“You’re telling me that Raven is the one who took out that entire rugby team? Like, by herself?”

  I told Eva everything about the fight with the jocks. And while I could tell that Eva understood that I was telling the truth about what I witnessed in that classroom, disbelief was still challenging her enough that acceptance hadn’t yet come to pass.

  “Yes. I barely got the chance to do anything before she annihilated them with magic. And I’m not talking basic spells, either. Her magic was strong.”

  Frighteningly so.

  Mizuki couldn’t hide her shock either. Her eyes drifted to the corner as she recalled something.

  “I walked right by the classroom and saw the mess with my own eyes. That room was destroyed and the whole team was laid out…”

  “I can only take credit for two of them,” I recounted. “Like I said, the rest was all her. She used some kind of shadow magic. Electricity and wind, too.”

  She’d also brained one of them with a chair, as well. But that wasn’t particularly pertinent information.

  “Shadow magic?” Eva pondered, concern heavy in her voice. “What in the world…that’s no joke. You need a lot of proficiency to make use of that. And even then, without the right amount of control, you could easily kill someone with most offensive shadow spells.”

  “I didn’t know that,” I confessed.

  “Speaking of things we don’t know; it seems we know a lot less about Raven than we thought.” Eva rubbed her shoulder and her expression fell.

  She said “we”, but in truth, Eva was the one who outwardly took pride in her “knowledge” of Raven Blackwell. As silly as it seemed to me, Eva had clearly built Raven up in her mind. I had the feeling that her love for the person she thought the actress was ran deeper than just her performing talents, but I had no idea if it was a case of strong parasocial fandom, or something else. Either way, the disappointment on her face was a bit sad to see.

  “Well,” I started. “I did promise Raven that we’d spend more time together. If nothing else, it could be an opportunity to find out more about her.”

  Eva and Mizuki both made near identical expressions. It was something between revulsion and rage. I’d never seen them react in such a similar fashion, and it freaked me out a bit.

  “All she’s done is get you into trouble. It’s a bad idea,” Eva said. “But finding out how she learned to use magic like that would at least be interesting. Besides, she seems to really like you, so I’d guess you’re in no danger from her personally.”

  “Right…”

  “Anyway, forget about her for now. We really need to get to our magic training. If you can think of a way to sneak out of the building after school, we can meet at the warehouse and practice there.”

  “I can certainly try,” I sighed. “The paparazzi are relentless.”

  “Well, you need to try,” Eva insisted. “And be careful. I absolutely don’t want you to be photographed training with me. Remember what I said back when Eli showed up at the training field. It’ll come out at some point that I’m mentoring you, but it’s in your best interest not to let that information get out this early in the gauntlet.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, agreed.”

  The gym doors opened again, and in walked a member of the school staff. He quite literally looked like he was walking on eggshells as he made his way across the room to me. Sweat was beaded across his forehead.

  “Hello, Mr. Watanabe,” he began. “The principal asked me to inform you that your fellow students shouldn’t be a problem for you for the rest of the day. Please head to your first class and go on about your day as usual, please.”

  “Okay then.”

  Whatever that means.

  “See you later, Eva.”

  She nodded and Mizuki and I left for our class together.

  ***

  Mizuki and I entered our class, both of us noticeably tense in posture. I think we were both expecting chaos again, regardless of what the staff member and principal had claimed. But the room was silent as we entered. Our classmates were sitting in all their usual spots. Aside from Raven, who was still seated next to my desk, they all looked rather unsettled. It threw me off until I took my seat and finally noticed the four huge men occupying each corner of the classroom.

  What the? Aren’t those…

  “Good morning, everyone!” the teacher greeted us. “Word travels fast, so I’m sure you all know that there was an…incident, just moments ago.”

  I felt a million pairs of eyes pierce through me just then.

  “But I want to make it clear that there will be no more of that,” he continued. “We here at St. Cirelia are beyond lucky to have the world’s most famous actress attending our humble school. She could have chosen any academic institution, yet she chose this one. We should wear that with pride. As such, since her first days here have been unpleasantly eventful, her bodyguards will now follow her throughout the day, including during classes. Furthermore, any harassment of her will result in automatic expulsion from here on out. Is that clear?”

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  The whole room responded in the affirmative, though their tone was subdued. I think they all feared speaking at too high of a volume would result in them catching a beating from the gargoyles stationed in the corners.

  “Very good. Now then, before I take attendance…” The teacher placed a textbook on Raven’s desk. “There you go. Now you’re officially a student of my class! Now then, Ms. Wada, your new desk is at the back of the class.”

  Stunned, Mizuki eyed her new spot and said, “what? I thought the new desk was for Raven. She’s still sitting in my spot.”

  “Ms. Wada, please don’t argue. We’ve had enough drama for one day. Just take your seat so that I can take attendance.”

  Mizuki was visibly furious, but begrudgingly did as she was told.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Raven smirk to herself, but then earnestly smile when she took notice of my gaze. She waved to me as the teacher began to call out names, and I waved back with the enthusiasm of a wounded, seasick sloth.

  ***

  The day crawled by at an agonizing pace, and every class was like a carbon copy of the last one. The presence of Raven’s bodyguards rendered my classmates silent as lobotomized mice, but if you paid close attention, you could still hear the whispers. Beyond that, I definitely felt the stares—both in classes and in the halls.

  But thankfully, the day had reached its end at last. Raven, who had sat beside me in every class, was still beside me as I slowly walked towards the exit.

  “I didn’t get the chance to tell you,” she began. “The principal was very apologetic when I explained what happened with the rugby team. I know you heard them explain, but from now on, if anyone causes anymore problems for us, they will have to deal with my bodyguards and they will be punished to the fullest extent possible.”

  “For us?” I asked. “I thought they said that would only happen if they harassed you.”

  Raven grinned. “I made sure the principal understood that anyone bothering you is bothering me.”

  She looked at me like she expected a big smile or something. The best I could muster was the world’s most inauthentic, awful half smirk. It seemed to please her.

  I see she’s throwing her weight around. I mean, I know Eva’s made use of her pull, but the staff must be petrified of what pissing off Raven could mean for them. They belong to her now. No question.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you’d like to come over to my place again?” she asked. “I’m sure you noticed how empty it was when you came over. I moved here rather quickly, so it’s been taking a while for my belongings to be delivered. But I thought it would be fun if we could plan out where I should put everything when it arrives together.”

  “Sorry, I can’t today. I have something important to do, and I can’t afford to have the paparazzi all over me.”

  “Oh… I understand.”

  I gently put my hand on her shoulder and halted our movement.

  “Listen, Raven. While I have you here, we need to talk.”

  “About?”

  I took a deep breath and prepared myself to confront her about the hostility she’d levied at Eva. I had no idea how she was going to react, but something needed to be said.

  Before I could say anything, Mizuki appeared in our path and leaned against some lockers in front of us. She crossed her arms and scowled at Raven who was now pouting as well.

  “Oh, so you’re going to be with her?” Raven asked.

  “Yeah. We always walk home together,” I replied.

  Raven’s eyes fell to a half-lid, and she pursed her lips.

  “I see. Well, be careful, Shinsuke. Even if you’re not with me, the paparazzi will still be looking for you. Even if they see me leave first.”

  “Undoubtedly,” I sighed.

  “Have a good rest of your day, Shinsuke.”

  The actress walked off, leaving me and my best friend to ourselves in the emptying halls.

  “Annoying little…” Mizuki restrained herself at the last minute, opting to trail off before regaining her composure. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah, but like she said, I have no idea how I’m going to get out of here without the paparazzi on my case. I wish I had a disguise.”

  “A disguise? I know where we can get some.”

  Mizuki motioned to follow her. She led me through the halls to the side of the building where the school clubs are located. We stopped in front of one of the doors and she scanned around, ensuring it was just the two of us. When she was assured, she opened the door and ushered me inside.

  I flicked on the lights and found that we were in the drama club.

  “We shouldn’t have any problems finding something to disguise ourselves with here. And I doubt they’ll miss whatever we take,” Mizuki laughed.

  “You’re a genius.”

  “Hardly. But thank you…”

  We rummaged through the myriads of boxes in search of something convincing. We knew we’d need to blend in, so we couldn’t go too crazy with our decision. I settled on a mop-like wig of light brown hair and a beanie to hold it in place in front of my all too noticeable eyes. Meanwhile, Mizuki put on a long blonde wig that made me think of Cynthia.

  “You look good as a blonde,” I chuckled, nudging her shoulder.

  “Don’t make me throw up. But I like your shaggy hair, too. Goes well with your collar,” she teased, poking at the choker around my neck.

  “Cute.”

  “Very.”

  We snickered and finally left the school. I immediately noticed the paparazzi hiding in different areas around the front of the building. Some were obvious, others attempted to be more discreet. None of them realized who I was as Mizuki and I passed and we were able to get off the campus unnoticed.

  ***

  Thanks to Mizuki’s quick thinking, we got across Valport and to our destination without being bothered by anyone. We ducked through the hole in the chain link fence and entered the empty warehouse where Eva was waiting for us. She took one look at us in our disguises and burst into laughter.

  “I’m sorry, do I know you two?” Eva jested.

  “Too late, we already laughed at ourselves,” I quipped.

  “It’s all in good fun! I’m actually impressed. Smart play, you two!”

  I pulled off the itchy hat and wig and said, “praise her. She’s the one who thought to raid the drama club.”

  “That’s my Mimi!”

  Mizuki tossed her wig and scratched her cheek bashfully.

  “You’re sure you two weren’t followed though, right?”

  “I’m positive,” I reassured her. “I kept my eyes peeled the entire way here.”

  “Great. In that case, we don’t have any time to waste. Let’s get to training!”

  I grabbed my bag and stepped into one of the derelict offices. I changed into my training clothes (the fancy way of saying my gym clothes) and returned to Eva.

  “All right, I’m sure you know what I’m about to say. For the foreseeable future, all your training will be focused on magic now that you figured out how to cast spells.”

  Approximately two spells, to be exact. The first being a children’s water gun spell, and the second a lightning bolt that fried a prince. Talk about two opposite ends of a spectrum.

  “That’s being a bit generous,” I remarked. “I barely pulled off both of those spells.”

  “But you did pull them off, which is a good start. First, we’re going to get you warmed up since you haven’t cast any spells since the fight with Emil. Do you still have those spell flashcards I made you?”

  “Yeah. They’re in my bag.”

  “Great, grab them so we can—”

  CLICK

  The sound of a shutter and a bright white flash came from a busted window near the rear of the building.

  Mizuki rubbed her eyes and asked, “what was that?”

  Eva ran to the broken window and peered out frantically. She turned and panicked.

  “You were wrong. Someone followed you here!”