While walking back to his seat in the back, Yuki would hear the voices of people talking about him.

 

“I can’t believe it…”

 

“He’s a guy? He looks so girly.”

 

“Ew, maybe he’s a trap?”

 

“Yeah, he’s probably gay.”

 

Yuki sighed quietly to himself hearing the comments. He was expecting them but he was still disappointed that people were the same everywhere.

 

It was always like this, every since elementary school. No matter where Yuki went people would start to judge him based on his appearance. People calling him weird, calling him disgusting. That is if they even decided to talk to him at all. Labeling him and insulting him though he did nothing to them.

 

And those were the nicer ones. Others decided that simply attacking verbally wasn’t enough, that they should break that face of his, that they were helping him fit in. And the bullying would always become worse whenever Yuki’s past would be discovered.

 

He would have been able to withstand it as a child if he was in fact gay or a trans or any of that, but he wasn’t. Yuki never wished for his face to change or become more manly, but he hid himself to avoid the pain. He hid to stop the bullying, to run away from the abuse. No one would stand up for him, protect him, because on their faces they all agreed. The teachers, the parents, those people that give words of comfort but never offering their hand. Even those that looked like him rejected him because Yuki wasn’t like them.

 

Soon after elementary school the bullying and the harassment became bearable. It wasn’t because the abuse stopped or lessened but Yuki began to not feel anything toward it. The insults would come but anger wouldn’t follow it. The beatings would continue but sadness would never emerge.

 

He still hid though, because hiding caused less problems. Because there was no one to show who he was to. No one that was willing to be with him and look at who he was.

 

But now he wasn’t alone. Now he had found one, or maybe two that accepted him. With Akira, and possible Sayuri who hadn’t rejected him yet, he would be able to stop hiding.

 

[Remember, who cares what others think. You are who you are,] Akira said quietly in Yuki’s head.

 

‘I know.’

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

After the induction of the new recruits had concluded, they were told to return to their living hall and wait for their adviser.

 

So now Yuki was sitting on a bean bag along with the other four recruits in a circle. As they sat there, staring at each other, an uncomfortable awkwardness could be felt coming from them. Especially Sayuri who was fidgeting in her seat on a couch near Yuki, looking like she wanted to break the silence but not wanting to disturb anyone.

 

The only one that seemed comfortable was Yuki. He simply just observed the others, not moving while resting on the squishy bean bag.

 

“So, um. Let’s introduce ourselves?” said Aaron Smith who couldn’t stand the awkwardness any longer.

 

The others grabbed at this lifeline and began to introduce themselves with enthusiastic voices. Yuki translated this to Sayuri and she was the first to start.

 

“Nagisa Sayuri,” she said, smiling.

 

“I’m Leo Campbell, nice to meet you,” replied the black teen with a British accent.

 

“Tracy Fletcher,” the white girl said.

 

“And I am Aaron Smith,” the American boy ended.

 

Yuki didn’t say anything and just watched this exchange, feeling a bit sleepy sitting in the comfortable bean bag. Aaron turned and looked at Yuki with an expecting expression on his face, wanting Yuki to introduce himself as well.

 

“Mayumi Yuki,” he said quietly.

 

Aaron smiled, happy that he managed to start a conversation.

 

"Nice to meet you. You know, I was surprised when I saw that you were a guy," Aaron remarked. "I thought you were a girl for sure, even your voice is kinda girly."

 

Yuki didn't respond and only looked at Aaron with a neutral expression. Not getting a response, Aaron coughed awkwardly and turned toward the other four first years.

 

“So how did you guys get here?” Aaron asked, clearly trying to prevent the stifling silence from appearing again.

 

“Probably the same way you did, mate,” Leo said. “Came here on a plane.”

 

“Oh right,” Aaron said a bit embarrassed. He turned to the two Japanese people sitting in the room. “How about you guys?”

 

Sayuri could only look at him, not understanding a word.

 

“Car,” Yuki answered for her.

 

“Ah,” Aaron replied. “Okay.”

 

After that there was another long period of silence even more awkward than the first. Everyone was scratching their heads trying to find a topic that everyone could relate.

 

Yuki almost fell asleep.

 

“Do you want to talk about magic or...?” Leo suggested.

 

The faces of three people brightened instantly.

 

“Yes! Magic. I was amazed, I didn’t think something like that could exist,” Aaron said.

 

“They’re going to teach us here, right?” Tracy asked.

 

Leo nodded.

 

“That’s what it seems like,” he answered. “I wonder how magic is taught.”

 

“I hope we can blow some stuff up. I like more practical types of learning,” Aaron said.

 

“Meh. I prefer books,” Leo replied.

 

“Oo, we have a nerd here,” Tracy teased.

 

“Hey!”

 

“How do we use magic or mana or whatever it’s called?” Aaron wondered.

 

The three of them stopped for a moment, their minds racing as they created more and more extravagant ideas in their heads.

 

“I hope they have a translator,” Sayuri mentioned to Yuki in Japanese.

 

“I’m sure they do,” Yuki replied.

 

“What did she say?” Tracy asked Yuki.

 

“She wants a translator,” Yuki answered.

 

“Ah, I hope so,” Aaron butted in. “It’ll make things much easier for us.”

 

The others nodded in agreement.

 

They continued to chat while they waited for their supervisor to arrive. The awkwardness had disappeared and they began to bond. They meaning everyone but Sayuri who didn’t understand a word of what was being said and Yuki who fell asleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

When Yuki woke up from his nap, the other three were still talking with each other. Yuki saw that Sayuri had followed his example and had fallen asleep with her head on the arm of the couch.

 

Looking at the clock that was hanging in the kitchen of the living hall, it seemed that an hour had passed since they were told to wait. Yuki wondered what their supervisor was doing to be taking this long or if that person had simply forgotten about them.

 

Ding.

 

As Yuki was considering taking another nap, the sound of the elevator arriving drew his attention to the entrance of the lounge.

 

Out from the elevator came two people that Yuki recognized immediately. They were the two that tested him in Hibiya High School, Kaede and Moyasu. In their hands they each held a jewelry box sized case that they handled with care as if they were holding something fragile and precious.

 

The others stopped their conversation when they noticed the arrival of Kaede and Moyasu. Yuki poked Sayuri’s cheek to wake her up.

 

“Sorry we took so long,” Kaede apologized walking toward them. “We had to grab a few things before we got here.”

 

Aaron and the rest quickly assured her that everything was fine and that they didn’t mind. Yuki didn’t join them as he translated what was being said to Sayuri.

 

Kaede noticed what Yuki was doing.

 

“Oh, you’ve been translating for her,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why we took so long. My friend here has something for all of you.”

 

Hearing himself mentioned, Moyasu placed the box that he was holding onto a coffee table. Opening the box revealed five pairs of tiny earpieces that were size of earplugs. The teens gathered quickly around the table to take a better look at them.

 

“These are translators,” Moyasu explained. “You place them in your ear and they will translate any language into your mother tongue.”

 

“How do they work?” Yuki asked. Technology was one of the few passions he had.

 

“We actually don’t quite know,” admitted Moyasu. “Some of our researchers were testing the uses of various magic crystals and discovered that when given small amounts of mana some crystals could translate anything said around them. Depending on who gives the mana, the language it translates too differs.”

 

“There’s a crystal like our status cards in this thing?” Aaron said picking one of the earpieces up.

 

“There is a small crystal but it’s different from the one in your card. I did mention that there were many kinds of magni orbs,” Moyasu said.

 

Kaede snapped her fingers to get everyone’s attention.

 

“Enough with the tech talk. You guys just grab two of these babies and them place them in your ear. It’ll automatically take some mana from you but it’s not a lot so don’t worry,” she said. “With these you’ll be able to talk to anyone here!”

 

The group did as she said and placed the translators in their ears. The earpieces were quite comfortable and barely noticeable when being worn.

 

‘It was probably because it was made from a tiny crystal that the translators were so light,’ Yuki surmised.  

 

[Oo, those seem nifty,] Akira piped up out of nowhere. [I want one.]

 

‘What would you even do with one?,’ he mentally replied.

 

[I don't know, I just want one,] Akira said before disconnecting.

 

“Now for the other case,” Kaede said once she confirmed that everyone had taken an earpiece.

 

She placed her case on the table and snapped the lid open. Inside were five black, shiny bracelets that seemed to be inlaid with a screen.

 

“These bracelets are what we call Compendiums and they will be your guide for this place,” Kaede said. “They each have a map so that you can navigate this place. They also have a chat feature where you can connect to other people’s bracelets and send messages to each other. There are other functions but those are the important ones. We’ll be giving you guys one.”

 

“How do these work?” Yuki asked.

 

“The screen is made from a crystal like the one your status card is made from. But we feed it raw mana from a mana stone so that it doesn’t show statuses and combine it with normal circuitry. The mana stone functions as the battery,” answered Moyasu.

 

‘I wonder if there is a magical engineering class here?’ Yuki wondered while he was attaching the bracelet around his wrist.

 

“Now that everyone’s ready, go ahead and tap on those bracelets to open up the Compendium,” Kaede instructed.

 

Yuki’s bracelet shined and projected a small menu in front of his eyes.

 

“Next, tap that little icon that looks like a letter,” she said. “That’s your inbox and any messages sent to you will pop up there. There should be only one thing in there right now.”

 

Yuki tapped on the one message in his box and when he read it, it seemed to be a schedule of sorts.

 

“This is your daily schedule,” Kaede announced. “Starting today, you will follow this down to the letter.”

 

“Wait, it says classes here! Does that mean…!” Sayuri said, her words being understood thanks to the translators.

 

“Yes, starting right now you will begin your training here,” Kaede said smiling.

 

“I recommend you go right now, we don’t like late people.”