Long ago, in Japan’s Tamakuro Period, an army of typhoons struck the country, hungry for chaos and destruction. Day after day they battered the isnd nation and its inhabitants with violent gusts of wind and unrelenting deluges of rain.

  Buildings were demolished, crops ravaged and a multitude of lives were lost. Whether they were sves and outcasts or priests and nobles, the storms did not discriminate. For when disaster strikes and seeks to destroy, it does not see race nor hierarchy, only something standing in its path that must be eliminated.

  The people of Japan, commoner and noble alike, soon grew weary and fearful of such blind and ceaseless destruction, so they prayed day after day, night after night. All in hopes of an end to their grief and suffering.

  As, their pleas seemingly went unanswered. For the winds did not halt, nor did the rain let up. Distraught, the people bitterly accepted their fate; their Gods would not save them from their suffering. Thus, they all fell asleep, prepared to meet the end of themselves, their history, and perhaps even their nation.

  But when they woke the next day, the second day of May, a stillness filled the air. Tentatively, people exited their domiciles, believing that their hearing had gone awry. But when they stepped outdoors, there it was. High in the sky, beaming down upon them with a golden hue that they had never seen it glow with before.

  The Sun. The Sun had returned.

  With a fervor the world had never seen, an outburst of emotion overtook the citizens. Some wept tears of joy, some sang and danced and others recited sutras. But everyone flocked together and celebrated the end of such a horrible, terrifying nightmare. Nobleman and farmer danced and shared an embrace, all traces of cssism being cast to the wayside. Even yokai broke out into a wild, deafening rancor.

  Immediately, Minamoto no Kamekoto put out a decree, stating that the entire week be spent in prayer during the day and jubition at night.

  This now annual celebration is called, ‘Week of the Golden Sun’. And it’s during this time that the Rookie Simutions are being held.

  It’s been some time since I’ve st been on a ferry, about ten or so years I believe. And it’s for something so important to boot.

  “Isn’t it a bit strange that we’re using such a mundane mode of transportation instead of Magic?”

  Sunni, with her head resting upon my right shoulder, asks this.

  “Well, it’s not good to rely on Magic for everything, innit? And besides, we’ve got perfect sea-drifting conditions today.”

  The winds are blowing at a steady five miles per hour, and the sea is ft calm, to the point where it’s giving off a mirror-like reflection. Riding in a sailboat in conditions like these would be unbelievably rexing.

  “Well, that is true.”, Sunni nods. “It’s the perfect time for some fishing, isn't it?”

  “It sure is, but I doubt that I would be able to focus on it much.”, I smile crookedly.

  And that’s because-

  “BLLLLEEGGGHHHHHHH!!!!”

  A loud, sickening retching sound reaches our ears, causing us to turn our heads in the direction that it comes from.

  Yokie, her face a ghastly shade of green, heavily gasps for breath after bringing up st week’s breakfast. Of course, I’m holding her hair up.

  “Ughhhh. Aniki, you wouldn’t repce me if I happen to die here, right?”

  “I definitely wouldn’t, and you’re not going to die here either.”, I say soothingly, rubbing her back.

  “Should I fetch you something for your stomach, Yoko?”, Sunni asks gently.

  Yokie opens her mouth to reply.

  “BLLLEEEEEGGGGGGHHHH!!!”

  Or at least, she intended to.

  “I’ll see if I can find something for her.”, Sunni says, rushing off.

  You see, Yokie has always been susceptible to seasickness to an outrageous degree. It’s so bad that even on calm days are debilitating for her. Heck, there was one time when we were younger and she got sick while we were still bloody docked.

  So naturally, she’s currently seasick. The others all went off to have a small breakfast while Sunni stayed behind to support her.

  “This is so stupid…”, she gasps. “Why am I the only one with this stupid seasickness? And why is it so over exaggerated?”

  “Are you sure that you didn’t fall overboard and drown in a previous life or something?”

  “At this point, that can be the only expnation-BLEEEEEGGGGHHHHH!!!”

  I swiftly, but gently, pull her hair back so she does get any sick in it.

  “Well, I know one thing for certain, you and I won’t be going on a cruise for our honeymoon.”

  It still sounds a little bonkers that I’m saying something like that. It doesn’t bother me anymore, but I never would have imagined something like this would occur.

  Graciously, we make ndfall in Hokkaido and disembark from off of the ferry. Yokie, who’s feeling rather faint from all of the hurling, rides on my back.

  “Oi, Yonaguni. We’ll be Warping when we head back home.”

  “Ha? How the hell are you going to Warp without access to a warping circle, idiot?”

  “Yokie isn’t riding on that again, so if we can’t teleport back home we’ll just have to take a flight.”

  Yonaguni clicks his tongue and tosses his hands up in frustration, but I ignore him and press onward.

  “Am I being a burden, Aniki?”

  “Don’t talk nonsense.”, I say sternly. “It’ll make you feel worse.”

  Naoya ughs boisterously as he reassuringly pats his sister on the back.

  “It’s the same as ever, huh? Maybe it’s your fault that she’s the way she is, Govvy.”

  “It definitely is.”

  Come now, why did you all unanimously agree on that? Hell, even Yonaguni concurred with what he said.

  “So, is it always by ferry when coming to Hokkaido?”, Akai asks?

  Instead of getting an answer from our seniors, Gege replies to Akai’s query.

  “Well, sort of. In even numbered years, it’ll be travelling by air. And in odd numbered years it’s by sea. Sorry about that, Yoko-san.”

  How fortunate for Yokie that it’s 2019. Had it been a year prior, she would’ve gone through the baneful experience of travelling in comfort.

  After a bit of walking, we arrive at our pick-up spot. Apparently, we’d be riding in a top of the line luxury carriage. Oh, Yokie’s feeling better now, so she’s walking by her own power now.

  “Well, that’s our cue to leave.”, Shirogane-senpai says.

  “Eh? You’re not coming with us?”, Haruhi-chan asks, tilting her head.

  “No, unfortunately.”, Miyamura-senpai smiles softly. “Though we would love to see your performances.”

  “We still need to be on the job in case anything happens.”, Ninomiya-senpai intones. “But there’s a chance that we could still see your matches.”

  There is? How so?

  Before any of us could pry for further details, an elegant periwinkle-blue carriage pulled by oxen pulls up before us. Immediately, Sunni and Haruhi-chan enamoured by it.

  “How beautiful! It’s like we’re going to the Royal Ball!”, Sunni trills.

  “Imagine riding in it with a handsome prince! Kyaaa!”, Haruhi-chan squeals.

  With bounding excitement, they jump into the carriage. I can’t bme them, I always wanted to try riding in a carriage!”

  “Huh! Speak of first css!”, Naoya smirks. “If this was feudal Japan, we’d be the envy of even the emperor!”

  “Right? Who needs a car when you can ride in style!”, Yokie grins, cpping her hands

  “And those oxen are huge!”, I excim. “Man, if only the little Yuno, Yuuma and Take were here to see this!”

  Naoya, Yokie and I enthusiastically jump into the carriage, and immediately we’re met with an amazing revetion.

  “Woah! It’s huge in here!”

  The carriage, which looks to be about no more than two or three metres outside, is about the size of a small ft inside, accoutrements and all. Is this the Dimension Magic I’ve heard Uncle Halman talk about?

  “They must be using Dimension Magic to make it bigger inside than it is outside!”, Sunni confirms. “This is my first time seeing it in first person!”

  Dimension Magic is an unusual form of Magic that allows the user to alter the space and dimensions of objects. It’s slow, weak and incredibly taxing magic that’s completely and utterly useless in any form of combat. But for purposes like this, it’s second to none.

  As soon as we all board, the carriage driver whips the reins, and the oxen begin their slow, steady trot to our destination.

  “Good luck!”

  Our seniors (Not Yonaguni) give us their best wishes as they wave good-bye to us. Naturally, we wave back at them.

  “Don’t come back if you cause me to lose my money! OW-WHY’RE ALL OF YOU HITTING ME?! I WAS JOKING, DAMN-OW!”

  Yonaguni's sweet farewell earns him a swift and heavy punishment from the rest of his squadron.

  Now that we’ve exchanged good-byes, it’s time for me to make a phone call. I pull my smartphone from my pocket and go to my contacts.

  “Who’re you calling, Daisuke?”, Akai asks, pulling a bottle of water from the mini-fridge.

  “Oh, I’m ringing up Shizu.”

  She wants me to ring her every hour or two so that she can keep abreast of my current status and location. Apparently, her father and mother are using this same system while he’s away with business, so it's most likely a biological trait due to their genetic make-up. That or Mrs.Hisakawa passed her clinginess down to her. Although, I personally believe that it’s a mixture of both.

  “Hmmmph.”

  “What’s wrong, Red?”

  Across from me, Red voices her displeasure. She’s been uncharacteristically silent all this way, and the cause for that is mostly due to Shizu.

  You see, Red was chuffed to bits when she found out that Shizu wouldn’t be joining us on holiday because she hasn’t become an official member yet. However, much to her chagrin, I agreed to go along with Shizu’s request of ringing her up regurly. And when I say chagrin, I mean more like fury. It’s not even a slight exaggeration when I say that she wants Shizu dead.

  “I see that you fully intend on ringing that doll-bit…that homewrecker like you said you would.”, she frowns.

  “Yeah, If I didn’t, that would make me a horrible boy-friend.”, I nod. “And as I said before, I have full intentions of loving you all equally.”

  Red’s frown falters slightly, but she persists in pressing her point forward.

  “You say that, but you still haven’t bought Arianne-chan and I a gift like the one you got for Yoko-chan.”

  On my left side, Yokie proudly fiddles with her silver neckce with a small ruby sun as the centrepiece that I bought her. She wears it as religiously as Red wears the hairband that I purchased for her seven years ago, which is somehow in good condition despite seeing everyday use.

  “That’s unfair, Red. You know I got it for her as a beted birthday present..When it’s your turn, you can expect to see something simir.”

  Once again, her annoyance wavers. At this point, she really doesn’t have it in me to be ‘angry’ at me any longer. Especially since it’s prevented her from getting all lovey-dovey with me. However, she continues to feign being aggrieved with me.

  “A-as if I’ll believe that after you left me behind to wander off with Yoko-chan and Arianne-chan.”

  Ignoring her fake protesting, I select Shizu’s number. In a half a ring, she answers the phone. You would expect me to be surprised, but after the first time, I just came to expect it.

  “Ah, Dai-sama. I was just in the middle of helping Haha-ue with her apothecaries and herbal remedies. How are you doing?”

  “I’m just fine, Shizu. I’m ringing to tell you that we’ve arrived in Hokkaido, and that we’re on the way to wherever the Rookie Simutions are being held.”

  “I see, it’s too bad that I’m unable to be there with you as a proper wife and servant should, but rules are rules.”

  Shizu’s hides it well, but there’s a tinge of dismay in her voice. Of course, I don’t intend to let her feel like that for long.

  “I wish you were here too.”, I smile. “Nothing’s cuter than seeing your tail wag when I stroke your head.”

  She goes quiet on the other side of the phone. I’m sure that she’s blushing like mad right now.

  “You’re not saying such flirtatious things in front of others, are you?”, she finally musters.

  “Yeh, but don’t worry, I won’t say anymore. I’ll be sure to bring lots of souvenirs back for every-”

  Before I can finish speaking, Red gets within mere millimetres of my face. Her sudden motion makes me feel flustered, but unfortunately her attention was not being paid to me.

  “Listen up, you mangy doll! Stop bothering Daisuke-nii already! Can’t you find something other than homewrecking to pass the time?!”

  Shizu sniggers upon hearing Red’s loud tirade. She speaks to her in a haughty, condescending tone.

  “My, my. Is that the petunt child again? Did your parents not teach you proper manners? Or are you just naturally uncivilised?”

  “I’ll show you uncivilised, you sl-”

  “Anyway!”, I loudly interrupt. “I’ll talk with you ter, Shizu.”

  I swiftly end to call and chastise Red.

  “That was out of order, you know? There’s really no need to be so antagonistic.”

  Red simply frowns as she wraps her arms and legs around me like a squid that has caught its prey.

  “Hey, save some room for us Akane!”

  “Hear, hear!”

  Sunni and Yokie both tightly tch onto my arms, rendering me practically immobile. Guess that I’m staying like this for the rest of the way, not that I’m compining.

  “I can’t say that I’m not a little envious, but the life of a pyboy sure is difficult.”

  “Such is the path that our dear friend chose. We can only wish him luck.”

  “Kekekeke!”

  Gege and Akai smirk at my predicament while Naoya guffaws mirthfully. Haruhi-chan can only manage a weak chuckle.

  “Daisuke-kun sure is popur…”

  For some reason, I feel like her good opinion of me is diminishing..

  Well, on the topic of Red and Shizu, I don’t think that there’s anything to worry about. Red was bellicose with both Yokie and Sunni at one point, and now she refers to the both of them with ‘-chan’. It’s only a matter of time before the same happens with them.

  I hope.

  The coach stops in front of a circur driveway for a rge, but otherwise inconspicuous rectangur building.

  And when I say inconspicuous, I’m being polite. It stands out like the sound of a mouse during a Death Metal concert. The bsted thing could be abze and most people would still just walk right by it.

  Honestly, it was so inconspicuous that it actually captured your attention. Only for it to lose said attention within the next tenth of a second ter.

  Painted a dull, dismal, cold and soulless grey that looked like it was painted on by a person whose personality matched said colour to a tee. As a matter of fact, it looked like it was st painted when King Hammer was a lump of iron ore.

  The wooden double doors look so faded and dreary that you would probably hear them sigh in defeat when you tried to open them, close them, touch them, knock on them or merely even give them a sideways gnce.

  The windows are small and cramped looking, as if they were designed to make you feel bad for even thinking about looking out of them. Which is a shame, because the property itself is actually rather picturesque.

  “What a lovely home.”, I mutter.

  “It looks like someone took the word funeral and made it into a building.”, Naoya scowls.

  “I disagree. At least funerals make you feel something, this pce is just…something.”, Yokie adds.

  “To think that such a lovely carriage ride would take us to this pce. What a shame.”

  Sunni surveys the building with a glum expression as she expresses her disappointment in a refined manner.

  “Yeah, this pce is totes me.”, Haruhi says, shaking her head.

  “Maybe it’s the wrong pce?”

  “Excuse me, mister. Are you sure that you didn’t make a wrong turn?”

  Akai and Gege refuse to believe that such a dull looking building could be our destination. Unfortunately, the driver gives them a scornful gaze before whipping the reins, urging the oxen on without as much as a second gnce. Guess that answers our question.

  “Do you think he’ll miss us?”, I say.

  Red frowns deeply, clearly annoyed.

  “What a dreary pce they sent us to. Isn’t this the venue for an important yearly event?”

  I look at the building one more time before I heave a hefty sigh. My exhiration has reached a new high.

  “Alright, let’s head inside.”

  An unenthusiastic chorus of, “Right…”, sounds off behind me as we walk towards the dismal looking building. Once we reach the exhausted double doors, Akai reaches to ring the doorbell, but he swiftly and fearfully retracts his hand when a sharp, high-pitched voice snaps at him through the peephole.

  “Halt, boy! This is private property! Leave before I loose the giraffes on you trespassers!”

  “Giraffes?”

  The lot of us repeat the name of the previously stated animal in confusion. Guard dogs are one thing, but guard giraffes are something that sounds so outrageous that you immediately start to imagine what it would even look like.

  In the midst of our collective bewilderment, the peering eyes observe our faces before seemingly diverting their attention elsewhere.

  “Oh, no. They’ve gone to fetch the giraffes!”, Akai says worriedly.

  “What should we do, Daisuke?”, Gege urges.

  I think about it briefly and come to a quick conclusion.

  “Let’s stay to see the giraffes.”

  “Good idea!”

  “Agreed. I haven’t been to the zoo in years.”

  Naoya and Yokie quickly agree with my suggestion. Alright then, sounds like that’s the pn that we’ll be going with now.

  “Will you three stop being ridiculous?!”, Red snaps. “We don’t have the time to be gawking at giraffes!”

  “I kinda wanna see them too..”, Haruhi-chan says meekly.

  “Haruhi-chan!”

  Before Red can express her feelings of betrayal, the eyes of the once fierce doorkeeper reappear looking over us with a much softer gaze than they did earlier, as they make a request in a hushed tone.

  “Please, show them to me.”

  Show them? Ah! They must be talking about our EIDs! I withdraw my card from my pocket and show it to the doorkeeper, with the others following suit.

  You may be thinking that this isn’t a very thorough way of confirming our identities, as one could simply use a spell to disguise themselves as one of us and create forgeries of our EIDs. But in reality, only half of that pn is possible. See, EIDs are almost impossible to fake due to one vital reason. Firstly, EIDs have two failsafes: The information dispyed on it can only be seen if the owner wants you to see it, if they don’t, it’ll just end up looking like a business card or whatever the owner decides upon. For your information, I have mine set to look like an ultra super rare holographic Yu-Go-Ho card.

  And if it were to be stolen somehow, the EID card will simply turn to stone once it reaches a predetermined distance away from its owner.

  After giving our cards a good looking over, the doorkeeper’s eyes disappear once again, and the double doors open.

  “Forgive my suspicions, young masters and mistresses. Please enter.”

  A young looking maid bows to and urges us to enter.

  “Thank you.”

  As a force of habit, Sunni and I express our gratitude with a “Thank you” and a nod of acknowledgement before walking in, with the other mimicking our actions. Upon entry, we’re greeted by a rge crowd of people holding their own conversations. And of course, in here is a lot rger than it looks on the outside.

  “Is this some kind of castle or something? There’s even a garden in here.”

  Akai’s eyes drift around the building before stopping on the crowd of people again.

  “I wasn’t expecting there to be so many people here. Suddenly I’m feeling self-conscious.”

  “D-don’t worry about it, Onii-chan. We’re supposed to be here, after all.”

  “You don’t sound too confident, Akane-chan!”

  “Y-yes I do!”

  Suddenly, Naoya taps on my shoulder, causing me to turn to see his smiling face.

  “Oi, Govvy, Yoko, you want to go check this pce out?”

  Naoya points down the corridor to his left with his thumb. A little exploration, eh? Sure, why not?

  “Sounds super, let’s go.”, I nod.

  “Right, I’m all for having a little poke about.”, Yokie says, copying my action.

  With that, the three of us head down the hallway.

  The three of us stroll throughout the building, taking in all its atmosphere and surroundings. I can’t help but chuckle inwardly at just how different this pce feels from the inside.

  Putting the garden we saw earlier aside, there are all manner of decorative weapons and shields on the gilded walls. And the Enigmatic Society’s insignia, a star shrouded in a dense fog, is pstered in the centre of every hallway. Paired with the eerie dim lighting, it’s not hard to feel an air of mystique.

  “Hmm, there’s a lot more people here than I expected. Is everyone here affiliated with the Enigmatic Society?”

  Naoya isn’t being hyperbolic with that remark, we’ve seen at least two hundred people on our little adventure.

  “They definitely are. I mean, it would go against the very name of this group if some random berk could just waltz in no problem.”, Yokie says pointedly.

  “The real question is if everyone here is in Enigma Squadron.”, I say, observing my surroundings. “Or are they just partnered with us?”

  Looking around, there are a few people who look at us and break into hushed conversations.That’s reassuring.

  “Ugh, there are people looking at us.”, Naoya mutters. “The hell’s up with that, eh?”

  “Maybe they want our autographs.”, I mumble sardonically, frowning.

  “Rex you two, they’re probably just wondering who we are. After all, we’re not in uniform yet.”

  That sounds like the most reasonable answer, but I, the eternal optimist, can’t help but feel slightly wary.

  “So, you guys finally arrived!”

  All of us turn to the voice and are greeted by some muscle bound bloke leaning on one of the gilded marble pilrs. His long vermillion coloured hair is tied into a long ponytail, and his earth-green eyes are locked onto to us, gleaming mischievously. He unfolds his lightly scarred arms and shoves his hands into his pockets as he slowly approaches us, donning a grin that clearly says that he only has the best of intentions…

  “Pardon me, but who might you be?”, Naoya asks.

  “Oh, me? The name’s Mamiya Arata. You guys are Yonaguni’s Servants’ underlings, right?”

  I still can’t believe that he actually named his squadron that. How embarrassing that must be for our seniors.

  “No, we’re not their underlings, but we are their juniors.”, Yokie says ftly.

  “Same difference. Say, why are there so many foreigners in you guys’ district? First it was that African, and now it’s you three? This is Japan, not the Worldly Bazaar.”

  Oh, joy. A xenophobe.

  With three of us being the children of mixed couples, we’ve all been the subject of bigotry every now and then, especially me with my olive hue. It wasn’t frequent, but it was aggravating whenever it did happen.

  “Oh, so you’re looking to get your ass kicked between your shoulder bdes.”, Naoya spits.

  “Easy, Naoya-nii.”, Yokie says sharply, narrowing her eyes at Mamiya. “Don’t waste your time on an idiot.”

  “Exactly, robbing them of a reaction is always the best way to counter their ire.”, I agree.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure…”

  The three decide to ignore Mamiya and continue our adventure.

  “But hey, that’s not a big deal. If you’re respectful and not worthless, I don’t mind foreigners and hafus. But what I really can’t stand are those damn yokai. Say, I heard a rumour that you guys just had a hybrid join your squadron?”

  We let him run his gob, not even bothering to react to his words.

  “If only you had brought it along. It would’ve been fun to hunt it down like the monster it is.”

  Naoya whips around, his face contorted with fury, and attempts to storm towards Mamiya, but I tightly grab the back of his shirt to stop him before he can move two paces.

  “Easy, Naoya.”, I say warningly. “Don’t go blowing a fuse because of him.”

  “Did you not hear what he just said about Shizuku-san?!”, Naoya barks. “How are you taking this better than I am?!”

  “This isn’t the pce for this, Naoya.”, I say firmly. “If we fight here we could get barred from competing and then we’ll have thrown away a whole month’s worth of grueling training away over the words of a bastard.”

  Yokie, who’s giving Mamiya a bone-chilling stare, nods slowly. Naoya looks at us before returning his gaze to Mamiya, who smiles innocently, no, mockingly. Finally, Naoya relents, slumping his shoulders and twisting his face into a deep, deep grimace.

  With that, we turn to finally leave. But just before we round the corner, I stop and turn towards him.

  “Oi, you said that your name’s Mamiya Arata, right?”

  “That’s correct. What about it?”

  “I just wanted to give you a warning; I don't know how these simutions are supposed to work, but if my squadron ends up facing yours, I’ll be taking you out first.”

  “Hmph, what a bold statement. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  With that final exchange, I walk away, with Yokie and Naoya following close behind. Once we get far enough away, Naoya leans into me and hisses lowly in my ear.

  “You’d better not lose to that fucking wanker Govvy, or I’ll disown you.”

  “Don’t worry…”

  I’ll bottle it up. I’ll hold back my anger for now, because this isn’t the time nor pce. But once we get on the battle-field…

  “I’ll finish him with one hit.”, I drawl in a cold voice.