My name is Himeko Yamamoto. My family kept me from magical girls, charming guys, and a responsibility to protect countless lives at a young age. Luckily, my doctor promised that at 17 I'd be too old to save the world, and I'd finally be a normal per...
I couldn't stop shaking. My seventeenth birthday, the moment I've been waiting for all my life. No more dying my hair! No more having to avoid random people! No more having to hold back my emotions! I felt like a bird who finally escaped her cage.
"We sent you an online gift card, sweetie! To your favorite, La Baguette Magique! Share it with your friends, won't you? Sorry for not being able to come!"
"That's okay! Is there anything going on at home?"
"Nothing. Your father just forgot to book a flight. SO careless!"
"It's okay! The trip would be really far. Like, REALLY far. So no need to worry about it!"
"That's sweet of you," she sighed. "Take care, Himeko. You're almost an adult now!"
After a while, I hung up and texted the Kimura twins: we're going at five or so, because the student bus takes fifteen minutes to get there. The menu didn't have some of my favorites because it's not located in my hometown, but it's fine. Speaking of which, I miss the old days, when I sat in my bedroom for hours gaming or watching videos - whatever helped conceal myself from the outside world, without losing touch from society.
"Are you finished?" I teased my roommate Yui, as she emerged from the restroom. "Don't make me wait on my birthday!"
But being the angel she was, she just smiled, and wished me a happy birthday. I wouldn't be surprised if she were a reverse harem protagonist, with her soft personality and all.
Her brother Yuki is the opposite - I've never seen him without a stern face. He can get pretty protective of us when things go wrong, too: some classmates told Yui she didn't deserve the full ride because we arrived late for our first entrance ceremony, and Yuki...well, let's just say he put his foot down. He also covered for my everyday clumsiness, which I blame on my syndrome. I've been trying to work out of it for years...but no progress.
In my most plain, semi-formal outfit ever (don't bully me), I headed downstairs. Ah, the same old dormitory. Sleek glass walls and potted plants everywhere. It's supposed to be an eco-friendly space. Something about natural light helping our circadian rhythms. I breathed in the fresh air and soaked everything in. Suddenly being 17 felt...weird. I had this itching feeling to sit down and write down all my lifestyle changes. Let's see...for starters, dying my hair. It should go back to being black, like my parents'.
"Hi-me-ko!" I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and Yui pointed to a familiar figure. That blonde hair, that foreign accent...how could I have missed it? Elodie Michaelis, Treasurer of the Student Council, younger sister to Adam Michaelis, and a 1st year in the Holy Track.
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Waiting for Yuki to arrive, we watched Elodie defend his brother from frustrated Feng Li fans, even though we've heard the facts a thousand times: Adam's achievements as the Student Council President, from having a 90% student approval rating to increasing student productivity by 25%. Professors sing endless praise about him, being a star student and all. And for Christ's sake, he has a fanclub! A FANCLUB!
I don't know why Elodie would involve herself in these. Doesn't her brother's fanclub already take that job? Did she even affect Adam's reputation? I think if it weren't for the three factions, all clashing for dominance, she would have her own.
And then from the corner of my eye, I saw it. A dark fog seeping from a crack between two walls.
See, there's this thing called "Dispiriting." Basically, Dark spirits, with their gluttonous little selves, feed off of negative energy. If they're not satisfied, they also drain rest of that person's energy, leaving them fatigued for hours, days, or weeks. (So yes - fanclubs never helped our the situation.)
Holy magic most effectively works against them, which is why Adam spends some of his time commanding students in the Defense Against Dispiriting Committee, so students taking the Soul and Dark tracks don't have to worry. And for the most part, it worked out. Occasionally, Adam will get a job requesting all three Student Council members clean up the higher leveled monsters. So why didn't the Chairman bother to hire graduates to guard the place? He believes that these monsters serve as "real-life experiences," or opportunities for students to test their defense magic. Honestly, it's debatable.
Yui and Elodie tried fending them off, but it didn't work out. Seems like this year, they've become stronger. It's like how pests grow more resistant to insecticides. THANKS, Chairman! The fangirls ran off somewhere, and the spirits had a feast before slinking off as well, leaving Little Miss Princess on the floor. I tried holding her back, but I couldn't stop Yui. "Are you okay?" she asked. Here's a fact, girl: she was NOT okay. As expected, Yuki had frighteningly great timing, and we dragged her to the infirmary.
Dragging Little Miss Princess to the nurse wasn't fun. Her reputation wasn't helping me recover from my illness.How'd she make it on everyone's hate list this semester? I felt a thousand eyes pierce through my skin. Every second that passed with her arms over my head crippled my self-esteem by 1%, which meant that by the time we arrived, it sank to -100000%.
Thinking back at it made made me shudder.
I thought Elodie would be more in that situation, considering her Holy aura, and also her status as an ace student. I guess at the end of the day, we're all human. As we tucked her into bed, the nurse dialed someone on the phone. Minutes later her brother entered so loudly I thought the door broke. He sat down on a stool and gripped Elodie's hand.
After months of making fun of him, his friends, and his fanclub, I never believed I'd witness a personal scene of his, all with my own two eyes.
Vice President Feng Li and Secretary Paris Kim trickled in to check on the Michaelises. Yui, Yuki and I stood back and watched them help Adam go through heavy emotions. Anxiety. Fear. Raw emotion. For the first time, they all seemed...human. Like they were no longer those unreachable gods in the clouds, looking down at the Academy. It's all Yui's fault, though - I mean, it's all thanks to Yui.
"We can't stay here," I begged the twins to spare me from the mess. "It's too personal, we need to leave." Her brother nodded in silent approval, and we carefully slipped outside.
But my heart sank. Why was I so upset to leave? Why couldn't I become acquainted with them? But more importantly, if they were just the handful of people I needed to avoid in this school to stay alive, then why did I feel this way? I'm supposed to be cured, right? I might as well be that tsundere side character, or that brooding antagonist.
What did my doctor say again? That my fate would...change?
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