The Irregular at Magic High School, Vol. 11: Visitor Arc, Part III

“She got up onstage in front of the band,” explained Miyuki. “Then she sung about ten songs in a row. Everyone was very excited.”

“Yeah, that was a pretty good live performance,” Mari said, nodding several times. “Better than some professional ones.”

“It’s true. You’re very good at singing, Ms. Shields. You have a wonderful voice,” Mayumi praised honestly.

“Ugh…” Lina looked down, her face red.

Not out of anger but clearly out of embarrassment.

Seeing that warmed Tatsuya’s heart. “I see… You made a good memory today, Lina.”

“…Buzz off.”

When she turned her cheek up at him, everyone else present raised their voices in warm laughter.

That was the last time we saw Lina.

The graduation ceremony was the final time Lina had come to school.

When he’d asked Miyuki about it, she said that she’d explained to 1-A that she was too busy getting ready to return home.

But presumably, she’d had orders to withdraw since before then. She’d still attended until that day, though. Maybe it was to help set up for the graduation party and carry out the last task assigned to her as a high school student.

If that was true, he expected that she’d been able to enjoy being in high school, if only for a little while.

These were the things on Tatsuya’s mind as he watched the arrival information.

The day before yesterday had been the end of their third term. That meant his first year in high school had come to an end.

Tatsuya’s grades hadn’t changed. His marks in theoretical subjects were extremely high, while his marks in practical subjects were pretty low.

He was middle bottom in terms of overall ranking.

But that didn’t worry him, either.

He’d gotten involved in all sorts of trouble this year, but he was getting closer to his goal, slowly but surely.

He’d unexpectedly been able to forge strong friendships. Even when considering the negatives—the string of incidents—he’d probably say it had been an excellent year.

Today, he’d come to the Tokyo Bay Maritime International Airport.

Not alone, of course.

Miyuki and Honoka sat to his left and right, as Leo, Erika, Mikihiko, and Mizuki sat in front of him.

The plane with Shizuku on it was planned to arrive in less than an hour.

“Well, it really does take a long time to get here from the American mainland,” said Miyuki to him from his left.

“Military planes can cross the Pacific in less than one-fourth of that time. How come civilian planes take so long?” asked Honoka.

“They’ve got different engines,” Leo put in from the front. “Military planes go up to the outer atmosphere. They focus on safety and economy for civilian ones.”

“Gee, you seem to know a lot about this for a barbarian who got kicked by a horse,” Erika teased.

“What’d you say?!”

“Leo, give it a rest.”

“You too, Erika. Don’t tease him over everything.”

Mikihiko and Mizuki took the job of mediating, which was pretty much the usual fare.

Then Tatsuya spotted a familiar golden glow inside the crowd in the lobby.

He quickly stood up, and his friends looked up at him wondering why.

Miyuki was the next quickest one to stand up.

She’d seen the same thing as Tatsuya, just a moment later.

Tatsuya excused himself with a simple “Be right back,” then started to walk. Miyuki followed him.

Honoka sprang to her feet, too, but for some reason, Erika, who was sitting in front of her, grabbed the sleeve of her spring jacket.

“Honoka, no getting in the way. They need to say goodbye to a rival,” Erika whispered, turning around to lean against her seat.

She watched as, instead of seeing Tatsuya and running away, Lina actually walked up to the siblings of her own accord.

“Tatsuya, Miyuki, did you come to see me off?”

Once they’d gotten close enough that normal voices would reach, Lina was the first one to open her mouth.

“Something like that. Though actually, running into you was a coincidence.”

The air of tormented obsession that had clung to Lina for a while was gone, replaced by an austere, casual smile. But she didn’t seem perfectly back to normal, either. A shadow of doubt lingered in the back of her eyes, one that hadn’t been there right after she’d arrived in Japan. It made her look quite a bit more mature for the short time she’d spent here.

“Wait, didn’t I tell you what day I was leaving?” joked Lina, pretending to feign innocence.

“I don’t think so,” replied Miyuki, cutting her down with a single stroke. Nevertheless, it hadn’t offended her, either. She had a pained grin on her face.

“Well, jokes aside. Thanks for everything,” said Lina, her smile changing to a more brazen one.

“Don’t you mean sorry for the trouble?” asked Tatsuya, smooth and sarcastic.

“You’re the ones who caused trouble for me,” Lina shot back. “…You really don’t have any mercy even at the end, Tatsuya.”

“I expect holding back wouldn’t make you any happier… And this isn’t the end, right?”

Lina shrugged. “Who knows? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t just leave my home country on a dime.”

There was a feeling of resignation in her voice.

But then, as if to erase that, Miyuki piped in, a strong intent in her voice. “But no, this isn’t the end.”

“Miyuki?” said Lina.

“So I’m not going to say goodbye, Lina.”

“…You know that sounds kind of like a confession, right?” Lina’s eyes widened at first, then her expression shifted into a mischievous smile.

“Yes, maybe it is a kind of confession. You are my rival, Lina,” declared Miyuki, unaffected, voice unwavering. “I’m sure you’ll take the help Brother offered you. I know you’ll join him. That will be when our real competition begins. That’s why I won’t say goodbye. We’ll see you again, Lina.”

Lina’s eyes widened a second time. And this time, she gave a soft smile, a smile like the sun that suited the color of her hair and eyes.

“I don’t really understand what you’re talking about, but…I have a feeling that you’re going to be right. In that case, Miyuki, Tatsuya—until we meet again.”

“I’m home.”

An hour after Lina disappeared through the gate, Shizuku appeared, and that was the first thing out of her mouth.

“Welcome home!”

As a teary-eyed Honoka hugged her, Shizuku patted her on the back and then looked toward Tatsuya.

“Welcome back, Shizuku. I’m happy you had a safe flight.”

“Yep.”

Her curt responses hadn’t changed since before she studied abroad, but…

“Shizuku, you seem kind of different.”

“Yeah. More mature-like.”

…Like Miyuki and Erika said, the aura around her seemed quite a bit more adult.

“Had any experiences you weren’t supposed to over there?” grinned Erika.

“Erika?!”

Mizuki was the one who reacted to that, while Shizuku just tilted her head a little in confusion.

The behavior itself was a similar sight as before, but it felt strongly like she was more relaxed, more composed.

“Tatsuya?”

“Yes?”

After Honoka finally released her from the embrace, Shizuku walked up to Tatsuya and looked up at him. “There’s a lot I want to talk to you about. A lot of messages from Ray, too. Do you want to hear it now?”

“Sure. Let me hear it.”

It was probably because she’d acquired a lot of knowledge in America.

That was what Tatsuya thought.

Shizuku’s story was quite a long one.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t talk about everything.

The message from Ray—Raymond Clark—wasn’t something she could talk about in front of their other friends.

No choice but to accept the invitation…

To tell them the rest of the story, Shizuku invited Tatsuya and Miyuki to her house. To the private residence of tycoon Ushio Kitayama, without mixing her other friends in.

That was something with no lack of meaning for the Yotsuba as well.

However, they didn’t have the option of not accepting her invitation. The information she’d brought back with her would be necessary to decide a course of action for the future.

In his house’s living room, Tatsuya reaffirmed the conclusion, which was a foregone one to begin with.

Then the doorbell rang.

The surprised voice Miyuki gave upon going to check the intercom reached Tatsuya’s ears.

On Miyuki’s face as she appeared before Tatsuya was a tinge of surprise and panic.

“Excuse me, Brother, we have a guest…”

“Should I take it?”

Thinking some sort of unwelcome visitor had come, Tatsuya was about to stand up, but…

“No, it’s nothing that important… The visitor is Minami Sakurai, whom we met at the Yotsuba main house.”

“What…?”

Tatsuya remembered the young maid girl as well.

Honami Sakurai. A former member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s security police who had been their late mother’s Guardian. A woman who had been like an older sister—good-hearted, comfortable to be around—who had showered the siblings with love. The engineered magician who lost her life protecting Tatsuya during that battle on Okinawa three summers ago. The siblings would never forget her—and this girl looked just like her.

She was a completely unforeseen visitor even for Tatsuya.

To Tatsuya’s side was his sister, and in front of him was a girl in a springlike, pastel-colored dress.

After she, Minami Sakurai, gave a polite bow, she handed an envelope to Tatsuya.

Tatsuya encouraged Minami to sit down, then took a seat on the sofa himself. With Minami watching him, he took the cue from her gaze and broke the envelope’s seal before reading over the letter inside.

The further along he read, the more he felt an illusory bitterness spreading through his mouth.

The letter’s sender was Maya Yotsuba.

After the set-in-stone seasonal greetings at the top, the letter read:

“Minami will be enrolling in First High this spring.

Tatsuya, please let her live at your house, okay?

She already has the requisite skills to be a full-fledged housekeeper.

If you purchased a maid robot, you must need help doing the chores. After all, I’m sure you and Miyuki will both get very busy once you enter your second year of high school.

I’ve instructed her to do her work as a live-in maid, so please don’t hesitate to get her to do whatever you need around the house.

Also, I plan to have Minami learn to do a Guardian’s job.

As her senior in this regard, please teach her everything you know.”

Tatsuya could almost hear his aunt loudly laughing from the paper.

He folded the letter up, returned it to the envelope, and placed it on the table. Sensing something from the motion, Miyuki considerately inquired, “Brother?”

Tatsuya took a deep breath, then handed the letter to her.

A few moments later, the sound of a gasp came from Miyuki’s throat.

As though waiting for her eyes to leave the letter, Minami stood up across from them.

“I may be inexperienced, but I will be in your care. I will devote myself to this job as the mistress has instructed.”

She bowed her head deeply.

Tatsuya knew Maya had sent her as a wedge to drive between them, but neither he nor Miyuki could refuse someone with the same face as Honami.

The only thing he could do was put on his poker face and nod to the sarcastic, all-too-troubling “gift” his aunt had given.

A premonition sat in Tatsuya’s chest, one he wasn’t thankful for in the slightest and didn’t seem to want to go away.

Starting in April, this new school year would be rife with even more commotion.

First Year Fin