked. "Well, it's nice to see you two back together. Maybe I can stop being asked questions about how to get Shimizu back."
Kazuki blushed suddenly. "H-hey, Kiyuri-"
Shimizu instinctively hugged Kazuki's arm. His face got even redder, which is the reaction she wanted. "Let's go, Kazuuuu~. Maybe we'll even get the same homeroom together."
Kazuki hid his face. "I doubt it. We've never had the same homeroom."

When they reached the school, the three students observed the nearly bulletin board. "See?" Kazuki observed to the others. "You two get the same homeroom teacher and I get left out again. Figures."
Shimizu shrugged. "Well, separation makes hearts fonder of each other...or something. Let's get to class, Kiyuri."
"Take care, bro'."
"You too, Kiyuri."

"Iriuuuumi!" a familiar voice called out from the gates of the Hana family's abode. Iriumi pulled herself from examining her makeup in the mirror and popped her head out the window, arms already lifted in an enthusiastic wave.

"Yes! I'm coming, hold on a sec!" she shouted back. The group of girls (and a few guys) down at the streets waved and smiled. Her friends were beckoning.

Ma and pa had already gone to work, and Riu had an afternoon shift. He looked up from the plasma TV and arched an eyebrow at his younger sister.
"My, how popular is my sis? Is that your fanclub down there again?" he asked humorously before expertly snatching the plastic cup she threw out of the air. The second one bounced off his forehead, drawing out a yelp of surprise. Iriumi dashed past and out the door before her brother could retaliate, laughing cheekily, brown hair and green eyes sparkling.

Riu lowered his throwing arm, a small smile tugging at his falsely-furious face. It was good to see Iriumi happy. She'd barely smiled at all in the weeks before Obaachan's funeral. Finally, some closure, he thought, before getting clonked in the back of the head by Sakura's well-aimed throw.

Cursing mildly, Riu drove the other sister out of the house as well, sending her off to her own school.

~~

To familiar faces in her classroom, Iriumi came in just five minutes from the start of class, naturally accompanied by an extensive group of friends, all actively chatting and instantly brightening up the room. Incidentally, the noise level turned up a notch.
"...So it's like this, Tekishi thought I was serious, and spent an entire hour looking for that hidden camera that wasn't there!" one of the girls, a pretty little dark-hair named Chichyuu, was gesturing amidst laughter. Iriumi's blushed face turned heads as she took up a seat second to the front. She spotted a few people she also knew, and waved at them, flashing that easy smile of hers.

Shana, another girl with a well-groomed golden mane sat down next to her. "Iriumi! Are you allowed to wear that into class?" she pointed mock-accusingly at the girl's chest. Iriumi looked down, managing to mask her shock.

The green necklace glittered back at her, winking in its simplistic design, a single green-gold jewel dangling from the chains. There was a leafy pattern in the metal the jewel was embedded in.
"Oh, would you look at that!" she exclaimed, rapidly trying to think of something to say.
I completely forgot to take it off last night. It's my grandma's, you see, Ivy prompted.
"I'd completely forgot to take it off last night," Iriumi copied as smoothly as she can, raising her arms and reaching behind to 'unclasp' the necklace, knowing there is no end to it. "It's my grandma's, you see."
Her fingers touched the part of chain, and it unravelled in her hand. She carefully coiled it in her palm and stored it in her skirt pocket. You'd better find a better place to take residence fast, Ivy.
Acknowledged.

Shana nodded. News and gossip travel fast in large friendships, and the death of Iriumi's obaachan wasn't hidden from her. They turned from the dark conversation that danced terribly close to death towards more trivial matters, while Iriumi's eyes roved the classroom, making sure to make eye contact and acknowledge people she knows, and noting down newcomers, so that later she may greet them warmly.

Tayuumi nudged Iriumi gently and bent down to whisper in her ear.
"Hey, I see Alex over there. He looks awfully spaced-out today. Remember the party I threw during the break? He was a pretty awesome guy then. You think something's up?"

Iriumi risked a glance in the boy's direction. Yes, he did look pretty vacant, as if he's contemplating something. Flicking her eyes towards the time, she got up and moved to the seat next to his and flashing a smile at him. As she approached, her footstep faltered ever-so-lightly as she felt Ivy clinch herself around her thigh.

"Hiya, Alex! You look lonely, mind if I take this seat?" she popped the rhetorical question before seating herself there. Her other friends knew better than to come along with her, instead amusing themselves with their recent antics near the front rows.

"Huh?" Alex replied with a start, blinking rapidly at auburn haired girl now beside him. Then, as his mind finally ordered the words into something he could understand, he let out a happy laugh.

"I'm just tired," he replied flashing her a bright, if slightly tired, smile, "sis wanted to end the break with a bang and pulled me along." His smile faltered a little, "I kinda wish I'd fought a little harder, getting up was painful."

"What about you?" the blond added before she could comment, "Happy to be back?"

"Well, did I get better?" Akari asks meekly during Ceres post-battle review the night previous. She was nervous watching the playback holos while Ceres wordlessly watched them alongside her, fearing she'd done badly despite not knowing what badly even was.

In the playback, Akari's final spell fired off in multiple directions that were supposed to track back towards Mitsuko, but failed to retarget, impacting the barrier zone's edges in a ragged halo.

"Considering the previous, yes." The weapon's avatar responded, turning to give her a reassuring smile, "You've been relying thusfar on my onboard MARS fire-control for weapon tracking, and the spell we attempted goes beyond my subconcious control limits. We'll have to work on your personal homing control."

"MARS?" Akari cocks her eyebrow. It rung a bell, but she didn't really understand half of the stuff that lit up on her heads-up display.

"Motion Analysis Relay System, for the full acronym. I run it passively and it calculates enemy trajectories so your arrows don't need to be aimed perfectly, which as you can tell is literally impossible at the speeds we fight."

"Ah... So I didn't screw up?" Akari replies, cringing as she watches the replay of Mitsuko charging into her, her sister only being kept from punching through her shield by a lucky retarget of a single arrow from her previous volley that she hadn't expected.

"Not really. You should however, get sleep. You have school tomorrow and I shall not wish to impede your learning by teaching you while you're being taught already."

"H-ha... Alright."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nngh..." Akari woke earlier than usual, a few moments before her alarm rang, but didn't actually properly rise until much later. As she walked downstairs to join her family for breakfast, she intercepted her little brother, and simply couldn't tear her mind off of yesterday's training session. There was something she had to ask, but felt kind of awkward doing so.

"Er, Kenta? What um... What do you know about mecha combat?" She stammered, having believed the question sounded about ten times more reasonable in her head than it did out loud. Still, it was the closest thing she could equate her training to, and she was certain her little brother knew everything that Anime had to offer. After all, if magical girls were real, certainly this couldn't hurt?

"..." He stared at her for a long, awkward moment, "Akari, are you sick?" he asked cheerfully, "When have you ever been interested in my stuff?"

"N-no!" She growled playfully back, whapping him on the head, "I'm just interested, one of my friends showed me a few things, and I can't like, understand why melee combat is so effective with high tech stuff like that? Do all of them carry swords for that stuff?"

"Well, if that's the case..." Little Kenta crossed his arms, and gave her a knowing smile, "You've got to understand that it really isn't, but when two pilots get too close for their longrange weapons, they need something that can work effectively at arm's length. You can't really parry a beam sword with a rifle, for example. That, and it's really cool to watch."

"Ah, I see..." She nods, strangely unable to fault any of this logic, even though she knew trying to apply fantasy to real life had to be a fool's errand. The two continued to converse through breakfast, until Mitsuko informed them of the time, and dragged her off.

"Seeyou later Mom, Dad!" Akari waved as they rushed out the door, and to class.

Menarker yawned excessively as he woke up early from a passed out slumber of the night before, Mero repeatably pouncing her minor form up and down his back, radiating the same energy she had absorbed from him, sending soothing magical essence which left him more or less recovered. Wordlessly, he absentmindly stripped, trading what he wore for his uniform which laid neatly on his desk. Mero stood by silently watching his dull and boring expression as he went through the daily routine of breakfast, grooming and everything required.

"Stay home."
"... Probably for the best. Too much people in public." Menarker looked slightly curious at his kitten, the immediate agreement a little out of place.
"I'll leave some food for you, and put my music on softly while I'm gone."
"That would be very much appreciated. Don't forget your books."
"I have prepared my items days before. Only thing that worries me like every year are the students. I never had much luck before. Now I have changed quite a bit... and there is a chance that they may be others who have changed too."
"Just behave like you always had in school and not much will change."
"Well... I might want to try something different... cause I want things to be a little better this time around. See you later."
"Hey Mena, how about some of that magic for the junkie?"
"Oh fine..." Menarker obliged a surge of the same soothing energy that made his sleep restful, which made his familiar as kittenish as ever before, before he left and shut the door on the way out.

Mero peeked outside his window, seeing him walk away leisurely as she smirked deviously, snarfing her food down without a care about rationing for later, as she nudged the window open and leapt down the second floor and darting swiftly and unseen in the streets and soon among the foliage of nature, distanced from her companion.

Menarker arrived with about 20 minutes to spare, wading through the crowds of students without slowing down a care for any of them, intent of learning his room number and teacher. The board listing the room numbers was swarmed with students, veterans and noobs alike, so it took a little time for him to pass through, although he was relatively pleased.

"Kasuga-sensei is teaching again this year? That's great to see..."

The lad then quietly moved to his respective classroom taking the chair third from the left and second from the front, relatively close to the board and slightly near the center. He waited patiently, examining curiously about any new faces, having little to say about the period away from school that wasn't based on his newfound magical experience.

Synopsis: Panko gets to school and talks to Alex through magical girl telepathy, thinking he won't hear.

Panko met up with Erika and Ohno before going to class. Ohno asked if she felt better and Erika offered her a cigarette, and Panko felt like, maybe, the events of the few days were behind her as she breathed in the settling tobacco.

After arriving at school, the three settled in the back, near the door. Panko sighed in relief. However, her vacation from being a magical girl was short-lived. "Hey, I thought you might want to know that I can talk in your head."

"Wha? Who's there?" Panko said as she settled into her desk.

"It's me, Picky."

"Kowaiza, are you ok?" Ohno asked, startled by Panko's sudden outburst.

"Er, no, I'm fine," Panko responded. "Picky, what the heck? I'm at school," she thought. "How are you talking to me?"

"Oh, I'm speaking through my heart. You can do it too, you know, as long as you're talking to someone with magical power. I just thought I'd let you know."

Panko thought about how this was yet another thing he didn't let her know about and considered yelling at him about it, but a rebellious idea formed in her head. Maybe she'd try this stupid "talking through her heart" with some other people in her class. Alex immediately appeared in her head. He couldn't have magic powers. "Yo, Alex, how's it going," she thought smugly at Alexander, sure that he wouldn't hear.

"In a way," Iriumi's bright smile faded a little too. Perhaps Alex would remember what happened during the break? It didn't matter. It was at that time Ivy piped up in her head.

Iriumi, I'm sensing a sudden spike of verda-type magic that matches responses to mental conversation. It is poorly cloaked, but I can't pinpoint the location. It is however coming from within this classroom.

Iriumi fought herself from looking around curiously. Could it be from that cross-dressing Verda from the battle a while ago? He seemed my age.

Not a bad assumption. Did you want me to investigate further while you talk with your friend?
It would be appreciated, Iriumi replied, before turning her mind back to the conversation, before realizing she'd probably spaced out herself.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I'm a bit blank today too," she flustered, pulling out her exercise book for the start of class, "so much has happened, and I need to get my mind around things again."

~~

Deep within the vibrant energy forces of Iriumi's soul, Ivy spied the small white ribbon anchored to a part of her. Reaching out, she sent a cloaked, shivering vibration up and out towards its source, accompanied by an equally cloaked message, hello!

Mitsuko looked about the classroom. Then she spotted one person. Her expression transformed to one of pure panic for a split second.

Oh no, it's Sakiko's birthday this week and I still haven't gotten her a present. I completely forgot!

To be fair, suddenly having to cope with magical powers, monsters, rival mages and learning to properly use those powers was a decent excuse. Even if it was one should could never, ever say. She walked over to say hello.

"Mitsuko warily approaches, a mysterious figure with secrets in her eyes!" Sakiko narrated portentiously.

Mitsuko jumped.

"Mwahahahaha! So you are hiding something?" Sakiko cackled, leaning forward with glee. The tall, dark haired girl had been a member of the drama club back at Chuuko, enthusiastically so. "Are you going to tell me?" she asked. "Come on, I saved you a seat." she slid a hand lasciviously over the empty window desk next to her.

Setting down beside her friend, Mitsuko defended herself behind the impenetrable fortress of a secretive smile. Sakiko gave up on wild guesses moved quickly on to talk about her party that coming weekend - she was planning fancy dress - and wondering about how the drama club at Tohou would be compared to Chuuko's infamous Dramatics Club.

Mitsuko relaxed a little. Even with all this magical strangeness going on, at least school was going to be fairly normal.

Finding a seat in the slowly filling classroom wasn't exactly hard, nor was it exactly easy either. Though she'd entered the classroom with her sister, Akari'd taken a little time to survey the room and before she knew it, Mitsuko'd already found a seat next to one of her friends, but it made little difference. Taking the seat beside Sakiko, she shyly waves at the girl as she unpacks her books, idly glancing up to look for the professor, whom hadn't shown up yet.

"You staring into space again, Akari?" A familiar voice made a verbal jab at her, and Akari instantly recognised it as Ishioka Reiko's, one of her best friends from their old school. Staring in that friendly-chastisingly manner at her, the two shared a tense moment of eye contact before smiling broadly.

"Oh, haha, yeah... Just a little." Akari chuckled, running a free hand through her hair as she greeted them both, waving back to a sheepishly waving Miyuki whom peeked out behind Reiko's more assertive shilouette. "Hey you two, same homeroom, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah... Same as last year, except for the school." Reiko replies, uncerimonously setting her books on the desk beside Akari and acting ambivalent toward the transfer, "I hate it already, these uniforms aren't as nice as the ones we had back at Chuuko."

"I don't know... They're kind of cute, yes? I like the bow..." Miyuki interjected, leaning forward so she could talk to both of the other girls. Reiko simply snerked, but nodded in the affirmative anyway. Akari couldn't help but chuckle as she felt the awkwardness of the first day in a unfamiliar building melt away.

"Feeling well, Master?" The sudden telepathic communication caused Akari to jump in her seat, but she bit her lip to stifle what would have been a frightened yelp. Looking down, she tried to find out where Ceres was, knowing she hadn't put her on before leaving home today. "To your left, Master." Moving her gaze left, Akari noticed her watch was an uncharacteristic blue, and displayed digits that were not ones found on earth, yet still inherantly readable.

"What's wrong, Akari?" Reiko immediately sensed the sudden tense from her friend, leaning over to see what she was doing, "Ooh, nice watch."

"H-ha, yeah... I forgot to turn the vibrating alarm off." Akari lied, blushing profusely as she hoped her lie went unnoticed, switching to telepathy to not be suspicious as Reiko oogled her new 'toy.' "C-ceres, why are you here?"

"Ah, master... I apologise that I had to disguise myself as one of your accessories, but I have limited means of hiding myself on your person otherwise." The ancient weapon sheepishly explained, "After all, you are a mage now, and it isn't safe for you to venture into unfamiliar places unarmed. Secondly, I am interested in learning the material you are taught here."

"Aiyy..." Akari sighed, rubbing her forehead, and then looking to her right as she understands this was a suspicious action, "I'm so klutzy sometimes." She giggles to Reiko and Miyuki, trying not to look embarassed.

Sōji stared at the red light. The old formula one racer tensed the muscles in his legs. At the finish line was a single kitchen light in vigil. The light flashed green, and Sōji stomped on his pedal. His wheels spun under him before catching enough traction, jetting his racer 30 kph. He heard the wind roaring its applause. To the cheering of nocturnal insects he crossed the finish line and turned into his driveway. The entryway was dark. For a frightened second he thought something was crawling towards him. In a haste he turned, flipped the light to see nothing. On the floor was a grey pack. Sōji hung his son's backpack on its hook. After turning all the lights off he went to bed and shuts his eyes to the world.

He slept and he dreamed. His little daughter Ami jerked at his arm, leading him to a big red B2. His son wore his school uniform, and his grey pack on his back. Sōji watched as his son hesitantly raised both his palms to the graffiti. Hundred points of energy peppered the wall, chipping surface to dust. When the smoke cleared, Sōji could see where the attack had dug into the wall, but the red B2 still showed on the wall. Dojima's pack grew lips and said, "It goes all the way down, Dojima. Keep blasting before…" Sōji woke to his alarm and prepared for work. He left money for his children's lunches before leaving in his powder blue subcompact racer.
~~~
Dojima saw his sister to the bus stop waiting with her 'til it came and wished her a good day. At school he ran down the nearly empty hall. In his hands the Tohou yearbook slipped through his hands and fell to the floor. He stopped and gathered it back up. Jax hung heavy on his shoulder, but much more loose than it had been. He hadn't found either of the names he had been looking for last night. Dojima figured they just didn't go to this school.

Walking into his morning class he saw a sea of unfamiliar faces. He was disappointed none of his friends had such a early class with him. Dojima came to a realization. He couldn't believe that the school stuck him with the Chuuko Transfers. He stopped dead in his tracks, and a nearly tardy Chuuko shoved passed him. He stuffed Jax under the closest desk he could find, front row next to door. He took the few photos he had taken Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Morning glowed through the wall height windows, students chatted in a rabble behind him, and the clock ticked the seconds to the bell. The classroom had an atmosphere of normalcy. Dojima wasn't about to let a print out of what Jax called a Barrier Jacket distract him. It wasn't even a full suit, just some gloves that appeared on his hands. He laid the photos face down on the desk and waited for class to start.

"In a way," Iriumi's bright smile faltered as she began. Alex sat quietly, blue eyes suddenly more focused then before. Had something happened over the break to her? He did remember seeing her down a while ago-

"Yo, Alex, how's it going."

Alex's eyes widened a little in surprise, before he started frowning. Did I just...?

He didn't have much time to think about it, because he realized that he was frowning at Iriumi. He didn't bother to wipe it away, bad enough that he'd started for no apparent reason. Last thing he needed was for someone to start thinking that the craziness of some of his friends was catching.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I'm a bit blank today too," Iriumi finally continued, looking flustered, as she pulled out her exercise book for the start of class, "so much has happened, and I need to get my mind around things again."

Maybe she didn't notice? Alex thoughtful, an edge of careful relief seeping into his thoughts. But he kept his frown up, he was still a little concerned about her.

"You sure you're alright Iriumi?" The blond asked, his blue eyes worried.


Outside the school, a certain white dove had vanished without a trace. Miranda, once more in her Angelic form, stood in the ethereal soul space between Alex's end of his inactive tie, and the cloaked message shivering along it. The dark haired angel allowed it to wash over her, but made sure to block it from Alex.

"Greetings Ivy." Miranda replied, returning her own message with equal subtly and added with it a projection of her current form. A disc of white colored runes appeared beside the familiar, looking something like a control panel. Without looking at it, Miranda stretched her hand out to rest lightly on the rune-keys. She began to type, almost lazily.

"To what do I owe this," she continued mildly "honor?" Her amber eyes stared straight ahead into the emptiness that was the space between souls, wondering if this Verda would send out a projection of herself as well.

"You sure you're alright Iriumi?" Alex asked, his blue eyes worried. It was Iriumi's turn to panic. Did he notice her spacing out suddenly like that?

"Yeah, I should think so. Needed to get away from my family for a while to clear my mind. School's good like that, you know?" Iriumi responded with as casual a smile as she could muster.


Ivy, too, intercepted the message just before it entered Iriumi's mind. Such disturbances would make the girl stumble and stutter, what with random thoughts popping into her head. The image of an angel floated dimly, projected along with the cloaked message.

"Greetings, Ivy. To what do we owe this... honor?" it spoke. Female, Ivy judged. She supposed it was courtesy to send an image of herself, but it was hard taking human form. She always seemed to get it wrong one way or another.

So the projection that came the other way through the timid tie between two souls was that of a human-shape. Female, perhaps, except not so sure. The body was feminine-esque, writhing with vines and shifting subtly. The face was formless, and the hair hung with tendrils of vines and leaves. Needless to say, her form did not seem to have legs, merely merging into one columnar shape and becoming roots that waved nonchalantly in the air.
Ivy spoke, her words coming out of a jagged mouth in a rustle of leaves. The form of Ivy shifted into a slight bow.
"Have I caught you at a bad time? You sound preoccupied."

Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...

Rei rolled out of bed, to the ever increasing volume of his alarm clock, his muscles burning from the last two days' training. He attempted to walk over to his alarm clock, his blankets still tangled about him, causing him to stumble and hop to make it there and turn the annoying thing off. A few minutes later he was de-tangled and heading down the stairs toward the kitchen.

His mother was already buzzing about in a full business suit, a toaster pastry hanging from her mouth with a briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. When she saw her son she stopped long enough to pull her 'breakfast' from her mouth, holding it in a few free fingers next to her cup of coffee, she leaned in kissed him on the forehead and informed him, in words to quickly to fully register, that she was running late and that his father would take him to school.

Then she was gone leaving Rei to blink a few times after her.

"Hey, kiddo," came his dad's voice, "Why don't you come sit down and get a proper breakfast, for once? I've got awhile to work, so I figured I'd treat you for the first day of school." He was holding a skillet within which was a mostly cooked omelet in his hand as he spoke, obviously in the middle of preparing his own breakfast.

Rei nodded dumbly and started to stagger over, eliciting a laugh from his father. "You'd best wake up! Gotta have those eyes open if you're going to catch yourself a girl!"

The boy blushed deeply, making his father laugh more, as he guided the boy into a seat at the table, the two enjoying some morning banter of little import before the short drive to school. Normally Rei would have biked, but normally Rei wouldn't have had time for a good breakfast either.

-----------

"HEY! SHODA! OVER HERE!" An obese boy with greasy hair and a poor complexion shouted as he waved and pushed his glasses up his face. "HEY! WE HAVE HOMEROOM TOGETHER!"

Rei waved back, though he was a bit embarrassed by his friend's exuberance, and hurried along in the hopes of returning Kaemon to his inside voice. "Oh.. uh, hi, Kaemon..."

"Where have you been? You know it's the first day of school we need to get our seats together! Jeez Rei, you're such a slowpoke," the large, and already sweaty boy said as he attempted to put Rei in a headlock and drag him along like so many times before--but Rei's training kicked in and the boy ducked away from the headlock causing Kaemon to stop and stare for a minute before chuckling. "Come on, Rei, we'll be late." The magical boy nodded and the two quickly found their way to homeroom.

When they stepped in Rei glanced over the classroom, his eyes widening for a moment at the Verda girl from a few nights ago. The one he had hurt. Would she recognize him? He attempted to hide his face and move away, but Kaemon had already seen where Rei was looking and his mind had jumped to entirely other--and more sensible--possibilities than recognition from a magical fire fight.

"Oh wow, Rei, you really know how to pick 'em out," the heavy set boy said, a bit of mouth breathing, "Always picking out the prettiest ones."

"I... it's not that... Let's just sit down." Rei said, as he tried once more to slink toward the back of the class.

"Oh... you don't like her? Well then you won't mind if I..." A grin spread across Kaemon's face.

Rei's shoulders sagged as he knew what was coming, "Can't we just go one day withou..."

But it was too late.

A shadow fell across Iriumi and Alex. A large shadow belonging to an equally large man, his acne pocked face shimmering with a layer of grease, as the smell of unwashed fat washed over them. Light glinted from his glasses, and his face slowly split into a disturbing grin as he looked down at Iriumi, completely ignoring the androgynous boy next to her.

"Well hello, Sweet Thing," he said, in his best imitation of a hollywood actor, as he leaned on the front of her desk--the poor inanimate object giving out a slight groan in protest of his weight. "I'm," he jutted his thumb toward himself in what he felt was the coolest possible manner, "Juro Kaemon, and by what name," he began to ask as he leaned in closer to Iriumi, "might I call such beautiful creature?" He breathed deeply through his mouth as he awaited the answer--adding the unpleasant smell of his breakfast to that of his unwashed body odor.

Rei's body began to slide into itself as he tried to just make himself disappear behind Kaemon.

"Hello, Juro Kaemon," Iriumi replied smoothly. This was perhaps easier waters she can handle instead of the awkward panic between her and Alex. It was a good distraction (albeit a bit... odorous).

"My name is Hana Iriumi, this is one of my friends, Alexander. You must be a transfer, or at least new to this school," she added, smiling politely at the pudgy fellow. She was too nice to wrinkle her nose at the disgusting stench the young man emanated, but the subtle way her posture changed...

She had good friends in this school.

"...Hey, Iriumi," a taller, more well-built young man propped his arm stiffly on the back of Iriumi's chair, speaking in a deeper voice. It wasn't immediately noticed, but under the ruffle of his uniform was definitely rippling muscle. This guy was perhaps a jock of some sorts. Iriumi tilted her head back and met his brown eyes with another polite smile.

"Good morning, Takuso. Sitting in the back of class as usual?"
"Best place to nap. Glad to see you in my class again," he responded with a quick smile, before glancing dismissively at the fat, pockmarked boy in front of Iriumi's desk.
"This guy causing you trouble?" he asked nonchalantly, eyes glinting threateningly like a predator's, while the non-threatening smile was plastered on his face. It was like trying to stare down a snarling panther.
"Takki, don't be like that. He's a new guy, maybe just transferred into this class," Iriumi admonished gently, turning to Kaemon. "I'm sorry about this. Takuso is oh-so protective sometimes against strange new people, and we don't even date," she apologised to the flabby man with a small, polite laugh.
"H-hey! I resent that!" Takuso huffed. The pressure on the back of her seat lifted.
"Kaemon, if you and your friends need any help with getting used to this school, I can ask one of my friends to show you around at lunch break. I'm sure they won't mind spending some of their time settling you two nice gentlemen down," she smiled sweetly, acknowledging the rapidly shrinking (or attempting to shrink) Rei behind the main bulk of Kaemon.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Hana Iriumi," Kaemon said, trying to hide his fear of Takuso, though the slight quivering of his large body gave it away. "I'd love to stay and chat but Rei and I should really fine our seats." He gave shot her another smile which he believed to be charming, before heading toward the back of the class.

Rei followed a bit behind his head down, and face hidden from Iriumi, still afraid of being recognized as he repeatedly apologized for Kaemon's actions. "S-Sorry, sorry, sorry," he said, nodding his head toward her and Takuso, all while continuing to keep his face hidden.

As the two sat down in the back, in the opposite corner from Panko and her thugs, Kaemon turned toward Rei to speak. "So I think she liked me," he said, a large smile across his pockmarked face.

"N.. no she didn't! Why do you have to do this everyday... we almost got beaten up by that jock this time!?"

"Yeah... that guy totally ruined my moves. She was so falling for me, too. It's ok, though, there's lots of days in a school year!" Kaemon smiled widely as he spoke, and Rei's head met his desk in exasperation, choosing not to answer the large boy, anymore.

There weren't many people Alexander Silvadris simply refused to associate with, and most of them had enough friends not to miss him. So, it came as bit of a shock when he realized he'd just met another one. He was glad that Iriumi was the one who'd gotten Kaemon's attention; she handled him far better then he could have. He was had enough trouble keeping his face blank.

Trying desperately not to stare at the spectacle developing between Iriumi and Kaemon, his blue eyes fell on the skinny youth trying to disappear behind Kaemon. He looked embarrassed, badly. Alex blinked, a little surprised that Kaemon's apparent friend seemed shy. The large teen seemed pretty comfortable with what he was doing, so it had to be normal for him.

So... Alex thought, blue eyes now gauging, what's with this one?

He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when Kaemon was chased off, he could breathe again. But when Kaemon’s still unnamed friend started to apologize though, he felt a strong pang of pity.

"Gotta feel sorry for that kid." Alex murmured softly after the boy had scurried away. He cast a side long glance at Iriumi and her self appointed bodyguard without saying anything further. He smiled to himself, Iriumi might be a friendly girl, but he knew that they were acquaintances at best; she'd probably enjoy talking to Takuso more then making small talk with him.

With an inner shrug, he turned back to the front of the classroom, wondering if any of his friends would be in this class. He doubted it though.


"No worse then usual." Miranda replied calmly, still typing at the rune panel without looking at it. "I'm simply monitoring the general magical fields in the area."

"Do you have a reason to contact me?" The angel added a note of curiosity in her voice. If she managed to keep this familiar distracted for a few more moments, her tracking spell would be complete. She hadn't really lied when she'd said she was monitoring the magical fields, she was. Just...not quite in the most passive way.

A constellation of divine architecture built on Earth.
A holy harbour, Orion. Nautical ascension to the firmament.

The music rang throughout the room, enough to get her to open an eye and take note. Demi didn't want to turn it off, since obviously having picked the song, she enjoyed it, and actually let it lull her into another while of sleep.

Ship-shaped barrows open my heart to the wisdom of this land.
Sailing with the Serpent Chimera of a fiendish sandman.

Which turned to a mere second as something from her doll whispered the time. It was already eight-o-clock, and there was a commotion downstairs. And actually, a banging on her door right as she was forcing herself to adjust to the bright light. "Get the hell up Demi, and turn that crap off!" "Its not crap!" She really knew better than to encourage him, but still, it was early, she was half awake, and still somewhat in the state of that dream where she was actually standing up for herself.

Getting out of her nightgown and into her day clothes, she rubbed her eyes and looked with a bit of disdain at her room, not bothering to turn on the lights. She hardly ever did, but instead she gazed at the half form of the drawing she had been doing on her desk. Her doddles had gotten really extensive yesterday, ever since meeting Sentinel she'd been feeling drawing urges more and more, way more than usual. "And don't forget that its monday and you have to go to school!" Shouted the guy into her room again, almost inciting a response, but was more than cut off by the fact that she indeed didn't have the thing on.


Flattening the navy dress down, she stood and looked in the mirror. Her dark vision was pretty nice, but it was only the little windowlight that allowed her to do such things. The music stopped on its own, reaching the end of the song, and the clock was at 8:04. She needed to go down for breakfast. And as soon as she walked out of the door, her brother shined a flashlight into her eyes.

Well, cousin, or step-brother, or something, she never quite got it straight. Regardless, not enough of a bond to stop her from thrashing out and cursing from the burns. "And this is why you need light in your bedroom, look at you. You're pale as anything, and you blind in flashlights." Demi was still very upset, but by that point, her cousin ran downstairs. She opened her eyes, still steamed, but deciding again not to say anything about it. Most he'd get is a little scolding with how these people were.

She walked down the hallway, and down the steps, head down and eyes fixed on the books she had in her hands. Her cousins seemed to be brought to her mind with every item in the house, the pictures, the awards, the successes of them. It boiled her that she couldn't do anything compared to them, they all knew it. Its not even like any of these people cared for her anyway, oh, and look at that...

Demi thought to herself as she noticed that there were three people eating at the table already, and three dishes, their mother being already out somewhere. And apparently, either that mother forgot she lived there too or the others had taken her food and put the dishes away. Its not like she didn't expect it though, and grabbed some things out of the fridge for a lunch as she glared at the fancy dishes and silverware they used.

This was really beyond any sort of taking about it, it was a simple wordless conversation between them by now, unspoken cues not even a need as she silently drifted along and gathered the things for the walk. It was almost as if she wasn't even there to them, but she didn't know if she'd prefer this to the jeering. At least being looked down on would get rid of the feeling that they didn't know she existed. With one last look back, then a quick rush to get her doll from her room up into her arms, Demi departed, and started her walk to the school.

It was a lonely walk, only the soft winds for company. She liked it that way, but still, company was nice. She came to the school, went through the hallways without so much as a glance, almost in her trance as she glided to the first room. The commotion within it almost called to her, or maybe that was just mogura being itself and messing with her head in accordance to the games they played while she was tranced like she was. The portal opened, and she glided into the room with grace, and fully opened her eyes to look for an actual seat.

~BIP ~BIP ~BIP...
~BANG!
The magic book hit Daichi's cellphone making it leave a nice new mark in the drawer next to his bed. The cell was probably going to need no repairs after this, since it was a "survival" model for active people, or so it said on the box when he got it.

Daichi was ready relatively quick, with Yoshiro causing relatively little trouble, since he was also getting ready. He rushed out saying a fast "bye", and got to the bus stop with a safe five minutes left till his bus was coming.
Using the time to sharpen his mind, he tried not to pull out the book he took with him for whatever reason. When the bus arrived, he was already in a shape to pretend his life is still boring and plain(which was actually true for now).

---

When he got to the classroom, most places were already taken. Surprisingly the seat at the window in the back row was still free, so he took it to have a better look at his new classmates. Roughly half of the faces were new, and others were already well known to him.

This didn't mean they knew him.

Yoshida twins were probably his only real friends, or at least people that he uses to hang out with, but most of all, they were the eyes and ears of the school. The two formed the schools secret "spy club", everyone who knew of its existence could for a small fee obtain copy of the "recon", a single CD with files on every person possible.

Daichi hoped not to be bothered with making new acquaintances till the updated edition of the "recon" was out. So for the time being, he pretended to be taking a nap at his seat. Nobody else in the classroom would know anything about him. It was a part of the deal with the twins that they make sure he's not featured in the "recon".

[OOC: Need sleep...]

After the brief confrontation, Takuso chatted a bit more idly to Iriumi before moving off to the back of the classroom again, where the other more stockier and less... 'academically involved' students tended to reside. Iriumi turned to agree with Alex's comment about the young man who had stood quivering and wibbling behind the more larger, brasher student.

"Yes, he looked like he might've passed out from embarrassment," she added, softly enough so that the other two won't hear it, "hmm, Kaemon said his name was Rei?" she added, more to herself this time in contemplation. I should probably go apologise to him after class...

As the classroom filled up with students, a good lot of them sidled past Iriumi's desk and offered small greetings and chitchat. It seemed wherever she sat she attracted a small crowd. Some of them recognised Alex from their previous years, and greeted him too. Iriumi made sure she included Alex in some of her minor conversations, whether it was through introductions or whatever.

"Only a greeting from one familiar to another. I have concerns that mayhaps a certain Verda mage is attempting to send barely-cloaked messages within my vicinity. Unfortunately, it was too brief to trace."

Miranda's tracking spell hit a bizarre snag. As it fed itself secretly along the inactive ribbon Alex had formed, it met a seemingly crude yet extremely efficient wall composed out of vines and ivy leaves. The only thing Miranda got before the tracking spell splashed itself into nonexistence across the wall was that wherever Ivy was communicating from, it was close to Alex.

Ivy's projection radiated mild admonishment.
"If you just wanted to know where I am talking from, you should've just asked, angel," Ivy raised a tendril and ticked it condescendingly. "I'd hoped I could converse with you on certain... matters, but I suppose that will have to wait until our vessels have met in person again. Have a nice morning," and with that, the ribbon between Iriumi and Alex snapped.


Iriumi flinched, feeling the small twinge of pain when the connection between her and the priest/ess was severed. Natasha, the current girl she was chatting to, stopped, concerned.

"Sorry, just a cramp. Do continue," Iriumi added with a reassuring smile.

Alex had always known Iriumi was popular, but he'd never really realized just how popular until that morning. For his part, he was friendly enough, but he had a feeling most of Iriumi's friends were a little unnerved by him, he did hang out with some of the school's weirdest on a regular basis. It wasn't like he blamed them, Demi still managed to creep him out sometimes.

Even so, that didn't stop Iriumi's fanclub far slowly occupying the surrounding desks.


Miranda calmly intercepted the backlash from the link's breaking. She'd half expected something like this when the other familiar had shown skill enough to access Alex's channel, while still cloaking her own energies.

Taking Ivy's...was that a comment, a warning...or an insult? Miranda wondered, as she vanished from soul space. She quickly renewed her magical barriers around Alex's mind, as she silently rejoined her partner.


It was a few moments after Iriumi flinched that Alex noticed Demi standing in the doorway. A quick glance at the desks around him revealed that most of them were occupied. Demi had never been the most social girl, she might not want to sit that close to so many people she didn't know, and at the front of the room no less.

Either way, Alex stood a little in his desk to give her a friendly wave.

He felt a small pang of fear when he remembered she had magical powers too. He hoped she'd learned some control of the drain last two days. Otherwise...

Still, he managed to keep that worry from his face, holding a bright smile in its place.

The general depression and bad mood of the day instantly lifted as her eyes noticed Alex over on the other side of the room, beginning to walk over and having a general brightness as she imagined that Alex would actually be able to be around. She had something to look forward to here, other than getting away itself. Though this truly didn't get her away from it much, because this place constantly reminded her of how much superior all of them were to her, and especially in the cases where she actually met up with them.

She hit her head slightly, knocking her out of self-inflected depression and noticing that the area where she'd have to be to sit with Alex would place her right in the front and practical center, a place she desperately didn't want to be. Though... the window seat while in the front, was both a window seat and nearby, so it was the obvious choice. She had told herself she'd be a bit more open anyway so this was a good thing. Least, thats what she was telling herself.

Her bag went over the seat, though she remained standing halfway, trying to get around into a good position to see him. Her breathing for the most part, was under control, though she was still taking in magical energy. It was a mostly hidden feature now though. Mogura was still in her arms, although as she typically did around most people, she kept it out of sight, finding the seat to be easy cover to hold it under while she leaned over and talked to Alex, though in a bit of a relaxed manner like a normal person would talk. "Hey Alex, its nice to see a familiar face in this crowd."

Mage alert. Ivy announced it after Iriumi felt it. The room felt slightly chillier as the ambient magic within it was slowly being sucked into what was detected as a void.

Ivy this time was better-prepared for any incidents that might make Iriumi falter. A small fuzz of ambient excess energy serving to soften the small vortex generated by Demi enveloped Iriumi, before Ivy began anchoring down and putting up proper defensive measures against any further drain. Iriumi felt the distinct aura generated from Demi, but it was soft enough to be ignored while she talked with other people.

They were drifting away slightly, too. Mainly it was because the girl kind of creeped them out a bit, or it could be because they were looking for seats before class started. Either way, the crowd Iriumi attracted dispersed gradually. She gave Demi a friendly smile and a nod, even if she didn't feel like it.

Menarker flinched and nearly twitched from all the assorted chaos he had inadvertably put himself in. He had chosen his seat purely out of a combination of studious and personal preference, and the end result? He struggled to not make a face from the over-powering aura of uncleaniness that the obese kid stank of or by the equally cheesy and utterly insincere bits of flattery he used. Moments later, he had gritted his teeth out of personal infuriation when the jock showed up with his own brand of tyrannical charisma, the type that he despised most. He did appreciate an odd bit of fortune that he was "luckily" seated near someone who easily radiated a sense of demure grace like the famous Irumi, but her beauty came with its own cost as her popularity increased the flow of people that swarmed the desks nearby, including his own. The lad feel a pang of sympathy for the nervous lad who accompanied them. By now he utterly missed Mero, and for once, he was of the opinion that class, which hadn't even started yet, was taking way too long. The more veterans students looked occupied or closed while he felt nervous or unwilling to interact with the newer students until some time has passed.

"Ok, ok... calm down... Sure glad I got something of a surefire meditation technique..."

He held his breath for a brief instant in time, allowing his own brand of alchemy to flow through him, magic energy merging with the air and lifeblood which flowed through him, which sparked his mind with energy, while soothing his body like no massage therapist ever could. Taking a closer look, the crowd started to fade away, to which he sincerely sighed in relief.

Alex managed to keep himself from wincing when he noticed Demi's aura. She had made it smaller, a lot smaller, and a lot weaker then last night, but it was still there. Now he was really worried, it wasn't like he expected any of the Autekka to show up in the class, but what if Demi couldn't hide her magic, then they might find her.

He managed to keep these thoughts from his face though as she sat down and turned toward him. "Hey Alex, its nice to see a familiar face in this crowd."

The blond gave her a warm, bright smile, "Good morning Demi, its nice to see you too." He blinked suddenly, looking confused. A hesitant smile blossomed a few moments after, "Did you leave Mogura at home today?"


Inside Alex's mind, Miranda cursed silently. That was another magical blossom, the third in this class. Fourth, if she included the one Ivy's familiar had mentioned.

She stood in the center of what appeared to be a complex white casting mandala, with several rune panels floating around her. Unlike before, now she was really monitoring the magical fields around her. Unfortunately, that was difficult while keeping her own energies entirely cloaked, making the process infuriatingly slow. Not to mention that she needed to divert most of Alex's magic senses from picking up on the spells, otherwise he might stumble and give himself away.

But as long as they keep their magics active...she thought with a grim smile to herself.

She took another breath, the small pull inwards forming once again, and her feeling the slight rejuvenation in her mind and body once again. It was filling up, little by little. Though, it would take a while, and Sentinel was warning her to keep it to a minimum if at all in these kinds of situations. There was hesitation with Alex, and his following question immediately triggered the thought to her. "Oh, definitely not. You think I'm insane?"

She smirked, pulling up her hand in her lap, holding the doll by the head and peeking it in view of the boy for a quick moment before pushing it back down and keeping it out of view once more. "See, right here with me." The smile surfaced on her head, giving a wave to Irumi and returning the happy mood. She pushed the hair out of her face for the first time in the day, using the opposite hand, and wiping her eye with the palm.

________________________________________________

"~Ah.... looks like there's magic in the air. Lots of it. I'm sensing that these school trips will be very fun.~"
"Typically are. Though its kind of embarrassing being hidden like this."
"~I don't think so. I'll probably have to do a little looking around once I get the chance. There have to be other Mg's here.~"
"So now you can detect them? I thought you explicitly said that t-"
"~I can't. Though I don't know which they are, I know they are here. And more than one other. There is far, faaar too much loose magic in the general area for the case to be anything else, spare another artifact or some such right beneath our feet.~"

Looking around the room again, Dojima saw a face he might be familiar with. Menarker, a Tohou regular just like him stuck in with the transfers, fidgeted in his seat. Dojima watched him perform some breathing exercises, and wondered how much stress can a kid get in the first class of the year. Dojima decided He needed to relax and go with the flow. He packed up his stuff and sat at the desk in front of Menarker's.

Dojima twisted his back with a friendly façade on his face. "Hey man," he said to Menarker, "Why so tense? I mean OK, these transfers are a bit shady, but nothing us regulars need to get concerned about." Dojima loosen his red tie and let his collar out. "Maybe you just can't breath in these new uniforms. After a cursory glance back to the door where the instructor would enter minutes before class, he rolled his shelves. "You'll get used to it."

"I've seen you around. My name's Dojima."

No time for goodbye he said
As he faded away

Javier sat in a seat at the back of the classroom, not paying attention to anything around him. Legs up on the deck and leaning back over the chair, the collar made its irritating presence known as it rubbed against the surface. He idly pulled at it, hoping to lessen the sensation. He was ignoring all of the people in the classroom, dreading the inevitable assault of the overfriendly and the over desperate amongst the transfer students that did not yet know of him. Those brave or foolish enough to try had already learned that he didn't intend to converse with them nor did he suffer fools gladly. He shook his head slightly to each side as he thought about this, and grey and silver flowed through the air as he did so.

Don't put your life in someone's hands
They're bound to steal it away

Somewhere, an inkling of energy flickered in and out of existence. Javier started slightly, recognizing the feeling as that of magic. If his eyes had been open, they would've narrowed. His mind flickered through possibilities, discarding most upon conception, retaining only the idea that one of the students here must also be a mage. If they recognized him as one... He shook his head absently in accordance with his thoughts. That wasn't going to happen. He carefully probed his own magic signature, reining it in with his will wherever he found possible leaks, shielding the few areas he couldn't. His connection with the snowy-hued feline that had carefully hidden himself nearby was one such example. Glint had refused to stay behind, citing Javier's protection as his reason. Well, if he saw any more Crystal Lasers, he'd be sure to tell him. Or not, rather.

Don't hide your mistakes
'Cause they'll find you, burn you

Yet more subtle traces of magic flared up and died away just quickly, each feeling slightly different, leaving a different echo in Javier's head. It was enough to drive his eyes open, to look at possible suspects. It would be best to know who exactly he needed to be wary of. Adjusting position slightly, his eyes were immediately drawn to Demi, whom he recognized as the resident crazy. She had been present during the night, wearing something black. He didn't really remember; whole part of the concussion package. Demi was talking to the boy (Alec, he pondered?) two desks directly in front of the one he sat at. Or partially on, in any case. He didn't sense any magic from her, however. Noting her in memory, he quickly scanned the rest of the classroom. No more traces of the earlier bits remained, seemingly. He even removed the ear buds of the ipod he was listening to secretly under his hair, to no avail.

Resigned, he popped them back in and waited for school to begin.

Then he said
If you want to get out alive
Hold on for your life

Shimizu and Kiyuri took seats right next to each other, as usual. "Hang on, Kiyuri. Ponpon's trying to talk to me at the same time you are."
Apparently another mysterious power granted by the strange gems in Ponpon's circuitry and the Star Brand covering roughly three-fourths of Shimizu's right palm, Ponpon could speak to Shimizu without speaking out loud, but this connection was only one way. Shimizu couldn't talk back without speaking where others could hear her.
"Wow, a school, paya! I've never gone to a school before, paya! It's so neat and clean, the perfect place for enriching people's minds, paya!"
Shimizu apologized to Kiyuri and continued to endure it. Considering how hyperactive it was, Ponpon could very well rant about her first day of school well until the teacher arrived.

Kiyuri smirked. "I don't envy you, Shimizu." she said, knowing Shimizu couldn't talk back. "Between Ponpon and Kazuki, I imagine a very strenuous school year ahead of you. I can only hope this whole second life of yours doesn't end up costing you more than lost sleep and free time."
Then she reached under her desk and started sneaking food from her lunchbox into her mouth. Kiyuri ate lunch before class started and bought bread at the school store or begged a few items from Shimizu's lunch as a daily ritual.