The Last Magic Chapter 4

04: Rin

After graduating from elementary school, Sakurako and I ended up attending the same middle school.

Just because we went to the same elementary school doesn't mean it's a given that we'd go to the same middle school.

In the apartment complex towers standing in rows on this reclaimed land full of pampas grass, many of the parents who live there are highly conscious people. They send their children to cram schools from elementary school age, constantly scheming to get them into prep schools at the first opportunity. In fact, there were plenty of classmates who took middle school entrance exams and went to private schools.

Sure, if you could get into an affiliated school like Waseda or Keio from middle school, life would probably be easier. But fortunately, my parents never said "go to cram school," and since I wasn't that interested in studying anyway, I ended up going to a regular public middle school.

However, since Sakurako was quite good at studying, I was worried that "she might end up going to a private school." I certainly couldn't say "wait, don't leave me behind." Sakurako has her own life, and I didn't want to act like the losing heroine in a drama. That would be rather uncool.

In the end, Sakurako didn't take the middle school entrance exam for the very serious reason that "I want to study magic too, so I don't want to spend time commuting."

The middle school uniform was a blazer, and Sakurako with her long black hair looked so good in it that I thought she could appear in a Mitsui Real Estate commercial. This made me anxious that she might be targeted by bad men. It wasn't just for that reason, but we always went to school together.

When I tried voicing this concern to her directly, 

"No, when I look at myself in the mirror wearing this uniform, I think I look like a Showa-era ghost, so I don't think there's any need to worry about that."

She was being modest.

That's ridiculous. There's no way anyone would mistake such a beautiful girl for a ghost.

After somehow joining the basketball club and getting completely crushed by my first midterm and final exams, it was summer vacation. I was at the seawall along Tokyo Bay, a bit away from our apartment complex, having been invited by Sakurako.

This might technically be a seaside location, but it's inorganically hardened with concrete, and instead of a beach, tetrapods are laid out everywhere, so I'd like to believe it's nothing so fancy. The seaside in my mind is a place with a bit more atmosphere.

There was no one around except Sakurako and me. There's really nothing near here except the apartment complex where we live, and the stylish residents who live there rarely venture to such a desolate place.

Looking at this barren sea with an industrial area visible on the opposite shore, I thought that if someone were thrown into it, or buried in the ridiculously vast pampas grass wasteland behind us, it would be easy to commit the perfect crime.

I don't think Sakurako brought me to such a place for such dark reasons, but I was feeling a bit tense myself.

While I was feeling nervous, Sakurako opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

"Listen, Rin. I've learned to use magic!"

As if revealing a special surprise, Sakurako's white cheeks were flushed with color, which was unusual for her. Of course, I was genuinely surprised.

Because I was seeing someone's dream come true up close for the first time.

"What?! Really! That's amazing! Congratulations!"

I hugged Sakurako tightly.

And I cried a little. I was embarrassed that I cried even though I hadn't done anything myself, so I kept hugging her without letting go until my face looked normal enough to hide it.

Because Sakurako had been working hard all along.

Her grandmother had told her something of questionable truth: "To use magic, it's important to train both mind and body," and she had foolishly and earnestly worked hard at both exercise and study, all while learning magic on top of that. I had just been watching nearby. Though I did occasionally eliminate troublemakers.

And now it had finally borne fruit. Nothing could be more joyful than this.

After the two of us celebrated together on the empty seawall, I asked:

"By the way, why did you bring me to a place like this?"

"I learned fire magic. There's no worry about starting a fire here, right?"

I see. In this place with nothing but water and concrete, it was perfect for using fire magic. There was nothing to burn.

After clearing her throat once, Sakurako immediately began chanting an incantation.

By the way, this wasn't the first time I'd heard Sakurako's incantations. Since we met, I'd seen her practicing incantations many times. Sakurako said it was "embarrassing," so she wouldn't practice magic at school, but her incantations were truly beautiful.

According to Sakurako's grandmother, "the way you chant incantations is also an important skill as a sorcerer."

There's no correct answer, and each sorcerer has their own way of chanting incantations, she said. I'd heard that there were sorcerers who were favored by those in power because they were skilled at chanting incantations.

There was probably a time long ago when sorcerers were treated like artists.

After all, when listening to incantations, something lively and enjoyable would definitely be better than something that makes you sleepy like a Buddhist sutra. At minimum, incantations continue for five minutes.

That's why Sakurako also studied voice training and singing techniques, and sometimes practiced incantations in karaoke boxes. She was incredibly good at this.

Even now, Sakurako was carefully and beautifully weaving her incantation in front of me.

I sat on the steps of the seawall, entranced by that beautiful voice.

And so the solo audience showcase continued for an hour. The incantation takes about five minutes to complete, but it wasn't going well. But I think that's fine. Miracles don't happen easily. If it were too easy, it wouldn't be precious.

Just as I was steeling myself with the resolve "I'll wait even if it gets dark!", Sakurako suddenly held both hands out in front of her. Thinking that the magic might finally be complete, I leaned forward.

A small, small flame flickered to life above Sakurako's palm.

It was so tiny that I instinctively used my own body as a windbreak to prevent it from being extinguished by the sea breeze.

"How... is it?"

Sakurako asked shyly.

Of course, if you just want to make fire, matches or lighters are easier and more convenient.

If I had met Sakurako after starting middle school and seen this flame, I might have just said "huh" and left it at that.

But that wasn't the case.

This was a fire I had been waiting for for years.

This was the crystallization of everything Sakurako had built up since deciding to become a sorcerer.

Thinking of that, it's not strange at all that I would burst into tears.

Seeing my face, Sakurako was surprised, and then she began crying just as hard.

"I'm glad I had Rin see it first. I was torn between you and grandmother, but I wanted Rin to see it."

What a touching thing to say. It made my tears unstoppable.

In that tasteless, dry place with strong sea breezes and nothing but concrete, we held each other and cried for a while.

And then I said:

"Sakurako's magic is so beautiful, you should chant it in front of lots of people in the future. Everyone will surely be moved and think 'magic is amazing.' They'll never again say 'magic is nothing special.'"

It wasn't flattery. That's absolutely true.

It might have been a small flame, but I truly thought it was beautiful.

Sakurako smiled bashfully.

After that, we talked it over and decided "this level of fire magic should be safe to practice anywhere." It was troublesome to come all the way to the seawall every time to practice.

At first, we were still somewhat careful about location, but gradually we became bolder and started practicing even in empty classrooms at school after hours. Sakurako, who had been embarrassed in elementary school, had probably gained confidence from being able to use magic properly.

But after a while, rumors began spreading that the middle school was haunted.

In a pitch-black classroom with no one around, they said the face of a student who had died at this school would appear glowing.

The face of a female student with long black hair.

It must be a girl who died in the Showa era.

She committed suicide in that empty classroom that's no longer in use.

"So that's why that classroom isn't used anymore."

Such stories began to be told convincingly among the students, and eventually flowers were even placed there.

One day, when Sakurako and I came to that empty classroom to practice magic, we saw a single flower in a vase placed on the desk, and from then on, we stopped practicing magic at school.

---

After seeing Sakurako's fire, I had some thoughts of my own and decided to put my full effort into something. I had become envious of Sakurako, who had properly set goals for her life and managed to give them form, however imperfectly. Working hard at basketball in club activities wasn't bad, but I was only doing it because it was fun—I didn't have that level of passion.

After thinking about it various ways, I realized that with my current grades, there was no way I could get into the same high school as Sakurako, so I decided to work hard at studying. Because I thought I wanted to stay close to her forever.

But I'd never properly studied before and didn't know where to start. Sakurako would teach me if I asked, but I didn't want to interfere with her magic studies.

After much deliberation, I decided to have my father, who apparently graduated from a good university, help me with my studies.

My father was a gamer who did nothing but play games when he came home (my mother was also a game lover, so she was understanding), but I didn't think it was something he was staking his life on, and I figured he'd listen to his cute daughter's request.

So when my father came home from work, my mother and I waited for him at the entrance, and I said:

"Welcome home! Father, please teach me to study."

"What subject?" 

both father and mother asked back simultaneously.

The idea that their daughter would properly do her schoolwork was apparently so unexpected. What terrible parents.

Still, my father started controlling his gaming a bit and began teaching me every day when he came home from work.

Father's study style was to thoroughly emphasize review.

He said that if you preview or get ahead of school lessons at cram school, you might stop listening properly to class.

"You spend the most time in school classes, so making effective use of that time is most efficient. So Rin, you should listen properly to school lessons and then thoroughly review at home the parts you didn't understand or got wrong on small tests. The key is to completely eliminate the things you don't understand. If you do that, you'll be able to get good scores on midterm and final exams."

What father said was very reasonable, and he was also very good at teaching.

Thanks to this, my grades shot up rapidly.

But then, conversely, something I couldn't accept emerged: why hadn't he taught me to study much earlier?

When I asked father about this, he said:

"Well, it would be pointless to teach Rin when she had no motivation. It's inefficient to teach something to someone who has no desire to learn. Besides, I think there's not much difference in life whether you can study or not. After all, anyone can play games, right?"

I thought this was very much like father.

Father was the type who sought thorough efficiency in games as well.