Chapter 9: Student Council.
"Make Way!" A voice yelled out as a woman dressed in a red version of the school uniform; her hair and eyes were just as red as the clothes she was wearing, dropped from the sky.
"Is that Kaira Aizawa? I didn't expect the student council vice president to make an appearance today." One of the older students in the crowd said as a bright purple flame emerged from the girl's hands and covered the statues of ice.
"Dammit! Why won't these things melt? You! You did this now undo it. These people are guests of our school!" Kaira called out to Haru.
Haru stood still and hesitated for a moment.
"Hey, these people attacked me. They can make their homes in these statues until I decide to forgive them!" He shouted back angrily and turned to walk away.
"Are you sure? You might get into trouble for this." Mia said just as he started to walk away.
"Okay, fine." [Lotus Flames] Haru held out his hand as a bright orange-colored flame the size of a candle flame floated over to each of the statues, melting them instantly.
"What was that?" Kaira said quietly. Just as Haru turned to leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Where do you think you are going? I have not inducted my investigation yet." Kaira said to him. Haru turned to see that she was now stood directly behind him.
"Investigate whatever you want to then. But I have things to do for now." He said before walking away. Mia followed him hesitantly as they made their way to one of the practice rooms.
Haru opened the door to see between ten and twenty students all practising various types of magic. The floors and walls were solid sheets of steel with magic inscriptions spread across them to negate any magic that hits them.
"I'm guessing you know essence healing?" He asked Mia who was spacing out whilst watching the mock battles currently going on.
"Uh, yes. It's an elementary level healing spell used to heal minor injuries. Why?" She asked in a confused tone.
"Well, that is the spell I used on you. But first, you need to know that spells aren't categorized by how powerful they are. They are categorized by personal efficiency in using them. For example, essence healing is used to heal yourself. But if you are efficient enough, you can heal people nearby and you can heal pretty much any amount of damage."
She stood still and stared at Haru unsure about what he had just told her.
"Fine. Watch if you don't believe me." Haru pulled out his lux in its sword form, lifted his shirt, and stabbed it into his stomach.
The blade penetrated both sides and when he pulled it out, a puddle of blood was already forming on the floor beneath him. Mia looked terrified at the sight in front of her.
"Why did you do that!? You're going to die!" She started to panic.
[Essence Healing]
The blood on the floor began to spiral around before rising from the floor in two different streams and back into the open wound. The wound began to close slowly until it was no longer there.
"You are insane! You didn't have to do that! What is wrong with you!?" She began shouting, gaining the attention of the other students in the room.
"Well, you didn't believe me so it's only reasonable for me to show you..." He stated as Mia looked at him with disgust.
"Hey! Is this guy bothering you?" An older student walked over also wearing a red uniform and stood next to Mia, also looking at Haru with disgust of a different sort.
He didn't move as the older student stared at him before speaking again.
"Leave the girl alone. And get out of here." He didn't want any more trouble for the day, so he began to walk.
"Do you want to file a report against this boy?" She then asked Mia. It seemed to take her out of her state of shock.
"Um, no. Sorry, it was just a big misunderstanding. We are friends. I just overreacted a little bit." She blurted out to the older student. Mia then rushed over to Haru and grabbed his arm.
"Okay, my bad. But if you two need anything, I will be over here." The older student said before leaving to watch over a mock battle that was taking place only a few meters away.
"I'm sorry, Haru," Mia said before looking at the ground.
"It's okay. I probably shouldn't have injured myself so much to prove a point. But If you still want to learn, then prick your finger with your lux." Mia didn't hesitate and took out her sword and made a small cut on her fingertip. Haru did the same and cut his own finger.
"I'm going to take ten steps back. I want you to extend your mana out from your body and try to keep it in the shape of a circle and then use essence healing." He told her before walking backward.
He was around three meters away from her before he stopped.
"Okay, now start."
Mia looked at him for a few seconds before she closed her eyes and began to spread her mana out. It looked like it was causing a strain on her as sweat dripped down her face. Twenty seconds went by before Haru felt his body envelope with mana.
[Essence Healing]
Golden light began to form within a circle of six meters in diameter. Haru looked down at his finger. The blood had stopped flowing, but the cut was still open and there were even a few drops of blood still on the floor. He looked back over to Mia, who was now panting.
"Okay, I see where we went wrong. I'm sorry I'm not very good at teaching." He walked back over to her as she was still trying to catch her breath.
"Put your hands on top of mine." He held out his hands towards her.
She listened without hesitation and put her hands on top of his and waited for her next instruction. She blushed just slightly, but enough for Haru to notice. He didn't want to say anything to her, so he decided to ignore it
"Okay, now close your eyes and control your breathing." She wasted no time and did exactly what he instructed her to do.
"Now put your mana into your fingertips. Imagine the mana as part of your body. Make sure your mana doesn't stop touching me." Haru said before he slowly moved his hands away from her.
Feeling her mana come with him, he began to walk backward. After a few steps, the mana stopped in its place and she began sweating again.
"Don't force it. Just feel the mana. Imagine your mana is a light and it is expanding to light up a dark room. Light doesn't need force to expand, does it?" Her breathing then returned to normal and the pressure seemed to be gone.
The mana now seemed to move with Haru much more evenly as he took a few more steps. Mia had seemed to understand what Haru was trying to get across. Mana shouldn't be forced. It is the energy of life and as long as there is even a single living thing on earth, Mana will exist within it.
Suddenly her mana passed beyond Haru. It carried on rapidly expanding more and more.
'Should I let her waste it all? She will learn a valuable lesson if she depletes her mana all the way. Why the hell not? It will be fun to have a student. Is this the normal life I always wanted?'
'I'm not too sure, but I'm enjoying whatever this is.' Haru thought before Mia's mana suddenly disappeared.
[Shadow Step]
He caught her before she fell to the ground. She had passed out from using all her mana.
"Haru Kitagawa! Come with me now!" A familiar voice called out from behind him.
"Hey, Vice President. How are you? I'm currently busy right now please come back later." He said with a smile while holding Mia in his arms.
"Wait... What are you doing to that girl!?" Kaira screamed and pointed her hand towards him.
[Incineration]
She launched a fatal fire attack towards him.
'Why do people always attack me?' He thought before destroying her attack.
[Break]
The fire vanished into thin air.
"Calm down, she has just exhausted her mana. I was going to take her back to her room, but I guess since you're here. You can do it now." Haru walked closer to her and put Mia in her arms.
"Wait, I can't carry her. She is too heavy!" Kaira said whilst struggling to hold her up.
"What are you playing around for? Just use magic..." He said whilst trying his hardest not to laugh at her.
"I can't," She said quietly whilst still trying to hold her up.
"What do you mean you can't?" Haru asked, confused with the whole situation. "I... I can only use fire magic." She said lowering her head in disappointment. Haru sighed slightly.
"Fine. Okay." He then took Mia into his arms once again.
[Space Warp]
He opened up a Rift connecting to Mia's bedroom.
"Wait, where do you think you are taking her!? I'm not letting you go anywhere with a defenseless girl!" The Vice President jumped in front of him just as he was about to enter.
"Ugh. Fine then by all means come along." Haru put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her. Kaira stumbled backward into the rift before he walked through it as well. As he stepped through, the Vice President was quick to get up from the floor.
"How dare you push me! I can have you expelled for that, you know?" Haru ignored her and then put Mia down on her bed and covered her up with a blanket.
[Space Warp]
"Wait, where are you going now!?" She jumped in front of him once again.
"Um... Back to the practice room, I left my jacket there. Do you want to come with me again?" He asked before putting his hand on her shoulder again.
"Yes! Of course, I'm coming with you. I still need to inter... I mean to question you!" She shouted into his ear.
"Buckle up," Haru said before pushing her through the rift once again.
"Idiots never learn." He chuckled to himself before walking through it for himself.