9 Back to School

A month after the kidnappings, Kuoh Elementary finally opens back up.

There's some protests from the parents still; the fear of having people be kidnapped doesn't disappear so quickly. But life goes on, and institutions must run. Of course, the principal of Kuoh Elementary must know that not everyone is so willing to leave after witnessing such a horrific story, so she allowed parents to decide whether they wanted to keep their children from going.

My parents wanted to keep me home as well, and as appealing as that is, I decided to go. I have a number of reasons, but it mostly boils down to the fact that I need to slow myself down.

I'd initially shrugged off the fear of running through the trees faster than they can regenerate their Primal Energy. After all, why should I be afraid of that? There are hundreds of trees in that small forest, and my training isn't so demanding that it becomes a serious natural hazard.

Except I severely underestimated just how much I can grow in a month. I underwent that 'Limit Break' three whole times during the past month, and the amount of Primal Energy I can store and consume has increased terrifically. It's honestly a little scary. The white glow coursing through my vein is nearly blinding.

My strength's gone up as well, though not to the point I can shatter steel in a single punch or anything. I can bend iron pipes with just my hand and throw cinder blocks meters into the air though, so that's cool.

But that isn't the main reason why I'm slowing myself down.

I'm changing. The more Primal Energy I'm taking in, the more 'inhuman' I physiologically become, and the more I change. My hair becoming snow white is one example. My eyes are becoming more vibrant as well, so much so that my big sister actually noticed it one time. The golden color is still invisible to all but me, but the glow is visible to anyone else.

Thankfully, the visible changes are still somewhat minor for now. I only have a few strands of white hair nestled in the brown, and the glow in my eyes can still be explained away as a trick of the light.

Which also means more changes are to come, but that's a problem for future me.

(The thing is, my hair and my eyes aren't the only visible changes I've experienced. But I won't be noticing them for a while.)

So, with all that taken into consideration, I decided that the best course of action is to slow myself down and go to school.

The only problem is,

"Mother."

"You know how dangerous it is, right?" My mother said, grimacing as she tried to convince me. "I mean, it's safe now, but-"

"Mother." I try again.

She ignores me. "And-, I mean, your friends won't be in school either! Your class will be empty, and you won't be able to talk to anyone-"

"I don't have any friends." I can't help but say.

My words fly past her head. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with skipping, right? We can always try next year-"

"MOM!" I shout, both warm and fed up. My mother finally stops then, her eyes wide as she stares at me. My father, who'd been not-so-subtly listening from the couch turns to me as well, his jaw agape. I take a moment to breathe, filing all my thoughts together before I heave out a sigh.

"I'll be fine." I say. "And finals are two months away. I can stay home and all, but I don't want to repeat this year." Of course, I can just take a standalone test and jump grades, but I don't want to out myself like that. "I want to do this." I look my mother in the eyes. "I need to do this. I don't want to let you down."

I finally breathe as I say my piece. I was somewhat afraid I would butcher my own words, but it seems-

My thoughts are interrupted when I'm suddenly pulled into a hug. I blink, and suddenly I realize that my father has walked over and swept me into his arms. I blink again, and I realize that my mother is holding back her tears.

I blink, confused.

"You'll never let us down, son." My father says, gentle and caring, and again I find myself confused. Of course my parents would be let down if I had to try the grade again. I'd be wasting both their money and time. And those that weigh others down are no good. That's how this world works. Right?

In the end, I'm given permission to continue my academics. I'm somewhat confused because of what just happened, but it's a success, I suppose.

("He finally called me 'mom'." I hear my mother whisper as I ascend the stairs, sounding both relieved and heartbroken all in one.

In my confusion, I completely forget to use my eyes to find out what's going on.)

Several hours go past after that little exchange. It's deep into the night now, with only me awake. I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, a frown on my lips as beads of sweat run down my cheeks.

Past my increase in strength, my month-long training had netted me a limited conscious pull on the Primal Energy swirling in my veins. With great effort, I can reach deep into myself and begin pulling my Primal Energy around and divert it into specific areas of my body. It's an arduous effort, but doable.

More Primal Energy means more strength, and more healing. If I need to, I can divert my Primal Energy to a specific limb to make it stronger, or push it to a wound and help it heal quicker.

I'm still unable to push Primal Energy out of my body, but I'm not wholly surprised. I still have no idea where to begin, and the knowledge my eyes provide aren't perfect either.

I spend the entire night there, gripping and pulling my Primal Energy to move as I want it to. The comforts of my bed call for me, but I easily ignore it. I've found that I've become increasingly less-dependent on sleep. I mean, I can just literally stand still, and my Primal Energy will eventually recover and strum me awake.

I still sleep from time to time, but it isn't necessary for me anymore.

When I open my eyes, it's morning. The uncomfortable heat in my chest is evidence of my efforts, though I haven't made leeway in regards to my control over Primal Energy. It's still just as hard to pull it around, though I'm not discouraged. After all, I'm quite literally the only person alive at the moment that even knows what Primal Energy is.

For the first time in a month, I dress myself in Kuoh Elementary's school uniform. It feels…uncomfortable, actually. My body has grown. I'll need to buy a new uniform, and I'm not sure I can explain these changes away. I mean, puberty happens to everyone, but to an eight year old boy?

Still, I slip into the uniform, eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and bid my mother farewell as I leave for Kuoh Elementary.

The walk there is silent. The streets are still fairly sparse, and the people eye each other with wariness. I walk past the crowd with ease, and soon I come upon the gates of my school. There's…hardly anyone here. Kuoh Elementary houses thousands of students, but my eyes can only see a couple hundred or so.

I make my way to my class. I slide the door open, and what few students who've come turn to me, as if surprised to find that another one had joined them. My eyes roam across the room for a moment, and I can't help but smile. I can count the number of students who actually came with my hands and still have fingers left.

But then my eyes turn to my desk, and this time it's me who stills in surprise.

Kiryuu Aika is there, sitting on her desk with an empty gaze in her eyes. I carefully sit down by my desk, and even still she hasn't responded. She's fairly deep in her thoughts, it seems. I don't disturb her.

Soon our homeroom teacher comes. He seems surprised we even came, and he's even more surprised when he sees Aika sitting next to me. The girl herself doesn't seem to realize the eyes staring at her though.

Soon, class starts.

But I find myself occupied with the girl next to me. It's…weird. She doesn't look terrified, or traumatized, or even the slightest bit scared. I mean, I saw the wounds on her body. She'd struggled against that Stray Devil, which means she should've seen that monster herself. And yet here she is, seemingly unbothered and simply lost in thoughts.

Subtly, I use my eyes on her. Pain rushes into my head as information floods my brain, but I keep my expression carefully flat. And I hear-

"My dreams are real! That monster really came for me, and I-"

"Does that mean all of mom's astrology is real!? She told me that I'd have an important dream that night! Then that means that-"

"Mm, if only I could see the person who saved me. My dream only-"

My neutral mask nearly breaks.

Those whispers-, they're all Aika's inner thoughts. But she speaks about astrology and dreams, and that she'd dreamt of that Stray Devil coming for her and me eventually saving her. I'm not completely surprised that astrology actually works in this world—magic exists, after all.

But she dreamt of the future. She slept and experienced prophetic dreams.

She could see into the future.

I mean, it's only in the form of dreams, and it seems the dreams can't show her everything, but my eyes tell me that these prophetic dreams will be a common occurrence for her. Kiryuu Aika is a budding prophet, my eyes tell me.

Kiryuu Aika is destined to be a magician, my eyes say.

Which is…interesting. There's this 'fate' binding us together, and now my eyes tell me she's destined to be a magician. And coincidentally, that girl just happens to be sitting right next to me.

What does this mean? Or does it have a meaning at all? I would've used my eyes to see if there's something deeper at play here, but I'm not confident I'll be able to keep my wits intact if I do. I better do that when I get back home.

For now though, I turn my eyes to the whiteboard, pretending to listen as I mull over my own thoughts.