She cut herself short as her ears twitched and her head shifted to the right. Puzzled, Emi followed her friend’s gaze to see three students, two male humans, and one female red-oni standing over someone. Upon closer inspection, Emi’s eyes widened. Black hair in a short bob…large cat-like ears with tufts of white fur at their respective tips…arms and legs covered in gauze… 

Cady turned to Emi. “Hey. That’s our girl, yeah?”

The catgirl was on her knees, favoring that left arm again. The contents of the lunch tray beside her had spilled to the floor. The students in question appeared to be responsible as they smirked and sneered down at her with purpose. This must have occurred only a few seconds ago, but the ambiance in the cafeteria was so great, that Emi hadn’t heard a thing. Had it not been for Cady’s ears, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. Looking around, the other students didn’t seem to pay the situation any mind as their chatter and occasional bursts of laughter persisted. 

“Hey, hey, you’d best watch where you’re going, kitten.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty crowded in here. y’know. You could trip.”

“Oops. Looks like she already did.” The female red-oni snickered. “Guess she's more comfortable eating on the floor. How appropriate.”

What Emi didn’t understand was that among those ‘unfazed’ students were orcs, katsokaa, and other beastkin, all demi-human races who were well-known for their sharp senses, yet for some reason, they went on about their business as if there wasn’t a fellow demi-human being bullied right in front of them. This dismissive behavior made Emi’s blood reach its boiling point. Now witnessing the bullying firsthand, she wasn’t about to sit by and watch this continue. 

“We’ve got to do something!” She stood up and Cady followed suit but just as they were about to head over...

“Em, Look!”

“Huh?”

…Cady pointed ahead. Someone was already there. There he was, standing in between the catgirl and the trio. That familiar yellow lightning bolt strand caught Emi’s eye, her breath catching in her throat as the realization settled in.

Gayle...!

◆◇◆

At that very moment, the cafeteria had fallen dead silent. All eyes were now on the four students standing, and the lone beastkin still on the floor. Gayle stepped closer to the students, his eyes were like daggers.

“Oy, step off, you three or things are gonna get ugly.”

The leader of the trio sneered. “What’s this, Mazin? You stickin' up for the Nishikawa’s pet? A bit outside your family’s wheelhouse, ain’t it?”

Gayle’s nostrils flared at that remark. “What was that?”

“Aww... Did I hit a sore spot, there, bud?” The leader gave a smug grin as his lackeys yucked it up beside him. With that look in his eyes, the lad honestly believed he'd just got one over on the sapphire-haired boy. And that form of mockery only served to make the boy in question tighten his fists.

Gayle, as incensed as he was, couldn't deny what the bully had said. The noble House of Mazin rose to prominence during the early Middle Age, when they made their fortune by hunting and defeating exotic monsters that erupted from the many warp zones surrounding Taqora. Farming them for parts could yield quite a bit of capital if sold to the highest bidder. It was also during this era that beastkin, vampires, and crystal demons were classified as 'monsters'. The Mazins did quite well for themselves in those days, and hunting the aforementioned races for their parts had them set for generations.

Needless to say, Gayle's defense of the catgirl behind was viewed as quite the oxymoron.

It wasn't just the trio who thought so. Several murmurs and whispers echoed throughout the cafeteria, echoing similar sentiments. Other comments focused on the catgirl, her bandages, and what exactly Gayle thought he was doing standing up to three other students on his tod. He didn’t care about that other stuff, but it always irked him how unwilling most people were to stand up for someone in need. He gritted his teeth. Bunch of pissing cowards, the lot of ‘em!

“Listen up, Sport. As a Hunter, there will come a time when you're faced with a choice..."

“......!”

Just then, words that his late father once told him as a little boy came to mind.

“...and each choice can dictate one's fate, so there's no room for hesitation.”

Those words were something that even now he struggled to abide by. And yet, every so often, whenever he could feel his anger beginning to rise, those words...would find their way back to him.

“So whatever you choose to do, commit to it.”

He took a deep breath. Will do, Father. Will do. He'd made his choice the second he decided to come to the catgirl's aide. As much as he wanted to deck these jerks, he needed to be careful. He was already going to serve a week's detention for vandalizing Class 3-A, and the last thing he wanted to do was give Sis another headache.

Plus, I dunno if my ears could stand another tugging from her...

Gayle returned his attention to the bullies, he could notice the subtle change in their demeanor. The leader, realizing the gravity of the situation, took a step back, his smirk faltering. His lackeys, sensing their leader's uncertainty, glance nervously at each other.

Gayle stood his ground, his posture firm and unwavering. He knew that this moment could define not just his fate, but the fate of the catgirl behind him. With a calm but authoritative voice, he addressed the bullies.

“I won’t repeat myself a third time. Step off. Now.”

As he said this, his body emitted a glow similar to his sapphire-colored hair. A surge of electricity flashed around him like the lights of a neon sign. His tone brooked no argument, and the bullies, sensing his determination, slowly began to retreat. The onlookers in the cafeteria, who had been murmuring moments ago, fall silent again, watching the scene unfold.

“Hey Mazin,” the leader trudged over to the boy, leaning over and whispering something in his ear. Gayle simply nodded in response. And with that, the trio turned on their heels and disappeared into the crowd of onlooking students.

Gayle scoffed and rolled his eyes. He'd dealt with punks like this all the time in primary school and where he was, the first day of secondary, once again with his hands full. Gayle turned towards the catgirl and squatted, meeting her at eye level. He sat his lunch tray down on the floor next to her. She eyed it curiously for a moment before flicking her gaze back over to him.

“Look,” he started, scratching the back of his head. “It’s not like I’m famished or anythin’, so if you want my food, you can have it, I guess.” 

“U-Uhh…” She looked back down at the tray of food, examining its contents. On a white plate was a stack of asparagus alongside four sizable slices of steak from the leg of a basilisk, and a side of orzo rice. The catgirl's mouth watered, her ears twitching and her tail nervously flicking to and fro, unsure what to do. Annoyed, Gayle clicked his tongue at her indecisiveness.  

“Or just sit there and stare at it...” The boy stood up straight, feeling like he wasted his time. “Do what you want…I gotta go take care of somethin’.”

Just as he turned on his heel, the catgirl held out her hand.

“N-No, wait!” She grabbed the tray and looked up at Gayle, her eyes wide with mixed disbelief and gratitude. “Thank you...”

She gave a slight bow. Gayle didn’t turn back, but he raised his arm and gave her a thumbs up as he walked away, his heart still pounding from the adrenaline rush. Antsy for what was about to happen next.

◆◇◆

Emi watched as Gayle left the cafeteria, her jaw hanging agape as if she’d just seen an almiraj frighten off a tri-hound.

“Um… wait so…hmmm…” Cady blinked, scratching her head in confusion, not quite sure what had just gone down. “So those kids had a three-to-one advantage, but once Sapphie went all blue on ‘em, they just…left? I don’t get it.”

She was right about one thing. Gayle was completely outnumbered there, yet he was able to fend off those bullies without so much as lifting a finger. Of course, there was an explanation for this: that being the gigantic mana that partially shook the very building they occupied. Every student present with a decent enough mana pool could feel it, hence why the majority of them were still standing around, processing the prior incident that had transpired. 

“Uh, Cady you didn’t feel anything just now?” Emi asked. “Like that rumbling under our feet when Gayle…ahem…‘went all blue on ‘em’?”

She perked up. “Oh, yeah! Wait, Sapphie caused that?!”

“Mm-hmm,” Emi nodded. “It’s common practice for mages to know when and how much of their mana to reveal. This is typically done to intimidate possible threats. In Gayle’s case, he made sure to emit just enough to match or exceed the combined mana pools of the bullies. This proved too much for them to bear, so they left.”

Gayle’s Affinity Test was doubly impressive. The orb had emitted a near-blinding radiance that alternated between green and yellow. This demonstrated a great aptitude for both aero and electro magic, easily making him one of the strongest students in PMA's freshmen class. As expected from House Mazin’s issue. 

“Wow! I didn’t know he was hiding all of that energy in that skinny body of his. Especially against three upperclassmen.”

“Upperclassmen?” Emi raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t get a good look at the numerals on the student’s neckties from where she was standing, but something like that was no problem for a beastkin like Cady. 

“Yeah, they had two numerals on their ties,” the dog girl recalled, “so I reckon they’re sophomores, then?”

“I see…” Emi found it extremely concerning that a group of upperclassmen would stoop so low as to bully an unsuspecting freshman, surely that would reflect badly on the sophomore class as a whole if this behavior was commonplace. As the cafeteria went back to its lively atmosphere, her eyes returned to the lone catgirl, still sitting on the floor, Gayle’s tray was still in front of her. 

Suddenly, she could see the sapphire-haired boy in her mind’s eye.

That aura, Emi thought. He only gave off a fraction of that earlier this morning, and it was enough to put me on high alert. But just now… 

She replayed that moment within her mind’s eye. And then it all became clear to her. 

Someone could’ve gotten seriously hurt had things escalated… She exhaled. But… The more this first day went by, the more overwhelmed she felt. For the most part, children with massive mana pools were akin to ticking time bombs if they lacked the proper guidance. All it would take was for the wrong buttons to be pushed for something to go terribly, terribly wrong. This was the case for a certain mage named Milton Gaspard, better known as ‘Rush’, who served as a cautionary tale for young mages who ‘fly too close to The Yolk’. 

But he wasn’t like that at all, was he? She sat down in her seat. Gayle managed to compose himself in the heat of the moment, he had stepped in to save Freya when no one else did, and he’d even given the catgirl his lunch before departing! And yet…

“What kind of monster would do such a thing?!!” 

As Emi recalled this, she felt a pang deep within her gut that was more intense than anything she’d felt all day. Gripping her left wrist with her right fingers, she struggled to make sense of these feelings. 

Yeah, he was a proper jerk earlier this morning. He’s loud, and has no sense of tact or personal space! In fact…he still owes me money for stealing and drinking my coffee! And yet…despite all that, he came to Freya’s rescue, exposed his mana pool to protect her, and forced those bullies to retreat!  And yet…I…I accused him of something so awful!

Katsumi was right. Gayle was certainly crass, but he was far from the bullying type. That much was now known. And the guilt Emi was feeling began to overtake her. 

“Ooh, ooh! Look, it’s Yu-yu and Mr. Kitty!” Cady exclaimed, pulling Emi out of her reverie. She jumped from her seat and bounded for the two Hōjinese students kneeling next to the catgirl. Emi took a deep breath and went over to join them. 

“Are you well, Miss Freya?” Yuki looked the catgirl over, her amber-colored eyes filled with worry. She leaned in close, her face closing in on Freya’s. “Those three didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“O-Ojou-sama?”

“Come, let’s get you to a table,” Katsumi said, offering his hand. “The floor is no place for a fair lady to dine.” 

“Kusanagi Ouji-sama, too…?” With Gayle’s lunch tray still in hand, Freya looked between Yuki and Katsumi. She suddenly yelped. The look of panic was apparent on the catgirl’s flushed face as she leaned backward.

 “H-Hey! Ojou-sama, Ouji-sama you two…sh-shouldn’t get too close!”

 ““Hmm?”” The doting noble kids tilted their heads in confusion. 

“Heeeeey! Yu-yu! Mr. Kitty!”