✔ Oneshot Compilation「 karmagisa 」

Winter Prince, Summer King

“Between the summer heat and the winter snow, which do you turn to?”

ー・ー

If Shiota Nagisa were to decide, he would gladly go towards the warmth without any hesitation.

The warmth was welcoming, like being embraced into the comfort of your own melancholy as it simmers down every predicament. The warmth was playful and mischievous, blazing as if nothing could ever dim that brightness. It was tall, unyielding, and dominant— everything Nagisa was not and what he had always wanted to become.

Being born with the elements of Winter— the first of his generation, he was expected to become one with his element. Cold, unchanging, and unwavering, even in the coldest winter, without ever being distracted by humanly desires. He was born unique, so he should act like one, they said.

And so since childhood, he kept his curiosity under wraps and his heart never remained unguarded. Social interaction became more of a mere chore, and relationships came and went with the wind. Even after gaining freedom from his family, getting admitted to the prestigious Kunugigaoka Academy of Magic, he secluded himself more every passing moment from the unfamiliarity of his current world.

Which brings us back to the present, the first day of his third and final year before the worst.

The bluenet gazed blankly upon the view visible from the window beside him, uncaring of the number of students slowly entering the barren room, chattering rather lively— most probably from being friends since the beginning of their first year. Nobody notices him anyway, might as well use that fact to claim the furthest seat to the back and just watch uninterestingly as things unfold.

One of the things he liked being seated next to a window was the ray of sunlight gently settling his skin. As ironic as it seems, like the rest, he hated the cold, as well as himself being cold. He liked the fact that the heat was the foundation of all things living, and that he could see a portion of that through the windowsill.

Nagisa's time passed slowly with just him observing everything. When he saw a cluster of arrogant elite students surrounding a Plant Manipulator of the lower class, teasing the latter with painful and short streaks of their magic, he flinched lightly, almost going out of character to help the latter.

However, he stopped himself with his fists unknowingly clenched at the ledge. He was just supposed to be observing and minding his own business. People need to learn to stand up for themselves and rely on their own strength, not on others who could only bring them down.

“Woah, so you're the famous Winter Prince everyone has been talking about for the past years, huh?”

Startled by the sudden presence, a beam of bluish-white light shoots toward the newcomer. Thankfully, the latter was agile enough to dodge, a trail of ice spread on the wall behind him.

Nagisa's cheeks flushed in surprise as he flashed a sheepish gaze on the stranger.

“My apologies,” he mumbled, and returned to his aloof demeanor in a split second. He then willed traces of his power to disperse, the ice on the wall and the ledge disappearing.

“Eh~ So this happens everytime something startles you?” the stranger asked, amused as he walks closer to Nagisa.