Magika - Chapter 20 (New)
Nino sat in silence when both Aiba and Sho ignored him. They were too focusing in their reading that they didn’t noticed Nino was there.
“Eh, how long have you been sitting there?” asked Aiba when he put down the history book he was reading. Nino peeked into the opened page to see what he was reading about but the writing was too small for him to see.
“About 15-20 minutes,” answered Sho, eyes still on the book. The title of the book he was reading about was ‘Powerful Spell to Protect your Secret’.
“You noticed me?” Asked Nino. Sho put down the book he was reading and smiled innocently at him, which made Nino feel annoyed in return.
“Guess you know how Ohno kun felt when you ignored him,”
Nino wanted to defend himself when Sho said that but he didn't say anything in return because he knew Sho was right.
“Furthermore, I was amused to see Aiba was too focused in his reading that he didn’t notice you were here. I just want to see how long it will take to notice you. Turns out, he didn’t notice until he finished reading,”
Aiba’s face turned red. Perhaps because he was embarrassed to be observed by Sho, he smacked Sho’s head who laughed in return.
“So, what were you two reading about? History and spell?” Asked Nino, going straight to the point, ignoring Sho’s attempt to continue teasing Aiba.
“l’m reading about Nakai Masahiro,” answered Aiba shortly, without explaining the reason for him to do so.
Of course, the name was familiar to Nino. In both version of history that he knows of, Nakai served as the sidekick for the main villain. He wasn’t sure of what happened to Nakai when he fled with Naomi’s corpse. But, in the version of history that they learned, Nakai was captured after the final battle with The Stranger. He had been interrogated for information but he refused to say anything. The only thing that he said was ‘The Stranger will be back’. Because of his final words before dying, the supporters of The Stranger assumed that there will be a wizard who will be born with the same ability and they had been searching for that wizard to finish what The Stranger couldn’t do.
“Anything interesting?” Asked Nino. There has to be a reason why Aiba was researching about Nakai.
“A theory,” it was Sho who answered. “But, we cannot talk about it here. Let’s wait until Ohno kun and Matsujun finished then I will explain about it,”
Nino eyed both Ohno and Jun, hoping that they will finish their practice soon. He was getting impatient to know what theory Sho had in mind. He tried to take one of the books from Sho but Sho was quick to stop him.
“I haven’t read those yet,” said Sho. Then, he pointed at a stack of books on his left. “If you want, read those first. Maybe you will find something that I overlook,”
Nino nodded his head even though he didn’t know what he’s going to look for. He took the book on the top. The title of the book was ‘Protection Spell’. He put the book away as he examined the other books from the stack Sho gave him. Ah, he had an idea of what Sho was looking for. Sho was looking for spells that were used on the strange book that Ohno’s father referred to get rid of Ohno’s magic. The book that his father said was closed eternally after Mamoru’s death. If they could find the spell, maybe they could open the book and figure out the identity of the woman.
“Did you focus on searching for spells using blood?” Asked Nino. Kitagawa sensei had mentioned that most probably the woman used her blood to seal the book.
Sho nodded his head. “Yes. There are various protection spells using blood and as expected, to break the spell, we have to use the same blood,”
“So, it’s impossible to open the book unless we have her blood,” Nino pointed it out.
“Well, there’s another way,” said Sho. Nino looked at him, wondering what he meant by that. Sho shrugged him off, telling him he would explain about it later.
So, Nino started reading. As he was reading, he realized that they can undo the protection spell by using the blood of family member of the person who cast the spell. However, how are they going to do that if they don’t know who the woman is, Nino thought to himself. He wanted to ask Sho but knowing Sho wouldn’t answer him, he continued to read in silence until they were interrupted by Kimura sensei.
“Ninomiya san,” the teacher greeted him. Behind him, they were a few students from Nino’s house, including Mao and Erika.
“Ah, sensei!” Said Nino. He put the book down, wondering why the teacher and the other students approached him.
“Would you like to join us for practice?” Asked the teacher.
Nino looked around the library. The senior students that were taught by Kimura sensei in the practice room he used before were nowhere to be seen so he assumed the teacher was now helping the first year students with their practice. Nino debated if he should decline the offer, knowing that he would not be able to concentrate right now. Furthermore, Ohno and Jun had finished their practice and were walking towards their table. He had been waiting for them to finish because he was eager to know the theory Sho was talking about earlier. However, he was worried of what the teacher would think of him if he refused.
“Hmmmm….” He looked back and forth between his friends and teacher, deciding what he should do.
“Okay,” answered Nino, deciding that he would practice for an hour or so. After all, he needed the practice because of his poor performance in class lately.
He walked past Ohno who pouted, clearly disappointed with his choice. He smiled in return, taking the chance to touch Ohno’s hand. To be honest, he wanted to grope the other boy’s butt but it wasn’t appropriate to do so in front of a teacher.
“Did you solve the problem you had with your boyfriend?” Asked Kimura sensei. Nino nodded his head while blushing at the same time. He felt giddy to hear Kimura sensei calling Ohno his boyfriend. Both of them had admitted their feeling for each other so they were sort of officially dating now.
“So…” Erika nudged him. “What’s going on between the two of you before this?”
“It’s none of your business,” answered Nino, slightly annoyed with Erika who keeps pushing him to tell her about it. He walked faster to avoid walking next to her.
“Everyone is interested with your love life,” said Kimura sensei as Nino was walking next to him. Nino didn’t say anything. He lowered his head in embarrassment as the teacher continued. “If there is an award for the most popular couple, I’m sure you two will win,”
“How about you, sensei? Do you have someone?” Nino knew he shouldn’t ask that question to his teacher. But, he blurted out the question without thinking. He expected Kimura sensei to be mad at him for asking a personal question but the teacher only smiled at him.
“I used to have someone but I was rejected,”
“Eh? Why?” Asked Nino. How could someone rejected a handsome and nice person like Kimura sensei.
“Someone comes between us. But, it’s okay. It helps me realized what I really want to do. Anyway…” Perhaps because he is uncomfortable to talk about his life, Kimura sensei changed the subject of the conversation.
“… What were you reading just now? It didn’t look like a homework for first year students,”
“Ahhh….” Of course Nino couldn’t tell him the truth about the book left behind by Ohno’s father, so he lied to the teacher, telling him that he was interested to know what kind of protection spell was used on his group’s door. He took the chance to ask the teacher if he knew anything about the door but he was disappointed that the teacher couldn’t tell him much because Kitagawa sensei did most of the job to break the spell on the door.
"Speaking of the door...," Kimura sensei began. "How about the woman who attacked you?"
"We don't know anything about her but the headmaster will continue the investigation," answered Nino.
"What happened, actually? Did she attack you because you are the descendants?" The teacher continued to ask. He looked different as he asked the question. For Nino, it seems to be out of character for the teacher to ask him eagerly like that. But, maybe it was because he was concern since he was the one who rescued them.
Nino, however, did not wish to tell the teacher anything about the attack. After all, the attack wasn't about him or the other descendants. It's about Ohno. If he told the teacher the truth about the attack, wouldn't it raise question about Ohno?
"Maybe. I don't know why she attacked us," answered Nino. Perhaps sensing how uncomfortable he was about the subject, Kimura sensei didn't ask any further.
He practiced for one hour. Kimura sensei compliment him for his performance this time and there’s no doubt that he could concentrate this time because he talked with Ohno earlier. After the practice, Nino immediately went to the table occupied by his friends before Erika could bother him. When he went back to his friends, Aiba, Sho and Jun were discussing while Ohno slept next to Jun.
“Is he okay?” Asked Nino as he took a seat next to Ohno.
“He’s fine. He was just tired. He didn’t sleep well because of you,” answered Jun. Nino felt guilty to hear that.
"Stop looking like that," said Jun with a smile as he smacked Nino's head. "I'm glad..."
"Ah, Nino, you finished your practice," said Ohno sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Nino smiled as he looked at the other boy. Ohno looked so adorable when he woke up with the way he tried to make his eyes stayed open.
"Yes, sleeping beauty," said Nino teasingly. He laughed to see Ohno's face turned red, which made him want to tease Ohno again. But, Sho stopped him.
"Okay, lovebird," Said Sho, looking serious as he scanned the library. It's almost empty, only a couple of students were still in the library. "It's already time for lunch. Let's eat and go back to our room so we can talk about my theory,"
A/N: I just want to post a new chapter before 2017 ends. I hope it's okay and comments are appreciated :)