Title: Night Angel of Tsukiyoru Gakuen

Genre: Shoujo Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Humor, and some Action

Rated: T (For Language, Concepts, and Future Violence)

Previously: After a difficult night of waiting and traumatic visions of the past, Airi was informed that Hina would be all right and was reunited with her friend in the morning. However, she was also informed that Hina belongs in the Mentis Class and will have to leave the Normal Class. During this time, the events involving Hina has caused panic and worry among those in charge of the school. A pair of students including the rude boy Airi is familiar with and a beautiful girl are given the task of finding the attacker.

Shortly after their reunion, Hina tells Airi what happened the day before. After the story is finished, the two begin to move on and continue with life as normal, but something is wrong. Hina’s powers are gone. Hina won’t just be leaving the Class, she will be leaving the school.

Instead of falling apart this time, Airi vows to do what she can to help her friend. She wears the dress made of Silver Element and goes out to find Hina’s attacker, hoping to find a way to restore Hina’s power. Airi doesn’t find the attacker, but instead comes face to face with him again.

-

Chapter Five

The Graduate Class

Airi has been caught in another difficult situation with him…

But under such suspicious circumstances, things may be more serious than before.

-

Airi couldn’t remember ever being in a more difficult situation in her life than the one she was in now. Her ordeal with the beast that day in the snow was purposely pushed out of her mind. After all, back then she failed to get out of the situation on her own. She was rescued back then. She wouldn’t be rescued now.

Of course, this time the consequences wouldn’t be as severe, but Airi wanted get out of the situation and as far away as possible from that boy.

However, Airi was stuck. She was trying to escape, but the situation was becoming increasingly hopeless.

She continued to meet the gaze of the older boy standing in front of her, still pulling against his grip on her wrist. At the very least, if she lost the strange battle, she wouldn’t do it willingly.

‘I don’t understand at all…’ she thought, trying to read something in the boy’s untroubled expression. ‘He’s out here…looking for Hina’s attacker I suppose…but why? Students have never been put into dangerous situations, not even the Elite Class. Sure, in an emergency they take action, but someone always goes to get help from a teacher…’

“Still nothing to say?” the boy asked, seeming to get bored of Airi’s unsuccessful escape attempts. He smirked again and leaned forward so they were eye to eye, “Or are you scared of something?”

Airi’s eyes widened and she pulled back again, feeling her heart race with panic and rage. It sounded like a challenge and she wanted to meet it, but that would be stupid. ‘He’ll recognize my voice…without a doubt…I’m sure he’ll recognize my voice.’

Instead of replying, she looked away, once again hoping that the situation would simply solve itself and he would leave once he got bored.

Since it was obvious that Airi did not intend to give an answer, the boy took a step back, pulling Airi along with him. “You know, it’s even more suspicious if you don’t tell me why you’re here,” he explained reasonably. He tilted his head to the side a bit, trying to get a better look at Airi’s face before continuing, “Of course, you’re already suspicious using a transformation spell.”

That startled Airi into looking him in the eyes. Once she did she found that his face was only a few inches away at most. Her face flushed as she was instantly reminded of their first meeting and others after. He always ended up getting too close. She started to move back, but stopped when she noticed something quite distracting.

‘His eyes…’ Her scowl disappeared, replaced by awe, ‘…they aren’t just blue. Just a little…It’s more like they’re gray and the blue is…I’ve never seen…’ Her thoughts slowly drifted off as she remembered her situation and a faint blush tainted her cheeks. ‘What am I thinking at a time like this?’

As Airi’s expression changed with each thought the boy watched her carefully, making Airi more aware of herself. She stood up straight and tried to pull away, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of red. ‘He’s way too close. Someone like him can’t be trusted,’ she thought, purposely keeping her eyes averted from his gaze, ‘I have to…’

Then Airi’s light of hope seemed to shine through.

The boy stood up straight suddenly and looked away as if he heard something. Airi reacted to her instincts and used the opportunity. She pulled back as hard as she could, letting out a wave of force at the same time. She felt her hand slip through his grip and for one fleeting moment she thought she was free.

Her moment of victory was short-lived. The boy took hold of her wrist again before she got away. He pulled her closer and turned her around, holding her by the waist with his other arm so that she wouldn’t be able to escape so easily again.

It only took three seconds for her to try, then fail, to escape. Airi was left in shock again, wondering for the hundredth time how he managed to do what he did. However it wasn’t long before her mind was left in disarray while her face heated up again. She wasn’t that used to physical contact with strangers, especially from boys.

‘Ah…ah…let go, let go,’ she thought frantically in her head, though the words were unable to come out. ‘This is…too much. Definitely…’

“I guess that plan failed,” she heard his amused voice in her ear and closed her eyes tightly. His arm around her waist was already bad enough, but it was too much to have him right behind her.

She breathed uneasily, trying to keep herself calm. The potential risks of her situation were all forgotten for the moment, excluding that an untrustworthy boy was in her personal space. She waited for what seemed like hours for him to either taunt her or to just begin dragging her off to wherever a teacher was. As he said before, she was suspicious to others.

“You…” he began softly. She recognized his tone as one he used before after he was thinking and wondered what he had been thinking about this time.

She soon received her answer as he turned her around, forcing her to face him once again. He let got of her waist, causing Airi to let out a sigh of relief, and tightened his grip on her wrist instead. He made sure he had her gaze and continued casually, “Are you in the Elite Class?”

“Eh?” The unexpected question caused Airi to accidentally make a sound. She covered her mouth quickly, with her free hand. Her eyes widened as she tried to step back. She was caught unaware again and quickly began to panic, ‘Elite Class? What does he mean? Never mind that. Did he hear me? Even if he did, from such a noise he couldn’t possibly recognize me. It was a normal noise. It wasn’t one of my strange habits. It’s fine. It’s fine.’

As Airi tried to reassure herself, the boy smirked again, seeming satisfied somehow by the response he received. “I see, that’s enough then,” he said under his breath as he stood up straight.

He took a step back, pulling Airi along with him. “You really are something,” he said, that familiar and dangerous smirk on his face, “You almost managed to escape when I got distracted by my partner, but it won’t happen again.”

She blinked a couple of times, trying to recall her brief escape attempt. ‘It was a person that distracted him? Who was there?’

He tightened his grip on her wrist, though Airi could barely feel it. His smirk was gone, replaced by a look of complete seriousness. He continued to walk back and spoke coolly, “I wonder if it’s really because you have any power or if it’s all thanks to this cloth.”

‘He knows?’ she thought, trotting along to keep up with his pace. He was getting to be impossible to follow. Just as she figured one thing out, he threw her off track and gave her a dozen more questions. ‘How does he…?’

“It’s a difficult armor to break,” he explained calmly, “It can protect you against physical attacks and it reflects or absorbs just about any User’s power. It can make you nearly invincible.” He came to a sudden stop and pulled Airi closer, leaning down to meet her gaze. “Wouldn’t you agree that a girl wandering around in such a cloth is suspicious?”

Airi didn’t respond, simply staring up at him in shock. Even after assuming that he was above other Elite students, she never expected him to know so much. Especially about a cloth that even a sewing specialist did not recognize. Her eyes narrowed as she watched his calm face. ‘He’s…the one that’s suspicious.’

He stood up straight and recounted the details “A girl in disguise wearing armor as if she’s ready for a fight…the day of an attack on a student. I really should turn you in.” He paused and looked in the same direction that he had before; toward the school’s gate, Airi realized. “Fortunately for you, I’m a little busy right now.”

As he finished speaking, he turned her around forcefully. “Unfortunately, I can’t just leave you alone either.” After he finished, he let go of Airi’s wrist, allowing her to step away from him.

She turned around, determined not to let her guard down again, but he already closed the small gap. She raised her arms to block against whatever attack, but all he did was push her back a few steps.

“Sorry,” he said quickly before closing his eyes. Airi tried to step back again, but there was no room. They were at the edge of the roof. She looked back at the boy, her eyes wide.

‘He’s not going to…is he?’

He opened his blue-gray eyes, looking as calm as ever. “Be careful…Angel,” he said and before Airi had the time to react a wave of force came toward her at the same time as he pushed her again. Instead of behaving in the way the dress seemed to when attacked by power, nothing happened. She was forced back into the air.

As she left the safety of the roof and flew back, several thoughts went through Airi’s mind all at the same time. All while she stared at the black-haired boy who watched her calmly from the roof.

‘He actually pushed me. How did the dress fail? He said that it blocked any User’s power. I’ll hit the ground…for sure…The same as Hina-chan. Is this because I abandoned her? Is this…my punishment?’

Her eyes slowly filled with tears. She was falling down now. Her mind felt strangely focused as she tried to think of a way through this problem. She would not accept a punishment without having the chance to make up for the offense.

‘What am I going to do? Force only works one way. It can be used to push me off the roof, but it can only go in one direction. It can only force things away. That’s my only power and it’s no good right now.’

She closed her eyes, thoughts still racing through her head.

‘It’s too bad that I’m not really in the Elite class. Then I’d have no problem. Wind would be perfect in this situation. Ah…I wonder how long I’ve been falling now…’

She opened her eyes, the most puzzling matter that night in her mind.

‘And then…why Angel? How did he know?’

She frowned a bit, trying to think and remember. ‘That’s right…even before the chest I’d heard that word before. Where was it?’

A blurry image flashed in her mind; a woman with dark hair carrying what appeared to be a pile of blankets. Somehow, she could hear the woman’s voice.

“My precious, precious Angel. I’m so sorry.”

“Kaa-san?” she murmured, thinking of the woman in the memory.

At this thought, a powerful blast came from below her. She shielded her eyes with her hand to protect them from the dirt being brought up from the ground. She turned mid-air and looked at the ground below. It was less than a yard away. She lowered her feet to the earth and the air around her immediately calmed.

“Wind…” she whispered, as she lifted her hand to feel the last gentle breeze of the element that saved her. She looked at her hand for a few moments, and then hit herself across the face harshly.

“Oww…” she whined, rubbing her cheek with the same hand she caused the injury with, “That really did hurt.” She lowered her hand and looked up at the roof.

He was gone.

‘Even though I’m sure he was watching me fall the whole time,’ she thought, frowning a bit. She looked around to find whoever might have created the wind.

She put her hand back on her cheek, deep in thought once again. ‘I guess…I really made it out of the situation all right…somehow. I really thought I might have been gone.’

She stood in silence for a long time, keeping her hand on her cheek to revive the pain every time she began to doubt her safe escape. Her mind was filled with questions about how she survived and all the other events from that night.

But only one thing seemed important as she looked up at the night sky.

“Angel, huh?”

“You had me so worried!”

“Sorry.”

“You have to spend the rest of the day making this up to me you know!

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go missing anymore!”

“Right.”

Airi stood beside Meiko next to Hina’s bed in the Medical Building. She spent the last ten minutes apologizing, making excuses, and being scolded by Hina. It was strange since the situation was reversed only the day before.

Even before seeing Hina, she spent a good half-hour dealing with the silent treatment from Meiko while she changed in her room. Then there was another hour of being lectured by some teachers. Yamaguchi, as the Normal Class Head had gone on a very long speech about how disappointed she was, causing Airi to feel worse about the situation than anyone else.

She could only sigh as Hina continued to reprimand her. She glanced over at Meiko who purposely kept her gaze averted. She sighed again. After her encounter the night before, she completely forgot about what punishments her actions would bring. She didn’t even find anything out. Nothing.

“Be careful…Angel.”

‘Or…almost nothing,’ she thought, frowning slightly. She didn’t find anything out about Hina’s attacker, but she certainly stumbled onto something interesting.

“Well, whatever. I have something I need you to do if you want my forgiveness.”

“I understand,” Airi answered automatically like she had been until Hina’s words were processed. “Wait, what?”

Hina smiled a little, sitting up in her bed, “Well, I guess I sort of figure…we’re even now.” She pointed at Airi, “It’s not your fault that you’re emotionally unstable.”

“Gyah?” Airi let out as she stepped back, startled by the frank statement. “That may be true…but…so blunt…”

“I’m still feeling a little ticked off,” Hina explained calmly, “Obviously if this was a conventional friendship, my needs should have come before yours, but…” She looked back at Airi with a frown, “…obviously it’s not. I know that you can’t help being that way so I won’t blame you. I just think I can feel a little upset though.”

“Well…yeah…” Airi replied, staring down at her hands tugging at the pleated skirt of her uniform, “…obviously.”

Hina smiled again and nodded once in approval. She looked past Airi at the teacher standing in the doorway, “You guys already got everything you needed from Airi-chan, right?”

“Yes, we have everything we need for now,” the woman replied.

“Good.” Hina turned back to her friends and smiled brightly. “Then for the little errand I need you to do before I can forgive you.” She reached out and took one of Airi’s hands, “I want you to go and find Katashi-kun and thank him for me.”

“Eh?” Airi stared at her friend in shock, not sure that she understood correctly at first, “EEEEH!?”

“Stupid, how is that a punishment?” Meiko burst out suddenly, speaking for the first time that day.

Hina turned to Meiko. “I never said it would be a punishment. In order for me to be happy, Airi-chan has to be happy and seeing Katashi-kun will make Airi-chan happy,” she explained as though it were obvious.

“Saying things like that—” Airi panicked, glancing back at the teacher who was just barely hiding a grin behind her hand. “Hina-chan!” she whined, her face turning a bright shade of red.

“Don’t worry, she won’t tell anyone,” Hina replied cheerfully, “She’s a teacher, she doesn’t care who students like.”

“Huaaa…” Airi murmured softly, trying to keep her head down.

“So, go already,” Hina said quickly, finally letting go of her hand, “And Meiko-chan go with her to make sure she doesn’t get scared and try to run off.”

Meiko glanced at the red-faced Airi for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Fine. Let’s go,” she said, taking Airi by the hand and pulling her out of the room.

“And do it quickly! I don’t want to wait forever!” Hina shouted to them before the door closed behind them.

Airi walked behind Meiko, mostly pulled along, still thrown by the sudden twist in events. It took until they reached the stairs for her to realize that Meiko was talking to her again and that they were alone.

She took her hand from Meiko’s grip and stopped, causing the other girl to turn around. “Hey, Meiko-chan,” she began, looking a little distressed, “I’m sorry and everything, but please don’t stay mad at me. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Meiko said simply before turning around and walking again.

“Oh,” Airi said, feeling a little stupid. She started down the stairs after her friend, “Then why…?”

“Since Hina wasn’t going to punish you, I figured I should,” she replied calmly, letting out a small sigh, “I wondered if I was being too harsh, but since she went ahead and rewarded you I think it’s okay.”

Airi’s cheeks began to redden again at being reminded of where they were headed. She stayed silent as she tried to get her beating heart under control. By the time she felt she could talk, and not simply let out her strange noises, they were already out of the Medial Building and walking across the campus, toward the Elite Square.

“Um, anyways,” Airi finally began again, “I guess the cloth…Silver Element, it blocks physical attacks somewhat too, right?”

“Well yeah,” Meiko replied calmly, “That’s one of the things I was going to tell you the day you tried it on. It’s sort of like it releases Force all on its own to keep the attack from taking effect. Why? Did you find that out last night?”

“Sort of…but what does it do with an attack using elements or Force?”

“Well, it depends on the situation. It usually absorbs them, but if there’s too much it will reflect a lot of it.”

“Reflect?” Airi repeated; it seemed like she was getting toward the answer she was looking for. “But Force only works in one direction…so in that case, what happens?”

“Force is just always absorbed, the same as physical attacks,” Meiko replied as easily as if she had memorized it, “I have no idea how it works, but that’s what it does. According to Nee-san that is. It’s not like we tested it.”

“So, what if someone attacked physically and with force?” Airi asked hesitantly, “In that case what would happen?”

Meiko stopped walking and became silent. “I guess,” she began after several moments, “It might try to reflect. It’ll try to absorb the Force, but it will have to release Force to block the attack too. So, it will end up reflecting and…but that wouldn’t work. I guess, I really don’t know what would happen. Nee-san didn’t mention it. It seems like trouble though.”

She turned around, a rare look of concern in her eyes. “Why are you asking? Did something like that happen last night? Did you get into a fight?”

Airi looked away. “Not…really. I’m just talking hypothetically.”

“When you came back your cheek was bright red like you’d been hit,” Meiko reminded Airi, watching her carefully, “That seems suspicious to me.”

“The mark on my cheek I caused myself,” Airi explained quickly, still ignoring the question about the fight, “I was falling asleep so I hit myself to stay awake…”

Meiko watched Airi for a few more moments before walking away with a sigh. “Fine, just tell me the rest of the story when you’re ready to.”

“Y-yeah,” Airi agreed, jogging to catching up to her friend.

Before long the two girls stood at the edge of the Elite Square. Students in black walked all around, leaving and entering the square to go to their current assignments. The buildings all had a different, more elegant look to them, especially the white building that housed the two Royal Class students.

Airi was in awe of her surroundings even though she stood in the exact same place dozens of times before. Her embarrassment quickly returned at the thought. Her face turned red and she turned around, ready to take off.

“I think I’m going to ask Hina-chan if I can just make her some cookies instead,” she said quickly, about to make her escape when Meiko grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

“Stop being childish,” Meiko told her sternly, “Don’t you have to thank him as well? He saved your best friend.”

“Huah…” Airi was beaten. She did have to thank Katashi. If she waited any longer, when she eventually saw him again, she’d be even more embarrassed.

She stood up straight and faced forward, causing Meiko to let go of her collar. She started tugging at her skirt again and kept her gaze fixed on the ground. “He always sees me in such an unpleasant state. Last time was the worst…” she muttered, feeling embarrassed just at the memory.

“Yeah, I heard you caused quite a scene,” Meiko commented unhelpfully as the two began walking toward the Dorm Building.

“‘Emotionally unstable,’ huh?” Airi repeated Hina’s words and let out a sigh, “I guess that’s true.”

“You’re just figuring that out now?”

“Huruu…”

“‘Huru?’ That’s a new one.”

“Shut up.”

When they reached the Dorm Building, the two girls simply stood in front of it, staring up at the beautiful architecture. It was the same size of most other Dorm Buildings, but none of the other dorms looked so nice.

“Now what?” Airi asked as she stared at the building.

Meiko looked over at the small girl before letting out a sigh and turning away, “You’re useless.” She went up to a student from their own year, a tall girl with black hair as short as a boy’s. Though Airi couldn’t hear them, she assumed that Meiko was asking where Katashi was.

Airi briefly contemplated running away again, but before she had given it any serious thought, Meiko returned. “Katashi is taking care of watching the dorms while the Year Five students are in a meeting. Hotaru, the girl I just asked, is going to get him. She said he’d probably come down to talk for a little bit when I told her why you were here.”

“Oh…I’m glad to hear it,” Airi said, trying to sound calm, though she purposely kept her gaze away from her friend.

“You’re so difficult to please,” Meiko shook her head and sighed. “You know you want to see him but you try to get out of it anyways.”

“But—!” Airi whined, grabbing the sleeve of Meiko’s shirt. Her face slowly turned red and she kept her eyes fixed on the ground. “I can’t help being this way. I always mess up somehow. I’m so stupid. So when I think about all the stupid things I do everyday…It’s just so embarrassing!”

“What’s embarrassing?” a voice questioned from behind.

Airi knew that voice better than her own. She automatically let go of Meiko’s shirt and turned around, forcing herself to smile through her anxiety. “Katashi-kun! That was quick!”

“Well, I was in the main entrance when Hotaru came looking for me,” he explained, scratching the back of his head, “When I heard it was you I thought something might have been wrong, so I came out right away.”

The last piece of information should have made Airi happy; if only “something might have been wrong” was not included. Airi struggled to keep the smile on her face as the meaning of his words impacted her.

‘Every single time I’ve been around Katashi-kun something has been wrong,’ she realized with horror, ‘The obvious attack the first time, me crying while burying a dead rabbit the second time…actually I managed to get off okay with the ticket incident. Bad things happened but he never saw that. The fourth time I fainted and the last time was…’

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, hoping to relieve some stress before she exploded. She smiled again, ignoring the strange look she got from Katashi for changing expressions so often. Instead of commenting on the bad luck that seemed to follow her, she instead decided to change the subject.

“I guess you haven’t really met my friend. This is Meiko. She’s in the same…” She gestured to an empty space beside her and realized that during her minor panic attack, Meiko had left.

The traitor could now be seen a short distance away, talking to Hotaru and ignoring any overly confident Elite Class boys that approached her.

‘No! Meiko-chan! Why did you abandon me?’ Airi stared at her friend, shocked by the absolute betrayal. Only moments before she was talking about how embarrassing it was for her to be around Katashi, yet somehow Meiko decided leaving her alone would be okay.

“Um…Airi?”

“Yes!” She was immediately brought back to reality by Katashi’s voice and turned around to face him. He looked confused, she realized quickly, but instead of immediately explaining herself, she silently wished that cell phones or cameras were allowed on campus. It was such a rare expression and she couldn’t help but think that the usually cool boy looked cute. She wanted to keep the image of a confused Katashi forever.

‘Not that I’d have the courage to take the picture but…’

“Airi?” Katashi tried again, looking worried after seeing a girl spaced out for so long, “There was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Talk…about?” Airi repeated dumbly. She blinked a few times until it finally occurred to her. Her face turned a bright shade of red. “Oh! Sorry that’s right!”

She clasped her hands together and smiled pleasantly. “Hina-chan…um…I’m sure you know who she is. Well, she asked me to come here and…um…thank you for…saving her,” she looked to the ground as she finished explaining.

‘This feels so awkward…It would have been better if Hina-chan came herself,’ she thought, ignoring the fact that Hina was completely unable to leave the medical building.

“Oh I see,” Katashi said, looking away and scratching the back of his head. He looked almost as uncomfortable as Airi did, making her feel a little better.

A familiar awkward silence fell between them. It didn’t take long for Airi to realize that Katashi probably wasn’t able to easily come up with a reply to, “Thank you for saving a life.” Saying, “You’re welcome” didn’t seem to be enough.

“A-also!” Airi began suddenly, startling herself as much as Katashi. She looked up at Katashi, smiling a little, “I want to thank you too. You’ve helped me so much in the past, and I’ll always be grateful for that. But…especially for saving Hina-chan. I don’t think I can thank you enough, but…still, thank you.”

“No, it’s…you don’t have to,” Katashi said quickly, seemingly thrown off by Airi’s sudden gratitude. “Anyone…would have done the same right?”

“Maybe, but you were the one there who did something,” Airi explained with a smile, suddenly feeling more comfortable. “If someone else did it I’d thank them just the same.”

Katashi watched Airi for a few moments before smiling as well. “That makes sense then. If it’s explained like that. You’re actually really smart I guess.”

Airi blinked a few times. She just received a compliment from Katashi if she heard him correctly. Though something in the wording felt a little off. “Oh, um…thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Katashi replied easily and naturally. He took a quick look around the campus and back at the dorm building before turning to Airi. “Listen, I sort of have to…”

“Oh, right!” Airi realized immediately, “Sorry to have kept you!”

“No, it’s fine…just…” Katashi paused for a moment, appearing to be thinking about something. He let out a sigh and turned around. “Be careful.”

“Eh?” Airi blinked a few times, wondering if she heard him right. ‘Be careful? Why say something like that?’

“I’ll see you around,” Katashi said and ran back into the dorms before Airi had the chance to reply.

She stared at the door to the dorms after it closed behind Katashi, wondering why Katashi told her to be careful. It probably meant nothing, and she wouldn’t think anything of it if it were from someone else. ‘But Katashi-kun is in the Elite Class…maybe there’s something he knows…’

Possibilities went through her head for a few moments, but everything seemed ridiculous and was quickly shot down. She put a hand on her hip and let out a sigh. ‘What is with boys? Why do they only say things that confuse me?’

“Hey!” a voice came from behind Airi as she received a sudden pat on the back, startling her from her thoughts.

She turned around, seeing the obvious perpetrator. “Meiko-chan!” she began, immediately switching moods, “You left me behind! What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh please,” Meiko replied, looking away, “If I was there, I’d only be uncomfortable. I was watching from far away and even that was painful.”

Those words caused Airi’s anger to disappear easily and she instead looked to the ground in shame. “Huru…you’re being mean.”

Meiko simply waved Airi’s words off, “Sure, sure, so just tell me what happened.”

“Oh…well…” Airi began, going into a summary of her discussion with Katashi that ended up being longer than the conversation itself.

“But telling me to be careful…” Airi said, finally coming to the end of a long explanation, “Do you think that means anything? Or am I just…” She drifted off, taking a good look at her friend for the first time in five minutes. Meiko wasn’t paying attention at all. She was staring off at the middle of the square where a crowd of students were gathered.

Airi scowled as she wondered how long Meiko had been ignoring her. “Meiko-chan!” she shouted loudly at her friend, startling the girl from her daze.

“What?” Meiko asked irritably before seeing the look on Airi’s face. She let out a sigh and scratched the back of her head. “Sorry, you were getting boring and…there was something more interesting happening,” she explained honestly. She let out a small laugh and pointed over to the crowd, “It’s not every day you see those guys, especially in uniform.”

“Eh? Who?” Airi turned to look at the crowd, she could easily spot two older students dressed in a pure white version of the Elite Class Uniform. She turned back to Meiko with a small smile, “Oh you mean Ryoko-sama and Shoji-sama? I guess it is rare but…”

“Oh well, yeah them too,” Meiko replied cutting off Airi with a mild look of surprise. “But really, I was referring to the other two,” she explained, pointing in the same direction again, directly at two people next to the Royal Class members.

Following Meiko’s fingers, she saw a pair of students in the ordinary Elite Class uniform, though they were mostly blocked from view by the crowd.

“You know, Yuuka-san and Takahiro-san,” Meiko finished explaining, treating it as common knowledge.

“Did you say, ‘-san’?” Airi blinked a few times and started to turn back to her friend before seeing something out of the corner of her eye. She was certain that it was the first time she’d heard her friend show respect to anyone but a teacher or the Royal Class.

The crowd shifted and she was able to see the pair easily. One was a slender girl with long straight blonde hair, likely “Yuuka-san.” She couldn’t see the girl’s face easily but she would bet that that “beautiful” was the right word to use, judging by the way boys seemed to stand in awe of her.

But Yuuka wasn’t important. It was the boy next to her that really caught Airi’s attention. She knew him easily even from a distance. Takahiro was the “perverted jerk.”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at the boy she was far too familiar with, and tried to process the idea that a jerk like him was respected by someone like Meiko.

“Well, yeah, you have to show the proper respect. Or maybe it should be ‘senpai,’” Meiko continued, oblivious to Airi’s new discovery, “Do you really use senpai for someone who has already graduated?”

“Graduated?” Airi repeated with a squeak, stiffening up immediately. She quickly did the math in her head. A student had to be seventeen when they started their fifth, and final, year of school. That meant that anyone graduated was at least eighteen. She turned to Meiko in a panic once she reached her conclusion, “I’m being harassed by an adult?”

Meiko stepped back a bit, surprised by Airi’s sudden reaction to the news. “Well, of course not. Takahiro-san and Yuuka-san are only sixteen. Actually, I think Yuuka-san turned seventeen over the break. Anyways, they should be in Year Four, but they graduated early. I mean…Takahiro-san graduated at the end of last year. Yuuka-san graduated about a month before summer vacation,” she explained quickly. She stopped and blinked a few times, staring at Airi, “You…didn’t know?”

Airi stood frozen in place, trying to process all the news Meiko was giving her. One thing that hit her was that she was right about the perverted jerk being someone on a different level. The next thing that occurred to her was that all this time she was behaving rudely toward someone that even Meiko showed proper respect toward. Of course, she didn’t feel too badly, considering recent events.

But as she thought it over, she did remember hearing something about students graduating early. If she remembered correctly all the girls in her class were excited about something at the end of the previous year. There was also a lot of excitement before summer break as well. She just never bothered remembering names since it wasn’t anything about Katashi.

“I guess…I sort of remember something like that happening,” Airi finally said softly, feeling stupid for not remembering something Meiko considered common knowledge.

Meiko let out another sigh and shook her head, over her initial shock. “Really…you’re absolutely hopeless.”

“Yeah…” Airi replied absently, turning to look back at the two students again, Takahiro in particular. “Could…you tell me more about them?”

At first Meiko appeared hesitant and glanced at Airi, frowning just a bit. She eventually let out yet another sigh and began to explain, “Those two are the only members of the Graduate Class, obviously only for students who have graduated early. Takahiro-san was the first person to do it since the school’s first five years. So when he graduated last year, it was obviously a big deal.”

Airi frowned slightly, watching as the two “Graduate Class” students talked with the members of the Royal Class. “Why are they still in school if they’ve graduated already?”

“Well, you know that Users comes to Tsukiyoru Gakuen to look in the libraries, for studying or research.” Meiko stopped for a moment, glancing at Airi. “Then again, maybe you don’t,” she added with a smirk, continuing before Airi could respond, “But those Users have to pay for the opportunity and make appointments. It’s a real hassle. But all Users are promised at least five years at the academy. No one would choose to leave early.”

She folded her arms over her chest, frowning slightly before continuing. “That being said, it’s not like they can get a free ride either. They don’t attend classes like everyone else, it would be pointless really. But they have to do something. They have to perform a lot of extra tasks and stuff like that. It’s sort of like the responsibilities of an ordinary Elite Class member, but there’s more to it. Also, they don’t report to anyone but teachers. The Royal Class can’t give them any orders or anything like that.”

“So, are they required to wear the uniform?” Airi asked once Meiko paused again, “You said that it was rare to see them in their uniform.”

“Well, yes and no,” Meiko explained with a smile, “They’re always on duty unlike the rest of the Elite Class. So, something needs to be worn to show that. Of course, wearing a uniform all the time, especially when you’ve technically graduated, is troublesome. So they both can wear whatever they want but it has to be black. But they wear it for important events, I’m assuming today’s meeting qualifies.”

“Oh,” Airi said simply, turning back to the crowd. That explained just about everything. Why that boy was searching for Hina’s attacker even though students weren’t put in danger. Why he always seemed to be wearing black. His abilities. His knowledge. Everything made sense now.

She watched the mysterious boy in the crowd for a while, completely oblivious to the strange look Meiko was giving her.

‘But there is one thing that doesn’t explain,’ Airi realized, frowning slightly, ‘Pushing me off the roof and…mentioning “angel.” I don’t…’

She drifted off again as she noticed the subject of her thoughts turn right in her direction. She stiffened as they briefly made eye-contact. From such a distance she couldn’t see the color of his eyes, but remembering the night before was enough to make her face flush with embarrassment. Then, she was absolutely sure she didn’t imagine it, he smirked before he looked away. A smirk she hated immediately.

She turned around, quickly hurrying off without saying a word to Meiko. ‘What was that all about? That arrogant…it was like he was saying “So you finally got it.” That…jerk. What the…why?’ Even her thoughts wouldn’t form proper sentences. ‘He’s always…’

“Um…Airi?”

Hearing Meiko’s voice behind her, Airi immediately came to a stop outside of the Elite Square. She blushed again, realizing her strange behavior in the last few minutes. “Sorry, Meiko-chan,” she mumbled softly.

“No, nothing to apologize for,” Meiko replied, smiling in an unusually kind way, as if she understood something. “Let’s just go back.”

“Yeah,” Airi replied absently, walking alongside her friend as they headed toward the Medical Building.

‘In that big crowd…he noticed me…didn’t he?’

She glanced over her shoulder, looking back at the crowd surrounding the two Graduate Class members.

‘That guy…what is he thinking?’

Days passed by and not a thing changed.

Hina’s powers were still gone, the attacker was still free, and Airi still had no idea what was going on.

Airi was painfully aware of it all as she sat at a desk doing her homework. She just received news, or rather did not receive news, of how little things had changed from Yamaguchi.

‘It’s so frustrating!’ she thought, breaking a pencil in half, ‘It’s not fair!’

The worst thing remained that there was one person who seemed to know something about the whole situation, and it was the one person she would never ask.

Airi let out a deep sigh, tossing the two halves of her broken pencil onto her desk. She put the workbook away in her bag. Obviously, studying about power transfer spells was not the best idea to keep her mind off things. The teachers added it to the Year Two curriculum after what happened to Hina, but Airi felt she was better off not knowing, rather than spending all class thinking about her friend.

She opened her agenda to see what work she had left and immediately tensed. Thought-Writing spells. That was hardly better than power-transfer spells.

She let out a sigh and took out her materials, resigned to the fact that she had to work on it at some point. If she put off doing work on those two spells, obviously they would be the last two spells she needed to work on. She was left with no other options.

‘I hate this…’ she thought as she took the cap off of a small jar filled with the crushed lead. ‘I hate being unable to do anything. I don’t know enough and I don’t know how to find anything out. This really…’

Airi shook her head to clear away her thoughts as she poured out the lead and started on the spell. She did her best to keep her mind clear, but when she finished the spell, trying to write out how much she hated the spell (the only other thing she could think about). When she opened her eyes, she found a name instead.

Takahiro
貴大

Immediately, she stood up, disturbed by what she saw on her paper. “What the hell!?” she shouted angrily, “That stupid jerk! He’s the cause of all this!” She picked up the paper and tore it in half. “And Takahiro is an awful name! It doesn’t suit him at all! He’s not noble at all! If I’m going to refer to him by name then ‘Hiro’ alone is enough! That jerk!”

She continued shredding her paper into smaller and smaller pieces until it was impossible to tear them anymore. She tossed the paper into the air and slumped back down into her chair, giving up on schoolwork for the time being.

‘But maybe it’s not that weird that I thought about him. After all, it seems that he’s the only one who knows anything about any of this. He was looking around for Hina’s attacker and someone called him away so he might have found something. And also…’

She leaned her chair back, frowning as she stared up at the ceiling. ‘He’s suspicious. Calling me “angel” and pushing me off a roof. I don’t think he reported me or anything either. That…jerk…’ She closed her eyes as she tried to relax. ‘What’s he up to?’

“Don’t make a mess in other people’s rooms.”

Airi sat up straight, causing the chair to go back down on all four legs. “Oh, hello Meiko-chan,” she replied when she turned to see her friend standing in the doorway.

Meiko set her schoolbag down on the ground and promptly folded her arms over her chest. She was not pleased. “What are you even doing here? This is the third time this week I’ve caught you in my room.”

“But I hate being in a room by myself,” Airi explained as she stood up from her chair, only to fall down on top of the empty bed beside it. “It’s boring without Hina-chan there.”

“Quiet and peaceful are the words I’d chose to use,” Meiko muttered beneath her breath as she kneeled down to pick up the scraps of paper on the floor.

“I heard that.”

“I don’t care.”

Airi frowned slightly and looked up at the ceiling, the same thoughts as always going through her head. Then she remembered something that was completely disregarded after hearing the word “angel.”

“Well obviously it can’t be done tonight. It’ll have to wait until next week.’

‘That’s right…I forgot…’ she thought, her eyes widening. ‘If he’s doing something suspicious…then…’

She thought it over for a while. After a few minutes of silence, she sat up and looked at her friend. “Hey, Meiko-chan?”

“Hmm?” Meiko turned away from her current task; cleaning up the mess Airi left on her desk. “What is it?”

“About that night last week…” Airi began, looking down as she tugged at the blankets around her. She took a deep breath and looked up, “I’ll tell you, because…I need your help.”

Once again Airi was dressed in her “Cinderella Dress” as she had come to call it, the alternative being Meiko’s “Magical Girl Airi Super Transformation S” which she completely rejected. Even if it was a term the two of them alone used, it was still embarrassing. Airi also transformed to avoid being known as “Airi” by anyone who would happen to see her.

‘Besides, the situation calls for this transformation anyways,’ she thought, running her fingers through her unusual long blonde hair. She was still not used to it.

Two days had passed since the night when she told Meiko about her encounter with the “stupid jerk” as she still liked to call him. Meiko seemed like she was just humoring her, but she agreed to help with the plan. It was Friday night again; the night she was sure that she would see something suspicious.

After seeing some lights on in an office in the Elite Square, she knew she was right and hurried into the building. She stood outside the room now, listening for sounds inside. It was fairly quiet, but she was certain someone was in there. She knew the teacher who worked in the office was gone after asking Meiko, who seemed to know just about everything. In fact he would be gone all weekend. He got time off after doing “something impressive” as Meiko put it.

She leaned against the door, barely touching the handle as she breathed deeply. ‘There’s the possibility that it won’t be him and I’ll be running into something serious but…’

She took another deep breath, breathing slowly to calm her nerves, ‘This is for Hina-chan!’

She opened the door and took a step inside, purposely standing in the doorway to block the escape route. It took her one quick scan of the room. She found what she was looking for, a boy who seemed completely unsurprised by her sudden entrance. Of course, she knew better than to expect him to look shocked, even if he was.

“Oh, it’s you again,” he stated calmly as he lifted up a small box and tossed it from one hand to the other.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. She knew that whatever was in his hand was something he shouldn’t have, even though he purposely drew attention to it. That was just the type of person he was. He would brag about doing something wrong. She glared at him, but remained silent, waiting for him to speak first. She was the one in control of the situation this time. She could wait.

‘Now that I’ve caught you…I’ll make you tell me everything about Hina-chan…Hiro.’

-

Japanese Terms: For most terms used that are in Japanese you can follow the link located in my profile to find their meaning and/or importance ((or -www (dot) freewebs (dot) com (slash) fuyunokotoba- to make it easy)). Others will be given a proper translation here.

Takahiro Hiro – This is a little play on the kanji used in Hiro’s name. The kanji used in his name for taka means noble. The kanji for hiro means prosperous. Airi just refuses to use his full name if taka means noble since he obviously isn’t noble. It’s really not normal to do this by the way. Airi is just being silly.

Author’s Note: This chapter has actually been written for a little while, but the editing took longer than usual because I had to do it all myself. I had a friend give it a look, but since I caught mistakes she didn’t afterwards, I’m not sure how much she helped. She probably didn’t want to offend me by pointing out flaws. She’s like that.

But forget that! The perverted jerk has a name! Takahiro, or as he’s going to be called (because Airi is excessively weird), Hiro. With this chapter I think things are finally getting good. I’m going to be able to write up some scenes I’ve been wanting to. The blonde-haired girl was also given a name this time, Yuuka. I can’t say much about her though since she hasn’t really shown up much at all.

I’m still having trouble figuring out what should take place in the next three chapters (I’m thinking of taking some stuff out to make it flow better), but hopefully it shouldn’t take as long this time around.

So, to finish this off…thank you to everyone who reviewed! I got a lot this time around. I have some free time tomorrow so I’ll be using that to fill my review policy.