Chapter 8: High School Begins
—
Eleven years was a long time, and I am used to having disciples who leaped through multiple ranks in a year. So it is not up to my standard that Ruby, my twin sister of all people, only managed to climb four ranks in a decade despite my guidance.
Though I suppose I can't blame her. The majority of my past disciples were bloodthirsty, running after either a grandeur revenge or a noble goal beyond a mortal's hand. Naturally, for those driven souls, it's natural for them to advance very fast. Their drive was what made me pick them as my disciples, to begin with.
Ruby naturally lacks that. Magic itself is a new concept to her, the fact that she can do that amongst the seemingly billions of other people who can't, satisfies her ego already. Though admittedly, she is better than even a lot of children back in my 5th life, where I was the Sorcerer of Eternity. Kids at the age of 15 just started their Magic Academy, so most of them were at 2nd Circle, 3rd if they were from rich families, and 4th if they were Royals or Descendants of Heroes.
Granted that I haven't been as harsh with Ruby as I was with my other disciples, naturally since she doesn't have any immediate need for such powers and this is just a hobby of mine to teach her, I'd say she stands at a pretty solid spot.
Now, let's talk about myself.
"You called me out earlier, but you are still at 4th Stage too! Tch, haven't you been doing this longer than me? Why are you stuck?"
Ruby mocked me as I splashed water over my face from a bottle and then began to wipe my sweat. I need to shower, but before that, I am going to meet Ai and President Ichigo so I need to clean myself for a bit. I can use a simple [Cleanse] Spell for this, but I decided a long time ago to not use magic for everything. May seem like a stupid decision for newbies, but for old souls like me, the little struggles make life more enjoyable.
"I already told you my [Jade Rank] and your 4th Mana Circle aren't the same. My energy reserves alone, I can crush you like an ant if I release my aura." I told her with a slightly irritated tone, but she seemed to take that as a joke as she showed me her tongue.
I wonder what her reaction would be if I actually pressed my aura down on her. A mischievous part of me wanted to go through it, but I held back. She might cry, that'd be annoying. Plus she looks cute today, wearing a witch outfit, so I will let her off.
[Image Here]
I added, "Besides, I am not 'stuck' as Jade. I can advance anytime, just that I am waiting for an event before that. It'd make my future easier, you won't get it."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, right." The girl didn't buy it and scoffed at me dramatically, I just shook my head while pouring water down my throat.
It was true. After advancing from Iron, I am not 'stuck' at Jade for the last 7 years, I'm just waiting for an exceptionally large lightning incident to happen, or to meet a strong magical beast with lightning properties. Then, by killing the beast and absorbing its remnant energy into myself, I can fortify my foundation better. I can still advance without any of those, but that'd cause a bit of trouble in the future that I can just ignore by waiting patiently.
Though I plan to advance anyway this year if I don't encounter any of those two, it's been late enough.
I encountered a few magical incidents in the last fifteen years. Mostly because I don't like going out too much, and also because Ai doesn't stop calling every half an hour if I do go out. So I didn't really have much chance in my hand to meet a lightning beast. But now that I'm finally 15, the age when I usually start taking life seriously, I am going to increase my outside activities starting High School.
"Hey, hurry up! Mama is waiting, go and meet her already."
"Agh..."
I finally stopped procrastinating and threw the bottle into a trash can on the other side of the room. Ruby jumped and grabbed my hand as she led me out of the gym and into our house.
....
"Hey, uncle."
Ruby and I reached the living room where Ai, Ichigo, and Miyako were. When my eyes met with Miyako, she immediately looked back. It seems she hasn't gotten over that incident yet. I ignored her and greeted her husband with a light-hearted wave.
That was all I could do before my mother jumped from the couch and hugged me. Ruby stepped to the side to allow space, as Ai tiptoed for a better grip as she hugged my neck, while her lips pressed on my chin.
"Ummah! My baby, how've you been? You didn't cause any trouble for Miyako and Tsubasa, right?"
"Good, and no, I didn't. It was a peaceful time."
I put my hands on her waist, in a respectful position, and looked into her eyes. She feigned offense at my words and gasped.
"Really? Are you saying you enjoy my absence? You didn't miss me at all?"
She was pretending to be hurt for now, but I could tell she would actually be hurt if I said no. A normal teenage son might, given the raging hormones in their body, but I had no reason to lie. Perhaps because this was the only modern world since my first life, which made me vulnerable to emotional attachment, but it's true that I did miss her.
"A little bit."
"Just a little bit?"
Ai grinned broadly and jumped higher in the air to come eye-to-eye with me. Of course, due to the height difference, as I was 6'1" and she was 5'5", I had to hold her in the air. She was also a tad bit heavy, her feminine parts were more developed now that she didn't go through a painful diet that she followed during her idol career. However, weight was not a problem for me. In fact, she looked quite gorgeous in the bodycon she was wearing.
[Image Here]
"You are lying."
"I don't lie."
"You missed me more than that, I am sure?" she asked even as she was grinning. She was happy with my earlier answer, yet here she was pushing for more. "Unless you got yourself a secret girlfriend who kept you busy?"
Where she was getting with that was beyond me for a second, before I recalled from my oldest memories, back when I had read the Oshi no Ko manga, that my biological father in this world was 15 when Ai got pregnant.
"Untrue," I put her down, withdrawing my hands from her waist. "I received a... few confessions in school, but they weren't my type."
That was true. How could I like 14-year-old girls? I don't want to argue about the morality of me dating anybody who isn't immortal, as everyone else is technically a child compared to my age, for which I had long ago decided to stop worrying about it and just fling with it. You can't be that sensitive about age when you're immortal, you know? Yet, I still don't want to go out with a fourteen-year-old. Eighteen is ideal, but sixteen is the minimum for me.
"That's good." Ai smiled. "Whatever the case, just keep some condoms in your wallet all the time, all right? Better safe than sorry."
"M-mama, he is 15!" Ruby yelled from the side, blushing at the word condom. She had died at a young age; these things were still unfamiliar to her.
Ai shrugged, "And I am 30, you see the issue?"
She was 31, but Japanese women liked to pretend to be younger. Though it was working, she looked to be in her 20s, instead. It was thanks to me putting a [Seal of Storm] on her body, right under her navel. She assumed it was a side-effect of my healing her that day, but I had put it on her after that. Often Ai would be alone without either me or Ruby to keep her safe, so I stored a butt load of Storm Qi in that seal to keep her safe in the case of emergencies.
The presence of that Qi also had the passive effect of keeping her healthy, that's also why she gained a bit of height, plus looked eternally in her 20s too. Indeed, this benevolent one can grant such freebies that women would kill for.
"By the way,"
Ai turned back to me.
"You're so much taller than last time, you're a big boy now. Mhm, are you going through puberty?"
Of course, a cultivator of my capabilities isn't chained down by his genetics. I wasn't 5'7" like the original Aqua, I am 6 inches above that. However, the way she ended her speech was weird.
Ichigo facepalmed in the background and Miyako trembled slightly at the memory of a recent event, and I once more confirmed that yes, this woman is airhead beyond help.
* * *
For the last few months, while I was here in Japan, Ruby wasn't just enjoying her time in America. She attended a middle school there, as she needed a certificate to attend high school.
We are going to attend Yoto High School. It's one of the few High Schools in the country that offers both performing arts and general education programs. In order to be eligible for the Performing Arts Program, the applicant must be affiliated with a talent agency. In order to be eligible for the General Education Program, the school requires a Standardized Score of 40 or more from its applicants.
There is a small issue with this.
The so-called "Yoto High School" is the old name of the school. It had been renamed just a few years ago, and now it's called Kuoh High School. Unexpected, surprising even, but I can see why this has happened.
Fucking KitKat. Did giving Rias that little thing cause such a butterfly effect? What is this?
"Are you sure you're going for the General Education Program?"
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the gentle voice of the girl sitting by my side, with a pen in her hand as she helped me out with my studies.
I turned to take a good look at her face. She was pretty, though nowhere near Ai, Ruby, or even Miyako. She was a year older than me, wearing glasses over her nose, and her hair braided in two pigtails.
[Image Here]
"You can easily get on the Performing Arts Program, and I'm sure Ruby will like you to be by her side."
I scribbled down the math I was solving as I replied. "I already told you acting isn't for me, Tsubasa. I don't like it as a career. I'm going to school at all because it's boring to be at home all day, and because Mom will keep nagging me if I don't."
"Mhm..."
Tsubasa Saitou was the adopted daughter of Uncle Ichigo and Aunty Miyako. They tried for a child right after Ai retired because they had the free time to take care of their own child, but that didn't turn out to be. Aunty Miyako is infertile, it turns out, and their dream of having a child died out. Ai managed to convince them to adopt a child, and that's how Tsubasa came to be.
I am aware she fits the appearance of some other Tsubasa from another anime, I think it was Bakemonogatari, but I don't think that fandom exists in this world. Mainly because she has an entirely different past, and I have never noticed anything else to support the existence of that world.
"Not that I mind. I'm a 2nd year in the General Program myself, so I'll look after you as a kohai." She said with a smile, using a finger to nudge my lips.
Whoa, that's pretty suggestive. I wondered for a moment if she knew what she was doing before pretending to be unbothered.
"Tomorrow is the exam," she added as she withdrew her finger. "We don't need to worry about Ruby, she will get in easily. Not that I'm worried about you, you'll be fine too."
I would have been more confident if I had actually studied before. Today was the first day of my preparation, and tomorrow was the exam. Haah, now this really hits home, this is truly a modern world.
....
The next day came too quickly for my taste and the exam happened. Naturally, I passed.
I obviously didn't cheat in any way – how could I? – and easily scored the minimum number and beyond.
Ruby, too, passed. She just had to confirm that she was from an agency, and that wasn't hard. How unfair life is.
* * *
A few more days passed, and soon after it was our first day at school. I and Ruby got up in the early morning and got prepared.
"Have you veiled yourself?"
"I did, I did, ugh. When will you stop asking me that? It's been years."
"I am just making sure you remember."
Ai too was up in the early morning. She didn't have any projects anytime soon, so she was enjoying her time with her family. She cooked breakfast for us and wished her farewell when it was time.
"You sure you don't want me to drop you with the car?"
"That's a 400k dollar car. It'd garner too much attention, there are only a few of those in the entire country, and I read in the news that a lot of photographs were taken of you going in and out of the car. The country knows it's your car, now imagine if we are seen coming out of it. Did you forget our identity still isn't public?"
"Fine, I get it, ugh, just take the train then."
It's funny how similar she and Ruby were. I bid her farewell, followed by Ruby, and was soon joined by Tsubasa from the house just beside ours.
After taking the train, we were soon at our destination.
"Hey, we are here!"
"Shh, keep your voice down, Ruby. Others are looking at us."
We were outside the school gate with Ruby and Tsubasa by my side, and some of the students were looking at us. I ignored them all and stared at the text at the gate.
[Kuoh High School]
I walked in without any care, and the girls followed after me.
I didn't mind being here, I was no coward. Devils meant conflicts, and the main cast meant more so. Conflict meant opportunities, and opportunities meant power-ups. Why would a Great Immortal Venerable such as I ever shy away from that?
I pondered for a moment before I let out the veil over my Qi just a bit. Immediately, a dozen or so spiritual senses noticed me, and I also felt a gaze in the distance.
My head turned to the side, my blue eyes gazed back. I found another pair of blue eyes on the other side.
"Huh? Onii-chan? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
Ruby asked to make sure why I released my veil, but I ignored her. Instead, I felt a little irritated at the smiling girl in the old building far ahead.
Her red hair that was dancing in the air like raging blood was captivating, and my eyes met with hers for only a moment but that was enough for her soft smile to grow large in a sense of familiarity.
How unsettling. I got myself a stalker.
With a shake of my head, as Ruby pulled me, my school life began in between the conflicts of devils and angels.
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Master4thWall Note: The Bakemonogatari World isn't a part of this, it's just the kitty.
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