An awkward hush followed. Emi’s sudden outburst drew judgemental stares from several nearby students. 

“What was that all about?”

                                               “A lover’s quarrel, perhaps?”

“What did he do to get called a monster?” 

                                             “Ugh. Leave it to freshmen to disturb the morning peace…”

The courtyard rang out with chatter from the onlookers. Cady had a front-row seat. She sipped her canned coffee nervously, her round pink eyes shifting between Emi and the boy. Her tail hung low. The tension in the air was palpable. Not liking where this was going, she scooted up to the smaller girl. 

“Hey, Emi? Dontcha think you may be jumpin’ the gun a bit?” 

Emi ignored her new friend’s queries and stood her ground, eyes shimmering. The boy was now glaring back at her, a mixture of confusion and anger clear on his face.

“Monster, eh? Ha…Haha…” He finally spoke, laughing bitterly as that word left his lips. He trudged over to her. Cady moved to stand in between them, but Emi raised her free hand to stop her. The boy looked her dead in the eye. 

“Not gonna lie, that kinda hurt my feelings, Red,” He said, patting the top of his head. “I haven’t a clue what you’re on about, nor do I recall doin’ any of these things you’re accusin’ me of. And it pisses me off somethin’ fierce that this is comin’ from someone I’ve never even met…”

He leaned in closer and Emi felt her body tense up.

“So if you got a problem with me, just say so! If you’re lookin’ for trouble, fine, I can give ya trouble free of charge! No need to go making shit up!”

“...!”

Emi could feel the heat radiating off of him as an intense surge of electricity danced around his body. He was raring to go. Witnessing his speed firsthand, as things stood, she knew she didn’t stand a chance against the boy in a fight. But even so...

"Hey, knock it off, you two!" Cady shouted, wagging her tail furiously. "If ya wanna fight, there're plenty of fields still open. But this ain't the place!"

"......"

"......"

Despite her protestations, the two young mages didn't budge. Emi had her free hand deep in her bag, clenched around a mana capsule, ready to use it should the boy make any sudden movements.

“Meow.”

Suddenly, the cat hopped down the vending machine and landed near the trio.

“Ah!” Cady was the first to react. Her eyes widened at the sight of the cat being up and about. “Well, hello there, Mister Kitty!! Did’ja sleep well?” Her mood flipped from anxious to cheerful at the drop of a hat as her focus returned to the kitten. She knelt beside the cat and gently rubbed its head, wagging her tail happily as she did so. “D’aww, he's so cute I could just eat him right up!!”

The cat looked pale. “Mrow??” 

“Oh, no, no, no! That was just a figure of speech,” Cady reassured. “I ain’t really gonna eat ya!”

“Meow?”

“Hm? Why am I drooling?” The dog girl then took the right arm and wiped it against her lips. “Don’t know what yer talkin’ about!”

The cat slightly backed away from Cady, eyeing her suspiciously. Cady's antics caused Emi and the boy to cease their hostilities and shift their attention to the canine girl and the cat.

“Hm? You don’t believe me?”

“Meow.” 

“I wasn’t droolin’ cuz of you, it was…er…my coffee!” She held up her canned coffee as evidence. “This coffee is just so dang good, that I couldn’t help myself!” 

“Mmmeow?” 

“Then why did I lie about droolin’ before?” At this point, Cady was backed into a corner. “Well, uh… Looks like ya got me, there, Mr. Kitty. Heh…”

Emi let out a small chuckle. Strangely enough, seeing her new friend faun over the tiny creature was enough to bring her anger down significantly. She'd momentarily forgotten what had triggered it in the first place.

The dog girl went on. “But listen, there’s no need to worry!” She used her free hand to pound her chest proudly. “I’ve learned to control my canine instincts ages ago. Honest to Mother!” 

““That drool running down your chin tells me otherwise!”” 

Both Emi and the boy yelled the same sentence in perfect unison. They quickly glanced at one another in both shock and general annoyance. The cat then walked over to the edge of the canopy, out of the shade, and into the sunlight. 

Cady sniffed the air. “Hmm. That’s odd…”

“What’s odd?” Emi asked. 

“Well, Mister Kitty, doesn’t really smell like a kitty.” She cupped her chin in thought. “In fact, he smells just like a—” 

“Meow.” 

“Kat, no!” the boy yelled, waving his arms frantically. “Don’t turn back here!! Anywhere but here!!” 

“What’s going on?” Emi asked, both alarmed and confused by the boy’s extreme reaction.   

“Um… Well…” Just as the boy opened his mouth, the cat’s body shifted to a luminescent white. Before their very eyes, the cat began to change form. The girls swallowed their breaths. 

“Ah, screw it. Too late now.” The boy sighed, scratching the back of his head as the girls looked on in awe. “Fair warning, you two might wanna look away…” 

“Uwah!! What the...?” 

“Ooh, ooh!" Cady raised her hand like a primary schooler. "Hey, blue hair! Is Mister Kitty evolving?!” 

“Don’t be an idiot!!” The boy chastised the dog girl. All the while, the feline’s tiny body started to take on a more vertical shape. After mulling it over for a while, the far reaches of Emi's mind graced her with an epiphany.

Illusion magic?

“Mraaaaow!!”

At that moment, the cat’s vertical form grew in size, developing a recognizable humanoid figure. Not long after, the transformation was complete. Standing before them was a tall lanky figure with long light blonde hair tied into a single braid that hung around their shoulder. The three of them weren't the only ones to witness this phenomenon. The glowing light managed to catch the attention of virtually every student and faculty in the surrounding area.

“......”

“……”

 “......” 

 “......”

  “......” 

The figure turned to face Emi, Cady, and the boy. It appeared to be a human boy with a long and lean physique. His right eye was deep-set with an emerald green iris, while the other was closed shut, perhaps from an injury. His fair skin was carved with countless scars from his face down to his chest and arms. Emi deduced that he must have gotten them years ago given how old and well-healed they appeared to be.

As she took in the boy’s visage, a myriad of questions followed. Who was this boy? Why was he a cat until just a few moments ago? How did he end up in this condition? Where are his cl…?

“Hm?”      

Continuing to look him over, it took her only a few seconds longer to realize that the boy was completely naked. Upon this discovery, Emi’s face flushed red. 

“Er… Uwah!!”

She immediately dropped her gaze to the ground and decided to focus on the cobblestone pattern. 

“Omigods, who’s that guy?” 

                                             “Dunno, he just popped in outta nowhere! He’s a total hottie!!”

           “Bah! Put some clothes on, pal! No one wants to see that!” 

                                              “Look at him, flexing his superior physique like that. Have you no tact, ya bastard?!” 

A mixture of screams and squeals from onlookers could be heard through the schoolyard, both in either delight or disgust. 

“Aaaaah, what a splendid nap,” came an elegant and valiant voice from in front of Emi and the others. No doubt it belonged to the blonde boy, but Emi still couldn’t bring herself to look up. Her innocence was hanging on by a thread and she’d sought to maintain it with every fiber of her being.

“Mm. It appears that I still have plenty of time to spare as well,” the blonde boy went on. “Wonder what Yucchan is up to...”

Cady, who was still kneeling in the same spot, sprung up and scurried over to the blonde boy. Emi wanted to tell her to stop staring, but she couldn’t bring herself to lift her gaze from the ground.

“Oho!!” She heard Cady exclaim. “I knew yer scent was strange! So you were human all along! That was an illusion spell, right?” 

“P-Precisely…” The blonde boy sounded a bit nervous. “You… still appear to be drooling. Why is that?”

“Hm? No reason!” Cady responded in a tone that Emi hadn’t heard before. 

Emi’s face began turning beet red. This exchange was piquing her interest, but she shook her head, cursing herself for wanting to look up. Alas, she wasn’t nearly as bold or direct as Cady. Her gaze then traveled across the ground and flicked up to the sapphire-haired boy, he was also shielding his eyes from the unsavory sight. 

“Not cool, Kat,” he complained. “Not cool!” 

“Hm?” The blonde boy paused for a moment, perhaps to look himself over before chuckling. “Oh! Whoops! Sorry about that.” 

He’s just now noticing?!

From her periphery, Emi could make out the boy cupping one hand over his naughty bits before pointing past the trio to the vending machine with his free hand. She then mentally chastised her eyes for wandering so far and directed them to the boy's bare feet instead.

“Mind fetching me my uniform, Gayle? It is just behind the vendor.”   

“Tch, show some self-awareness, you idiot!” The sapphire-haired boy scoffed as he grumpily maneuvered around the vending machine. “Seriously, man, you’ve got a family legacy to uphold!”

“Sorry, sorry.” 

Gayle returned with the uniform in question and strode past the two girls, stepping out into the sunlight to hand the blonde boy his belongings. 

“Much thanks, my friend.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Gayle kept his head at an upward angle. Emi thought she saw a soft red tinging his cheeks. “Just get dressed already, you goof.” 

No more than a few seconds passed before the blonde boy spoke again.

“There. All done! It is safe to look, now, miss.” As he said this, Emi sighed with relief before finally lifting her gaze. The boy then turned back to the trio, tying a black eyepatch over his sealed left socket as he did so.

“:...!”

The blonde boy had swiftly thrown on his alternate Phoenix Academy uniform; a white button-up shirt with orange trim around the short-sleeved cuffs, coupled with an orange necktie donning the “I” numeral and midnight blue dress pants. He stepped into a pair of white slip-on shoes before pulling the sash of his shinai bag over his shoulder.  

“My apologies for earlier. I guess I got a little too comfortable in my new napping spot.”

“Yeesh, that’s putting it mildly,” Gayle grumbled next to him, folding his arms. 

“Anyways,” the blonde boy went on, “I believe introductions are in order. Shall I begin first?” 

The girls nodded, and he raised his right fist to clear his throat. “Ahem. My name is Kusanagi Katsumi, son of Tiger, Lord of Clan Kusanagi. In the Common Tongue, you would call me Katsumi Kusanagi. If my name is too long, feel free to call me ‘Kat’ as my friend Gayle here does.” 

“Huh??” Emi froze. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her eyes blinked at the boy several times before her mind could formulate a proper response. “Wait… Kusanagi? As in… the Clan Kusanagi?”

“Indeed it is,” Kat smiled proudly, his lone green eye gleaming. This brought a pink blush to Emi’s cheeks. In spite of his rough-looking scars and their awkward first encounter, she found the blonde boy to be quite charming.     

Whoa…

Emi couldn’t believe she was in the presence of a schoolmate of such a legendary pedigree. There wasn’t a single aspiring swordsman on the continent that didn’t know the Kusanagi name. Those who truly didn’t would have to have been living under a rock. Emi found it hard to believe that she was now going to school with the clan’s future generation. She was beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed. 

“Ooh, ooh!”  Cady exclaimed, once again raising her hand like a primary schooler. “Can I still call ya ‘Mister Kitty’?!” 

“What?! No!” Gayle cut in. “You can’t just address a noble that way!” 

The blonde boy simply nodded. “If that is what you wish to call me, then yes you may.” 

“Sweet!!” She giggled playfully. “Mister Kitty it is!!”

The girls then introduced themselves to Katsumi. As the three of them began to converse a bit further, Gayle scoffed before clapping his hands together and backing away from his friend.

“Welp, I’d love to stay and chat.” He seemed nervous, now. A stark contrast from his brash demeanor moments earlier. His hands shook and his voice wavered a little as he spoke. “But alas, I’ve got somewhere to be.”  

Kat furrowed his brow. “Really? And here I thought we were going to spar...” 

“We’ll spar some other time! But right now I really need to go!” 

Hm? 

At that moment, Emi felt a cool shiver down her spine as an overwhelming presence rushed through her body. It was a powerful wellspring of mana. While the feeling was brief, it was effective enough for anyone with a decent enough mana pool to notice. She turned to see that Cady was hugging her sides. No doubt about it, Emi thought. The young beastkin could feel it, too. 

What was that?? 

She turned to see that Gayle had gone pale, he had picked up the sudden increase in magical energy also. “Not good, not good!”

Gayle spun on his heel and tried to run under the canopy. Just as his right foot reached the threshold, he suddenly stopped as a dark lump shot up from behind him. 

“Dammit!! I was so close!!”

“What the…?!”  

“Whoa!!” 

“Ah, looks like she’s found you, Gayle.” 

As the boy yelped and the others looked on, the lump began to rise, soon forming a humanoid shape. Before long, they were staring at the back of a petite teenage girl. Gayle tried to wriggle away with all his might but found himself completely immobilized. Emi looked down and noticed that the girl was standing in the shadow of the boy’s left leg. 

That strange presence from before… It must’ve been her… 

The girl reached up from behind the boy and grabbed him by the ear with her right hand, tugging at it with force. 

“Yeow!! Ow, ow, ow!!”

“And just where do you think you’re going?”  

The girl turned around with Gayle’s ear still in hand. She was a short young lady with fair skin, amber-colored eyes, a beauty mark located beside her left nostril, and waist-long jet-black hair with a shock of white tied neatly into a long ponytail with yellow ribbons.

Cady’s floppy ears twitched. “Oooh, she’s purdy...” 

That was Shadow magic just now… A thought then dawned on Emi. Then… this girl is… 

The raven-haired girl wore an alternate Phoenix Military Academy girl's uniform, consisting of a midnight blue short-sleeved blouse with an orange necktie donning the “II” numerals. This was paired with an orange knee-length hakama skirt, black tights, and a pair of black platform geta sandals with an orange strap.

Her right breast pocket had the Phoenix Military Academy emblem sewn onto it, while her left side was adorned with two brooches. One was of two clasping hands, representing camaraderie and support, the symbol of Little Hōjo, worn by the village’s Lord or Lady. The second was emblazoned with the image of a black dragon…worn by members of the Clan Kageryuu as a symbol of vengeance.

Emi gaped. This girl was none other than...  

“H-Hey there, Yuki!” Gayle grinned at the shorter girl through gritted teeth. “I was just about to head into the building. Haha... What are you doing here so early?”