Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - 𝕁𝔸𝔼𝔾𝔼ℝ

Ch. 21 - Cold Solace

NOTE: I apologize for the extremely late chapter, I didn't have too much motivation to continue as of recent and as you likely know- life gets in the way! Hopefully this is still up to the level you'd enjoy.               


Over the time of his unconscious state- major changes were observed within Hiro, who was now taken in completely as a Saegusa after his full display of power. The skin he had which was about the same tone of Tatsuya' had dropped considerably to how the women in the ten master clans would have their skin tone. Temperature also dropped rapidly within and outside of his body however, this was natural for a spike mage, especially one of his magnitude. The outside became louder.. and clearer to Hiro as he then slowly rose and sat up in the bed with his eyes closed. Birds chirped outside, the sound bombarding his ears as he flinched slightly. He began to attempt to speak but the only thing that could escape his vocal cords was a small sound. Steam would burst out of his mouth out of seemingly random circumstances but, this was not the case. The constant roaring during that fight had injured his vocal cords, and his body had largely been focusing on the changes.

This steam then changed focus coming from his mouth, then to his eyes. The changes made here weren't very pronounced however- they were still noticeable. His eyes were now a shade of purple, signs of Maelstrom and himself being aligned on priorities and duties. As the steam began to finish at his eye-level, he opened them slowly to allow his vision to adjust. The eyes had a slight natural glow to him as he pulled the covers off and moved his legs to the side, standing up out of the bed. "How long...?" he spoke to himself softly as he reached over to a rectangular object, presumably a mobile device. The date was.. two weeks after the 'Yokohama Incident', a sigh escaped his lips as he then looked at the time. Seven-o-clock showed on the screen as he then walked over to the wardrobe, seeing a new uniform in there from the First Magical Highschool. It was needless to say that his deeds and power was witnessed nearly all over the world, as the GAU raid was big news for everyone.

A sigil accosted the shoulder, one that placed him into the higher class. It would be now that they'd consider him a 'bloom' but, he wasn't much too thrilled about titles nor about the nature of the classification. Overtime during his dream, he had learned history of the entire world.. two-thousand years is what he'd be telling people. This would be a lie. The truth was that there was thirteen-hundred years worth of information, history, technique, combat. Spike mages when fully bonded with their spirits were able to peer into all the spirit had seen through the eyes of their host. He had to keep what he knew about the world hidden, as the information being used maliciously could cause war to emerge at an all-time high. Begrudgingly he grabbed the jacket out of the wardrobe and threw it onto his bed as he got into all of the extra clothing. Gray button-down shirt, black tie, black vest, black pants and socks. A great majority of what they gave him was black or gray, besides the jacket. Hiro slipped it on as he then exited his room, noting that no one was there.

That being said he headed out of the Saegusa estate and straight to the school. At this point he didn't mind showing power, and that was mainly because of Maelstrom. Spikes emerged quickly as he then entered a small tent-like formation, then popping into the ground as he quite literally appeared at the school. Of course it wasn't the best with his body adjusting to be blitzing underground and around like that but, he didn't really care. Class wasn't his priority either as he walked into the building and through the halls, gaining only silent stares as he entered the room that he was now assigned to, sitting in his seat while no one was in the room. Most of the students came after him and largely after he walked through the halls, didn't really care about him and went on with their day. Miyuki entered the room and began to walk to her seat before noticing Hiro.

She wanted to say something however.. had to maintain composure in public. The seat he held was pretty close to hear, nearly next to her in all honesty. Those who hadn't seen the events that transpired, only hearing about it, wouldn't pay any mind to the random person within the room. What they did know however was that weeds did not belong with the blooms, with him being that weed randomly placed within the class. Hiro felt a hand on his shoulder as he looked back at a taller male student, "Not your seat bud." he said as I replied. "There's plenty of other seats... go find another one." which regained a snarky remark. "Just what I thought of a Weed becoming a Bloom... so high and full of yourself." a fist raised as another male then came by and put his hand on the man who would attempt to strike Hiro. "He'll learn.. quickly." he said as Hiro rolled his eyes and they walked away, continuing with class through the day.

The bell rang as he moved out of the class, not waiting for anyone, not even Miyuki. It was someone he held in high regard- and someone he wished to be closer with but, he didn't think of her feeling the same way, and it was more or less to keep her safe. As Hiro moved, the presence of people began fill the atmosphere around him until sure enough he was sitting at a cafeteria table with the usual group around himself. Silence is all that was seen and heard from the young man as he stared down at the tray and ate quietly. That was until someone said his name, "Hiro?" a light voice rung out, it was Mizuki. She had crystal eyes, which could see spiritual energy around her, thus she could see what was truly inside considering that the limiter was broken. "Why were you asleep for so long?" she asked and gained a reply, a simple one at that. "I'd rather you learn in the near future. There's a lot that you all still have to learn." he said in a monotone voice. Miyuki looked to him with concerned eyes as he then looked to her and gave a smile, which made the look melt away as she smiled back and gave him a hug.

His hand was placed onto her head as she did this, which gained numerous jealous eyes. The hug was released after about a minute. A bell sounding was a common occurrence within the school to tell them when to go to classes and such, and that left a mostly uneventful day. As the sun made its way across the sky, the bell rang one last time at dusk. Miyuki came up to Hiro and asked as he got up from his desk: "Hiro, could we talk at my place for a bit?" which would normally never be asked unless it was truly that secretive. A silent nod came from him as they both exited the school and to the gate, him noting the fact that there were people waiting there. Those who said he'd learn over time.. he felt some fun coming, as Maelstrom began to get excited. Hiro grabbed Miyuki's hand as they walked, only to be stopped by the few individuals from earlier, this time there being two of them plus four more.

"Weeds should know their place." one of them said as they shoved myself away from Miyuki and of course began to close in. She attempted to protest but he only smiled at her, making a strange and eerie feeling come up around her as she only sat there in silence. "Fear is an effective tactic to rule over those who feel they are above others.." Hiro said as they began to speak, "Yeah- especially for weeds like you." with a chuckle. A smile grew across his face as he then said; "Let us see who the weeds are.." which gained a few CADs being reached for. His hand flew out to the side as blue sparks came from it, a hammer forming almost out of thin air. "Weeds.. should.. know their PLACE!" he said with emphasis on his last word as he then swung the hammer around, making them all push back. Hiro's focus shifted onto one individual as he then slammed the hammer down onto the ground, causing spikes to fire out of it almost instantly.

That one swift motion alone caused a feeling of dread to fill the area as the spikes and hammer cracked, crumbling as he looked at them. "Buzz off. I have no need to kill those who aren't a threat." Hiro said as he turned himself and walked to Miyuki, grabbing her hand as they both walked away. The shorter girl took the lead, bringing him around to her home- he noted the fact that Tatsuya wasn't around but that was to be expected knowing that he was defending the country. He entered the house and took off his shoes, leaving his coat at the door as well as his socks. His legs shifted as she grabbed his hand and led him to the couch, having him sit as she began to speak softly. "Hiro.. about what happened that day. Were you being sincere about how you felt towards me?" Miyuki asked with a worried look on her face as he wrapped his arms lightly around her. "Of course I was.. much like everyone else, I admire your beauty, but it strives much deeper than that. You show kindness- a pure heart, and containing the cold feeling I love." A smile came to her face as she looked slightly down, "If that's so.." she pressed her lips against his before hugging him.

Of course due to her being someone who at least weighed one-hundred pounds, he fell back on the couch and hugged her. Miyuki closed her eyes as the two laid there. "Anything from Tatsuya?" Hiro asked as he rubbed her back, only feeling her head move against his check in a motion that said no. "I guess I'll just have to keep you company until he returns." his tone of voice stayed largely the same as he began to curl up with the shorter female. Two of the people who had the most cold feeling had found solace within each other, with love and comfort now being inevitable as they both drifted off to sleep with each other- forgetting about everything that was wrong in their lives.