Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 03 - Nine Schools Competition (I) (40 page)

His expression was probably thoroughly miserable.

Mayumi hurriedly shook her hands in denial.

"Ah, no, I know that's not the case.
I know that you two are apart while running errands for the Student Council and during class, so, how do I put it.
.
.
.
.
.
Perception, it's all a matter of perception!"

"President.
.
.
.
.
.
For Magicians, perception is reality."

The increasingly humid and heavy gaze prompted Mayumi to break out into an invisible sweat.

The heavy atmosphere persisted until the two of them reached the courts.

Once they reached the arena, Tatsuya felt that this would negatively impact morale, so he forcibly reined in his expressions.

Yet, when Mayumi took off her cooling jacket (a sports jacket with a built-in cooling system based on thermodynamics), Tatsuya's poker face almost slipped.

".
.
.
.
.
.
Are you wearing that in the competition?"

"Yes."

Mayumi's matter of fact nod caused Tatsuya to feel a headache incoming.

"Are you really wearing that uniform during the competition?"

"Eh, is it strange?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Does it not suit me?"

".
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It suits you perfectly."

"Is that so.
.
.
.
.
.
?
Tee hee, thank you for your compliment."

Mayumi happily started stretching, while Tatsuya carefully scrutinized her one more time for verification.

No matter how he looked at it, his eyes didn't deceive him.

Polo shirt paired with miniskirt could only be described as a tennis uniform, which was more attentive to the latest fashions than competitive practicality.

Leaning slightly would cause the skirt to sway and reveal the petticoat beneath.

"Crowd Ball" was a physically demanding sport.

The shooting device uses compressed air to shoot a 6 cm diameter ball with low elasticity which players used rackets or magic to send towards the opposing courts, with the number of goals determining the victor.
Each round lasted three minutes in a court encased within a transparent box.
Every twenty seconds, another ball would be introduced to the mix with a total of 9 balls in play in the end, leaving the players no time to catch their breath.

Players usually wore T-shirts and shorts, though some opted to wear elbow and knee protectors to help with diving.

If wielding magic alone, there would be no need for running or wearing protective gear, though players that forgo the racket usually wear more protective gear on the court.

Usually, no one would wear clothing that would leave their limbs exposed.

(Then again, given who this is, her dictionary probably doesn't contain the word "impossible".
)

Tatsuya arrived at this conclusion after a moment of observation and accepted this facet of reality.

"Tatsuya-kun.
.
.
.
.
.
Are you contemplating something impolite?"

"I wouldn't dare.
You don't need a racket?"

This piercing accusation forced Tatsuya to sidestep quickly and adopt a more formal tone to change the topic.

"Yeah, this is my usual style."

For a moment, Tatsuya thought she was referring to the "tennis uniform" style, but Mayumi obviously meant a style that "only relied on magic".

"Which CAD are you using?"

"This one."

After Mayumi spoke, she pulled out a handgun-shaped Specialized CAD.

The gun barrel was fairly short, hence it was commonly known as the "short model" while a select minority referred to them as the "civilian model" (Tatsuya's CAD was a "long barrel", which the select minority referred to as the "carbine model").

Handgun and rifle-type CADs were both equipped with aim modifiers in the gun barrel.
The "gun barrel" was actually the location of the targeting reticle for magic calculation (the relative coordinates for the Eidos within the information dimension) that functioned like a motion sensor.

The longer the gun barrel of the CAD, the greater the emphasis placed on the aim modifier.

On the other hand, for Magicians that only cared about the activation speed of Specialized CADs and didn't require any aim modification, the short model provided everything they could possibly want.

"I recall that the President usually ran Generalized CADs?"

"That's usually the case, but I'm only using one this time."

Mayumi's comment was very abstract, but Tatsuya correctly interpreted this to mean "Since this contest only requires one magic, I chose a Specialized model".

"Move-Type Magic?
Or Reverse Speed Magic?"

"Correct, it's 'Multiple Bounce'."

Mayumi was carefully stretching, so she didn't play coy with Tatsuya before answering his question.

"Tatsuya-kun, could you give me a hand?"

"No problem."

Mayumi sat on the ground with both legs spread and Tatsuya gently pushed her back.

With practically no resistance, her chest was pressed against the ground.

"Using multiple bounces to take advantage of the kinetic energy vectors.
.
.
.
.
.
But wouldn't relying only on this magic pose a considerable risk?
If the inelastic balls lose momentum along the floor or walls, you would have no way of sending them back to the other side."

Tatsuya could feel some body heat flowing across his palm as he softly whispered a warning.

"Hm!
Hm hm hm.
.
.
.
.
.
Whew, I also prepared a few other Speed-Type Magics, but I never resorted to them last year."

She spoke nonchalantly, but this required a significant difference in strength to fuel this confidence.

Once again, Tatsuya realized how incredibly powerful Mayumi was compared to everyone else.

"That's fine."

Mayumi stretched to the left and right four times then informed Tatsuya to let go.

Tatsuya straightened and backed off a few steps whereas Mayumi closed her legs and raised a hand towards him as she looked at him.

Initially, Tatsuya wasn't certain what Mayumi wanted, but once he noticed her watching him intently with an increasingly displeased expression, he quickly got the message.

Tatsuya came around to her front and grasped her outstretched hand.

A dainty, delicate hand.

With a soft tug, Mayumi rolled handily to her feet.

"Thank you."

"No, you're welcome."

Tatsuya personally felt that his response was very cordial, but for some reason Mayumi was very happy.

"Hm~ What a novel feeling."

"Ah?"

That comment came out of the blue.

Tatsuya replied on reflex and Mayumi smiled in response.

"I have older brothers and young sisters, but no younger brother."

"Hm.
.
.
.
.
."

Tatsuya was aware of this.

Unlike the Yotsuba Family that was shrouded in secrecy, the Saegusa Family was always in the public eye.

Every birthday for the children drew crowds of guests to celebrate in grandiose fashion.

This only required a cursory investigation of the members of the Saegusa Family, so it wasn't very difficult.

If he remembered correctly, besides two older brothers, she also had a pair of twin sisters in 8th grade.

"Tatsuya-kun never treated me differently, right?"

"I personally don't believe I'm pretending to be overly familiar with the President.
.
.
.
.
."

Wary of falling into a trap, Tatsuya replied cautiously, but Mayumi laughed lightly.

"That's not what I meant.
You wouldn't be on guard against me, flustered, or uneasy, right?"

Ignoring the first one for now, wouldn't the latter two only occur under conditions that Mayumi had created herself?
Tatsuya thought but didn't verbalize.

"You address me with the proper honorifics, but in reality you're not being overly polite either.
I thought you were a cold person, but you still go along with my selfish requests, so I think this is what it would be like to have a younger brother."

Tatsuya involuntarily widened his eyes at Mayumi.

Indeed, excluding her height, Mayumi had a well-rounded personality, a surprisingly feminine side and, while it was hard to notice, she did care about others in her own way so she fit the bill for an "older sister" perfectly.

Yet, in all honesty, having an older sister like that would probably mean a lifetime of stress.

".
.
.
.
.
.
Heaven knows, I only have a little sister after all."

"That's true."

Mayumi smiled serenely as she gazed at Tatsuya.
This smile was enough to cause people to suspect she had forgotten the contest altogether.

Acutely uncomfortable, Tatsuya looked for an opportunity to escape.

"Excuse me, I think I should check on the other players' status."

"There's no need."

Unfortunately, with the intercession from a third party, his plan of egress was dashed.

"Ara, Izumin."

"Saegusa.
.
.
.
.
.
You're still up to your usual name-calling."

The person who looked like she was fighting off a migraine was a female student wearing the same type of jacket as Tatsuya.
She was a 3rd Year student in the technician team — Rika Izumi.

"Would you prefer Rika-chan?"

"You're doing this on purpose!
Eh, forget it, just call me Izumin."

"So Izumi-senpai, what do you mean by there's no need?"

Tatsuya had already learned this lesson; playing word games with Mayumi was a ceaseless struggle.

He completely disregarded Mayumi and Izumi's exchange and focused only on the first sentence.

"Hm?
Oh.
.
.
.
.
.
Tatsuya-kun, you go ahead and take care of Saegusa's contest, I'll handle the other side."

The female student called Izumi did not express a favorable attitude towards Tatsuya's inclusion on the technician team.

Rather than being elitist, her problem likely arose from pride.

She probably believed that she was capable of handling the situation even without Tatsuya's assistance.

"Is that so, I understand."

In reality, Tatsuya really wanted to beat a swift retreat, but since the division of labor was so clearly defined, he had no way out.

So Tatsuya nodded without making any further comment.

"Then it's up to you."

Izumi left those words as a footnote and quickly departed.

"She's not a bad person.
.
.
.
.
."

Mayumi exuded a powerless aura as she watched Izumi's departing figure, but the soft words that she spoke for Tatsuya's benefit went in one ear and out the other.

Regardless of what course of action Izumi took and how Mayumi tried to defend her, both were utterly immaterial to Tatsuya.

"Crowd Ball" was a sport that shared many similarities with tennis and racquetball, but there were no serving rules.

Each session lasted three minutes with a three minute break tucked in between sessions, with a total of three sessions per round (the Men's Division had five sessions).

After a signal announced the start of the contest, balls shot forth by compressed air would be released every 20 seconds and an insane flurry of balls would ensue until the ending signal.

—Generally, that was the case.

However, the contest unfolding before Tatsuya's eyes was not so.