"I'm the student council president here. My name is Mayumi Saegusa, written with the characters for 'seven grasses' and pronounced 'Saegusa.' Nice to meet you!"
Mayumi Saegusa bowed slightly, smiling as she introduced her name and position.
"Chiba Yeyou. A new student."
Mayumi Saegusa, huh!
Saegusa, one of the Numbered Families, and one of the Ten Master Clans at that!
I had to say, that petite figure... tsk, tsk!
It really made me want to pull her into my arms and hold her all night!
"By the way, You-kun, what were you doing on the roof?"
Mayumi Saegusa was rather curious about what had attracted Chiba Yeyou enough for him to disregard the danger and do something so dangerous on such a high rooftop.
"Nothing much. I got up a little early today and wasn't used to it, so I took a nap on the roof!"
Chiba Yeyou spoke nonchalantly.
"Uh..."
"If you don't mind me asking, what time do you usually get up?"
Mayumi Saegusa was rather speechless. The school gates had only opened at nine thirty today, and after the preparations, the new student assembly would start close to noon. That was still early?
"Oh, I usually... I think it's probably around twelve noon?"
Chiba Yeyou thought it over. It was probably around that time.
"You..."
Mayumi Saegusa stared at Chiba Yeyou in disbelief, her eyes wide as she looked him up and down.
Seeing that this fellow actually had an emblem on his shoulder, Mayumi Saegusa began to question for the first time whether their First Magic High School's tests were really accurate.
Someone this impossibly lazy was actually a Course 1 Student?
He saw Mayumi Saegusa's reaction but didn't mind.
"Oh, right, I also watched a big family melodrama!"
As though something had occurred to him, Chiba Yeyou spoke again.
"Uh, what family melodrama?"
Mayumi Saegusa was baffled again.
What did any of this even mean?
"Well, there was a younger sister who'd deeply loved her older brother since childhood, and an older brother whose only wish was to protect his younger sister. They were arguing to get the other person the right to an honor. Then the brother won the argument, and in the end, they gazed deeply into each other's eyes. The sister got shy, and she misunderstood, too."
Chiba Yeyou raised his eyebrows as he spoke to Mayumi Saegusa.
"???"
Although Mayumi Saegusa didn't get it, she was deeply shocked.
Then, as though she had realized something, she asked loudly, "Where? Where?"
She looked around as she spoke.
*???*
Why did it feel like something was off about this Mayumi Saegusa?
Or was something off about me?
Were you seriously making that exact same face as a melon-field badger hunting for gossip?
At that moment, her image as the Saegusa Family's youngest daughter, its little princess, the student council president, and the girl with bewitching beauty collapsed in Chiba Yeyou's mind.
Gossip really knew no borders, no eras, and not even the boundaries of space and time!
He had certainly broadened his horizons today!
This badger, after searching for gossip for so long, finally remembered that someone was still there.
Then Mayumi Saegusa blushed and mumbled, "You didn't see anything, right, junior?"
As she spoke, Mayumi Saegusa raised her fair wrist.
"I didn't see anything, didn't see anything..."
Chiba Yeyou rolled his eyes irritably.
"Well then, remember to gather in the auditorium, junior. I'll be going ahead!"
Then, without waiting for Chiba Yeyou to say anything, she scurried away, her face red.
"Pfft!"
"She actually ran away!"
"This is way too funny!"
Chiba Yeyou couldn't help laughing.
This Mayumi Saegusa really was quite entertaining. He remembered that this girl should have been rather fond of teasing her juniors, with a slightly wicked, little-devil personality.
Today had shattered his fixed impression of Mayumi Saegusa.
That was right. This was a living, breathing person, not a two-dimensional character in an anime.
"Ah..."
"Where should I go next?"
Chiba Yeyou yawned in boredom and raised his wrist for a look. Their rehearsal would take a while longer, and there was still some time before the new student assembly began.
So Chiba Yeyou began wandering aimlessly around the school.
"Hmm?"
As he walked, someone suddenly approached from the opposite direction. Although his body looked somewhat thin and frail, it seemed to contain tremendous explosive power.
Tatsuya Shiba, huh!
I hadn't expected to run into him so soon.
Chiba Yeyou's previously languid eyes narrowed slightly, then returned to their lazy look as he continued forward.
Tatsuya Shiba's gaze happened to meet Chiba Yeyou's as well, and Tatsuya Shiba had a strange feeling he couldn't put into words.
"Hello, I'm Chiba Yeyou. And you?"
Chiba Yeyou extended his right hand and asked with a smile.
Chiba!
Another of the Numbered Families!
Something didn't seem quite right?
Was there a family named Chiba Yeyou's among the reserve families of the Ten Master Clans?
Tatsuya Shiba thought silently.
"Look, that Bloom actually offered a Weed his hand. How ridiculous!"
Just then, several girls with flowers on their shoulders passed the two of them, looking utterly astonished.
"Pfft! A Weed, coming here this early!"
"That Weed doesn't think he can catch up to us by working hard like a Bloom, does he?"
"He probably thinks he's the same as a Bloom just because one Bloom is willing to get along with him!"
"I bet that Bloom's definitely a new student. He'll regret it someday!"
Their whispers clearly couldn't escape Chiba Yeyou's and Tatsuya Shiba's ears.
That was right. At this school, magical talent came first!
They were sorted into ranks from the moment they enrolled: those with good magical talent were Blooms, and those with poor magical talent were Weeds.
And their testing criterion was the degree to which their magic interfered with things.
Tatsuya Shiba frowned slightly.
"Don't mind them. I bet if a life-or-death crisis happened, these people would definitely be the first to die."
Chiba Yeyou still smiled at Tatsuya Shiba.
"Hello, I'm Tatsuya Shiba, a new student. Thank you, upperclassman!"
Tatsuya Shiba reached out and shook Chiba Yeyou's hand, then bowed slightly in thanks. However, he seemed to have misunderstood something.
"We're in the same year!"
Chiba Yeyou held up a finger and wagged it from side to side in front of Tatsuya Shiba.
"???"
Tatsuya Shiba was stunned!
This person, whom even he couldn't see through, was actually a new student!
Were this school's admissions standards that terrifying?
Once again, Tatsuya Shiba felt fortunate that he could attend the same school as Miyuki.
Chiba Yeyou looked at the Course 1 upperclasswomen in the distance and couldn't help finding it rather amusing.
There were quite a few formidable people among this year's Course 2 Students!
They would have absolutely no trouble beating these upperclasswomen into the ground!
"Let's go. The assembly's about to start, and people are already going in."
Chiba Yeyou spoke as he looked at Tatsuya Shiba.
"Yeah, let's head inside too!"
Tatsuya Shiba nodded, and the two walked toward the auditorium together.
The auditorium was divided into upper and lower levels, making two sections of seating. The "Blooms" sat in the front half, while the "Weeds" sat in the back half, with a clear division between them.
Yet no one had imposed any rule that only "Blooms" could sit in front and only "Weeds" could sit in back. It was merely what these students themselves wanted.
"Heh, this really is interesting!"
Chiba Yeyou pulled out the seat beside Tatsuya Shiba and sat down.
"Aren't you going to the front?"
Tatsuya Shiba was somewhat puzzled.
"Why? Who said Course 1 Students have to sit in front?"
Chiba Yeyou asked curiously.
"No one!"
Tatsuya Shiba shook his head.
The people most conscious of unfairness were those receiving unfair treatment themselves... huh?
Still, this person beside me really was unusual.
Tatsuya Shiba thought silently.
"Um, excuse me, is anyone sitting beside you?"
Since Tatsuya Shiba sat at the far right of the last row, with Chiba Yeyou beside him, the question was clearly directed at Chiba Yeyou.
"No, please sit!"
Chiba Yeyou looked at the cute, busty girl before him, whose glasses made her look a little adorably clueless.
"Thank you!"
The girl took a seat with another girl who had short brown hair.
"Um, my name is Mizuki Shibata. Nice to meet you!"
With a trace of shyness in her voice, Mizuki Shibata looked at Chiba Yeyou and Tatsuya Shiba and introduced herself.
"Chiba Yeyou!"
Chiba Yeyou answered evenly.
Glasses?
"I'm Tatsuya Shiba. Nice to meet you!"
Tatsuya Shiba glanced at Mizuki Shibata's eyes and introduced himself.
"I'm Erika Chiba. Nice to meet you, Shiba-kun, Qianyu-kun!"
Erika Chiba leaned over and introduced herself.
"Likewise. Nice to meet you."
Tatsuya Shiba spoke to Erika Chiba.
"Nice to meet you!"
Chiba Yeyou glanced at Erika Chiba, then withdrew his gaze.
"Still, this is a pretty interesting coincidence!"
Erika Chiba spoke as though she had discovered something.
"What is?"
Mizuki Shibata asked curiously.
"Your three names are pronounced 'Shiba,' 'Shibata,' and 'Chiba'!"
Erika Chiba read the three names in succession.
"Because it's Shiba, Shibata, and Chiba!"
"They sound like suffixes!"
"They really do!"
Mizuki Shibata seemed to have noticed something too and found it quite amusing.
"I see!"
Mizuki Shibata smiled as she understood.
"Interesting, right?"
Erika Chiba said with a smile.
"You actually noticed that!"
Mizuki Shibata was rather impressed by Erika Chiba's powers of observation.
"Too bad there's a traitor among us!"
The traitor Erika Chiba meant was Chiba Yeyou.
"Hey, don't act so familiar with me!"
Chiba Yeyou gave Erika Chiba a helpless look.
"Hey, you're a Course 1 Student!"
"Why are you sitting with us?"
Erika Chiba asked, somewhat puzzled.
She knew just how sharply the "Blooms" and "Weeds" were divided at this school.
"Um, Qianyu-kun, I'm a little curious about that too."
Mizuki Shibata said as she looked at Chiba Yeyou.
"What?"
"Did someone make a rule that Course 1 Students can't sit here?"
"Or are there nails on my seat?"
After saying that, Chiba Yeyou even stood up curiously to inspect his seat before sitting back down.