I really have a hard time dealing with that girl.
The kind of reverence she's showing towards me makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

 

"Wh-what is it that you wish, my eternal lady?" (Nanako)

 

That deep bow nearly to the ground is even worse than simply kneeling!

 

"For now, only that you're not announcing weird things to our classmates by acting like I'm some deity." (I)

"But you..." (N)

 

I interrupt her by raising the finger in front of her mouth.

 

"No! Just no. Now stand up. I'm not your goddess, patron, lady, or even object of interest. You're going to forget anything that happened that indicates otherwise. You're not getting anything else out of me, so don't even start with this. Is that clear?" (I)

"I-if this is your wish." (N)

 

She seems unsure, maybe a bit distraught, but I won't give in on this.
For the sake of my normal school life.

 

"Anyway... We're now forming a team to start together at the rider battle!" (C)

"Excuse me?" (N)

"It's one of the noblest sports and I'm sure with this team we're going to win!" (C)

 

Sigh.
I don't even know what to say.

 

"You want us to do this weird pyramid formation, right?" (N)

"You have nothing better, right?" (C)

"Well, I was still thinking it over if I'd even stay here." (N)

 

Suddenly, Chiaki becomes very conspiratorial and starts talking quietly.

 

"You know, if you'd agree I might meet up with you and we could talk about magical stuff." (C)

 

Damn, with this she got her.
Even if she doesn't know that Chiaki has some kind of high priest heritage, it's more than obvious that she knows her stuff.
And this girl would kill for any bit of information on magic.
Probably literally, if she could.
That tumor to prevent this might've been the right decision in hindsight.
So it unfortunately all comes together.
Since I'm not putting up a strong enough defense, Chiaki manages to apply all four of us as a team.

For the rest of the lesson we're forced to train the proper formation.
Chiaki takes the front, Sora on the left side, Cooky girl on the right, and I'm on top of them.
Since three-quarters of the members of this team are magically augmented, it isn't even too hard to pull off.
So it comes that we quickly manage to get it right.
Only our coordination lacks a bit.
Mostly because Sora is a boy and is overly cautious about the way he supports my leg and Nanako being afraid about touching me at all.

Suddenly, I notice Zika at the sidelines, interacting in some way with the other groups right next to her... the running boy!?
Why is he here, so out in the open!?!

This observation distracts me and the shift in my balance throws our formation so hard into disarray that we almost end up toppling over.
I just manage to not use any tentacles to prevent this.
Instead, I can just in time put my hand on Cooky girl's shoulder, who is the weak link, and stabilize her.

Wait a moment!
It was purely on instinct but now that I can think about it I realize that it was a weird thing to do.
I sent something through her shoulder, all the way down to her legs to make them firm enough to hold me.

 

"Did, did you just... make my legs stronger?" (N)

 

Did I?

 

"I guess so." (I)

"W-well, not like I'm complaining, but it still feels weird. Do I need to worry?" (N)

"No? I don't think I put anything bad in there." (I)

 

At least I hope so.

 

"O-okay. You already put a tumor in my head, so I shouldn't draw the line at my legs." (N)

"Ehm, could you all set me down for a moment? I'd like to check something." (I)

"Yes, sure. I would never go against you!" (N)

"Uh, okay." (S)

 

...

 

"Chiaki?" (I)

 

The other already basically let go.

 

"Don't worry! I'll bring us over!" (C)

"Wha-Waaaaahhhhh!" (I)

 

Chiaki rips herself free from the others and runs off with me at a speed that is akin to what normal people could muster without a heavy load on their backs.
It seems she doesn't even need the others for the rider's battle.
However, I'd certainly like her to stop because I totally didn't apply to get a piggyback ride over the school courtyard while the whole school is assembled and watching!

 

"Chiaki! Put me down! You have no idea what you're about to summon! If this continues, not just I will get swallowed by the ground in embarrassment!" (I)

 

I can already feel how a certain corruption network comes to life.

 

"Yeah, yeah! We are already almost there!" (C)

 

This girl has seriously no awareness of the direness of certain situations!
So it comes that Chiaki carries me all the way next to Zika, who she apparently saw as well and decided to bring me over to.
When she arrives, she stops with a small jump and lets out a cheer.
Sometimes, I just have to ask myself how we came to be friends like this.
It seems like Zika is just as bewildered as I am.

 

"I know you're insistently denying it, but the fact stands that situations like these frequently occur around you, and it starts to become increasingly unlikely that their cause is completely unrelated to you." (Z)

 

Not a single thing I could answer has even a remote chance of working as a retort.
So I just bury my face in my arms while Chiaki lowers me to the ground.

 

"You know, if not for the particularity of the source, I'm sure the kind of emotions you're currently experiencing would make for a very extraordinary taste." (Z)

"Yeah, please. Just take it away. Along with the memories of everything that transpired just now." (I)

 

At the moment, I can hopefully rely on Zika's ability to distract everyone from what we're saying, even with all the attention Chiaki's erratic behavior just drew to us.

 

"Sorry, impossible in your case. If the backlash would only completely eradicate my existence, I could consider myself lucky." (Z)

 

That's too bad. I could've definitely done without the feelings I currently experience.
However, as this is no option, I can only gloss over it and get straight to business.

 

"Okay, whatever. What I wanted to know was what you're doing here with the boy." (I)

"Isn't it obvious? The sports day and the week before is the perfect opportunity for us to act according to our nature." (Z)

 

She means that she's using this time of the year to fill herself up.
She's basically going to turn every single accident, mishap, or stress into a feast for herself.
Regarding the boy, I'm not really informed what his exact nature is.
The moment my gaze moves over him he flinches.

 

"I-is that really her?" (running boy)

 

He looks unsure at me, probably having some difficulty to believe that I'd just show up, riding on Chiaki while pretending to be a normal student.
In hindsight, I might truly not do a good job at concealing my slightly unusual nature.

 

"Yeah, get used to it. This is the kind of thing you can expect with outer gods." (Z)

 

Nonetheless, it's slightly agitating for me to hear that I'm, to Zika, not the slightest bit different from beings that embody pure madness.
I mean, I'm rather normal, right?

 

"Why are you even here together? I thought you and the other wonders are at odds with each other?" (I)

"We, we make an exception for this." (running boy)

"This is a mutually beneficial cooperation. I can make people lose focus, he lets them trip. That's basically his specialty. And if they fail really hard for this reason, this means all the more for me to feast upon. Especially gratifying it becomes if it happens at a crucial moment. This kind of misery is hard to come by if you don't specifically look for it." (Z)

"Zika, I don't like it if you hurt people." (I)

"I thought we already settled that I need to get my fill in some way? It becomes unbearably more difficult to maintain myself if I can't inflict the slightest bit of harm. As you know, they don't even feel all that bad once I'm done with them." (Z)

"Sigh. At least avoid causing real injuries. I don't want anyone to break their leg if you trip them. Can you at least do that?" (I)

"I-I'll try." (running boy)

 

I guess I have to believe him on that.

 

"Naturally, we're holding back. It's obvious that we can't go too far. Usually, we only slightly shift the outcomes and let things develop naturally." (Z)

"Last year was especially great when you made them believe the incidents were caused by the other teams." (running boy)

 

At this, Zika promptly facepalms.
Triggered like this, I remember how last year there was this huge beating between classes.
Several students got injured and after this, the parents came over the campus like a storm of hatred.
Hm, at that time I can see Zika having been quite content.

 

"Wait! So you're responsible for why we can't have class competitions anymore?!" (C)

"I'll admit that we might've gone a little overboard. That almost brought up the exorcists." (Z)

"And now they made this stupid "no-competition" rule!" (running boy)

"I'm surprised that you didn't just influence the right people to forget about such measures." (I)

"I couldn't! It came directly from the Bureau of Education. There's a limit to what I can do without raising suspicion, as I'm no almighty goddess, my dear. Once the results came down on us, it already went too far for me to stop it. Your school was simply forced to comply to avoid a repetition, no matter what I did. Not to forget that all core institutions of government of a certain rank are warded against this kind of thing." (Z)

 

Ehm, excuse me? I feel like there was a very important piece of information in this last side sentence.

 

"Huh, I didn't know that the government does this kind of thing." (C)

"There are thousands upon thousands of paranormal events in this country every year. With your friend, they'll probably quadruple soon enough. Do you really think that such a thing could be completely ignored?" (Z)

 

So the government has mages?
Or whatever equivalent they can afford to have on their payroll?
If I wouldn't be the way I am, this kind of revelation might concern me.
Well, even with the way I am, now I need to worry about government mages showing up at my home because they get some weird readings on their devices, or what?

For now, I can only hope that those two won't let anyone important trip or a government agent might come because someone has connections.
Damnit, I'm just a schoolgirl.
I shouldn't have to worry about magical politics because of school ghosts who are up to no good, tripping people!
I mean that hurts and isn't nice.
I still remember how my bruised leg hurt back then.

 

...

 

"Wait a moment! Were you responsible for my fall last year?!!" (I)

 

I look directly at the boy who doesn't seem too inclined to talk now.
No other way then.

 

"Answer me!" (I)

 

That should do the trick.
Nothing above a voice that spells doom if you don't comply.

 

"Uh, I, I mean you were basically begging for it with how uncoordinated you were running." (running boy)

 

That's totally not the kind of thing to say that would usually spare you a beating!

 

"What was that?"

"Did you hear that as well?"

"It was like... thunder!"

"No, I'm sure I heard a voice."

 

Now that I think about it, using the oppressive demon voice among people was probably not my brightest moment.

 

"Seriously! I already told you before that my distraction has limits. You can't just pull stuff like this if you want to keep a low profile. Or at least be willing to do this stuff yourself if you don't like my limitations." (Z)

"Sorry. But he tripped me!" (I)

"Hey, Iori. Don't take it too hard. I'm sure that wasn't in any way personal." (C)

"M-my rumor is to make unfocused people trip." (running boy)

"Basically, he's the cheap excuse of people who wouldn't even get a driver's license to operate their own body. A classic case of self-caused, self-fulfilling rumor." (Z)

"See, Iori? He can't help it." (C)

 

Fine, I get it.
It's not fair to blame the wonders for the kinds of rumors they're subjected to.
At least I could bail out of sports day due to this.

 

"Okay... I accept this. It's not like I got seriously injured back then." (I)

"Oh thank you! How nice! Also, it was really funny how you sprawled on the ground, right? And how you slept in after mere seconds of lying on the ground. That was great!" (running boy)

 

Simultaneously, Zika and Chiaki facepalm.
I stare him directly in the eyes while being sure that mine just turned void black, and around us the shadows close in on him.

 

"We're going to change that rumor, understood? Change it beyond recognition!" (I)

"M-my rumor?" (running boy)

"Yes. I won't take this otherwise! I insist." (I)

 

Seriously, even I have my pride.