Something Amiss

Time flew and the sun-orange dew reached its death. The moonlight shone brighter than ever, beholding a beauty that captivated the hearts of many.

At exactly 8 pm, sat Ryo on his bed, munching on a meal given by the school as their dinner, while staring out from the window.

Since their classroom and their bedroom were on the right side, the window gives a view of the forest on the side of the hotel.

The other boys, including Haruto, were talking to each other and laughing, while Ryo is at the corner alone, peacefully enjoying the serenity of eating and being alone, accompanied by the beautiful moon outside.

My sister loves the moon. We would go stargazing together.

He taught to himself as he began to reminisce on the past, thinking about the days when his family would climb a mountain and stare at the night sky, letting their hearts get stolen by the moon's beauty.

However, with his mind occupied, he didn't realize that he already finished his meal.

Didn't realize that this was already done. He murmured to himself in disappointment.

He wasn't satisfied yet, he still wanted to eat, since earlier training was quite harsh.

He got up, bringing the empty tray with him, and walked outside the room. He placed the tray on the kitchen and proceeded to go outside.

He reached the lounge of the hotel, scrolling through his phone as he did, looking for a nearby convenience store.

There. That's near, I guess.

He walked through the automatic door, as the cold wind greeted him.

Argh, should have brought a jacket with me. He said as he shivered from the cold.

However, overlapping those shivers were feelings of... Danger lurking... Approaching... His gut tells him that something seems... Wrong... The strings of something amiss were felt by his heart.

He took a look around. Nothing. But still, that uncertain feeling lingered. Something... That's not supposed to be here.

In order to satisfy himself, he decides to check around the premises. He first decided to go to the left side. This is where the forest is located, and where the window in their room points.

Sure enough, as he slowly walked towards that area, the feeling he felt became stronger and stronger.

Now, he's certain. It isn't just his intuition playing him, but rather, something is really wrong.

He slowly walked and cautiously peeked over the edge.

There, he saw two figures, just a few meters inside the forest, wearing all black. They were face to face, and one of them was holding a stone, a red, glowing stone.

Ryo instantly knew what it was.

In the hands of the figure, was an exousia stone.

An exousia stone is a stone used for storing magical energy. Despite its small size, it contains a tremendous magical energy. It's capable of enhancing its user's magic energy and magic strength. However, it comes with its risks. Wrong usage may lead to death or danger within the surrounding area. If the user isn't compatible or on the same level with the magic inside, it will cause a tremendous magic energy leakage.

For these reasons, exousia stones are banned in school, unless used by higher-ups authorized by the school. It also requires a permit to just own.

That being said, why is one present in this school?

Ryo thought to himself. He decided to continue watching. He can't see the facial features and expressions of those figures due to the darkness, however, he feels that this wouldn't be used in such a positive way.

Maybe a cheat tool for this exam? This is very bad then.

Although he didn't want to get involved in some sort of inconvenience, he casually yet carefully pulled out his phone and took a picture of this scenery.

His position was a little awkward since he couldn't make it too obvious, so he couldn't really see the picture he was taking, but he managed to successfully take several pictures so he retracted his phone back. He looked through them one by one and was scrolling through the numerous pictures, a confused yet surprised look emerged on his face as he stared at his phone blankly. The last photo was all black. It seems like it was covered by something.

Realizing that the figures were gone, his eyes widened and he immediately looked at the front again. Just like he expected, his location was blown. One of the figures from the dark forest was right in front of him, swinging a knife just a breath away from him.

"Tsk!" Ryo exclaimed as he jumped back. Unfortunately, A huge size of the knife's blade caught him in the right arm, inflicting a long and deep wound. He frowned and clenched his teeth in pain, as he tightly held the severely bleeding arm of his.

How come I didn't sense her presence?

The figure pointed the knife at Ryo.

"Delete the photo." It threatened in a serious, female voice. "I'm not scared to hurt you." She added.

"I don't have a picture."

Upon hearing those words, the figure lunged towards Ryo, thrusting her knife forward. However, Ryo noticed something.

Her movements are... Sloppy. She's hesitating to attack. That means... She's scared.

Ryo easily dodged to the side. The movements of the girl were slow and almost inaccurate.

At one point, Ryo was able to land a kick on her abdomen, which pushed the girl back. She held her abdomen tightly in pain.

"If you're going to hurt me... Do it properly. If not, I'll do it." Ryo coldly threatened. Although, it won't take long before he fully gets weak. The deep radiates a painful torture, accompanied by the crimson blood gushing out.

I can't let this go on much longer.

He thought to himself as he pondered on how to deal with the figure. Then, he thought of a way.

"I will... hurt you... if you don't delete that..." 

"Oh, this? The picture of you with another figure, holding an illegal stone within the school premises?!" Ryo purposely yelled out.

This triggered the figure, causing her to once again lunge, solely fueled by anger and nervousness.

Again, they were sloppy attacks, as Ryo easily dodged them. 

Suddenly, the sound of people talking slowly emerged from inside the hotel.

The figure hears this, and without hesitation, she stops in her tracks, and ajumps away, deep into the forest.

She escaped. *Sigh*.

He moved to the side to avoid being seen by the upcoming group of people. Then, using his sword, he cut a portion of his sleeve and used it to tightly tie the wound, preventing it from gushing out more blood.

I should probably return back.

...

On his way back, at the hallways leading towards their class room, he ran upon Hina, and several of her girl friends. Hina immediately freaked out upon seeing Ryo's condition. She said goodbye to her friends, and went over to Ryo.

"H-Hina?"

"Just stay still, I'll heal you."

"I-I mean... Let's do it somewhere... no one can see?"

"Huh??"

Nevertheless, Hina assisted him in walking as they made their way towards class their room. They head on to the training ground, which is currently empty.

There, Ryo slowly sat on the bench. Hina slowly removed the cloth tightly covering his wound, revealing a deep, bloody, cut.

She let out a gasp as her eyes widened in disbelief.

"What happened to you?!" She asked with deep concern.

"I hurt myself during training." He said calmly, concealing the events with the exousia stone.

Hina looked at him with doubtful eyes, however, decided to not push him further.

She gently placed her palms on her the wound, and in the next second, it emitted a warm, green, light.

Ryo's eyes widened upon feeling the warmth of her healing. It slowly took away the pain, replacing it with a mellow comfort. The torn flesh and skin slowly regenerated, as if it was never wounded.

After a few seconds of this warmness, the wound was healed...

Ryo stared at it in bewilderment and amusement. Hina, upon seeing Ryo's astonished face, can't help but let out a chuckle.

"What's that for?" Ryo asked, his face returning to its usual state.

"Is this the first time you've felt healing magic, Kyosuke-san?" She asked, beaming with curiosity. 

Ryo looked at his arm before answering. "Yes." 

"Is that so? Well, don't injure yourself again this badly, Kyosuke-san. Healing may feel good, but It tremendously drains our energy, 'key?"

"Noted. Thank you... Ayane-san." Hina smiled warmly in response. 

"Alright, I'll get going now." 

"But, before that, do you know where Fujimoto is?"

"Fujimoto-san?" Hina squinted her eyes as she pondered for some moment. "Oh yeah, I last saw her in the kitchen, washing some dishes."

"Thanks, Ayane."

"I'll get going now, bye-bye!" She waved goodbye, leaving Ryo alone in the room.

Now then, time to get the council involved.

He thought to himself as he stood up.