The gardens were calm and quiet. Since it was still lesson time, Rai and Sin had the whole area of rest to themselves. Rai sat down on the cushioned chair just under the canopy.

Sin sat beside him. She stared at him. Behind her stare, a silent fury brewed. “Explain.”

Rai leaned against the cushions, “It’s a forbidden spell.”

Sin’s eyes widened. She heard him, but she didn’t fully register what Rai just said. Sin shook her head, “W... What?”

Rai looked up at the ceiling of the canopy, “That spell you were about to unleash... It’s a forbidden spell. Look at me.”

Sin looked at him. Blue runes lit up on Rai’s face. Then, they disappeared.

Rai ran his finger on Sin's face, just under her eyes where the runes appeared, “On your face were red runes, just like the ones that appear on mine when I use Antithesis.” He pointed where the runes were on his face.

Sin was shocked. Completely shocked. She didn’t know how to react. “I...”

Rai raised a hand, “It’s fine! I know that you’re sorry... but we need to figure some stuff out before doing anything else. Did you find that spell in a book somewhere?”

Sin shook her head as she came to terms with Rai's words, “... I made it myself.”

Rai stared blankly at her. He was amazed, “What the fuck...” He whispered under his breath. Rai thought deeply for a few moments while Sin digested the reality of her situation.

Rai smiled. He raised a finger, “I have an idea.”

Sin listened.

Rai leaned forward as he explained the plan, “We’ll test the limits of the spell when we get home later today! Then we can try and find ways for you to evolve it as well. It would be... kind of depressing if you evolved it easily though... mine nearly killed me.”

Sin thought deeply about Rai's plan, “That’s... a good idea." However, something didn't quite sit right with her, "But how does it make sense? It was a spell that I created myself by combining other spells and layering them together...”

Rai didn’t know the actual answer to her question, but he could offer her a possibility: “Maybe... maybe it’s the same as Antithesis. Because I used my understanding of different spells and my clear mental acuity for magic to scrap together an anti-magic spell. Then, when it evolved, it became a spell that worked as a whole, rather than multiple parts put together.”

Sin thought about what Rai said. She frowned, “Does that mean that someone else came up with my spell before I did?”

Rai shook his head, “I doubt it. Your advanced techniques work because you have a mental clarity for mana that's just a step below mine. You don’t see people copying your mirrors so easily, do you?”

Sin looked down at her lap, “I guess not.”

Rai pulled her in for a hug, “Then have faith in your ability. I doubt just anyone could string together those spells like you have.”

Sin smiled a touch as she returned Rai's gentle embrace, “Yeah, you’re right... I’m awesome!”

Rai laughed with her, “That you are!" He let her go back to how she was sitting before, "Also... I think I know what kind of spell would work well with your tricky arsenal! To solve the problem Rodrick mentioned earlier, you know?”

Sin tilted her head at him, “What kind? I had an idea in mind, but I don’t know what kind of books the headmaster would have.”

Rai smirked, “Invisibility.”

Sin stared at him, deadpan, “Are you a fucking idiot? Do you know how hard invisibility is to learn? Unless you were lucky enough to find an artifact imbued with it, or a tome, it’s almost impossible for mages to learn it.”

Rai leaned forward in a thinking pose, “I’m sure Rodrick’s got an invisibility tome in his library somewhere. I have no doubt that you’d be able to learn the spell and add it to your techniques.”

He shot Sin a goofy grin.

Sin’s heart fluttered. That goofy grin reminded her about why she fell for Rai in the first place.

She kissed Rai.

Rai was just a little flustered and confused, but he accepted the kiss regardless. In fact, he returned it even moreso by holding the back of Sin's head and pushed forward just a touch.

After a few moments, Sin let go of his lips. She shot Rai the same goofy grin.

Rai giggled.

The bell rang.

It was lunchtime.

Students ran to be the first in line at the cafeteria. Rai and Sin heard the commotion from around the corner. There was an easy entrance to the cafeteria from where they were sat, which the students nearby would probably try to run through to get there faster than the others whose classes were indoors.

Sin thought that it would be silly for them to try and beat the stampede, so she remained seated.

Rai, however, stood up. He picked Sin up. She yelped. Rai held her like a baby in his arms, “Hold on tight.” He said as he smirked at her.

Sin wrapped her arms around his neck and did as he said.

Stormflow.

It was an instant.

They were first to the cafeteria.

Rai put Sin down. She patted her hair to fix it as best she could. I have no idea how his hair is never affected... maybe it’s because it’s his spell. Sin looked at Rai’s perfectly ponytailed hair. Another thing that surprised her was that she didn’t feel as nauseous as she’d expected to be after moving so fast.

Rai pointed at the menu. Sin read it as he did.

⌜

Yesterday’s meal was a one-off thanks to a brave adventurer. Today’s meal is far more simple.

Please enjoy these chicken sandwiches.

⌟

Rai’s stomach grumbled. Sin’s did the same. They grinned at each other.

After getting their food, they found a table that would easily seat all of their friends.

Unsurprisingly, it only took a few minutes for their friends to make an appearance.

“IT’S LUNCHTIME!!!!” Tullian and Amy declared the same thing as they entered the lunch hall. They entered from different sides of the hall, which made the spectacle all the more incredible.

Tullian and Amy stared at each other from across the hall.

Their faces were... mad? Rai tapped Sin’s arm, “Are they angry at each other?”

Sin shook her head, “No idea.”

Tullian and Amy zoomed through the standing groups of students to the queue.

Rai was amazed. They're so fast! Are they racing each other?

Amy got there first.

Tullian roared in defeat.

Rai nodded, “Yeah, they’re just racing against each other.”

Sin nodded in agreement as she stuffed a mouthful of a sandwich into her mouth, “Mhmm.”

A voice came from beside the two of them, “C-... Can I join you guys?”

Sin turned with her mouthful and looked at the person who just asked.

Rai grinned, “Of course you can, it’s good to see you Maya.”

The silvery blue haired elven girl was surprisingly slightly timid at first. On receiving acceptance, her cheery nature returned, “Thanks!”

Another voice came, but this time it was from the table they were already sat at, “S-sit... n-next... to m-m-me.”

Their collective attention went to Lina, who was already sat at the table somehow.

Rai tilted his head, “How’d you even ge-”

Maya sounded way happier than either Rai or Sin expected, “I will! Thank you!” Her smile was very bright.

Lina was also smiling, and trying her best to hide her blush.

Maya rocked the table as she sat down. She nervously chuckled, “Oopsie.”

Sin looked towards Lina as she gulped down the chewed up sandwich in her mouth, “Did you and Amy end up in different classes Lina?”

Lina nodded, causing her curly auburn hair to bounce in a rather comedic way.

Rai frowned, “That’s pretty dumb. You’d think they would try to put family close together.”

Maya'd practically instantly finished her sandwiches and abruptly changed topic, “These are... alright. I can make better.”

Sin shot Maya an ominous glare, “I bet you can't make a grilled cheese as good as Rai can!”

Maya returned Sin’s glare with a serious one of her own, “You bet your prissy ass I could.” Her tone was cold.

Sin replied in the same tone, “I’d like to see you try.”

Rai butted in, “Why am I being involved in this?”

Maya gave Rai the side-eye, “Pipe down pussy. This is between me and the Princess.”

Rai frowned, “That’s what I tried to say.”

Lina watched Maya. She wanted to work up the courage to do something for herself for once, but it was so very difficult. For now... she would just watch as her goals slowly drifted further away from her.

Rai was observing Lina as Sin and Maya went at each other. She looked at him, then quickly averted her eyes.

Rai sighed. He lifted up the water from his cup, and shaped it into writing. Rai floated the writing over to Lina.

Courage

Lina stared at it, and looked back at Rai. Rai smiled softly at her. He gave her a thumbs up. The water morphed again, and again.

You’re strong

Take your time

Lina put on a confident face. Or at least, she gathered whatever confidence she could muster. She used that confidence to forgive herself for not being ready right now. After renewing her conviction to grow strong enough to do things for herself, Lina mouthed to Rai:

Thank you

Rai smiled warmly and gave her a soft nod.

Lina smiled in return. The water returned to Rai’s cup.

Maya broke Lina’s focus on Rai, “You okay Lina?”

Lina turned to her. She averted her eyes and nodded quietly.

Maya gently turned Lina’s face to look her in the eyes. “I know what will fix that tremble right up!”

Lina’s eyes widened.

Maya stole a hug from her. She squeezed Lina tight.

Lina liked this, so she welcomed it with open arms. But... she also liked being able to breathe, so she tapped out.

Maya stared at Lina in amazement as she let go, “Your skin is so soft!”

Lina fiddled with her hair, “T-t-t-thanks.” Her face was unbelievably hot.

Maya blushed a touch as well.

A pair of familiar voices went back and forth against each other as they got closer and closer.

“I won!”

“You only won because you started first!”

“That’s part of the race you big dummy!”

“Well it’s not fair! I would’ve won otherwise!”

“You had less people on your side, so your loss was entirely on you!”

Rai whispered to Sin, “Lover’s spat?”

Sin nodded with a blank face, “Yep.”

Amy and Tullian sat down next to each other, since those were the only two seats left. They huffed and pouted as they looked away from each other.

Rai stared at them with a blank face, “You guys are this mad at each other because of a race?”

Amy turned to answer him with furrowed eyebrows, “He’s a big dummy! I won fair and square.”

Tullian turned to face Rai. He looked frustrated, “She’s also big, but not really a dummy!”

Sin flicked a bolt of air at Tullian’s head, “Don’t call girls big, dummy.”

Tullian rubbed his forehead, “I didn’t mean it like that, she’s just got bi-”

He got flicked by another wind bolt. This time it was Rai, “Man, do yourself a favour and just apologise.”

Amy blushed.

Lina also blushed, since they were twins.

Maya burst out laughing, “This is so absurd, it’s hilarious.”

Tullian frowned. But he followed Rai’s advice, “I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to be rude.”

Amy grabbed his hand, “Don’t worry about it... just don’t talk about a girls physical features around her or she’ll beat you up, okay?” She wagged a finger at him with her free hand as she scolded him.

Tullian nodded sympathetically. He didn’t realise he was being offensive. He also preferred not to get beaten up.

Amy hugged him, “Good, now let’s go back to just being ourselves.”

Tullian smiled, “Good idea!” He turned to Rai, “Let’s fight, Rai!”

Everyone broke out into giggles. Rai smiled at Tullian, “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Sin tried to sneakily steal some of Rai’s sandwiches while he was distracted.

Tullian grinned at Rai, “I think you’d be surprised this time.”

Maya grinned as well, “Count me in!”

Sin had successfully pulled off the heist of Rai’s chicken sandwiches by inconspicuously stuffing them all in her mouth.

Amy facepalmed, “We have a tournament coming up, we’ll get to fight then. You guys should save your enthusiasm until then.”

They rolled their eyes and digressed. After all, Amy was right.

A while passed. After which, they’d all finished their chicken sandwiches and simply sat there relaxing and chatting together until the bell rang.

Lunch was over.

Tullian, Amy, Lina, and Maya all had different lessons, so everyone decided to meet up tomorrow.

Rai and Sin had their free period now, so they went to Rodrick’s office together.

Rodrick was just moving from his office to his classroom next door as they arrived.

He smiled at them, “Good timing. The office door is now encoded to allow you two to enter at any time. The library is the same. If you open the cabinet full of buttons, and find the one that says ‘Rodrick’s Library’. When you press the button, it will open a portal in the middle of the room. There’s a button in the library that does the same, so you’ll be able to get back whenever you want. Good luck!” He waved them goodbye as he entered his classroom. He seemed somewhat rushed, so neither Rai nor Sin thought much of his jarring actions.

Rai and Sin went into Rodrick’s office and found the button.

Surprisingly, there were way more buttons here than they’d expected. Rai huffed, “Is he a portal master or something? These are all places on Academy grounds.”

Sin read through some of the buttons. She spoke as if she was solving a problem, “Since he’s the headmaster, he probably needs easy access to different locations across campus.”

Rai thought that she made a good point, "Yeah, you're probably right." He pointed at the button, “Shall I?”

Sin nodded.

Rai pressed it.

He felt a spark of mana move from the button to his finger and back.

A soft whirring sound came from the ground beneath them.

After a moment, a purple portal spawned in the middle of the room. Unlike some of the other portals they'd seen before, this one didn't have a window to see the other side.

Rai and Sin looked at each other before they entered the portal.

After walking through, Rai and Sin looked around for a second.

It was only after they looked upwards, that they were both blown away, “Woah...” They both exclaimed.