The final bell echoed across the Saintellia Academy. Students sprawled out of the courtyards, marking the end of a long day.
Today's happenings were overwhelming, to say the least. Tsukishiro, and Yukari walked down the long set of stairs, right onto the gates.
"The lesson was exhausting. Theory is hard." Tsukishiro complained, raising his arms up, and stretching.
"You'll get used to it. In the long run, theory won't be that hard." Yukari said, her emotionless eyes looking straight, and her voice expressionless.
"Hopefully." Tsukishiro's expression turned worried. He still can't shake himself off about today's event. Meeting with a S-rank student, Rei Shinomiya, and then knowing that Youko is the strongest here. Not just the strongest, but even being called as "God."
Tsukishiro was deep in thought, his eyes distant, that as they walked, he didn't notice the wall in front of him, and bump onto it, falling on his back.
"O-Ow!" He blurted out, as he placed his hand over his aching face.
"I've been telling you that there's a wall infront, yet you're so deep in thought." Yukari said indifferently.
"S-Sorry." Tsukishiro's eyes were still occupied.
"Why the long face?" Yukari asked, lending a hand to him.
Tsukishiro was quiet for a moment, before he shook his head and smiled. He grabbed onto Yukari's hand and stood up.
"It's nothing."
"Is that so? So be it."
Brushing off the dust on his clothes, they continued to walk. He composed himself, and focused on walking. Everything was quiet until,
"Cat." Yukari murmured. This single-word, even though spoken lowly, was heard by Tsukishiro.
"Cat?" He looked up, and saw, that at the gates of the school, was a black cat, purring, its black eyes looking directly at them.
They walked up to it, and Yukari picked it up. She petted the cat, her cheeks slightly blushing. With a gentle hand, she rubbed the cat.
*Meow*
Suddenly, the cat jumped from her arms to Tsukishiro. He instinctively caught it in his arms.
Both of them were surprised.
"It seems to fancy you more than it fancies me." She said, disappointed.
"Y-Yeah... I don't know why."
The cat showered him with affection, rubbing its head against his cheeks.
"T-There, there," he gently patted the kitty, rubbing against its fur.
"I wonder what a cat is doing out here," Yukari stated.
Just then, the cat suddenly jumped down onto the ground, and the looked back at Tsukishiro, meowing.
Then, it walked towards the direction of the school, meowing, as if asking Tsukishiro to follow it.
"What's wrong, little kitty?" Tsukishiro asked softly.
It meowed, before moving up a little further, and slowly walked towards the school building.
"Goodbye, Kitten." Yukari waved goodbye with a gentle voice, yet an emotionless expression.
Before they both turned around and left, they took one glance at the cat.
...
Later that night, under the night shade of the moonlight, the black cat reappeared. This time, it's in front of a door leading to the department for the prodigies, which is just beside the main building, only divided by a single, yet tall wall.
Its halls are overwhelmingly filled with the floating essence of magic, which only those who possess this kind of strength are able to enter without fainting. And not surprisingly, only 9 people could enter this building—the seven S-ranks, the Warden of the Academy, and Yoruha Soutume, the adviser for S-ranks.
The cat looked at the door curiously, and then it jumped, going right through the door. It went to do this over and over, jumping through the stairs, until it arrived at the final door.
It jumped right through, and it arrived at the rooftop of the building. The rooftop was empty, the edges fenced. In the middle was a long, black bench with a girl in a white dress sitting and staring up at the night sky.
The cat ran up to the girl and jumped onto her lap.
"You're quite late today, aren't you?" The girl murmured warmly with a smile as she ran her hands through the cat's fur.
The girl was none other than Youko. She rubbed it as a long silence extended for a while. Her eyes were fixated on the thousand stars up in the sky.
She remembered this view like it was yesterday.
Let's make a promise to each other—an Oath.
That sentence remained on her mind since she got here. A promise, of them, together, side-by-side, becoming a magicians. And now, she stands at the top of this Academy, wondering where her friend is now.
Her family sent letters to the village, telling them of her Academia and Youko's being a success. However, not one of the incidents occurred.
Maybe in that way, Tsukishiro will know where to go. However, it's been years, and they haven't found one another yet.
Thoughts of returning to her village temporarily crossed her mind. However, her fear of her uncontrolled power hindered her like a huge wall.
"I wonder what happened to him now." She whispered to herself.
"Maybe he gave up and didn't continue. Or maybe, he's taking his time. Or maybe, he's here now, only in the shadows, unknown to me." She added.
The cat meowed, looking at her with its eyes, as if it understood her words, and responded.
"However, I've already fulfilled my side of the promise. I hope he, too, fulfills his."
Just then, the door behind them creaked open.
"You won't push me away, won't you?" A voice said. It was familiar, and it was none other than Rei Shinomiya.
Youko didn't remove her gaze from the sky, and still recognized who it was.
"What are you doing here?" She asked gently, yet somewhat coldly.
"The others already pushed me away. They're "busy". *Sigh*, staying here every day and having no one to talk to isn't fun." Rei replied, his voice complaining. He slowly walked up to Youko, both his hands behind his head.
"Go for a walk within the halls." She replied,
Rei stopped just near Youko, enough to see the cat on her lap.
"That black kitty really seems to like you. It's been visiting you for days now." Rei said,
"Yes. However, I don't know why it visits me. It's been here since after the entrance exam. " Youko replied, as she played with the kitten. "So, why are you here? I'm also busy."
"Busy doing what? I'm just here to pass the time. The hallway's too heavy. Miss Yoruha really took it up a notch by filling the halls with magic essence."
"It's for constant training, so that each day, our magic will improve."
"Tsk, easy for you to say. You're not struggling to walk through those. In fact, I don't think it affects you at all."
"Yeah, it doesn't. I don't even feel the magic essence suspended within the halls."
"See?" Rei sighed,
A quiet silence momentarily reigned over them.
"You're always deep in thought. What are you thinking about exactly?"
Youko remained silent for a few seconds before responding.
"The moon is quiet. The stars are gorgeous. It's all that I think about."
Rei looked at her doubtfully. However, her focused, brilliant eyes say otherwise.
"Is that so?"
"Say, do you believe in fate?" She asked,
"That's a little out of the blue."
"Do humans follow a story laid out for them, or do they get to lay out their story?"
"I believe people decide the plan for their life."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Hmm."
...
Silence stood over them for a little while before Youko placed the cat down, and stood up, walking towards the fenced edge of the rooftop.
There, she glanced at the golden city of Saintellia. The lights glowed in glowing gold.
"I think you should leave. I need some time for myself." Youko said, albeit with a smile.
Rei narrowed his eyes. "There, you pushed me away."
"I'll really push you away if you don't." Youko summoned a claw hand made of light and spread its fingers wide, like a shield.
Then, it slowly closed upon Rei.
Heaving a sigh, Rei decided to turn around and leave, and so Youko retracted her magic.
Now alone, Youko hovered her fingers in the air, conjuring a faint light from her fingers. Then, she raised it up, high in the air.
And from the tip of her index finger, a light shoots up, directly into the sky. A few seconds later, glittery, snow-like material slowly descended from the night sky.
It filled the area around the school with a glittery, golden glow.
Everyone looked above and saw the glitter. They were beautiful, they thought.
Youko, seeing this, smiled to himself.
"Magic is beautiful." She said, in love with the scene before her. She had best try to forget about the incident, however, it follows her like a shadow.
"Just when could I finally overcome these powers?"
...
Tsukishiro, who was working out in his room, noticed that outside was glowing beautifully. He stopped for a minute and looked outside the window.
Falling from the sky were golden glitter, resembling snow.
"What is... This?" He murmured, struck in awe by what he saw.
Somehow, this scene brings him back to his home, his village, like a videotape playing on his mind.
Youko, hurry up! He would yell out as they played. Youko wasn't the girl who had a strong body. In fact, she easily tires. When Tsukishiro, on the other hand, is energetic.
However, as their ages grew, a gap would soon appear in their strength, a gap almost impossible to close.
Tsukishiro vividly remembers their days back in the village. The fun they had in training together and the moments they spent with one another.
...
"Hence, the more reason for me to be stronger. So that I could stand beside you again."
He smiled to himself before continuing his own physical training.