Nino stopped talking to look at his friends, wondering if they would think he was lying. He wasn’t, though. One look at Sho and he knew his friend wanted him to continue.
“I opened the door and there were stairs which lead me to a room in the basement. The room looked old, as if no one had used it for a long time. It looked like a small study room with a book shelf and a table. I take a look at the books but I’ve never see most of the book,”
“There was a diary on the table. The name of the owner wasn’t written but as I skim through the diary, I found out it belonged to Founder Ninomiya. So, I decided to read the diary. I want to know more about my idol,” everyone, except Ohno, knew how much Nino idolized his ancestor. If he heard anyone said the name, he will start talking about him non-stop to the point it was making the others annoyed with him. Anyone would be like him, right, if they are related to a hero?
However, right now, he wasn’t sure if his ancestor was really a hero. What he read in the diary totally made his world turned upside down and he started to question everything that he knew about the past.
Maybe he should warn his friends first before letting them know what’s in the diary.
“Well, that’s the risk we have to take. You’ve started to tell me a bit so I’m curious to know more,” said Sho when Nino warned them. “It must be a burden for you to keep this all to yourself. So, let’s us share your burden and maybe we can help you find the truth,”
Jun, Aiba and Ohno nodded in agreement. Looking at how they encouraged him to tell the story, he feel better. Taking a deep breath, he began the story.
“He didn’t write much in the beginning. Mostly he wrote a poem to express how lonely he was. Then, he met someone and his poems started to become happier. He used those poems to express his feeling for that person,” said Nino, smiling as he thought of how cute his lovestruck ancestor was. He dedicated those poems to someone named Samii. He wrote remarks like, ‘I’ve got the inspiration to write this when Samii stumbled in class just now’ or ‘Can I confess my feelings for Samii by giving this poem to him?’.
He noticed how his friends were looking at him in disbelief. He knew what it meant. They’re not interested with his ancestor’s love life. But, he wants to tell them about it.
“Then, his entries became negative again. He was blaming himself for a lot of things…” said Nino as he tried to remember the last entry of the diary. “… He explained about it in his last entry,”
Again, Nino took a deep breath and getting ready to recite the last entry.
I am Kazu and this is my story.
I am a wizard, a person who was born with magic.
I don’t like magic at first because it’s the reason I don’t have any friends. In my village, my sister and I are the only wizards there. My sister, Naomi, was three years older than me. The villagers are afraid of me because of Naomi. Because she has magic, she believes that everyone should follow her order. She abused her magic to threaten people to do her bidding. She will torture anyone who dare enough to go against her.
Everyone didn’t want to be my friend because they thought I am like her. However, I am the opposite of her. I want to be normal. I don’t want people to be afraid of me. Even though she taught me how to do magic, I didn’t do it as good as her. Well, maybe because I didn’t really want to do magic. I’ve only learnt magic because I don’t want to disappoint her.
One day, an old man visited our village with his son. I think the son was around the same age as Naomi. They met my adopted parents (Naomi forced them to adopt us to make me feel like I have a normal family) and asked questions about my sister and I. The old man told my parents that Naomi and I should follow him to a school. It’s a school for people like us. My parents didn’t seem reluctant at all to let us go. Perhaps they were waiting for that day to come, to finally get rid of us. Of course, Naomi objected the idea. She tried to use her magic on the old man but, for the first time, she seem powerless. It was like the old man was controlling her that she cannot do anything to attack him.As she realized it was futile to fight the old man, she agreed to go to the school.
The journey to the school was quite long and it became more difficult because we were travelling by foot. I didn’t dare to talk with my sister during the journey because she’s in the bad mood. So, I tried to make friend with the old man’s son, Samii. It wasn’t his real name. It was a nickname I gave him when he refused to tell me his name. Even after I knew his real name, I still call him that because he requested it. He said it made him feel special to have a nickname from me.
I don’t really know how to explain my first impression on Samii. He kept on teasing me. Well, if I have to say, it’s more like he’s trying to flirt with me. I found myself enjoying his company maybe because no one ever treated me like that. Usually, Naomi will attack anyone who tried to flirt with me but I guess she was too preoccupied thinking about the old man and the school that she didn’t notice how Samii was behaving around me.
We arrived in the school in two days. The school was small and Samii explained that there were about twenty students at that time. They were still looking for more people with magic and gather them in the school as a protection. The school was managed by Samii’s father. Everyone call him as the principal. There were a few elders who’s going to teach me how to use my magic. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea and was tempted to ask if there’s a way for me to get rid of my magic. Just like he was reading my mind, he explained to me that I cannot get rid of my magic and that’s why I should learn how to embrace my magic. If I didn’t embrace my magic, there’s a high possibility that it will control me and may cause trouble. Little did I know at that time that he was really reading my mind.
I shared the room with a few boys. Three of them were my age and another one was older, perhaps even older than Samii and Naomi. The three boys were Shun, Masa and Junno and the older boy is Nakai. Shun was the nerd and the brain of the group. Masa is a friendly but clumsy boy. Junno is quite competitive. He often challenge himself to do more than necessary in the practice. On the other hand, I found Nakai quite intimidating. He was quiet and spend most of the time alone.
Everyone left Nakai on his own except for Naomi. She became Nakai’s first friend and they were close. I don’t suspect anything at first. I only thought that maybe they like each other as Naomi had changed since she met Nakai. Before this, her expression was always unfriendly, making it hard for people to approach her. She never smiled genuinely, not even to me. But, now, her expression turned softer each day and she became gentle. She was a sweet older sister everyone dream of. I wasn’t aware of the real reason for this changes until it’s too late. I will write more about the reason later.
I found out that there were different kind of magic. Shun and Nakai are healers, Junno controls elements and Masa controls animal. Of course, I wonder what Samii’s magic is but I was more curious to know why he didn’t practice in the same room as us. Shun told me it’s because his magic is special and one of its kind. He needed to practice with his father alone but sometimes he will join us.
Three months living in the school and I rarely saw Samii. I only see him in the dining hall but we couldn’t talk much because he was always in a rush. Then, one day, I saw him in my training room. He practiced controlling water with Junno. I think it’s weird because Shun said his magic is unique. So, what is so unique about him if he can control water just like Junno?
Samii smiled at me and…
“Are you going to tell us the love story between Samii and Founder Ninomiya? I’m not interested with sappy love story,” complained Jun but Nino ignored him and continue the story. It wasn’t his intention to highlight the relationship between Samii and Founder Ninomiya but he has to.
Samii smiled at me and approached me. He asked to go on a walk with me and I agreed. I wasn’t really fond of practice after all. Even though I’ve been here for three months and met other wizards, I’m still having a hard time accepting I’m a wizard.
“So, do you like this place?” Asked Samii when we took a rest at the field. I just nodded my head. I love this place, having a friend but I don’t like…
“Still cannot accept that you’re a wizard?”
“Why do I feel like you’re reading my mind?”
“Because I’m reading your mind,” I looked at him in disbelief. Reading my mind? How could he do that?
Then, I remembered the first time I met him. How it looked like his father was controlling…
“Yup. That’s what we can do. We can control people too,”
“It’s scary,” I said without thinking. I turned to look at him, afraid if I offended him but his expression remained the same. He smiled softly at me.
“Remember the first time we met? How I tried to flirt with you,” asked Samii and I nodded my head. How could I forget? No one ever made me feel that way and I enjoyed the attention he gave me. That’s why I never stop him.
“I’m attracted to you because I think we’re quite similar. It was hypocrite of me to ask you to embrace your magic when I struggled with it myself. I don’t like to read mind but I’m not good in controlling it. That’s why sometimes I could hear what you were thinking of me,” he said with a hint of blush on his cheeks. I think that maybe my face would be the same as he knew there were times I wish he would kiss me.
I was stunned when he suddenly leaned closer and put his lips against me. He was kissing me. I tried to respond but I bet it was a sloppy kiss. It’s my first kiss after all.
“You aren’t sloppy. It felt good to kiss you,”
“Can you stop reading my mind? It’s embarrassing,”
“I’m sorry,” he said softly as he brushed his finger against my lips. “I cannot control it. Maybe because I have feelings for you, it was easier for me to read your mind. I know I’m invading your privacy but I’m doing my best to control it so that I would only use it when needed,”
“Need it?” I asked him. Would they ever be the time when you would need to read people’s mind?
He explained to me what he meant by that. There was a group of wizard known as the guardian. That’s what his father is. It wasn’t like they can read and control everyone. They could only do so to people with magic. They are responsible to protect the people without magic from the witch and wizard. That’s because there are some wizards who believe they’re superior than the non-magic people. Just like what my sister think. If there is any suspicious person, the guardian will investigate and one of the way is by reading mind. It’s the last resort if they are still suspicious with that person’s intention. So, their way of protecting the non-magic folk is by controlling the wizards with ill intention. Of course, there is a limit for that. If the wizard was strong enough, he/she could break free from the guardian’s control. Fortunately, so far, there’s no guardian who abused their magic to make the wizards do bad things nor did any of the bad wizards could break free from the guardian’s control.
“But, you could control water? How did you do that? I thought we could only have one speciality magic,” I asked him as I remembered his practice with Junno earlier.
“I’m a fusion,”
“Fusion?”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly the right term to describe myself. It is what Masa called me. Shun explained to him what the word meant using me as an example. Since then, he had been calling me the fusion. You know how random Masa can be, right?”
“It sounds like something that Masa will do,” I nodded in agreement before Samii continue his explanation.
“One of the rules of the guardian is that they cannot marry the wizard. The one who made the rule was afraid that if the guardian marry the wizard, the child will inherit the wizard’s magic and the guardian will extinct. That’s why a guardian could only marry the guardian. But, most of the guardian chose to be single because they don’t like the idea of getting married to someone who could read your mind. That’s why there’s only a few guardians left right now,”
“And the principal broke the rule?”
“He wasn’t even aware of such rule. He just do whatever he wanted to do. It was a miracle that I could inherit both my parents’ magic though I wasn’t strong enough. My mother could control all four elements but I could only control water. On the hand, my mother had to suffer. She became weak since she was pregnant with me. The elders specialized in healing said that it maybe because she wasn’t strong enough to carry me who was blessed with magic from both parents. We still cannot find the way to heal her,”
I just nodded my head. Talking with Samii somehow had help me to put things into perspective. I wasn’t the only one who was struggling to accept my nature. Perhaps my friends were struggling too but they didn’t show it. If they can learn to adapt, maybe I could do the same too.
And training became easier when I think of it that way.
My relationship with Samii is also good. We often spend time together, like a married couple.
I thought everything is going to be okay.
But I was wrong.
I wasn’t aware that someone was watching us when we were together and felt jealous to see our close relationship.
I was naïve to think that nothing could go wrong in my life with Samii by my side.
I wasn’t aware that Naomi, my own sister, was holding a grudge against me.
For my happiness with Samii.
Ten years have passed since I came to the school. A tragedy happened on that year. A tragedy that disturb the peace we have created with the non-magic people.
My sister was really clever. She had been tricking us all these times. Together with Nakai, she was forming forces to go against us.
It started with the death of Samii’s mother. She had been sick for a while but none of the healers could do anything to help her. Then, Nakai created a new healing spell and her health became better a few months before her death. It’s part of the plan he had with my sister. The plan to bring down Samii’s father.
Samii’s father was known to be the best guardian. But, like everyone else, he had weakness and his weakness was his wife. His wife had been sick for a while. He was happy to have her by his side though there were times he wished that she is dead so that she won’t suffer anymore. Nakai and Naomi took advantage of that, creating a spell that could heal her just to give him hope that she could be better before crushing it when she dead. I never saw the principal happier when the spell that Nakai created was showing a positive result. However, a few months after Nakai started the healing treatment, Samii’s mother’s health become worse, worse than the one she had before. Nakai explained it was the side effect of the healing spell and he would try to do something about it.
Then, one day, she left us forever.
The principal couldn’t accept this and locked himself in his room. Perhaps he could accept the news if his wife never show any improvement.
Samii wasn’t any better. He appeared to be calm and do his training as usual. However, he was putting a distance between us. I was upset to see he didn’t trust me enough to share his pain but I tried to be understanding and gave him space to be alone.
Everything after that happened too quickly. We lose contact with the guardian around Japan and later found out that they were killed. We do not know who is the culprit and the only guardian left, which is our principal, was too vulnerable to take any action.
It didn’t take too long for Naomi and Nakai to reveal themselves as the true culprit. I was sleeping with Samii when he woke up from a nightmare, telling me how he was worried about his father. I advised him to get back to sleep but he refused. So, in the middle of the night, we walked together to the principal’s room.
I was afraid that Samii was right when I heard someone laughed from the room. We were too late when we opened the door. Standing right in front of us was Naomi with the corpse of the principal in a terrifying state. Of course, Samii couldn’t think properly and attacked my sister without thinking. However, my sister was quick to deflect his attack. It became a battle between them and if I didn’t interrupt, Samii might be killed by Naomi.
My sister was furious to see me there, destroying her chance of killing another person that could control her. I asked her why she did this and I was surprised to hear her answer.
“It’s all your fault, Kazu. If you didn’t get together with him, I might not do this. You made me choose this way. I don’t want to lose everything. I cannot have the one I love but I can still have the world under my command. Don’t blame me for this. Blame yourself,”
“It wasn’t Kazu’s fault. You should know yourself that it’s impossible for you to be with…,” Samii interrupted but was immediately cut off by Naomi.
“Just shut up. I’m leaving this school. You cannot stop me from ruling this world, weakling,”
She left that night, along with her supporters. We were surprised to know that a few elders sided with her, helping her to kill Samii’s parents. A lot of wizards support them and the one who stayed weren’t that strong. We do not stand a chance against her and her army.
It was like I’m back at the time I was in the village. My sister terrorizing those without magic but this time it felt more dangerous. She had supporters who had different motivation for doing this. Most are just equally crazy for power like her or for the grudge they have for those non-magic people who make fun of them.
I don’t remember how long the war was. They kept attacking us and we lose a few comrades in the war. I remember their last attack as if it happened yesterday. I don’t want to write about it because it’s too painful. But, I have to. That’s the point of me writing this entry.
Samii decided to battle against Naomi. I knew he couldn’t win as Naomi had become stronger but I cannot stop him. Like before, I interrupted their battle when she almost killed Samii. However… I didn’t know how it happened… I accidentally killed her. She was dead, in my arms and I was the one who hear her final words. She still blame me for making her like that. And I was blaming myself too. I was too ignorant, thinking I was imagining her jealous stare whenever she saw both me and Samii together. I jumped into conclusion, thinking she likes Nakai when she was actually in love with Samii. As her brother, I should know she was just pretending, but I didn’t know her enough, too busy with my own life. She was right. I made her choose this way.
Her supporters were too stunned to see me, who was mediocre in magic, killed her. Because they’re too shocked, we managed to defeat them though some managed to escape. One of them was Nakai who fled with Naomi’s corpse before we could stop him.
What happened next? It was my turn to put distance with Samii after I lose the only family I had. But, he succeeded to make me come out of my room. He couldn’t help but blaming himself for making me killed my own flesh and blood. He knew I did it to save his life but he was afraid. He was afraid that one day I will blame him for that. He wanted to leave the school under my care, along with Shun, Masa and Junno. But, before he left, he requested me to do something for him. Some people were blaming me for losing their friends and families in the war for the same reason I blamed myself. Naomi is now dead so they had no one to punish but me. Samii didn’t like that because I should be the hero for ending the war. If they want to blame anyone, it should be him because he didn’t do his task as the guardian properly. So, he proposed a plan. Of course, I rejected it at first but he convinced me. We altered the fact. Samii became the villain known as The Stranger who went against us to conquer the world. People who know the truth are me, Shun, Masa and Junno. Of course, people who fled with Nakai knew the truth too.
Until today, I wasn’t sure if I was making the right choice.
A/N: Hmmm.... I seriously don't know what to think of this chapter. There's more about the past and it will only revealed in later chapters. About the study room in Nino's room, it would also be explained later. I guess some of you might find it weird that the study room is in Nino's room but I will explain it later. I hope this chapter is enjoyable and comments are appreciated <3