"Sorry, Kazu-san. If I had arrived at the scene earlier then this would not have happened..." said Rena. She stood in front of Kazu's desk, and stared at the floor with furrowed eyebrows. Her nails dug into her palms, leaving marks that would serve to remind her of the mistake she made.

"Don't worry about it too much. The good thing is that everybody came out safe. Instead of fretting over the past, think of ways to overcome transformation magic so that this never happens again,” said Kazu. Even though he attempted to console her, he knew it wouldn’t do much to appease her. This wasn’t the first time Rena apologized; she was the type of person to get hung over her mistakes for several days.

"Understood,” said Rena.

Ring ring

The phone on Kazu’s desk rang several times before he picked it up.

"Yes, this is Kazu Fuyukawa, principal of Hakuten Elementary. Yes. Yes. I understand. We will be there right away.” He put down the phone after a quick conversation that lasted no longer than a minute. A smile was visible on his face as he stood up from his seat.

"What happened?" asked Rena.

"Sia is awake."

"You!! I put up with you for this long and you still want to order me around?!" said Akira as he pulled my hair. Ow! It hurts! Does he not understand that a girl’s hair is the equivalent to her life?! This stupid Charmander! I retaliated by stretching his cheeks. Take that, bastard!

"Hah?! You're just getting mad too easily! You're such a child!" I said. M-my head! It hurts!

He tried to talk back to me, but his slurred speech only made him look stupider.

"Ya fugleh commoneh!"

"You degraded version of Byakuya Togami!!!"

Because I was too focused on the abomination before me, I failed to notice Fuyukawa-sensei and Misonoo-sensei enter the room.

"...Uh... Sia?" asked Fuyukawa-sensei, who was wearing a confused look on his face.

"What do you want?!" I said. I’m busy right now! Can’t you tell? I wonder if flicking his forehead would do more damage?

"Just wanted to see if you were okay..." said Fuyukawa-sensei. I saw a sweatdrop on his head through my peripheral vision.

"Well now that you know that I’m perfectly okay you can leave now!" I took one of my hands off Akira’s cheek and flicked his forehead.

“Ow!” He stopped pulling on my hair and backed away, putting a distance between us.

Clang!

The IV drip detached from my arm and dropped to the ground, producing a clanging sound that reverberated throughout the room. Akira froze from the pain, but he continued to stand. A low voice belonging to that of a man’s resounded through my ears.

Finish him!

I ran up to him and proceeded to finish him with a down+buttonA attack; in other words, a low kick to his left calf.

“Geh?!”

He responded by falling to the ground, marking the end of round one which resulted in my win.

K.O!

Hmph. This was only to be expected. The one you picked a fight with was the almighty Sia-sama!

When I thought that, a young man with red hair and hazel eyes resembling Akira’s entered the room along with three men in black suits. Akira’s father and his bodyguards?

"Akira-kun? What are you doing?" asked the man. His eyes scanned the room. He looked to Akira, me, and then the fallen IV drip on the ground.

"F-father!” He stood up and faced his father.

“I was just feeling the carpet for myself, to check if it was soft enough for our dear guest to sit on.” The unsightly boy I saw just a second ago disappeared, and was replaced by one that looked mature beyond his age.

A complete 180! This useless daddy's boy!

“I see. I came to explain the current situation to our guest. I also invited Fuyukawa-san and Misonoo-san over here,” said Akira’s father.

Oh yeah. Everything slipped through my mind because of this stupid Charmander. I took a seat near the table that I used to torture Akira with. Of course, I sat in a seiza position.

“Then take a seat. Fuyukawa-sensei and Misonoo-sensei too,” I said as I pointed to the other side of the table.

The adults were surprised by my forcefulness, but they listened to me anyway. It was like listening to a child’s unreasonable wishes. Akira was about to object, but stopped when he saw his father take a seat.

Akira sat next to his father, and Fuyukawa-sensei and Misonoo-sensei joined me at the table. The bodyguards stood near the entrance to the room. I took a quick glance at everyone’s sitting positions, and when I came across Fuyukawa-sensei, a frown fell upon my face.

“Fuyukawa-sensei. Seiza,” I told him with a calm voice.

“Y-yes.” He gulped and changed his sitting position. There’s no need to be scared. I won’t bite, you know? As long as you don’t annoy me.

“Sorry for not being able to come earlier, Sia. It’s something that I truly regret,” said Misonoo-sensei.

“You shouldn’t be sorry, rather, I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for coming to save us. Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come at that time,” I said. Misonoo-sensei gave me a wry smile. Well, I can make some guesses on what they would do to me, but let’s not talk about that right now.

Once we finished with the formalities, I signaled to Akira’s father to start his explanation.

“As you may have guessed by now, I am Akira-kun’s father. Call me Hiroki. I’m not sure where to start with the explanation… How about you ask me what questions you have?” He put on a sweet business smile. So this is what years of leadership does to you… The father is miles different from his son, though. Why, Hiroki-san? Why is your son such a failure compared to you?

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.

“This incident’s perpetrator is one we are at odds with, so we felt responsible and treated you here.”

Perpetrator? I remember pink-ringlets calling them the “Red Hawk Association.” Why doesn’t he just refer them as that?

“Then, what is the Red Hawk Association?”

“Oh, so you already heard about them? There goes my attempt to hide it from you... You are still a child, so you’ll learn when you’re older, okay?”

Information is kept from me because of my child status. After turning into a child, it’s quite obvious to see the advantages and disadvantages I have. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

“Then why didn’t you invite my mother and friends? For what reason did you invite Fuyukawa-sensei and Misonoo-sensei?”

“I didn’t invite your mother or your friends because of safety reasons. Fuyukawa-san and Misonoo-san share some responsibility over you, as the principal and vice-principal of your school.”

Fuyukawa-sensei and Misonoo-sensei do share some responsibility over me, but doesn’t the same apply to my mother? Those words sparked something in me, and I got a little mad.

“What are you trying to say? That my mother would harm me?”

Hiroki-san noticed that he picked the wrong words, and tried to correct himself.

“Sorry, it’s not that we’re suspicious of your mother as an individual…The Organization has many things that we can’t let other people see so easily. It was hard enough to bring you, Fuyukawa-san, and Misonoo-san in here.”

“But I wasn’t the only one harmed. What about everyone else?”

Probably since it involves students of Hakuten Elementary, Misonoo-sensei answered my question. But why is Fuyukawa-sensei not saying anything? Are you that scared of me? On the other hand, Akira has this beaming smile. Gross.

“When Sumire, Nanase, and Akane woke up a few hours later they forgot everything about the incident. The Magic Organization also took Estelia. She woke up after 3 days and was released yesterday. She was probably told to keep quiet, but is still coming to school like normal,” said Misonoo-sensei.

Sumire, Nanase, and Akane? Who? Ah~, they must be pink-ringlets and her followers. Wait, if Este was here then it’s possible that she met Akira! ...It’s okay Este, even if you meet him now, you still have another ten years left!

But why did Este wake up earlier than me? She injured her head, so shouldn’t she have slept for longer? I didn’t suffer from any injuries in particular and yet I slept for a whole week…

“Why did I sleep for so long? I should’ve been the one who was the least injured, and yet…”

“That’s false. You slept for so long because of overuse of mana,” said Misonoo-sensei.

I see. It’s a good thing that I was only in a deep slumber. What if I died or lost a limb because of incorrect use of mana?

“When will I leave? There’s nothing wrong with me, so there should be no problem with me leaving right now, right?” I asked.

Hiroki-san was the one who answered this question.

“It’s true that you look fine… but how about you stay here for another week until you get released? It’s just to make sure that you’re perfectly okay. You’re body must be creaky after so much sleep, right?”

It’s true, my body is a little creaky… I want to see my mother and friends right away, but my words probably won’t be able to convince them.

“Then what will I do for the whole week? Staying in the same room the whole time sounds boring…”

“You don’t have to worry about that, because Akira-kun will be the one to take care of you,” said Hiroki-san, as if it were the obvious solution.

”Hah!?! Sorry, but I’d rather have someone else take care of me… Rather, I beg of you, please hand over that job to somebody else!” I pleaded.

“Oh? I was so sure that because you two were the same age you would be able to play together…” Hiroki-san was dumbfounded.

“Of course, we get along great with each other! Isn’t that great, Sia-chan? I’ll treat you well,” said Akira with a charming smile on his face. No, what is with that fake smile. You were pulling at my hair just a little while ago, weren’t you?! This useless daddy’s boy just wants to please his father!

“Is that so, Akira? Then I’ll leave Sia to you, okay?” said Hiroki-san.

Noooo! Mother, please save me!

When I thought that, my mother came bursting into the room with tears in her eyes.

“Sia-chan!” My mother ran towards me and hugged me. The strawberry shampoo in her hair made it’s way towards my nose, and her ruffled hair tickled the side of my face.

“M-mother?!” Ah, she’s suffocating me.

“I’m so glad that you’re safe!” said mother.

“Why are you here? I thought that you weren’t allowed to be in here!”

Once again, Hiroki-san answered me.

“I gave her special permission, just for today,” said Hiroki-san.

My mother let go of me and faced me. She had a pale face and dark circles under her eyes.

“I was worried sick about you! First the police tell me that you were the victim of a kidnapping incident, and then when I when I told you that I wanted to see you they said that the Magic Organization took you away! I came each and everyday to see you but they wouldn’t let me in,” said mother. Mother wiped the tears under her eyes and gave me her heartwarming smile. Mother… she went so far for me…

We were having a nice mother-daughter moment, when Hiroki-san had to kill the mood.

“Sorry to interrupt, but your daughter will be staying with us for another week,” said Hiroki-san.

“You already took her away from me for a whole week and yet still want to detain her?!... Is what I would like to say, but I already expected as much.” My mother faced Hiroki-san with a determined look in her eyes that I had never seen in her before.

“I am fine with that… but only with the condition that you will update me on how she is doing everyday. I also want to be able to call her,” said mother.

“I was wondering what conditions you were going to place… but they aren’t as bad as I expected. Very well,” said Hiroki-san.

One of Hiroki-san’s bodyguards came over to him and whispered something to his ear.

“I see. It looks like I have business to take care of… It’s already night, so how about the rest of you head on home? Akira-kun too, it’s time for you to go to sleep,” said Hiroki-san. He left the room with his bodyguards.

I just had a week’s worth of sleep though…

When Fuyukawa-sensei stood up, he groaned, saying something along the lines of, “My legs… it hurts…” and left with Misonoo-sensei after telling me goodbye.

“It is quite late out. Sia-chan, I’ll see you in another week, okay?” said my mother as she patted my head.

“Yes, mother!” I said.

“Tch. You useless mommy’s girl,” said Akira. Now that Hiroki-san has left the room, the stupid Charmander has come back.

Look who’s talking…