The Last Magic Chapter 10

10: Rin

When we became second-year students, Sakurako and Kurosaki-senpai began to be whispered about as having a "master-disciple relationship as sorcerers," and they became famous throughout the school. It was understandable. While Kurosaki-senpai wasn't flashy, she was a beautiful woman with well-arranged features, and Sakurako, now a high school student, had also become quite eye-catching as the sharpness in her expression had softened somewhat.

The way those two carried themselves was so refined it didn't seem like they were high school students, and everyone thought they weren't the type of people you could easily approach. Their academic performance was also impeccable, and the teachers had begun giving them special treatment.

Of course, I continued to interact with Sakurako normally, but when I did, I was now seen by those around me as someone who "couldn't read the room." Since we were high school students, nothing particularly strange happened, but I could feel an atmosphere different from what it had been up through middle school.

When that happened, since I was generally good at getting along with people, I made friends in my class and club activities, and inevitably a distance developed between Sakurako and me.

On the other hand, I was increasingly asked things like:

"Shiba-san, are you close with Nagumo-san?"

If I answered "We're close" here, it would lead to "Then introduce me to her next time." 

That was honestly troublesome. So I would limit myself to saying:

"We're from the same hometown, and we went to the same elementary and middle schools."

I had the urge to boast by saying "We're best friends," but I didn't want to do anything that would interfere with Sakurako's concentration on magic.

But I also had complicated feelings about "What if what I'm saying reaches Sakurako's ears?" I worried whether she might take it badly, and I felt unsettled about it.

As for studying, the level had definitely gotten higher, and I was struggling quite a bit.

My father, who had taught me during middle school, said:

"Well, now that it's high school level, it's really difficult for me to teach."

And he returned to the world of games. I don't think it was because a certain online game had become a worldwide boom... probably not.

Either way, he had taught me for three whole years in middle school, so now I had to manage somehow on my own. At this high school, there were two patterns: people who planned to go to the affiliated university didn't attend cram school, while those who intended to take entrance exams did attend cram school. Most of the academically capable students were in the cram school group.

I couldn't decide either way, but I had decided not to attend cram school. If it had been a public school, I might have gone, but since I was already costing extra money by attending private school, I thought it would be wasteful. My mother said, "You shouldn't worry about that and just go," while my father said nothing.

Of course, it's not like I was only studying. With the change to commuting to school by train, I was enjoying the freedom that had expanded dramatically compared to middle school. I would eat hamburgers at McDonald's with friends after club activities, drink sweet things at Starbucks, and go shopping—though I couldn't buy anything too expensive.

Also, not exactly to fill the gap left by becoming distant from Sakurako, but the person I became closest to in high school was a girl named Koga Rei. I became close to many other kids too, but Rei had a refreshing personality that didn't pry into this and that, making her the easiest friend for me to get along with.

Rei wasn't attending cram school, but she was strangely smart for this school's deviation score. When I wondered about this and asked:

"Why did you come to this school?"

She answered matter-of-factly:

"It was easy to commute from home."

Usually people take entrance exams for high schools that match their academic ability, so it was an unusual way to choose a school. Her house was in Tokyo, and she could apparently get to this school by taking just one train.

Rei had somewhat unusual hobbies—she liked manga and drew manga herself. I saw some of her work once, and she was quite skilled. She had apparently even won honorable mention from a manga magazine.

"I haven't debuted yet, though."

It was impressive seeing the usually cool Rei say this with a slightly embarrassed expression. She was probably serious about manga.

Naturally, she was good at drawing, but for some reason she wasn't in an art-related cultural club but was in the basketball club like me (this was also a reason we became close).

Rei had started playing basketball because of a manga she liked. While she wasn't naturally athletic, she always enjoyed club activities with her full effort. Study during classes, basketball in club activities, manga at home. Rei's use of time was simple and clear.

She was thought of as an oddball by those around her, but I sometimes think that actually Rei was the normal one, and we were the strange ones. We should have lived simply like in elementary school, but we had gradually started living more complicated lives.

McDonald's after club activities. When Rei learned that Sakurako and I were close, 

"Sakurako-san is nice, isn't she? She has such a strong character. She could be a model for manga. I'd like to see magic once too."

she said while nibbling on fries

"But magic is actually quite plain. It might not be the kind of thing you could make into manga."

After saying that, I hurriedly added:

"I mean, I'm not making fun of magic—it's certainly amazing, but it's not flashy..."

"I understand that."

Rei laughed and lightly waved the fry she was holding.

"You mean it wouldn't be like a flashy shounen manga with big sound effects like 'BOOM' and 'BASH,' right?"

That's Rei for you. She immediately understood what I was trying to say.

"What I want to draw isn't that kind of thing, but more of a story about steady effort. Something aimed at young adults, I guess—the type of story where people grow as human beings, drawn in a subdued way. It's not like I want to serialize in Shounen Jump or anything—well, of course I'd want to if I could, but I think the internet is developing and there will be more places to publish manga."

"Put manga on the internet?"

I knew Amazon had started e-books, but right now there shouldn't be many people who want to read manga online.

"Not just manga. I think all kinds of things will spread through the internet. Magic might be one of them too."

"Really?"

I couldn't really imagine it. We had a computer at home, but mainly my father used it for games, and I occasionally watched videos.

"That's right. Of course, I think it would be better to debut in a manga magazine, but since I've drawn something, I still want people to read it and hear their thoughts, don't I? Drawing manga is incredibly hard work. I use a computer, so I'm taking the easy route, but until recently people were filling in solid blacks, applying tone, and having to redraw if they made mistakes. It's unbelievable. After putting in all that effort, if you get rejected from a submission, no one will ever read it. Don't you think that's terrible? But if you can upload it online, someone might read it, so there's salvation."

After this rapid-fire speech, Rei sipped her juice through a straw.

"It's the same with magic—even if you learn to use it, it's wasteful if there's no place to show it off, right? Everyone would definitely want others to see it. Actually, there are quite a few sorcerers who post videos of themselves using magic."

I had seen magic videos too.

There were people who chanted spells earnestly for five minutes to use magic, and others who cut out the spell-chanting and made videos of just the magic parts. But somehow they were very simple and not interesting to watch, and they didn't have that many views.

"Hmm, magic in videos lacks a sense of wonder. It looks terribly rough, somehow. It feels a bit different from the magic Sakurako uses."

I casually crumpled up the wrapper from the hamburger I had finished eating in less than a minute. Rei still had chicken tatsuta left. I had already finished the fries from my set too, leaving only the drink.

As a girl my age, I should have eaten more slowly, and I do regret it. But if I may make one excuse—hamburgers and fries are definitely more delicious when they're warm.

"I think that part would look different with proper direction. Sakurako-san is probably good at that kind of thing. Now, even though she should be the same grade as us, there are lots of people who brag about just being able to talk to her a little. It's like added value—she's establishing her own brand value. There's something similar to charisma models about it."

Unfortunately, I don't know any charisma models, but I could understand what Rei was trying to say. By high school, special people had begun to show their prominence. No, maybe it had been that way since elementary school, but I felt like the differences were becoming clearer. Unfortunately, I wasn't anything special.

"The rumors I hear about Kurosaki-senpai are all too perfect too, so I think she might be creating a character. Oh, but that's not a bad thing! Everyone should have that kind of side to them. But people who use magic might be particularly sensitive to that kind of thing. Historically, they've been both worshipped and persecuted."

That was something we had learned about in class too. The European witch hunts were particularly famous. Conversely, there were times when they were revered as shrine maidens or fortune tellers, and historically and globally, the ups and downs of sorcerers have been quite dramatic.

"Since magic itself can't do anything that amazing, in order to make it look impressive, I think they first produce themselves. Like creating an atmosphere."

While saying this, Rei finished her chicken tatsuta.

"Sakurako said something similar."

When I first heard it, I thought, "That sounds like a troublesome way to live."

"Exactly. Both Kurosaki-senpai and Sakurako-san are exceptionally good at self-production. Rather than being good at it, they might be painting over their real selves with their performed selves, but that's why I want to see those people's magic. I have personal interest, and it would also be reference for manga."

"Hmm."

I thought about it. It might be okay to show Rei. She wouldn't say anything strange, and above all, she was trustworthy. But asking Sakurako to show magic without much reason also felt awkward. It seemed a bit presumptuous.

—Presumptuous, huh. I wouldn't have thought that way before, but I was reminded again that a wall had formed between Sakurako and me.

"Well, I'll at least try asking. If it's no good, you'll give up, right?"

I concluded that it should be fine to at least ask via email.

"Of course. If it's no good, that's fine, but I'll probably still use her as a manga model anyway. Since we're fortunately at the same school."

Saying that, Rei winked. She had finally finished eating her fries too and was wiping her hands with a paper napkin.

"By the way, does Rei want to become a manga artist? You're going to university, right?"

I suddenly became curious about how serious this girl—who was smart, academically capable, and seemed like she would walk smoothly through life—was about manga.

"I'd like to if I could."

Rei shrugged.

"It's not like balancing it with studying is difficult. Do you know? Famous musicians and such often graduate from good universities. There's an image of them being high school dropouts or not finishing high school, but that's not actually the majority. It's the same with manga artists. There are lots of people who graduated from university. I think that 'because you're aiming for something, you don't need to do something else' is just an excuse. If you really love something—no, precisely because you really love it, you should be able to balance both, shouldn't you? Probably Sakurako-san and the others are the same way, right? Just because they can do magic doesn't mean they don't study normally, does it?"

When I thought about it, that was exactly right. Rather, she had been working hard at studying to get her parents to approve of her hobby. But for me, who couldn't even manage normal studying well, both Sakurako and Rei seemed like superhumans.

After that, we left McDonald's and got on trains heading to our respective hometowns. On the way, I sent Sakurako an email saying "A friend wants to see your magic, is that okay?" and received a reply starting with "OK" quite easily.

When Rei saw magic from Sakurako in the literature club room, she seemed deeply impressed. Perhaps because of this experience, Rei later began drawing manga with magic as the theme.

Unfortunately, that manga was never completed during our school years, and when we entered exam preparation, she got accepted to Tokyo University for the reason that it was "closest to home."

After much deliberation, I took the form of applying to multiple schools and ended up advancing to the affiliated university after failing the other universities.

Sakurako decided to advance to a famous private university, following in Kurosaki-senpai's footsteps, and our paths finally diverged.