The Infinite Dimensions Starting from The Irregular at Magic High School

Maybe it had been when she was defeated for the first time. Maybe it had been when he stood up for her in the gymnasium, even going against the Public Morals Committee. Or maybe it had been when he avenged her against Blanche...

Or maybe it was because he possessed the unshakable strength she yearned for.

But...

"But I'm clearly only a Course 2 Student, and I'm not even that outstanding, yet here I am, monopolizing you all by myself. Saegusa-senpai and Watanabe-senpai... even Miyuki, Kitayama, and Mitsui-kouhai are all much more suited to you than I am."

Perhaps because that kiss just now had caused a flood of oxytocin, Sayaka's head felt a little light, and even the words coming out of her mouth were a little strange.

Mahiro did not refute her. He merely lowered his head calmly, gazed at the upperclassman in his arms, and said with a faint smile:

"Mibu-senpai, is magic the only way you measure your own worth?"

Sayaka's body trembled slightly at once, because he had asked that question again—the same question he had asked in the Special Reading Room.

Back then, she had not been able to think of an answer. And now, it was the same.

But at that moment, Mahiro gave her an answer.

"Mibu-senpai, even if your talent for magic isn't very good, you're still Kendo Komachi. Your sword is beautiful and strong, strong enough to earn even Erika's approval."

"I think that alone puts you above many people. Even most Course 1 Students can't compare to you."

"So don't belittle yourself. You're an incredibly outstanding person, senpai. Beautiful and strong."

After hearing those words from him, Sayaka's face had already turned red all the way to the tips of her ears.

Her gaze instinctively wanted to shift away, but she forced it back, meeting his eyes like some pitiful little animal.

"R-Really?"

"Of course it's true." Mahiro gave her his affirmation once more.

"Mm... I understand."

Sayaka began to answer with a confession in a faint voice.

"Mahiro-kouhai, I like you, and I won't give up."

"I'll keep working hard to become stronger, until I'm qualified to stand by your side."

Sayaka's eyes shone with determination.

She had already heard about Yotsuba Mahiro from her father.

Although Saegusa-senpai had accompanied him at the time, in reality, he had wiped out the entire Blanche organization by himself.

Even Erika had said the same.

So outstanding, and so powerful.

Beneath that dazzling radiance, she felt like an ugly duckling.

But today, she had still mustered up the courage to say what was in her heart!

"Mahiro-kouhai, are you willing to accept someone like me? Someone who isn't as beautiful as Saegusa-senpai by comparison, and isn't that outstanding either, but will still do everything she can to chase after your back and walk beside you?"

Hearing that, Mahiro said nothing. He merely held her slender waist tighter.

Did that even need an answer?

A kiss was the most fitting answer of all.

However—

"Mibu-senpai, I'm very poor, you know. You know I was abandoned by the Yotsuba Family."

"That's all right. I can support you!"

Although he had said that as a joke, judging from Sayaka's reply, she clearly had not meant it that way.

Still, living off a woman was nice, and it was good for the stomach too.

But he had no real intention of relying on his upperclassman to support him.

Putting aside how embarrassing that would be, he could not bear to do it either.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

"Hey, Erika-chan, what exactly did Mibu-senpai and Yotsuba-kun go off to do? Why haven't they come back after so long?"

After waiting for so long, Mizuki's gaze was still looking around. Even now, she still had no idea what the two of them had gone off to do.

"Maybe by the time they come back, they'll already have a kid?"

Erika teased lightly, but Mizuki looked completely confused. "Eh? Erika-chan, what do you mean?"

Erika: "..."

She looked at the innocent, guileless Mizuki, and even her desire to joke vanished along with it. Helplessly, she patted her on the shoulder and said:

"Mizuki, you really are pure."

"Ehhh???"

Mizuki immediately panicked.

Because out of everyone present, she really did seem to be the only one who knew nothing.

Mari Watanabe was saying something to Mayumi Saegusa, as if comforting her, while Mayumi had her lips slightly puffed out in a pout.

As for the Shiba siblings, that went without saying. Perhaps no one there saw things more clearly than they did.

On the other side, although Kitayama Shizuku understood, Mitsui Honoka beside her looked as if she only half got it.

She even asked rather boldly, "Erika, is what you said true? In a little while... will Senior Mibu and Yotsuba already have children?!"

Everyone else was shocked by Honoka's innocence.

All right, her level of natural airheadedness was practically on par with Mizuki's.

"Honoka, don't listen to Erika's nonsense. She was only joking."

"That's right, Honoka. You're taking it too seriously."

Miyuki stepped forward to defend Mahiro, while Kitayama Shizuku chimed in beside her.

"Oh my, Miyuki, is it really all right for you to say that? Don't you care about the relationship between Yotsuba and Sayaka?" Erika teased again.

"I care very much."

Faced with Erika's question, Miyuki answered without the slightest hesitation.

"But..."

As she spoke, Miyuki quietly turned around, softened her steps, and gazed at the deep blue sky outside the hospital, dotted with several pale clouds.

"As long as I can see Brother Mahiro living happily now, Miyuki is already very satisfied."

If Shiba Tatsuya's life was one that had been manipulated, then Yotsuba Mahiro was synonymous with tragedy.

As one of the candidate heirs of the Yotsuba Family, Miyuki knew all of this very well.

And although her words had been spoken in a very ordinary tone, to the others, they still carried a different meaning.

Especially to Mayumi.

The Yotsuba Family, the Fourth Laboratory—though she did not understand these things in great detail, she still knew a little more than the others.

The Yotsuba Family stood alongside the Saegusa as one of the twin pillars of the Ten Master Clans.

Their original surname had been "Shiba," and after joining the Fourth Laboratory, they had changed it to "Yotsuba." They were the only family of magicians born from the Fourth Laboratory.

They were also the family among the Ten Master Clans that most thoroughly treated magicians as weapons.

So if Yotsuba Mahiro really was a member of the Yotsuba Family, then his past experiences must have been extremely cruel.

Mid-July.

The final exams for the first term at First National Magic University Affiliated High School had ended last week, and summer vacation was about to begin.

The exam results would be posted on the school intranet, including the ranking lists.

So at that moment, everyone was enthusiastically checking their own scores. But after seeing the rankings, some cheered while others groaned in dejection.

Yotsuba Mahiro was one of them.

Looking only at theoretical scores, his name was quite easy to find. It could be spotted at first glance.

First place: Class A, Yotsuba Mahiro; Class E, Shiba Tatsuya.

Third place: Class A, Miyuki Shiba.

Fourth place: Class E, Yoshida Mikihiko.

Fifth place was Honoka from the same class, but Kitayama Shizuku was ranked tenth, while Shibata Mizuki from Class E was seventeenth.

But the most surprising one was Erika, who had actually landed right at twentieth place.

Anyone after twentieth was considered off the list.

Just like with his combined practical and theoretical score—he simply could not find his own name at all.

"Hey, that's a little surprising, isn't it?"

Kitayama Shizuku's voice drifted faintly from behind him. Like Mahiro, she was looking at the score rankings.

Mahiro tilted his head and leaned back to look at Kitayama Shizuku.

"Why is it surprising?"

"It's simple. Your magic ability is clearly that strong, yet your practical score didn't make the rankings. Instead, you got a perfect score in theory."

Kitayama Shizuku said it expressionlessly, though there was some surprise in her tone.

Honoka seemed to have heard their conversation as well, and immediately turned her head, earnestly agreeing, "That's right. Mahiro's practical magic is obviously so strong."

Ever since Sayaka had been discharged from the hospital, under Erika's influence, several of them had started calling him by his given name.

As for the matter of practical magic...

Although the uproar in April seemed to have been kept from spreading too widely thanks to information control, Erika's big mouth had advertised it enough that basically everyone in their little circle knew about it.

So the two girls stared at him with burning eyes, as if waiting for an explanation.

"It wasn't really anything." Mahiro spread his hands helplessly. "The theory exams were all on paper, so if I wanted to answer, I answered. But I didn't like the way they handled the practical exam."

That was not an excuse.

The format of the practical exam always made him think of his days at the Fourth Laboratory.

"Is that so?"

Kitayama Shizuku listened, nodded slightly as if she half understood, then said, "Then the Nine Schools Competition during summer break should suit you very well, Mahiro."

Yotsuba Mahiro: ?

It sounded a little familiar, but he could not quite remember. What was that again?

After gaining a systematic understanding of it, Mahiro finally remembered what the so-called Nine Schools Competition was.

The Nine Schools Competition, formally known as the National Magic High School Goodwill Magic Games, was essentially a team competition between the affiliated high schools of the First through Ninth National Magic Universities.

Every year, over a hundred carefully selected magic high school students from nine magic high schools across the country gathered in one place, staking their dignity and honor as they played out dramas of glory and setback.

And those who attended

were not limited to people connected to magic. Many spectators also came to watch, making it a brilliant stage for magic high school students.

"So this is one of this year's Nine Schools Competition events, 'Mirage Bat'?"

Inside Kokonoe Temple.