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"We have a big problem." Alice had called a meeting.

One meant to just be between her and Aoko, but May had sneaked in as well, much to the chagrin of Alice. Nonetheless, the Witch didn't have the energy to argue with the stupider witch right now. Not when her... guest was in danger.

Aoko raised an eyebrow. "We do?"

It was surprising to hear Alice of all people admitting something was worrying her. And the world wasn't even on fire! Still, Aoko foolishly hoped this was something easy to solve, she had school to get ready for after all. And the travel from the mountain to her school was absurdly long too.

If only busses would come up the mountain...

Alice nodded. "Yes. Are your ears for show?" Aoko pouted, it seemed Alice was in a bad mood. Presumably because of this problem.

The Witch continued after reprimanding her student. "Something has happened with Hajime Wada. If we do not fix the issue, we may have to kill him." She would do so without hesitant. She wasn't bloodthirsty however, and would prefer if the boy didn't have to die.

May tilted her head. "What? Did you mess up with your ploys somehow?" She took great joy in insulting Alice's skills.

The Witch clicked her tongue. "Of course not." Though then again... "At least I most likely did not. Hajime Wada is having an allergical reaction to the magic of this mansion however." He probably was. Admittedly there was a chance this was the Dead Apostle's fault.

Aoko basically jumped out of her seat. "He's what!? Is he dying!?" If he died during the second day of their relationship, did that make her the worst girlfriend ever?

It definitely did.

And Aoko refused to be the worst at something!

Alice shook her head. "He is not dying. As said before however, I might kill him." A sigh escaped her mouth. "It seemed that being exposed to magical energy has changed his body." A mutation, essentially.

May's face became serious. "Oh, so he learned of magecraft? Yeah, let's kill him." Out of the three here, she was the only one who had experience with the Clock Tower. And so naturally, she was also the most ruthless.

Yet again Alice shook her head. "No, he did not. The changes weren't something easily visible." She would need to hide any mirrors until he went back to normal.

If he ever went back to normal.

"Only his eyes changed... He has either awakened a pair of Pure Eyes or a pair of Mystic Eyes. They seem to compel some sort of hypnosis effect. Though escaping from it is possible." At least for her who was a witch.

She didn't know whether the same would apply to a normal human, or even to a normal magus. That said, effects that affected the mind like this were rarely truly powerful, probably because their mystery was rather weak due to how common they were.

Aoko clicked her tongue. "Ugh, I can't believe that guy awakened special eyes of all things..." How were they supposed to hide that?

Alice crossed her arms. "Well... I will say that if he has outright awakened to a natural magical phenomena, the Clock Tower would accept telling him about the world of magecraft."

It wasn't too uncommon for a mage to adopt someone with natural born Mystic Eyes, or some other sort of magic talent. They couldn't inherit a Magical Crest of course, but they could still be useful servants... or even lovers.

Genetics were important in the world of magecraft!

Though Alice and Aoko didn't have any connection with the Clock Tower in the first place. May was just giving advice based on her experiences. If Alice felt like killing the boy, she wouldn't say anything against it.

Aoko looked away. "Tell him about magecraft...? That's..." Complicated.

It wouldn't drastically change his life though. Differently from her, Hajime Wada didn't have the duty to pursue magecraft. He would just be aware of the supernatural. Aoko always wanted to blow someone's mind with information about magic too, so this was a great opportunity.

Alice hummed, lost in thought. "That's acceptable though... I don't want to take care of another newcomer." She doubted such a polite man would be as troublesome as Aoko, but still...

May nodded. "It goes without saying, but I obviously won't help with this at all." While her head had become familiar with his crotch, she didn't know him well enough to care about his life.

Aoko pouted, this sounded like a pain, but... "I'll teach him the basics. He's my boyfriend after all, and I was the one brought him here." Assuming he really had awakened his eyes because of the mana surrounding Alice's mansion, this was her fault.

Aoko Aozaki did not run away from her responsibilities. Be it as a mage, as a student, as a girlfriend, as whatever!

Besides, it wouldn't be so bad. She just had to teach him some basic concepts so he wouldn't break any rules, and maybe help him master his eyes so that he wouldn't go around affecting people. She wasn't taking in a pupil or anything.

Alice grit her teeth. "You? I don't think you're capable enough to introduce someone to our world." Aoko was.

While she hadn't learned much practical abilities besides how to explode things, she had memorized theorical concepts. She could teach someone about the world of magic just fine. And as her teacher, Alice was aware of this.

Aoko glared at her. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" The heiress too was aware of her own knowledge of course.

Alice looked away. "Well..." This was strange.

But she didn't want that boy to learn from Aoko for some reason she couldn't quite understand. Was she underestimating Aoko? Was she against this plan in the first place? Not really...

A sigh escaped her mouth. "I'll help you Aoko. As long as I don't take this entire burden by myself, this shouldn't be too painful." In the end she decided to intervene after all.

Aoko's eye twitched. "I don't need your help." Her pride had been wounded, and she wouldn't forget that so easily.

Especially since she didn't know why Alice had wounded her pride in the first place. Was the Witch still mad about bringing Hajime here? Yeah, that sounded like the grumpy, immature Alice she knew alright. If the witch was good at one thing, it was at holding a grudge.

Now it was Alice's turn to get frustrated. "Aoko..."

May could feel a fight coming. And it was too early in the morning for it. "Hey you two, concentrate please." Being part of stressful situations like this was bad for her perfect skin.

Aoko's rage escaped her body. "Right. I guess we can ask him about the Dead Apostle too." She had beem weary of how to breach that topic, but if they were already gonna talk about the supernatural...

Alice tilted her head. "What is there to talk about?" Was she talking about simply mentioned the vampire?

She supposed since the boy was already gonna learn about the supernatural, they might as well tell him there was a killer roaming the streets. If he learned about this, before knowing how scary mages can be however, he would probably try to contact the police.

Maybe she should trap him in a glass before explaining things? In this world fear should always surpass wonder and awe, after all.

Aoko snorted. "I can tell you're thinking of something messed up ya know?" That princess like face didn't hide much, even if Alice wasn't very forthcoming with her emotions.

Or perhaps this was simply the outcome of knowing Alice for so long?

Either way, she had more important things to talk about. "So, Wada didn't just escape the vampire or anything like that. She outright went into his house and slept there. That's why I brought him here."

Tense silence followed. She expected that.

Alice put a hand to her chin, and started to mumble to herself. "She followed him home? Why...?" She couldn't understand.

Was the answer obvious, and her mindset as a witch was simply messing with her?

May too immediately started thinking of the why. And she arrived at the obvious conclusion. "You know, the Curse of Vampirism doesn't always take immediate effect. You sure that wasn't why?"

The witch was implying the vampire had bitten the boy, and now was simply waiting for him to turn. Naturally he would have hidden that fact away from everyone... His eyes could even be related to it.

Just thinking about it made Aoko heart fall out of chest.

Thankfully Alice quickly shot down the idea. "I do not believe that to be the case. Even if this Dead Apostle was irresponsible enough to abandon their newly born progeny, Wada has not demonstrated traits related to vampirism."

Even if the curse had not fully taken root yet, he would be extremely uncomfortable under the sun, and he would probably feel weak. Not to mention his body would be in pain as it literally reconstructs itself.

May huffed. "Whatever... Just keep an eye on him."

Alice nodded. "I plan on doing so." Her gaze shifted to Aoko. "It would be a wise idea to invite him to the mansion again after today." And next time he would also be aware of the dangers of the mansion.

Aoko sent her a thumps up. "I was already planning on it!" Having Alice's permission was nice though.

It's worth noting that not once did anyone in the room think about Hajime Wada's family. Truly teenagers were evil.

Alice frowned. "Already planning on it...?" Aoko was Aokoing again... "Oh, well, let's go talk with him." No doubt today would be stressful for the boy.

Aoko nodded. "Yeah. By the way, did you just lock him in the room or something?" Hopefully there wasn't any mirrors there... and hopefully he wouldn't look at his reflection on the window.

Aoko Aozaki may not know, but Hajime Wada didn't even have a reflection anymore. How... lucky for her.

A light smile danced across Alice's lips. "Hum. I tricked him into resting, by convincing him he was feeling under the weather." If the human mind believed it, sometimes the body would follow.

Alice had exploited that. What a wicked and brilliant witch she was.

"Right. Sure." That sounded extremely stupid for Aoko. But this was Alice and Hajime, so sure.

She believed it.



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Aoko entered the room without knocking, Alice following behind her. What they found was...

Hajime without his shirt. Doing push ups. Apparently he hadn't started too long ago, as he wasn't even sweaty. However, there was a look of heavy concentration on his face, he was clearly taking this seriously.

Aoko pointed at him, a blush on her face. "W-what the hell are you doing!?" He wasn't super muscular, not like Aoko's type. Nonetheless, she still wasn't ready to see him shirtless!

Alice hid behind her apprentice. She did not have the strength for this.

Hajime smiled as he got up. "Just a morning work out to start the day. I was feeling a bit sluggish." He wasn't. He was feeling fine in fact, even if Alice had insisted otherwise for some reason.

So he decided to pass time doing something. And that something was trying to answer if vampires could get stronger through natural training or not. In other words, Hajime was being guided by his natural curiosity as usual.

The answer he had arrived at was... none. He actually worked out quite a bit, but his body never tired of it. So he couldn't actually answer if he was getting stronger or just wasting energy.

Aoko scowled. "W-well...! From what I've heard you were sick, so why are you forcing your body!?"

He shrugged. "I'm not feeling bad. Like I said, I was just a bit sluggish." Why was Aoko so mad? He hadn't stinkied up the room with sweat or anything, so there was no problem right?

Aoko grit her teeth. "If you say so..." She supposed she couldn't reprimand him in that case. "But put on a damn shirt! And remember that we have to leave for school!" At this point they would have to run there.

Wait, wasn't she forgetting about something important...?

Oh right. Hajime's supposed special eyes. She had forgotten because of this whole shirt debacle.

His eyes were normal though... Had Alice been mistaken? Nah, there was no way the witch would have done such a stupid thing. Something else had happened. Maybe when Hajime had gone back to sleep?

The heiress look at the witch hiding behind her. Maybe Alice had something to say to this situation? Surely she too had notic-.

Alice's face was bright red, her eyes were open wide and her jaw had hit the floor. Clearly she was in another world. Or perhaps she had even found the Sixth True Magic, which did indeed bring happiness to everyone.

Aoko held back the urge to get angry at a girl gawking at her boyfriend, and help Alice by the arm. "Wada, we are having a girl meeting. Don't interrupt it!"

"O-okay...?" Why would he interrupt it?

The two mages quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

Aoko started whispering. "Did you see that?"

Alice's lips tremble. "Yes. It was strange was it not?"

Aoko immediately nodded. "Seriously. Why did his eyes go back to normal? Was it just a temporary mutation caused by mana?" Well, tbat was certainly way, way better than Hajime suddenly gaininf super powers.

Alice tilted her head. "His eyes went back to normal?"

"I'm gonna-." Kill you. Wait no, that was probably a bad idea. "Yeah, they did. Did you seriously not pay attention?" Alice could only look away. "Look, we need to decide what comes next. Like, do we tell him now?"

Alice pondered for a while. "I suppose not. But we must still question him about the vampire's identity." She doubted she would recognize it, but maybe she could send the name to the church and get something from it.

The Witch disliked the Holy Church, but this wasn't too bad. She wouldn't outright work with them, but the mere trade of information was acceptable to her.

The Aozaki Heiress was strangely disappointed with her. "Right, I guess we don't tell him." If he didn't have supernatural abilites, there was no point.

"How am I supposed to ask about the vampire though...? It's a bit of an awkward topic to approach when he's just a normal guy." How was she supposed to move the conversation towards that...?

Alice didn't really care. "I do not really care." Wonderful.

Aoko took sometime to think... and after coming up with a genius idea, the two returned to the room.

Aoko pointed at the now dressed Hajime, resolve in her eyes. "Wada, give me details about that skank that slept in your house! I require them for reasons!" She was as subtle as a bulldoze.

The vampire didn't really know what to say to that. "Um... why?" Also, why call her skank? Was the girl meeting evolved with these events somehow?

Aoko started tapping her feet. "Because I'm your girlfriend and I demand to know who the girl slept in your damn room is!?" That was her brilliant idea. It was only natural she would want to know more in such a situation.

Hajime squinted her in direction. "That..." Makes sense? Sort of? "She slept there before we started dating though." So why did Aoko want to know?

The heiress clencher her right fist. "Hajime, you're gonna be sleeping forever if you don't answer the damn question. Now." Oh boy.

Hajime made the decision that he liked living. "U-um... She's... Well, you already know how she looks like." So what else could he talk about? "She's pretty cheerful. It reminds me of... no one. I don't think I ever met someone like her before."

Cheerful huh? Not exactly something Aoko expected from a vampire, but she supposed not all immortals had to be gloomy losers like in books and movies.

Hajime continued. "Honestly she might even be way too cheer-."

The heiress cut him off. "Enough about her personality. Tell me what she wanted with you. And her name of course."

That was complicated for the boy. What was he supposed to say here? That she was a vampire who had basically used him as a shield against a mega threat? Obviously not. He had to found some type of lie.

"U-um... she stayed in our house to get away from a creep." That was dumb. Why would a woman go into a stranger's house in such a situation? It was just as dangerous as the creep. Nonetheless, this was the scenario his mind had thought of.

Well, at least the name shouldn't complicate things. "Oh, and her name is Arcueid Brunestud. Pretty complicated, am I right?" Even now he hadn't gotten the pronunciation just right.

The two mages stared at him in silence.

And then Aoko picked Alice by the arm again. "Girls meeting, the sequel!" The two left the room.

Aoko started whispering again. "Alice, say something smart and wise to calm me down...!" There was no way they were dealing with Arcueid Brunestud right!? That would be the worst case possible.

Alice sighed. "This is not the real Arcueid Brunestud." She had gotten chocked at first too, but her mind had quickly reached that conclusion.

Aoko blinked in confusion. "It's not?" Was that name common is some part of the world or something?

Alice nodded. "Yes. Wada described the vampire as cheerful, Arcueid Brunestud however is a emotionless machine." Admittedly the hair color did match, but blondes weren't exactly rare.

"An emotionless machine?" Aoko hadn't heard that before.

The witch started explaining. "Differently from a Dead Apostle who is just a modified human, Arcueid Brunestud is a True Ancestor." Aoko knew that of course, but she hadn't thought much about it.

"She is an agent of the planet... Much like me, you shouldn't think of her as a normal human. She probably doesn't even have the capacity to be cheerful. She also wouldn't go around causing trouble." She was a tool of the planet. That was all.

Aoko looked down. "Then it's probably a Dead Apostle taking a fake name..." But why? It would be like if a human went around saying his name was Herakles or something. "A Dead Apostle who was running from creeps..."

Alice shrugged. "That was probably just an excuse she told to infiltrate Wada's house."

"That makes sense..." So in the end they didn't learn much. "You know what? I'm gonna go get ready for school and worry about this later." She couldn't believe it, but school would actually work as a stress reliever now.

There was no annoying vampire at her school after all.



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Aoko couldn't believe her eyes. This had to be a nightmare.

Hajime could believe his eyes. Nonetheless, this was definitely a nightmare.

Instead of their usual teacher, a bright and cheerful woman walked in. She was beautiful, but her sense of fashion was clearly behind the time, she wore the most old-fashione glasses Hajime had ever seen for example. Still, she would probably become very popular from looks alone.

"Hello! I'm your new teacher! Arcueid Brunestud! Just call me Miss Brunestud though..." Her gaze went to Hajime. "Except for you. You can just call me Arcueid!"

Why was she even here!?



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AN: I got a new phone. Getting used to it is gonna take sometime, but it's nice.

Comments

Some Guy

Hell yeah Hajime is back!

Some Guy

Also after completing mahoyo I declare that Riddell has officially gained another fan that makes three of us(I wanna see her financially destroyed it's really funny)