ANIMT - Episodes 0-4

ANIMT - Chapter 0. Prologue - The Tragedy of a Weed in the Field

At this school, I am like a weed sprouting in a field.

No one cares about me, and if I try my best to live, I’m bound to get trampled. If I assert myself too much, I will be cut down, so I just try my best to muffle my breath.

I’m just a little weed that can’t help but sway in isolation, destined to be envious of the beautiful flowers in the distance.

* * * *

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This is the private Sakuranomiya Magic High School. It’s a high school in the middle of nowhere, hidden deep within the mountains, where only people with a special power called ‘magic’ can enter.

I’m a brand-new first year student here, and my name is Nobana Mitsuba. No, not Mitsuha, my name is Mitsuba. It means three leaves, one shy of the elusive four-leaf clover. My mother gave me this name because she wanted me to be a child capable of finding that final leaf and completing myself, and I like this name very much.

While I really like this name, there is one thing I need to apologize to my mother for.

I’m sorry, Mom.

I tried my best to get that extra leaf, but I’m pretty sure all my leaves are going to be ripped off.

To begin with, my high school debut was a disaster from the start.

First of all, it was decided that I have to attend this school only two weeks before my high school entrance ceremony. I had to hurry in order to withdraw from my local high school, which was where I originally intended to go. Usually, people show their aptitude for magic during their first year of middle school, but I was a late bloomer. Shortly before my junior high graduation ceremony, I awoke to find that I had an aptitude for magic. I was thrown into this school like a storm, as all those with magical aptitude are required to enter a specialized school.

After that debacle, the tragedy began in earnest. The day before the entrance ceremony, I collapsed with a high fever as I left home, exhausted from the hasty procedures and preparations for the dormitory I would inhabit. I spent the next week in bed. By the time I arrived at school for the first time, I was late moving into the dormitory and everyone had already established friendships. God help me!

As if that wasn’t enough, for some reason, I ended up making a poor first impression on my homeroom teacher. I was publicly executed. Normally, I would have taken a small practical magic test on the day of the entrance ceremony with everyone else, but since I arrived several days later, I ended up having to do it on my own while everyone else in the class watched. It would be foolhardy to expect me to perform well in a test when I had only recently been diagnosed with an aptitude for magic.

‘Alright, try moving this with beginner’s grade magic.’

It won’t move, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

When I first discovered my aptitude, I was so excited. How cool was it that I would get to do all sorts of amazing things with magic? Well, I can’t.

One way or another, I became isolated from the rest of the class.

I tried my best to make friends, but everyone just saw me as a useless amateur and refused to talk to me.

Though cruel, it wasn’t really surprising. This school functioned off of a team system, where all students were required to form pairs or trios that would last the entire year. An individual’s grades were derived from their team’s results, and low-ranking teams were in danger of being suspended.

In such a partnership, who would want to befriend someone with no magical ability?

And then my homeroom teacher, a rather handsome man with devilish glasses, told me to pair up with ‘him,’ if I didn’t yet have a team. It was in this manner that I was paired up with a strong, handsome, red-haired delinquent who started not just a duel, but a magical battle during the entrance ceremony and sent three students to the hospital. There was no way I could get along with him. Now I’m at his mercy, and as such, I spend my days being actively abused by him.

I’m separated from my best friend who I love.

I’m separated from my best friend and my beloved sister and brother.

I’ve become an outcast who can barely use magic.

My classmates seem to ostracize me.

In fact, they force me to do their errands; it’s borderline bullying.

My homeroom teacher unreasonably hates me.

The delinquent I’m stuck with looks at me with contempt.

The only person I can have a normal conversation with is the dorm supervisor, and the only friend I have is the cat that collapsed behind the dorm.

I thought that I would never be able to sink any lower. I thought that if I persevered, then maybe one day I would be able to make a single friend at this school and have a decent relationship with Mr. Delinquent.

I endured and endured and endured.

But after I died, I finally realized that enduring was the same as not doing anything to change the situation.

----Yes, I died once.

And my real story finally begins after dying once.

This is the story of my remaining six months of life, miraculously extended by the angels.

----

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ANIMT - Chapter 1. This was her daily routine

“Nobana-san, I’m sorry, but can you please check all these and deliver them to the teacher?”

Having suddenly received a large number of prints on my table, I was stuck looking dumbfounded at the girls before me. They were looking down on me and smirking, and in all honesty, I wasn’t quite able to comprehend the situation.

School had just ended for the day. I was busy writing in my journal while my classmates were getting ready to go home in high spirits. Normally, we work in pairs, but there was no way my partner, Mr. Delinquent, was going to do any work, so I was the only one on duty today. Unusually, he was actually present in class today, but he left without so much as a look at me, so I was forced to work alone until the end.

But if I could just finish this last task, I would be able to return to my dorm.

These girls had approached me as I had been frantically moving my pen.

“Actually, we have an important meeting for our club activities later. We’re running out of time.”

“Nobana-san, you don’t have any club activities and you’re not busy, right?”

“Please?”

“You’ll do this for me, right?”

Her high-handed tone of voice was definitely not the way to ask for help.

These three girls suddenly appeared around my desk. These girls are the female leaders of the class. I secretly call them the ‘Three Dango Sisters’ because they had all tied their hair back into buns, which look like dango [1].

“Um, but I still have to finish the day shift of work… ”

“Eh, what? I can’t hear you.”

“Oh, no. Okay, it’s… ”

‘There’s no way you can’t hear me!’

I screamed internally, but I couldn’t bring myself to argue with them, so I ended up agreeing. I’m afraid to think of the consequences for not doing so.

“Really? Thanks.”

“Hey, if we don’t go soon, Tact’s live broadcast will start!”

“I have to get to my room quickly!”

The girls left in a hurry, their short skirts fluttering as they moved.

“No wonder they were so desperate… that wasn’t a club meeting… ”

Even though I knew what was going on, it made my head hurt. Incidentally, this was already a regular event that occured about three times a week; girls forcing me to do some manner of work for them.

One day, I’ll skewer those dango!

With that thought in mind, my workload increased again today.

* * * *

“I’m pretty sure I ordered these prints from Mizumura and her team. Why are you bringing them to me? Nobana Mitsuba.”

I had no words to offer to the teacher, who sat cross-legged on a folding chair and gave me a look as sharp as a knife.

This was the chemistry room, a special classroom where we study the relationship between magic and chemistry through experimentation. The white-coated man who makes this his home is my chemistry teacher, Mr. Kusaka Kyouichiro

He has a smart physique and a well-balanced face, though he somehow always seems to move with an air of nervousness. His silky hair, the envy of all girls, is a magnificent silver. His long bangs reach his frameless glasses, and through them, his deep blue eyes, reminiscent of the deep sea, radiate color.

Incidentally, this fantastical color scheme is not because he is a foreigner.

Those who develop an aptitude for magic undergo a change in the color of their hair and eyes.

In fact, I used to have one-hundred percent pure-black Japanese hair and eyes, but now my hair is a light pink and my eyes are amber.

I vividly recall the day of my tragic junior high school graduation. When I woke up, I found myself with this color scheme. Initially, I was so upset that I skipped the graduation ceremony and rushed straight to the hair salon. I don’t know what I said, but they cut off my shoulder-length hair and turned it into the medium bob that it is now.

The colors aren’t meaninglessly assigned; they’re a reflection of an individual’s magical aptitude. Having blonde silver hair was a sign of strong magical power.

In other words, this Kusaka-sensei [2] is handsome, smart, and has strong magical powers. He is a very popular teacher (mainly among the girls).

However, I am not very fond of this teacher. The reason is obvious.

“Well, Mizumura-san and the others, who seem to be busy, entrusted me with this task… ”

“If they ask you to do something because they’re busy, will you always take care of everything? If you don’t stand up for yourself, you’ll keep getting pushed around like that.”

“Um, but seeing that I had to deliver the journal to the teacher anyway… ”

“I asked the girls to do it. What you’re doing is not in their best interest either. You need to think about what you’re doing. Not to mention, this journal isn’t even complete.”

Opening the journal I had just submitted, the teacher pointed to a spot with his long, slender finger.

“Here, there’s no signature from Futaki, who is supposed to be your partner. I’m sure the day shift is a paired job.”

“Huh, I couldn’t get hold of Futaki-kun [3] … ”

“It’s outrageous to submit a logbook that doesn’t even have the signatures of those responsible for the day. If you’re looking for Futaki, I just saw him heading upstairs in this wing, so go get his signature now.”

“Eh?”

I was speechless. This teacher must have known that it was impossible for me to do.

That was why I don’t like this teacher. I don’t know why he’s so hard on me.

When it comes to other people, he is a nice and flexible teacher who wouldn’t make such a big deal over a mere signature. And yet, he was just plain cruel to me. I had no idea what I had done. The first time I met him, he looked at me coldly, and I was instantly treated like this. Seriously, what did I do?

In fact, I’m probably the one who should have a grudge against him.

A public execution on the first day of school, followed by his call to pair me, a good student, with a violent delinquent who was no different from an ogre..

“You both have numbers in your names, two and three. So I think it should work just right.”

He said those nonsensical words, and folded his glasses.

“Well, Nobana?”

“… … … Yes, sir.”

But I couldn’t disobey his order, so I had to scoot over, grab my journal, and go find Futaki-kun.

* * * *

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As I walked gloomily down the corridor, I could see the dark clouds that lay beyond the window. Their appearance mirrored exactly how I feel. It may have been Japan’s rainy season, but the weather had been especially bad of late. Combine that with the fact that we’re deep within the mountains, my melancholy couldn’t have peaked any higher.

I couldn’t help but hope that Futaki-kun had already left.

This school is stupidly large; if you stood in the center of campus with a compass, each cardinal direction would point towards one of the four buildings in close proximity.

One of the buildings was the ‘regular building’ where typical classrooms could be found, with desks and chairs for each student.

Another is the ‘multi-purpose building’ which houses the various club rooms and a gigantic school canteen.

Another is the ‘training building’, which is used for hands-on magic exercises.

And the last one, the one we’re in now, is the ‘special building’ which housed the classes that required a specialized classroom to teach.

The second floor, where Futaki-kun went, only had music rooms, home economics rooms, and other classrooms that delinquents would never be able to relate to. I don’t think he had any business there, and I had a strong suspicion that he had already left. If he turned out to not be there, I’m sure the devilish glasses would let me be.

But once again, reality betrayed me no end.

“… Of course he’s here.”

On the landing of the stairs leading to the second floor, a man stood looking out the window. There is no mistaking him. He has a wolf cut with fiery red hair. Even from his rear view, you can see the outlines of his well-proportioned body, and his back radiates a mysterious intimidating aura.

Sure enough, that was my partner, Futaki Kitora.

Once I spotted him, I couldn’t avoid talking to him any longer. I gathered up my courage and unconsciously muffled my footsteps as I walked up the stairs.

Incidentally, he and I have been paired up for almost three months now, but we’ve never been able to hold a proper conversation. He told me on the day we were paired that he would destroy me if I got too close to him. Even weary couples are not this bleak.

“Eh… hm… Futaki-kun… ”

I stand at the second step from the top of the stairs and call out to him, carefully maintaining a sufficient distance. His ear piercings were connected by a chain that made a jingling sound as he turned around in slow motion. When he turned his face to me, the angry expression of his eyes gave him an even more fierce look, but if you removed that, he was quite handsome. His eyes in particular were rather striking. He had those wild-looking golden pupils, eyes that made you question whether he was truly human for just a second.

I’ve never been properly reflected in those eyes, though…

“Today, at that… the day shift.”

I know it’s important to maintain my composure, but I stumble over my words incoherently. When I’m in front of him, my shyness comes out more than it probably should.

Perhaps irritated by my incomprehensible attitude, Futaki-kun kicked the wall as hard as he could. The sound was so loud that it made me flinch exaggeratedly.

He dropped a short tongue-lashing and walked towards me.

I couldn’t stop the cold sweat and heart palpitations.

He walked past me, taking one look at me as if he was looking at a weed on the side of the road that was in his way.

Then, in a low growl he muttered these words.

“I told you not to talk to me any more than necessary… You’re annoying, you piece of shit.”

----That’s all he said, as he disappeared down the stairs and across the hallway.

“… … ”

Even after he left, I couldn’t move a muscle for a while.

I put so much pressure on my hands to hold the journal that the cover had crumpled, and I clenched my teeth tightly to hold back the tears that threatened to overflow if I wasn’t careful. The only thing that kept me from crying was my pride. As I look down, I can see the toes of my tiny shoes.

----I felt so empty and frustrated that my head was a mess and I wanted to start screaming.

I really don’t know when I became like this.

When I was in junior high school, I had normal friends, and though school was a pain in the ass, it was not a place I hated. I was able to talk to other students normally, and I was capable of refusing others or asking for help when necessary.

I think it’s his eyes. I’m afraid of those eyes that don’t reflect me properly, as if they do so to make me think that I’m worthless.

As I calmed myself, my tear glands started to relax again, and I shook my head to rid myself of the unwelcome emotions.

For now, I had to endure. I tell myself that, one day, everything will be okay.

Still, I couldn’t shake the miserable feeling, and I unconsciously squeezed my voice out of the back of my throat.

“Damn it… ”

My feeble mutterings were drowned out by the sound of the heavy rain that had begun to fall.

----

TL Notes:

We will not go overboard with the translation notes in this series, as most terms can be localized. For the few that can’t, we will add a translation note for the first time they are used.

[1] Dango is a Japanese dumpling made from rice flour mixed with uruchi rice flour and glutinous rice flour. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango

[2] Sensei is an honorific term generally used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensei

[3] Kun is another honorific term generally used by people of senior status addressing or referring to those of junior status, or it can be used when referring to men in general, male children or male teenagers, or among male friends. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Kun

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ANIMT - Chapter 2. Blackout

After that, I crouched down on the steps for a while until I felt better.

I needed to recover my state of mind before I could go back to Kusaka-sensei to submit my journal, which I couldn’t get his signature for in the end.

The rain was pounding down on the windows and would only get stronger. It was quite a chore to move, but if I didn’t leave soon, there was a good chance I would get soaked on my way back. Besides, I was eager to return to the dormitory and heal. In the dormitory, there are two people (or more accurately, one person and one animal) who can heal my wounded soul.

Umetaro-san, the dorm supervisor, and Shiratama, the cat.

Umetaro-san is a kind old man who calls me ‘Mitsuba-chan’, one of my precious escapes in this school. He’s the only person here who calls me by my first name, ‘Mitsuba-chan’. He’s an oasis in this hellscape when I’m feeling overwhelmed, and he listens to my complaints over tea with me.

The cat, Shiratama, is a cute little guy who has been coming to visit me in my room every once in a while since I rescued him. I found him collapsed behind the dormitory. He is a stray cat with pure white fur, and he comes to my room on days when I am depressed: days like today.

Then it occurred to me that if Shiratama had come, he might be waiting in the rain.

I couldn’t stay like this, so I raised my face, which had been buried in my skirt, and stood up with my journal.

“Ah!”

As I stood up so abruptly my decorative pin that I wore in my hair detached. This pin, which resembled a clover, was a precious gift from my best friend. It tumbled down to the bottom step.

It would have been easier if I could have picked it up with a little magic, but the use of magic is not allowed on school grounds without permission. All students are given a magic seal when they enter the school. It is said that this is because without it, unnecessary trouble would be created. A good example is Futaki-kun, who managed to incite a magical brawl before they had a chance to seal him up. It’s not like there is no opportunity to use magic though; we actually use it quite often in class, and students are allowed to apply for permission.

Incidentally, the only magic I’ve properly acquired in these three months is movement magic; a spell which all beginners master.

I sighed and stepped forward in order to pick it up.

And at that moment.

*Boom*

“What… ?”

I felt something push me from behind, shortly after accompanied by a sudden sense of weightlessness.

My vision rapidly changed, followed by pain that assaulted various parts of my body.

Did someone push me down?

Just as my brain was barely able to make such a judgment, the sickening sound of my head hitting the ground rattled my brain. Apparently, someone had pushed me down the stairs, and I had rolled unceremoniously to the bottom, hitting my head hard on the floor or a step.

My vision blurred and my consciousness faded into the distance.

“W-Why?”

----The last thing my eyes saw was a disconcerting, pure white hand floating in the darkness at the top of the stairs.

* * * *

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It was an all-white world.

After opening my eyes, I found myself floating in an empty space filled with nothing by white.

There was no pain in my body, and I couldn’t find any bruises where I recalled feeling pain emanate from just moments before. Checking my condition, I finally realized it.

I think I’m dead.

I remembered my last moments perfectly: someone had pushed me down the stairs and I hit my head. I recalled that it must have been a bad blow, because it hit me so hard that it echoed throughout my skull.

“I see, I’m dead… ”

I could feel a bitter feeling spreading slowly in my chest. A feeling that threatened to overwhelm me if I expressed it out loud.

It’s true that since entering high school, I experienced many hard days that made me want to die, but nothing ever quite managed to push me over the edge. And yet, when I thought that my life would be taken away and I would be logged out of the world in such an unreasonable way, the only word that came to mind was ‘regret’.

If I had known that I was going to die in this place, I would have lived my life more freely.

The three annoying dango sisters, the ruthless teacher with the glasses, and the red-haired delinquent who was too full of himself. I should have asserted myself and fought back more against my classmates and the other people who treated me so badly.

If I could live again, this time I would try to live as my true self.

The best friend that I love, the family that I love. Umetaro-san, the only person I liked in this shitty school. My cute, adorable cat, Shiratama. I want to become a new me who doesn’t bring shame to all of these people who were my emotional support.

And this time, I’m going to live my life without regrets, and grab the happiness I need to become a four-leaf clover with my own hands.

So.

“I want to live again… !”

That was when I uttered the cry from the bottom of my heart.

“Then why don’t you try to live in this world for a little while longer?”

Suddenly, I felt a light burst across my vision, and before I knew it, there was a cat in front of me… with angelic feathery wings and pure white fur.

Shiratama.

----

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ANIMT - Chapter 3. The Cat Returns

“What, why is Shiratama… talking? And his feathers are a bit… eh!”

I was just confused.

I’m sure that the adorable cat with the pure-white body that seemed to blend into the surrounding white void is my friend Shiratama.

But why was he here?

From the sight of his wings sprouting and flapping, I could only think of one possibility.

“No way, even Shiratama died… !”

Because of me, because I left him out in the rain! I immediately turned pale. But Shiratama spoke.

“No, Mitsuba.”

His voice was beautiful, heavily striking me like waves against a pier.

“Actually, I’m an angel in disguise.”

“An angel?”

I couldn’t even keep up after so many surprises in a row. Before I knew it, another word popped out of nowhere. A word with an implied meaning that was hard for me to understand.

“Yes, I’m used by God to help manage the human world. And among such angels, I’m an ‘intermediate angel’ who is allowed the right to interfere with individual humans.”

“Um, I-I’m not sure, but you’re saying that Shiratama is an important being, right?”

“Yes, that’s right, Mitsuba. As long as you understand that, you’ll be fine for now.”

Despite the familiar appearance of the cat, Shiratama’s superb voice and narrowed cat-like eyes made him look like a superbly beautiful person smiling at me.

What should I do? One of my only friends, a cat, is starting to look handsome.

“That is why I take the form of a cat and observe humans. On the rare occasion that I recognize someone, I lend them a little bit of my angelic power, just to give them a little leverage in life. But I get tired after using my powers. Sometimes I just collapse in my cat form.”

“So that’s why you collapsed behind the dormitory… ”

As he stands in front of me, I can’t help but recall my first encounter with him. It was still early in the school year, when I had been earnestly trying and failing to make friends. I happened to pass through the backyard of the dormitory and found a pure-white cat laying limp. I hurriedly carried it to my room, and since it had no external injuries, I let it rest in my room for a while. He soon recovered and left, but we continued to interact from that day forth, and I named him Shiratama due to his white fur.

I knew he was somewhat of a strange cat, but I had no idea he was an angel.

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“I’ve been observing you for the last three months, partly because you helped me… Now, here’s the deal, Mitsuba.”

Shiratama’s tail swished around.

“You died just a few moments ago, having used up your entire lifespan.”

“Huh!”

A pain shot through my chest. I couldn’t handle someone else saying it out loud. The very act of doing so made me realize my own death. I reminded myself that I am dead after all.

“Don’t look so sad, please. I asked you just a few seconds ago, didn’t I? I said: ‘Would you like to live in this world for a little while longer?’”

I opened my eyes wide at Shiratama’s words. That means…

“Does that mean… Shiratama will let me come back to life?”

I asked Shiratama with high expectations.

It may be a shameless thing to do, but I would like to live again if I could. I decided that this time, I would live my life the way I wanted to. If he, an angel, would give me that chance again, there was no way I wouldn’t cling to him.

But Shiratama rolled his ears, somewhat apologetically.

“There is no mistake in the words ‘bringing you back to life’. But it’s beyond my power to pretend that your death never happened at all. All I can do is postpone your death for a little while longer.”

“What do you mean… ?”

“Well, to put it simply, I can extend your life expectancy, which just dropped to zero, just a little bit. Right after you die, your body and soul are still connected. While you’re still in that state, I can use my powers to temporarily strengthen the connection between your body and soul. That way, you can come back to life, and live for just a little while longer. With my power as an intermediate angel, I can keep you alive for up to six months. An advanced angel can manage a year and a half… ”

“So that means I’m really dead, and I’ll only have six more months to live, right?”

Shiratama nodded.

“Yes.”

He looked apologetic, but it seemed like a blessing in disguise to me. I was supposed to be dead, but he could bring me back to life and extend my life expectancy by six months.

I couldn’t help but hug Shiratama’s body as it hovered in midair.

“Whoa! What’s the matter, Mitsuba!?”

“Sorry, I’m just really happy to see you… Thank you, Shiratama. You’re still my dearest friend.”

I buried my face in his fluffy body. Whether you’re a cat or an angel, you’ve always been my emotional support when times get rough. And you even gave me this chance. I gently hugged Shiratama with the utmost gratitude.

“Are you sure, Mitsuba? Even if you survive here, your days will not change so easily. You’ll be alone again, and the people around you will look down on you every day. Besides, you’re going to die again in six months. You’ll live in a place where things are hard, and you’ll live a short time until the day you know death awaits you. Do you still want to come back to life?”

Shiratama freed himself from my hug and looked into my face with his clear green eyes.

Now that he said, it does indeed seem like it would be better for me to die here quietly, to end my pain.

But, there was still something that I wanted to do.

“… That’s fine, too. I want to live again, even for a short time, in that world.”

I smiled softly, demonstrating my resolve.

Then Shiratama wiggled his whiskers, leaped away from my grasp, and held out his short cat paw. In his hand was a decorative clover pin that I had dropped and not had a chance to pick up.

“Here… ”

I quickly reached out and took it.

At that moment, a bright light enveloped Shiratama’s body, and I involuntarily closed my eyes tightly. My vision darkened. In the midst of the sensation of my consciousness becoming distant again, only his voice, as if speaking directly to my heart, echoed in my brain.

“Mitsuba. These are words from me as your friend… Don’t lose yourself. You’ll find your happiness.”

With those last words, my consciousness blacked out.

----

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ANIMT - Chapter 4. And Now It’s My Time

“Oh, are you finally awake?”

When I woke up, what jumped into my vision was the worried face of a beautiful girl.

“Hey, am I… ?”

I sat up and ran my gaze around my surroundings, with an unclear head and fuzzy vision.

The clean white walls were covered with tacky posters.

‘Don’t forget to book a dental checkup!’

‘Let’s eat healthy, together!’

‘How to properly administer healing magic… ’

----That one was very fitting for this school.

Apparently, I was sleeping on a bed in the infirmary, separated from the rest of the room by a curtain.

“Do you have any pain anywhere?”

“Uh, no. I’m fine, but… why am I here… ?”

“Don’t you remember? You were on the stairs leading to the second floor of the special wing, and you collapsed. I happened across you and called the nurse. There were no external injuries, so the doctor said that it might be a loss of magic power.”

“Loss of magic power… ”

It is true that not just a few students collapse from exhaustion after using too much of their magic power.

… Only, I’m certainly not one of them. I think I’ll just keep quiet and say nothing here and thank the girl in front of me.

“Um, first of all, thank you… Um, you’re Konoha from the class next door, right?”

This petite, beautiful girl who was sitting on a folding chair by my bed had likely watched over me the whole time.

In fact, I had seen her before. No, not just me, but all the other students would know her face.

Konoha Kokomi. Normally, she wouldn’t be a first year high school student, but because of her exceptional magic talent, she skipped a grade of magical junior high and got here a year early. By all means she is to be considered a magical genius. She is short in stature and has a small, animal-like appearance that is extremely adorable. Her beautifully wavy blonde hair flows down to her waist, and her purple, crystal-like eyes were decorated with long eyelashes. She is a girl with beauty matching that of a French doll.

However, because of her strength, she is sometimes avoided by people in the exact opposite way that I am. I didn’t expect her to be so easy to talk to since I always see her alone.

“Oh… do you know me… ?”

“Eh, uh, yeah.”

I nodded, and suddenly she dropped her previous easygoing attitude and switched to a colder one, giving off an inhospitable feeling.

“I see. Then… I’ll go and get the doctor, and leave you to it.”

“What, that… !”

“What is it?”

“No, no, nothing… ”

She glared at me with icy eyes, and I couldn’t hold her back any longer. She gave a light bow and then quickly left through the curtain.

“I hope I didn’t do anything to offend you… ”

I didn’t get a chance to thank her properly, so I’ll have to do so the next time I see her.

‘Ah, she left too quickly!’

A book with a plain dust jacket had been left behind in her spot. Though her sudden change in attitude bothered me, it’s important that I deliver this and thank her for helping me.

More importantly, I now have something I need to think about.

“All of that wasn’t a dream… right?”

I fall back into bed once more and reach for the ceiling.

I remembered everything too clearly for it to have been a dream. I remember the shock of falling down the stairs, and the feeling of hugging Shiratama.

More than anything, I had found proof that the whole thing was very real.

“So, I guess I’m on a countdown, huh?”

The back of my hand was illuminated by the light in the room. The words ‘183 days left’ are inscribed in ink-black letters, like a tattoo.

“183 days left, huh… ”

I muttered as I firmly engraved my remaining deadline in my mind.

This countdown is probably only visible to me, as Konoha-san didn’t say anything about it. It’s the end of June now, so I should be able to live until the winter, my favorite time of year. That fact alone lifted my spirits a little.

I really can’t stop thinking about Shiratama. Come to think of it, I guess it’s thanks to him that my bruises and other injuries are healed. When I see him again, I’ll treat him to something delicious.

“Well… ”

I woke up with a start and climbed out of bed. I fixed my wrinkled, elaborately designed blazer uniform and slapped my cheeks to pull myself together.

From tomorrow on, not a single day could be wasted. For the first time since I came to this school, I was truly excited. It had been a long time since I had felt this elated.

Now, where should I start?

“From now on, it’s Nobana Mitsuba’s time to shine!”

I smiled happily, and my clover pin shone brightly in my hair.

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TL Note: Mald Frogs Club tries to capture the intent of the author when translating these chapters. This is not a literal translation and we can not guarantee the accuracy of it. We re-structure sentences to improve the flow and if we spot what appears to be an obvious error, we fix it as we go.