CHAPTER 15: "ようやく軌道に乗った"

A few days later, Tsukiko was finally able to come back to school. A lot of the teachers and students missed her dearly but the one who missed her the most was Miyuki. Upon sighting her, she flung herself at Tsukiko and cried loudly.

"Tsukiko!!!~~ I missed youuu!!", she wailed.

Tsukiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she comforted Miyuki by patting her back.

"Calm down Miyuki, I'm here now, aren't I?", said Tsukiko.

Hearing this, Miyuki seemed to calm down and stopped crying. However, she still had Tsukiko in a bear hug and refused to let go of her. 

"I didn't die or anything...", Tsukiko thought helplessly.

She was just thinking of a way to release herself from the iron clamps that were Miyuki's arms when the sonorous sound of the school's bell sounded in her ears. All the other students who were still chatting near the school's gate and courtyard, immediately ceased their chatter and ran towards the main building of the school. 

Tsukiko used this an excuse and thankfully Miyuki let go of her and they both sprinted towards the doors to the main building. 

For some who may be wondering why they all made such a mad dash to enter the main building, Maho Seminary, being a place that fosters great talents and intelligence, just so happen to have an alumnus who was one of those great talents. This alumnus, wanting to gift his alma mater a present for teaching him everything about magic and necromancing so well, ended up giving them a special net-barrier of his own design. It was meant catch tardy students and would activate on its own after the final bell rung. 

When it was first introduced, there were some students who, feeling quite full of themselves, thought they could simply use some of their "awesome skills" to go through the barrier anyway. Some even took themselves as heroes freeing the students from the bondage that was Maho Seminary. Unfortunately, their heroic deed was cut short as they were immediately flung away by the barrier once they came in contact with it. It was quite a good distance too, around 30 meters.

This was exactly what the school wanted. A couple of scapegoats were sure to warn future troublemakers from attempting to damage the barrier. And it did.

Tsukiko saw for herself, how those students were thrown high into the sky and was terrified. She had never arrived late to school being the goody-too-shoes that she was, but now she was even more motivated.

She had once told Hirano about this and though he knew his sister wasn't one to lie, he found it quite unbelievable. Soon enough though, he believed it once he remembered the school he went to was Maho Seminary.

Now back to the situation at hand, Tsukiko lit a thousand candles in her head for the school bell's impeccable time. Miyuki was quite a bit taller than her, and if she hadn't let go of her, it'd be next to impossible to move around. She'd end up being blocked by the barrier!

Tsukiko shuddered at the thought and ran as fast as her legs (read: short legs) could carry her. Thankfully, both her and Miyuki made it, and not a second too soon!

As soon as they leaped past the stairs and went through the door, the heard a soft humming sound and all the other students who weren't able to get to the door in time, were instantly sent flying by the barrier. 

Tsukiko wanted to help the groaning students, now laying sprawled across the massive courtyard, but once you were in, you wouldn't be able to leave unless you were a member of the staff. 

She hurriedly whispered a few 'sorry's' and 'you did your best's' and left with Miyuki. 

Unfortunately, their mad dash wasn't over yet as the same mechanism worked on the doors to class!

"Brother, when you told me to be strong and have courage, can it apply to this??!"

Minutes later, Tsukiko and Miyuki both sat at their seats, trying to catch their breath. In the midst of it all, the situation could be called humorous, in a pitiable sort of way. Realizing this, they laughed looking at each other as they gave themselves a few comments.

Tsukiko, "You're all sweaty, haha, how come?"

Miyuki, "Hehe, how about you huh. You're twice as sweaty as me!"

Tsukiko, "Nuh-uh!"

The held themselves in stalemate before laughing again.

Miyuki, "I missed you Tsuki."

Tsukiko, "I missed you too Miyuki."

They smiled at each other. Miyuki wanted to talk some more, unfortunately, the teacher stepped at that moment and had started the lesson. Instead, she wrote a note and passed it to Tsukiko.

"Let's talk later :)", she wrote,

Tsukiko wrote back, "Okay :)"

After they had finished the first half of their classes, all the students went on break. This was the perfect opportunity for the best friends to talk, which they did.

Tsukiko told Miyuki everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks. Miyuki reacted dramatically to everything and at some point, started to cry.

"I'm so sorry Tsukiko!! I should've been there for you."

Tsukiko smiled as she said, "It's okay, Miyuki. I know you couldn't come over all the time, after all, you had a really important competition coming and you've been working so hard. I'd feel bad if you didn't do your very best because of me."

Miyuki, "But still...."

Tsukiko cut her short, "Anyway, I had Hirano and Jae-sung so I wasn't seriously hurt."

Hearing Jae-sung's name, Miyuki tears dried up instantly and her eyes sparkled. Her face had a look that seemed to have "Gossip" written all over it. 

Tsukiko felt a little nervous and backed away a bit, her comforting smile now an alarmed one. Of course she knew what had caused her to get this way and immediately shut down any more dangerous delusions and fantasies that she might be having.

"Before you say anything Miyuki, just know that there's nothing going on between Jae-sung and I. Nothing at all."

Miyuki didn't seem to buy it as she inched closer and closer to Miyuki with a sly grin on her face. 

"Are you sure about that~?", she asked in a teasing manner.

Still Tsukiko held her ground and confirmed that truly, there was no romantic feelings between her and Jae-sung. He was more like.....a second older brother? Yeah, a second older fit the bill perfectly.

Seeing Tsukiko's determined look, Miyuki couldn't help but believe her and stopped trying to dig for information.

She lay down on the grass with her arms behind her head and Tsukiko did the same only with her hands on her stomach.

Suddenly Miyuki turned to her with a big grin on her face.

"You've gotten stronger Tsukiko, I'm proud of you."

Tsukiko widened her eyes in surprise.

"What do you mean?", she asked.

Miyuki sat up as she explained, "You don't cry as much as you used too. I was sure you'd have shed a couple of tears by now over the silliest things, but so far, you haven't. Which means you're getting stronger."

Tsukiko stared at Miyuki; her mouth slightly open almost as if she wanted to talk but couldn't.

Thankfully, Tsukiko didn't have to as Miyuki continued speaking.

"Also, when I called you during your stay at home, you didn't cry then. You sounded so strong Tsukiko, I'm so proud of you."

Saying this she gave Tsukiko a big hug and though she was stunned at first, she too returned the hug with a smile.

"Thank you, Miyuki", she said.

"No problem", Miyuki responded.

They finally separated after a while and continued to talk and talk about all the things that Tsukiko had missed during her absence from school.

They were just in the middle of talking about who could be the most powerful necromancer in their school when Tsukiko recalled a pretty strong one that she knew. She also recalled that she hadn't seen said necromancer all day and she began to grow worried.

She had Miyuki about it but after thinking for a while, she shook her head.

Jae-sung hadn't come to school. 

But, why?

It was now the end of school and Tsukiko walked out with Miyuki. Tsukiko had tried texting Jae_sung and even calling him but all was to no avail. She grew more and more worried by the minute. Seeing her in this Miyuki couldn't help but worry too. 

"Maybe we should try again?", she suggested.

Tsukiko nodded and tried to call him once more.

Thankfully, the call went through and soon, Jae-sung's voice could be heard through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Tsukiko?"

"Sorry for not responding soon enough, someone tapped into my phone so I had to try block all messaging applications."

Tsukiko couldn't believe her ears and hurriedly responded.

"That's terrible! Do you know who that person is?"

"...."

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

"Jae-sung?"

"Hello?"

Finally, he responded. 

"Tsukiko, it's not safe to talk over the phone right now. Could you come over to my house?"

Tsukiko immediately agreed to this.

"Okay, I'll be sending our family's driver, Mr. Watanabe. Don't worry, you can trust him."

"Just be on the lookout for a black Toyota. He should be there in about 10 minutes."

"Oh, and if Miyuki hasn't gone home yet, please tell her to come as well."

Miyuki immediately spoke to the phone, telling Jae-sung she was here and would go.

"That's good. I'll be expecting you both."

"Please be careful."

Tsukiko and Miyuki responded at the same time, "We will!"

And then with a toot sound, the call ended. Miyuki, who had not been informed of Tsukiko and Jae-sung's plans nervously turned to Tsukiko.

"Tsuki, what's going on", she asked.

Tsukiko signaled for her not to speak to which Miyuki obliged. Out of the corner of her eye, Tsukiko had spotted a magical device called a Bug. It was used for eavesdropping and couldn't be broken by normal means.

They were being watched, very carefully too.

Tsukiko signaled lightly at their being monitored and being the straight-A invention class student that she was, Miyuki immediately understood what was going on. 

They both rigidly turned to face the street, trying their best to pretend as though they had never noticed the Bug in the first place. They felt as though they were about to be attacked in a matter of seconds.

Soon enough, the black Toyota that Jae-sung had told them about had arrived. The driver's window came down and a friendly looking man between 40-50 years had appeared.

The old man, "I'm Mr. Watanabe, are you perhaps Miss Tsukiko and Miss Miyuki?"

They looked at each other before nodding.

Mr. Watanabe looked left and right before opening the car doors with a button located on the dashboard. The girls immediately went in and closed the doors before locking them.

Seeing how shaken up they looked, Mr. Watanabe attempted to comfort them.

"Don't worry young Misses, no listening device are able to get to the Kim family car. So, you can just rest easy."

After this, they were visibly more relaxed and thanked Mr. Watanabe to which he acknowledged their gratitude by nodding. 

After 10 minutes, the car had made its way to a very beautiful area, lush with trees and blue and purple hydrangeas. Tsukiko and Miyuki looked out the window admiring the greenery. Soon enough, the car came to a stop at the front of a huge pair of domineering, impenetrable gates. On each side were beefy looking bodyguards wearing earpieces. They spotted the car and Mr. Watanabe and immediately disarmed an invisible barrier and opened up the gates. 

Now before this, Tsukiko had long since known that Jae-sung was wealthy, she just didn't know to what extent.

But she did now.

The scene that welcomed them was simply breathtaking. Tsukiko felt like she had been blown in the face with nothing short of a picturesque scenery. On the main courtyard were dozens upon dozens of hydrangea bushes and it seemed the lush and expansive greenery was more than quadrupple that of the ones outside. In addition to that, there was a huge water fountain that had the Kim family crest, a shield with a blue orb in the middle of two perpendicular lines,in marble on a tall pedestal also made of marble, and this was only the courtyard. The house itself was less of a house and more of a tower of houses. It was so tall, that it seemed to reach the sky. The area occupied by the house was at least the same as that which 50 houses would take. House? More like mansion with a penthouse!

It was not only large in size and height but was also extremely beautiful as it exuded a classy air with its white walls, blue roofs and gold-rimmed French windows. It was simply a fairytale experience, one that even Tsukiko, the daughter of one of the most prominent and respect families in both the necromancing and normal world, had never experienced. Miyuki also seemed to be stunned at the beauty of the Kim Family mansion as she was from a middle-class family but was more interested in the invisible barrier they had passed through. Nonetheless, the girls were in awe.

The car circled round the fountain before parking with its side facing the house. Mr. Watanabe immediately turned off the car's engine and stepped down from the car to open the door for Miyuki and Tsukiko. They thanked and got down, though they did so quite clumsily as they were weak in the knees from being blown in the face but all the beauty they had seen. 

Unfortunately, they were blown even more when a woman wearing a set of blue Korean business attire and royal blue high heels stepped out. And she was probably one of the most beautiful women that they had laid their eyes on.

She had long black hair and a pair of light blue eyes that seemed to be made of fine glass. Hey skin was soft and fair, and she had long fingers, which she had painted the nails of red. She was also quite tall for a female and towered over the girls. She held herself in a very dignified way as she stared fixedly at the two girls below the stairs. 

Under her heated gaze, the girls felt nervous and felt their insides being juggled around as though they were balls. They were both sure that this woman wanted their heads and were too scared to even breathe loudly. 

Soon, the woman walked slowly towards them, her high heels making a clack clack sound against the white marble tiles, until finally, she was in front of them. 

The girls braced themselves for whatever may happen but to their surprise, instead of being beheaded, they were hugged?

"Hello~ Welcome to our home", the woman said.

Now they were being welcomed??

"I'm Jae-sung's mother. My name is Kim Ji-a, but you can just call me aunty."

Jae-sung's mother???

Aunty????

Each word coming out of her mouth was more earth-shattering than the next and the girls really couldn't do or say anything apart from bowing respectfully to her and trying their best to speak calmly as they returned her greeting.

She smiled warmly at both of them and was about to say something when the doors were opened once more. Out walked Jae-sung in a shirt that was tucked into his pants, a pair of sweatpants and sneakers. Though this was probably the most casual of casualwear, it still looked good on him nonetheless.

Seeing that his mother had come out already, he rushed to meet her with an exasperated look on his face.

"Mother, I think you might be scaring them", he said, glancing at the faces of Tsukiko and Miyuki.

His mother simply pouted before replying, "I wasn't, I was simply greeting them."

Jae-sung, "Alright, if you say so."

Without missing a beat, Jae-sung invited the two girls into his house after bidding his mother farewell, which Tsukiko and Miyuki did as well.

Tsukiko and Miyuki, "Goodbye Auntie"

Jae-sung's mother, "Goodbye girls, do have fun."

And so, Jae-sung's mother walked into the car and left the mansion. Seeing this, both Tsukiko and Miyuki let out and involuntary sigh of relief. Jae-sung smiled apologetically at them.

Jae-sung, "Sorry about that, my mother can be a bit intense sometimes, though she means no harm"

Tsukiko, "It's okay, right Miyuki?"

Miyuki, "Yeah, of course. Your mother is beautiful by the way. I couldn't even tell that she was a mother!"

Tsukiko, "Same here!"

Jae-sung sighed resignedly as he said to himself, "I think it's pretty obvious judging by her character"

Unfortunately, neither girls heard him say this.

Remembering why they were there in the first place, Jae-sung got right into business as he invited them to sit down on the couches, which were very royal-like and soft.

Anyway, once they were all seated, Jae-sung's expression had changed into a very serious one so the girls couldn't help but look a little serious as well. And then finally, he spoke.

"Tsukiko, Miyuki, I believe we may have stumbled upon something we shouldn't have"