01x02 - May I Join You?

[bunniefuu]

Entrance Exam Hall Wating Room NA - B

I'm nervous!

You'll be fine! You can do it!

You practiced it a lot!

It will be okay!

Y-You can do it! Calm down, Honoka!

All you have to do is be yourself during the practical test!

But that's the hardest part!

That place seemed like a totally different world.

Whoa!

Amazing!

The National Magic University Affiliated First High School.

The entrance exams.

The one who got the top scores was this girl... Shiba Miyuki-san.

Entrance Ceremony

As mild sunshine streams in and vivid cherry blossoms float in the air

on this gorgeous spring day...

being able to enroll at National Magic University Affiliated First High School...

fills me with great joy, as well as honor.

So, that girl's one of the people you said caught your eye?

Yes. I wish you could've seen her, too, Shizuku! You wouldn't believe how cool she was!

Is that so?

All right, it's settled! I'm going to be friends with Shiba-san, no matter what!

...as a student of this prestigious school...

"Equally, cohesively, and in matters other than magic, as well," huh?

She's doing a great job weaving those rigid phrases into her speech.

You have that evil look on your face again, President.

She's exactly what I was hoping for!

"Nice to meet you...

I'm Mitsui Honoka! Please take care of me!"

No, no! That's too casual! Okay... "Good afternoon, my name is Mitsui Honoka.

I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

That was kind of stiff, huh?

Hey, Shizuku, which introduction will leave the best impression on her?

Any one will do, but here she comes. Shiba-san.

Whoa, she's here!

It's Shiba-san!

So cute!

Good morning.

She's a goddess! I'd love to get closer to her!

Oh, Shiba-san's seat is behind me.

Huh? Eh? Y-You should've told me that sooner!

Sorry. I only noticed now.

I-I have to come up with a tasteful greeting! "That hair ornament is so lovely!" Like that?

No, I'm not hitting on her! How about, "I'm a big fan"?

No, that doesn't make any sense, either!

Go on, it's your chance to introduce yourself. You can do it.

Right! It's now or never! You've got this, Honoka! Go for it!

Oh, um, Shiba-sa―

What was that? Is she okay?

Who knew we had such a klutz in our class?

I-It's over... My whole high school life...

Are you all right?

Th-Thank you.

You're welcome. Um...

M-Mitsui. My name is Mitsui Honoka!

I'm Shiba Miyuki.

Mitsui-san, let's be friends, shall we?

I-I'd like that, too.

All's well that ends well! You did it, Honoka!

Please excuse her, Shiba-san. She's a really ditzy girl.

Th-That's harsh, Shizuku! Well, I admit that I did kind of make a fool of myself.

Excuse me, and this person is...?

I'm Kitayama Shizuku. I've already heard a lot about you...

since Honoka's a huge fan of yours.

Hey! Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?

Excuse me. Have we already met somewhere before?

She saw you at the test venue, and it was love at first sight―

Hey, enough! You're embarrassing me! Shizuku, you dummy dummy!

Shiba-san, are you having lunch in the cafeteria, too?

Yes. May I join you?

Of course! We should be the ones asking you in fact!

Oh no, the place is packed.

Are there any empty seats?

Eh? That person...?

Hey, you guys...

Mind giving up those seats?

Huh?

You nd Course students are just our reserves.

Whether we're in class or in the cafeteria,

you should give up your seats for any st Course student, no questions asked!

Um...

Fine.

I'm done eating, so I'm heading out.

H-Hey, Tatsuya!

Tatsuya-kun!

This is ridiculous. Let's go, too.

Yeah.

That's the right attitude!

All right, Shiba-san, these seats are yours now.

But I...

After all, nd Course students are Weeds! In other words, they're inferior!

That's pretty disrespectful of you to eat at the same place with us st Course students.

Don't you all agree?

That's right!

Know your place, you Weeds!

No way.

Uh, Shiba-san!

I'm so sorry for making a scene.

That's...

So, he's a nd Course student.

What if he is?

That's weird. I was positive he was a st Course student!

Eh?

Actually, there was one other person besides you who caught my eye during the exams.

Normally, you'll see the byproducts of your magic sequence in the form of light waves,

but there wasn't a single trace with him.

Shiba-san, you may have devastating magic power,

but it seems like he's only using the bare minimum of his magic power.

Anyway, it was such gorgeous magic!

It really must've been, for you to gush about it.

Hmm... Come to think of it...

Right! I'm a Mitsui, so I'm more sensitive to light oscillation than most!

Light pool

But who would've thought a nd Course student could cast such gorgeous spells?

Thank you so much...

Mitsui-san!

Eh?

Ehhhhhhhh?

That person is Shiba-san's older brother?

Talented magicians who happen to be siblings... But her brother's a nd Course student, huh?

Really, enough already!

Didn't you hear Miyuki-san say that she's going home with her brother?

There's something we need to discuss with her as fellow st Course students!

Just back off, nd Course student!

What?

What gives you the right to try to split those two apart?

What? "Split us apart," did you say?

Oh, Mizuki, how you do misunderstand?

I'm gonna split you two apart!

Onii-sama!

Miyuki!

I'm never going to let go of you again, Miyuki.

Please don't ever let go of me, Onii-sama.

Onii-sama, please!

Miyuki?

Excuse me, Shiba-san, but you're wrong about that.

You may be siblings, but a Weed is just a spare.

We have to draw the line between st Course and nd Course!

At this school, there are the honor students, the Blooms,

and the irregular students, the Weeds. It's a clear distinction.

It's an irrefutable fact.

You all agree with me, right?

That's right. Shiba-san needs to hang with us.

You losers can just back off!

But that's just terrible, you guys.

Losers go home!

Get lost now!

You are failures...

Being set apart from her own brother by course...

Go home!

Shiba-san's the one who's suffering the most!

But they can't even see that, and they're looking down on the nd Course students in front of her.

What's wrong with these people?

It makes me feel stupid for being so proud of making st Course!

Especially that guy! What was his name? "Moriyama"? Could he be more clueless?

This Magic High School runs on a meritocracy.

Since you Weeds are inferior in talent,

that makes your very existence inferior, as well.

I think it's time you all learned your place.

But we're all new students here!

Just how much better than us can you be at this stage?

Don't talk like Blooms and Weeds are equal!

All right, why don't I show you how much stronger we are?

Don't tell me...

You're going to cast an attack spell here?

Looks like this nd Course student is faster than you, st Course student-san.

No way can a Bloom ever fall behind a Weed!

Don't give us that!

Please stop, every―

Shut up!

Honoka!

There's something wrong with you all!

All you're doing is making Shiba-san suffer!

What do you think you're doing?

That's right, you! Show them the power of a st Course student!

You, shut up!

I'm going to use my magic to stop you all!

Please... just settle down, everyone!

Stop it right now!

Student Council President Saegusa!

Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, Watanabe!

You there, the Class -A girl!

Ah, yes?

You were just about to unleash an attack spell, weren't you?

Except for self-defense, anti-personnel attacks are not only against this school's rules,

they're also against the law.

Huh? Um, actually...

I'd particularly like to hear what you have to say.

Please report to the Disciplinary Committee Room.

No way...

In the end, I only made it worse.

I even caused trouble for the Student Council president.

Honoka...

Why couldn't I have been more calm?

Now, I can never look Shiba-san in the eye!

I just know she hates me now!

Please hold on a minute...

Disciplinary Committee Chairman.

All she was about to unleash was a Flash Spell, nothing more.

I don't believe there was any intent to attack.

Oh? Do you mean you have the ability to read activation sequences as they're being launched?

I'm no good at practical skills...

but I am adept at analysis.

In that split second?

He's bluffing!

Don't be stupid!

No way could he pull that off!

Is Shiba-san's brother defending me?

Mitsui-san...

U-Um...

I-I...

I know. That magic just now.

You weren't trying to attack You were trying to stop everyone, right?

This is...

It's a secret, okay?

Miyuki...

We've reached an understanding.

She has nothing to worry about, either.

U-Um, excuse me... Uh...

I have to thank him properly! Why am I at a loss for words at a time like this?

Thank you for defending Honoka.

It didn't escalate into anything serious, thanks to you, Onii-san.

Shizuku...

U-Um...

I'm sorry for what just happened, Onii-san!

It was no big deal.

And don't call me "Onii-san," okay? We're both first years here, right?

R-Right!

Hmm...

So, there are st Course students like her, too, huh?

Thank you for today! You came to my rescue yet again, Shizuku!

Aren't you glad you were able to let them know how you feel?

Yes. But really, can you believe how amazing the nd Course students are, too?

That Erika girl sure was incredible, and Shiba-san's brother was the most amazing of all.

Identifying the magic behind a launched activation sequence is not something you can normally do.

So, how can he be in nd Course?

What's the difference between st and nd Courses exactly?

Shiba-san! Onii-san! Good morning!

Good morning!

Didn't I tell you yesterday? Don't call me "Onii-san."

Right. But what should I call you, then?

You can call me Tatsuya.

T-T-Tatsu... Tatsuya―

Tatsuya-kun!

Tat-su-ya-kun~!

What's going on, Student Council President?

Aww... Don't call me so formally like that.

You can just call me Mayumi, all right?

Um, forgive me if I'm being rude,

but didn't President meet Onii-sama for the first time during the entrance ceremony?

I wonder if that's true! Could it be true?

We've already met in the distant past.

Split apart by a cruel twist of fate, but once again drawn toward each other

until we were reunited on the day of the entrance ceremony!

Reunited at last, huh, Mayumi?

Tatsuya-kun...

No! Onii-sama, when did such a thing happen?

Just kidding! It's true that we met for the first time during the entrance ceremony.

But...

Tatsuya-kun, did you feel a sense of destiny?

If this is destiny, then it's not fate, but rather doom.

Is that so? Crap.

Enough is enough, you!

Just give them the message! Don't you have something to discuss with the Shiba siblings?

Discuss?

I'd like to invite you two to lunch in the Student Council Office.

That bizarre familiarity she showed Onii-sama... It'd be risky to allow her to get close to him!

Hey, don't worry, I won't bite.

It's just that, in order to make this academy even better, I'd like to enlist your aid.

You have your own opinion, don't you?

About this school.

I wonder what the Student Council president wanted.

I think she's going to invite them to join the council.

Since traditionally, the top new student always joins.

Oh... Just what you'd expect of Shiba-san!

But if that's the case, then what about Tatsuya?

Eh? Tatsuya-san's joining the Disciplinary Committee?

Why would a guy like that...

He's just a Weed!

It has to be his connection to Shiba-san!

Lucky him! Getting all this blatant special treatment thanks to his talented sister...

Otherwise, a guy like him would never get to be on the Disciplinary Committee.

Not a loser Weed like him!

H-Hey!

Honoka!

But...

It wouldn't do any good to tell them because they don't know

how good Tatsuya and the other nd Course students are.

I feel so bitter. They're all so amazing.

Why do people discriminate between st Course and nd Course?

There's not much chance of getting the current st Course students to understand.

After all, you and I have always believed it ourselves

that st Course is for the honor students, and nd Course is for the irregulars.

You're right about that.

We were both so overjoyed that we'd made st Course.

But... But...

We already know all about Tatsuya-san and the others' abilities.

Huh?

It might not be possible to get everyone to acknowledge them right away. So...

why don't we get things started?

I mean, we're all First High students, right?

Yeah.

I'm so glad I got into this school!

Because Tatsuya-san, Shiba-san and everyone in nd Course are all so talented!

Well, after all, we were your only rivals back home.

The world is such a vast place, isn't it?

Let's work hard so we can measure up to them!

Yeah.

Student Council Office

So, Saegusa, what do you think of this year's new students?

There are some fascinating kids.

Two, no less!

Aside from those siblings, there were a few other students of note.

We have a bumper crop this year, right?

Juumonji-kun, I'm sure you'll find a lot to like, too.

Does it look like you'll be able to achieve your goal?

I'd say so.

I think these kids could make it interesting.

st Course and nd Course...

It will be a sight to see how they'll make their respective positions count.

I'm not sure what you mean, but if you say so, that's probably how it'll turn out.

He just doesn't seem like a stranger.

It might be just be me who has this sense of destiny.

Onii-sama...

Um...

Um, may I join you?

Of course!

Shiba-san! Shizuku! Over here!

Let's go.

Miyuki...

Onii-sama...

Thank you, Honoka.

Huh? "H-H-Honoka"?

Remember what Onii-sama said? You can call me Miyuki, too.

You can call me Miyuki... Call me Miyuki... Call me Miyuki...

Honoka?

Hey!

What's wrong?

No problem. She's always like this.

Isn't that a problem in itself?

Shi-Shiba-san's going to call me Honoka, and I'm going to call her Miyuki.