The Fading Chant

Combat trials began with students split into three-person teams. The goal? Disable the opposing squad using non-lethal magic, summoned spirits, or blessed weapons, without causing a school-wide catastrophe.

Team Hoshimiya (a.k.a. "The Misfits") stood across from their opponents: a highly coordinated group of second-years dressed in matching cloaks and smirks.

"We're so dead," Hiro muttered.

"I agree," Kenshin sighed. "Also, why do they have matching cloaks? We don't even have matching socks."

"I have a plan," Katsumi said.

"Oh no," Hiro whispered. "She has a plan."

"Shut up and move left," Katsumi ordered.

The match started with a blaring horn.

Immediately, a volley of energy spheres flew toward them. Kenshin screamed, Hiro tripped over his foot, and Katsumi launched forward like a missile.

In the chaos, Yoshino hovered above the battlefield like a battle angel, her arms glowing faintly.

"I can cast a defensive barrier over Kenshin," she said calmly, "or I can throw that one into a tree."

"Tree," Kenshin shouted. "The tree."

A second-year launched a spiked shadow whip toward them, but it was suddenly sliced in half by a quiet, precise beam of dark energy.

The battlefield fell silent.

From behind one of the stone walls emerged a student who didn't quite walk so much as drift. His uniform was immaculate, but it looked like he'd slept in it, and his long black bangs fell over his face like a curtain of depression.

He didn't look at anyone.

He just sighed and muttered, "This is all so pointless…"

Kenshin blinked. "Who is that?"

The instructors whispered something to one another.

Ayame frowned. "Is that… Seiran?"

Seiran Kurosaki, known to the students as "That Guy Who Might Be a Curse," had never participated in combat trials. Or class. Or anything. He showed up for exams, scored higher than anyone, and vanished again.

Rumor had it he was too powerful to be in a regular track. Or too lazy to care.

Both things were true.

Now, he stood between the two teams and sighed again, as if even existing on this battlefield was emotionally exhausting.

"You all make too much noise," he muttered.

Then he raised a hand. Without a chant, a wave of pressurized air rippled out, knocking everyone on the opposing team flat.

Silence. Complete, awkward silence.

Seiran turned to leave.

"I'm not helping," he called back. "I just didn't like their cloaks."

Kenshin stared at him. "What the hell was that?!"

Back on the bench, Ayame covered her face with both hands. "That guy is a walking black cloud. I roomed next to him last year. I woke up to him muttering 'life is an illusion' into his teacup."

Hiro looked awed. "He's my hero now."

Kenshin sat down hard, still reeling from the ambush rescue. "This school makes zero sense."

Later that day, as the sun began to dip and students returned to their dorms bruised, fried, or emotionally scarred, Kenshin and Ayame walked alone along the academy's garden path.

Yoshino had gone quiet, giving them space. Hiro was still interrogating Seiran somewhere ("Do you eat food, or just negative vibes?"). Katsumi had disappeared after the match, which was probably a blessing.

Kenshin glanced sideways at Ayame. "You were weirdly quiet today."

She didn't answer immediately.

Instead, she walked over to a bench and sat down. "You ever wonder why I always show up where you are?"

"Uh… constantly," Kenshin said.

She smiled sadly. "I've known you since we were six. Before the spirit schools, before the magic ranks, before Yoshino."

He sat beside her, more careful now. "I remember. You always followed me around. I thought you were annoying."

"You still say that?" she said, elbowing him.

"True," he admitted.

Her tone softened. "My family… They used to work in the lower sector. Poor place. No magic. Barely food. But your mom helped mine get a job at the academy. That's how we moved into the staff wing. That's how I got to study here."

Kenshin blinked. "I… didn't know that."

"You probably never noticed. You were always too busy getting detention or blowing things up in beginner spell class."

He laughed, but then paused. "So you stayed by me all these years because… You felt you owed me?"

Ayame shook her head. "No. I stayed because when we were kids, and I had nightmares, you were the only one who'd sit with me until they stopped, plus my feelings haven`t changed about you. You probably don't remember, do you?"

"…No."

"That's okay," she whispered. "You don't have to."

She stood up and brushed off her skirt. "You're a mess, Kenshin. You're reckless, rude, and somehow allergic to compliments. But you're also… trying."

"I'm more like surviving," he muttered.

"And that's why I'm sticking around."

In the distance, thunder rumbled again over the edge of the city skyline. Not from a storm, but from a disruption in the magic grid. Yoshino appeared at Kenshin's side like a protective shadow.

"We're not alone," she whispered. "Something's moving near the academy gates."

Seiran stood atop the tower rooftop, watching the horizon, his eyes unreadable.

Kenshin stiffened at Yoshino's words.

"Not alone? You mean like… another brooding assassin-type? Because we're already full."

Yoshino didn't crack a smile. "Something is stirring by the eastern gates. It's not human."

Ayame looked around. "Should we tell someone, or…?"

A sudden, distant boom shook the cobblestones beneath their feet.

"Okay," Kenshin said, backing up. "See? See?! That's the sound of 'not our problem' turning very into our problem!"

Yoshino turned to him, serious. "You're marked now. Whatever's coming may be looking for you."

"I knew breakfast felt like a last meal," Kenshin muttered.

Meanwhile, from the top of the clock tower, Seiran Kurosaki stood alone, his coat flapping in the wind like a sad curtain. His expression didn't change as a dark ripple of distorted mana crackled far off across the school's border field.

He pulled out a small piece of candy from his pocket and popped it in his mouth. "Great. More noise."

A lightning arc lashed out beyond the wall. Students were still filing out of the combat fields below, unaware.

Seiran sighed. "I hate being right."

Back on the ground, the group moved toward the disturbance cautiously—well, most of them did.

Hiro trailed behind, casually chewing on a stick of gum. "So... just to clarify. We're following the suspicious magical disturbance without adult supervision, backup, or a plan?"

"Pretty much," Ayame said.

"Cool, cool, cool. This is how we die."

Yoshino was already ahead, her form more solid now, ready to protect. Kenshin jogged after her, hand tight on the practice sword he forgot to return after training.

"I don't even know how to hold this thing," he mumbled. "Am I supposed to slash or wave it around and hope it distracts the enemy?"

Ayame joined him. "Option two sounds very 'you.'"

They reached the border clearing and froze.

A small crater steamed at the edge of the academy grounds. In the center stood a figure, about their age, cloaked in burnt red robes, silver eyes faintly glowing beneath a fringe of uneven hair.

He looked like someone who hadn't slept in three days and resented everyone who had.

Yoshino stepped in front of Kenshin. "He's not normal."

"No kidding," Hiro whispered. "He's dressed like a cultist and smells like burnt cinnamon."

The figure looked up.

"I'm not here to fight," he said quietly. "I'm here to warn you."

Kenshin blinked. "Can you guys stop showing up with cryptic lines and start using normal greetings like 'Hi, I'm Josh' or something?!"

The figure ignored that. "They're coming. And this school is not ready."

Ayame stepped forward, folding her arms. "Who's coming?"

He opened his palm. A jagged black crystal pulsed faintly in his hand. "The ones who created this."

Kenshin squinted. "Okay, but... who are you?"

The boy looked at him with tired eyes. "My name is Kuro. I was part of Class Zero. The ones they erased from the records."

Seiran's voice suddenly echoed from behind them.

"Oh, this idiot."

Everyone turned. Seiran stood with his hands in his pockets, glaring at Kuro like someone who'd stepped in something unpleasant.

"I thought you were still sulking underground," Seiran muttered.

"I was," Kuro said. "Then the nightmares came back."

Seiran glanced at Kenshin. "He's dramatic. And dangerous. Mostly dramatic."

Yoshino moved closer to Kuro, eyes narrowing. "That crystal. Where did you get it?"

Kuro's voice dropped. "I was the test subject. For a failed binding spell. It cracked. And something got out."

Ayame, unusually quiet, leaned against a tree trunk. "And that something is heading here?"

Kuro nodded. "It follows magic. Powerful magic. I didn't come for you, Kenshin, but... it probably will."

Hiro let out a long breath. "So to summarize: you brought bad news, don't have a solution, and you might be cursed?"

Kuro nodded.

Hiro shrugged. "Cool. You're hired."

Kenshin groaned. "Stop inviting people into the party without asking me."

***

As the group made their way back to the dorm block, Ayame stayed a few steps behind, her hands curled in her sleeves.

Kenshin slowed his pace. "Hey… you okay?"

She didn't answer at first.

Then: "My magic's always been weak."

He blinked. "What?"

"I cover it up. But I'm not like you. Or even Hiro. And definitely not someone like Kuro. I'm average. No summoned spirit. No prophecy. Just... me."

She looked up at him, something fragile in her eyes.

"So if something's coming for you… I can't do anything. And I hate that."

Kenshin was quiet for a moment, then shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You've already done more for me than most people who can throw fireballs."

Ayame smiled faintly. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't get used to it."

They walked in silence after that, a little closer than before.

***

Later that night, as the dorms settled and the wards hummed quietly, Yoshino appeared by Kenshin's bed, her voice hushed.

"That boy, Kuro... he's not lying. Whatever touched that crystal, it left a scar on him. A magical wound."

Kenshin sat up. "Can it be stopped?"

Yoshino looked out the window at the dark treeline beyond the academy walls.

"Maybe. But not by force. Not by magic alone."

Kenshin sighed. "Awesome. So no plan, lots of pressure, and now I'm being haunted by a depressed magic survivor."

He lay back down.

Yoshino gave a tiny smirk. "It's a good thing you're so stubborn, Master."