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UmbraSight

UmbraSight

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Fifteen.

In the entirety of the New Kyoto Witch’s Academy complex, there are only fifteen rooms rated for the full use of a witch’s magic, both hyper and clutch powers included. Of those fifteen rooms, three are rated “hyper safe” and of those three, one is in the Magical Girl dorms, one for official sparring matches, and the last for testing the limits of a witch’s hyper or clutch powers. Of the remaining twelve, six are used regularly by witches still learning control, four for Magical Girls testing how magics work in conjunction with partners, and the finale two, only rated primary or secondary safe, were used only for testing the limits of the weakest magics a witch can produce.

Today's class was in one of those two rooms.

It wasn't an impressive room really, whitewashed walls peeked through the cracks between the reinforced paneling. Some sort of resistant metal, coated in some resin with a long name, over which was pad cushioning, which was all Kiyomi knew, with a wall of reinforced windows. The room held no fixtures, any required secondary equipment had to be brought into the room and taken out of the room once it's use had been finished, and the floor was simple tilework, which showed damage from years of hard use. Twelve girls stood in the space, unevenly spaced, all looking towards their instructor, Ms Selkie. She was a kindly woman, in her mid-thirties, and among one of the first witches to have awoken. She didn’t look her age, and her eyes sparkled like they were illuminated by some internal light.

And, in Kiyomi’s opinion, one of the best professors of magic she had ever had the pleasure to have known.

“Ah, we have even numbers today, why this is an unexpected surprise.” Professor Selkie said, bringing her hands together in a crisp clap. “If everyone would please find a partner, we’re going to run some simple drills. But please do be careful, this room isn’t rated for anything too powerful.” Selkie said with a bright smile.

“Once everyone finds a partner, we will start with primary powers.”
 
[Stitches]
There was an air of awkwardness around Taru as she glanced around. The girls paired off in a flash, latching into the closest friend leaving the new transfer standing in the her spot, eyes fixed on the floor. This was what she had wanted, wasn't it? To join the classes that would let her use her chaotic, destructive power to protect people? Somewhere, in all the rushing and paper signing, she had forgotten one little fact: she was going to be starting all over. She had no friends in this program, and these girls had spent their years here learning to fight, whereas she had simply been working on control.

In the old program, it had taken weeks for people to realize Taru couldn't talk. Everyone had assumed that she was just too self involved to give them the time of day. Of course, that was before she shattered all the windows in the classroom after a surprised scream. To be fair, it wasn't exactly her fault. It wasn't like she made the book fall off the top shelf and smack her on the head, and a scream is a totally average reaction to shit falling on you unexpectedly. So a few students got pierced eardrums, and the rest realized that she wasn't actually a bitch after all. All in all, Taru couldn't say she was disappointed with the results… turned out that wasn't the answer the teacher had been looking for, though.

After a moment, her mind refocused on the present.The shuffling of feet was dying down when Taru took in a deep breath and took a few steps forward. She put on a smile as she held her hand out to the last, unpaired girl. They were nearly the same height, something that Taru didn't experience often, being the giant of a girl she was. Her eyes followed the long trail of black hair over the girl's shoulders before focusing on her soft face instead. On first glance, the girl looked companionable, which helped ease a bit more of Taru's own nervousness.
 
And, as per usual Kiyomi found herself without a partner as the rest of the room paired off. She wasn't quite certain why, but the other girls never quite seemed to like to partner up with her. Which was annoying, given that she needed someone to partner with to be able to fully train her powers. Maybe they didn't like watching someone use a pale imitation of their magic, or their spells with the elements flipped around. And whenever they did partner with her they always seemed to want to make a contest out of it.

Oh, you want to use my magic? How dare you try to show me up, I won't allow it.

It wasn't like she was trying to use their magic, or even use it better than they did for that matter. She had to replicate the other girl’s magic to practice her own.

Today however Kiyomi found that she wasn't the only one not picked, and forced to do that little awkward dance of looking for a duo willing to turn trio, or hope the teacher would bail her out. Today, she had a friend in the transfer student. The girl was roughly the same size as she was, which was nice, she wasn't used to people being her height. A present surprise. Kiyomi raised a hand and flashed the other girl a smile.

“Hi! I'm Kiyomi, let's practice over there.” She said, pointing towards an empty space near the wall of windows and the back all. "You just transferred in, right?"
 
[Stitches]

Taru graciously followed her new partner after their greeting, her head up. It was always a relief to her when things went smoothly. She knew that she could come off as intimidating or as rude to a lot of people, so a friendly acceptance always made her day that much easier.

“Hi! I'm Kiyomi, let's practice over there. You just transferred in, right?"

She gave an enthusiastic nod and quickly started signing with her hands. My name is Hoatru. I can't spea- She stopped, smiling sadly. She looked away for a moment when the arrived to their spot before turning back, lifting her hands and quickly gesturing across her throat and at her lips, signs of silence.

‘I'm sorry, but I can't talk. I don't know how to communicate anything with you. Crap, I hate the awkwardness of explaining this. I wish I could just talk to people in their heads and explain.’
 
Kiyomi’s brow creased as the girl made motions that she couldn't speak. Today was off to a fine start, then. Maybe a notebook for the girl to write on would help? She could probably ask her about it after class. With a smile Kiyomi came to a stop at the far corner she had pointed them towards. “Can't talk? No problem, I can talk enough for two.” She said rolling her shoulders. “And once we get into the swing of practicing we should be fine.” She gave the new girl another smile.

“So, do you want to go first, or should I? Fair warning I’m a mimic, so it's easier for me if you go before I do. But I'll leave it up to you.” She motioned to the space around them. “I don't know what your power is, so if it's big I tried to move us where there was plenty of space. So uh yeah.” She finished lamely.

“If you want to go first, go ahead.”
 
[Stitches]

“If you want to go first, go ahead.”

Taru's eyebrows shot up as she glanced quickly around the room, eyes catching the high glass windows and mirrors around them. With a slightly tilted head and a strange look, she stepped forward, separating herself from Kiyomi. Trying to ease her tension, she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, tying her hair loosely back and out of her face. She looked back at her partner one more time before nodding and taking a deep breath.

Her eyes fluttered shut last minute, as though she subconsciously didn't want to witness the havoc she was about to cause. And then, a moment of silence before she let go, a deafening, layered, high pitched screech filling the room. The noise was worse than any sound that any of the girls in the room had witnessed. Many of them covered their ears with tight faces of pain. Almost immediately, the windows above them shattered into fine fragments that began to rain down on the students.

And then, the sound was gone. Taru's lips were shut and her head was down, an arm raised to protect her face from the rain of glass. If anyone were to actually look at her, they would have noticed her fiercely flushed face. She hadn't moved, even though the mirror to her side and the window above her had blasted her with glass. Aside from a few minor cuts, she, and everyone else, seemed to be alright.

When the glass rain finished, she slowly turned to Kiyomi and gave her a sheepish smile and an apologetic shrug. ‘Sorry about that.’
 
In an act of pure reflex and a desire to protect her ears Kiyomi pressed the palms of her hands over her ears. It was loud like standing next to the speakers at a concert loud. She could feel the reverberation her in very core, a constant rattle which seemed to quiver her very bones and soul. She could only watch, lips parted as the windows wobbled, there came a barely audible crackling sound before the windows, and mirrored panels along the back wall collapsed into shards of glass. Then, the shrill noise ended.

Kiyomi’s hands slid away from her ears, and for a long moment she could only stare, open mouthed at the carnage. She looked back at Hotaru as the girl gave an appologic shrug. "That, was impressive." She mumbled, as her eyes slid over Hotaru's shoulder. Glass lay in disorganized heaps, other girls were staring at Hotaru, and Miss Selkie looked at a loss for what to do. The instructor cleared her throat, which seemed to somewhat jar her stunned mind into action.

“Everyone, if anyone was hurt go to the nurse’s office, everyone else please remained away from the glass, wait in the hallway outside of this room.” Her eyes slid to Hotaru, and she studied the girl for a long moment. “There will be no further use of magic until I return, I will see if another… room is open.” With another hesitant pause, the instructor turned and moved to the door, she froze partway through the threshold and glanced back.

“Hotaru, that was only your primary, yes?” She asked, her eyes sliding from the girl, to a pile of glass, then back.
 
[Stitches]

The girl gave a short, affirmative nod to the instructor, shuffling slightly in embarrassment from the glances she was getting. Her hands trembled slightly as she shoved them into her pockets, awkwardly looking down at the floor. On some level. She found it a bit funny. No one had warned their instructor that every time she opened her mouth, things got destroyed? Her voice could resonate as high as 250 decibels for Christ's sake. Not only high enough to cause death, but high enough to break just about anything. And no one had warned this poor woman?

She glanced up at the girl she had been partnered with and slowly stepped up to her, freeing her hands so she could make gestures as best she could. ‘Look, I understand if you don't want to be my partner anymore. It's cool.’ She made a few basic, unmistakable gestures that told Kiyomi she could walk away if she wanted, and waited.

Some part of her nervously wanted the girl to tell her that it was okay, that she was fine, and that she understood Taru couldn't control this thing. Another part of her wanted Kiyomi to walk away for her own good. Her green eyes scanned over the other girl's face for a reaction, her hands making their ways back into her pockets.
 
Holy crap.

That seemed like the appropriate response.

Holy crap.

Repetition helped.

The windows? Pulverized. The mirrors? Reduced to angry pile of shards that girls edged around as they followed the instructor out of the room. All this done with a single yell. Was that why she didn't talk? Any talking made this happen? That would royally suck, forcing yourself to be quiet all the time. Kiyomi’s eyes flicked back to Hotaru as the girl approached, her movements wary. Her partner’s face read, what? Sullen acceptance? Vague embarrassment? A tinge of restless hope?

Hotaru slid her hands out of her pockets and pantomimed a quick message. Easy enough to decypher.
‘If you don't want to be my partner, it's fine’

Kiyomi frowned, her gaze turned towards the door. She nod, slow and easy, everyone else had already left for the hall. Kiyomi took a step towards the door, and paused next to Hotaru and leaned close.

“That was really, really cool.” Kiyomi breathed. “Ms Selkie would be so mad if she heard me say that.” Kiyomi giggled.

“Well, we’re partners now, so you won't be getting rid of me that easy.” Kiyomi said with a grin and a wink. She gave a lackadaisical shrug as she stepped past Hotaru and towards the door. “Man, I've had people feign illness to not have to partner with me, but never blow up a room. That's a new one.” She said, with an easy laugh as she looked back over her shoulder and gave Hotaru a broad grin.
 
[Stitches]
The sheer relief and dumbstruck awe that Taru felt was enough that her shoulders slumped and her head tilted forward. She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking as she laughed internally. She looked back up to make sure that Kiyomi knew that she was good to go. She gave a thumbs up with one hand and quickly jogged to the exist to walk out with her. She pushed her floof of hair back over to the left side, a huge smile transforming her from the shy and awkward girl who had walked in.

Then, a thought occurred to her, and she pulled out her new schedule, offering it up to her new partner with a kind of sheepishly pleading expression. The only reason she had found her way here was because the teacher had escorted her. Do you know where any of these are?
She tapped the page, gestured around them in a circle and shrugged to illustrate the question.

And then, another thought. She couldn't think of the proper way to illustrate the question, but gave it her best shot. She tapped her chest, and then her throat and made exploding gestures. Then, she tapped Kiyomi's shoulder pointedly and shrugged. What are your powers, anyway?
 
“Oh, we have a few other classes together.” Kiyomi said as her gray eyes scanned the paper that Taru held out. What classes she didn't have in common, Kiyomi knew she could find easily enough. At the very least their next class was the same, which would make it easy enough to guide her there. Kiyomi reached out and poked a few of the names. “We have these classes together, and as for the rest just wait outside of the door after class lets out and I'll show up in about a minute or so to show you where to go.” Kiyomi said with a smile. She might run a little late, but ‘I was showing a new girl where to go’ seemed like the sort of excuse an instructor would accept.

Kiyomi was still as Hotaru again started to sign. This time a different question, ‘you know my powers but what are yours?’ Sort of deal. Kiyomi scratched her cheek for a moment, glanced to her left sheepishly before looking back. “I'm a mimic, if I watch a witch use their magics I can duplicate it, to a lesser degree and if I touch a witch I can mimic their powers. They’ll just be reversed. Like, um, if I touch a witch who uses water, I can do her powers with fire.”

Kiyomi was quiet for a moment, before she chuckled faintly. “It's like really annoying a lot of the time because if I don't have a partner I can't really do much.” She shrugged. "And I always get low scores on magic reviews."

“Girls!” Their magic instructor called as she came jogging up from the end of the hall. “The other rooms are currently booked, and we don't have enough time to head outside to the sparring grounds, so please head off to your next classes.” She said with an apologetic smile.
 
[Stitches]

She sighed inaudibly with relief as Kiyomi agreed to show her to her classes. She couldn't count how many times she had been late to classes because no one would show her to them. She took her schedule back, folding it up and tucking it away as Kiyomi continued on, answering her second question.

“I'm a mimic, if I watch a witch use their magics I can duplicate it, to a lesser degree and if I touch a witch I can mimic their powers. They’ll just be reversed. Like, um, if I touch a witch who uses water, I can do her powers with fire.”

Her eyes went wide with fascination, her lips falling open slightly as she thought for a minute. And then, the girl broke out in a huge smile, head tilting to the side, causing her hair to flip to the same side. She started to gesture, pausing when she noticed their instructor returning. She listened carefully and nodded, gesturing that Kiyomi was going to take her there in just a minute. She made no move to leave, or to say anything, until after their teacher left once more. Taru then turned with a wide, toothy grin back to Kiyomi, gesturing wildly from her new partner to her own hands, and then toward the room that they had just left. Would you touch me and see what it makes you do?! I’m super curious!!
 
Hotaru’s eyes seemed to immediately brighten as Kiyomi explained her powers. The other girl’s hands went through a flurry of excited motion, but Kiyomi found it easily enough to understand what she meant. ‘Touch me and see what happens please! I’m really curious.’ And with that done Hotaru held out her hand. Kiyomi contemplated the request for a moment, her gray eyes lingering on Hotaru’s hand. It couldn't be anything too bad right? She wasn't transformed so it probably couldn't be too potent either. Seeing no harm in a quick check just to see what would happen, Kiyomi nodded assent as her lips split into a mischievous grin.

They were in the magic testing room, so what better place to try anyway?

Kiyomi looked up to make sure Miss Selkie wasn't looking in her direction, before she reached out and touched Hotaru’s hand. She felt a faint tickle in her throat, a somewhat familiar feeling of her powers shifting, then it was done. So how did this power work exactly? She looked up at Hotaru, her lips opening as she attempted to ask her ’now what’. But no sound came.

No, more than that, all sound seemed to stop. No sound of wind from the broken windows, no chattering from the surrounding girls. Complete and total silence. Around her too, all the other girls had stopped in place as if they had been frozen. Kiyomi snapped her mouth shut, her eyes wide, and the sound seemed to seep back into the world. The room seemed to become suddenly unstuck as everyone who was in motion stumbled forward a step or two. Miss Selkie turned, her eyes scanning through the students.

“What was that?” She asked, a dumbfounded note in her voice. Several heads turned as they attempted to identify a source, and Kiyomi kept her mouth closed.
 
[Stitches]

The sudden and eerie silence was less concerning than the fact that everyone had suddenly turned into statues. She spun around, her mouth open in awe as everything went quiet and still. Kiyomi’s hand was still in her’s, and as she spun, she weaved her fingers through the other girl’s instinctively. There was a strange and undefinable pressure in her throat, and she knew that even if she wanted to, no sound would come from her lips if she tried to speak. And then, as quickly as it had gone, the sound returned, and everyone spun into dazed motion.

Her mind started reeling at high speed as she processed what had just happened, before turning to Kiyomi with a wide, crazy smile. She started gesturing fast, stumbling slightly as she tried to mime that her powers ran off vibrations, and that the other girl must have been able to freeze the vibrations of the molecules that formed their classmates and instructors. She tried a couple different hand gestures to mimic the movement of vibrations, but eventually shook her head in excited frustration.
 
Kiyomi pressed her free hand to her lips as she squeezed Hotaru’s hand. How had she done that? Her powers had done weird things before when she mimicked someone else but never freeze an entire room for a full five seconds. She shrunk slightly, eyes wide as Miss Selkie looked momentarily in her direction looking for the culprit, but the teacher looked away after a moment. She released a breath, and her shoulders slumped with the relief that she wouldn’t be on the receiving end of whatever the teacher was going to say.

Soon enough Hotaru turned back to look at her, the other girl’s eyes wide and bright, with a wild smile. She started to gesticulate wildly, at first it was hard to decipher what it was Hotaru was trying to say, but after a moment the other girl seemed to catch herself and her hand movements seemed to have more thought behind them.

Something about motion and stopping motion? Wait, Hotaru’s magica had been vocal right? So sound waves and something about stopping waves?

“So, you make things move, so I can make them stop?” Kiyomi asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The teacher cleared her throat, “anyway, we are a little before the bell, but please do head to your next class. Kiyomi?”

Kiyomi straightened reflexively. “Yes?” She asked.

“Could you please take Hotaru to her next class?”

“Yes, no problem!” She said quickly before before looking back to Hotaru, “let’s get out of her quick before people start asking questions.”
 
[Stitches]

Taru nodded enthusiastically. There was so much to unpack with this discovery. Her entire body seemed to buzz with excitement, leaving her worried that they might lift off her skin and fill the air. She looped her hand through Kiyomi’s as she suggested that they leave before anyone questioned them about the strange skip. Her eyes flashed with so many questions as she let Kiyomi lead her out of the practice hall. She withdrew her palm after they were far enough away from the building and began rapidly tapping her palm as she tried to think of what to say.

Well you are so stuck with me now! I want to try that again. That was so cool! After she finished gesturing and signing, she ran a hand through her hair, pushing the top layer back off the sheared side for a moment, her pierced ears flashing silver from the metal in them. She was bouncing on her heels as she looked over the other girl with a bright smile. It was rare for her to hit it off with someone, and she had high hopes now of being friends with Kiyomi. Hopefully the other girl felt the same.
 
A clean getaway! Her heart fluttered in her chest and Kiyomi half expected the teacher to call their name as the two of them hurried out of the training building and onto the school ground. She split from the rest of the group and lead the way to a side path lined by two rows of trimmed trees in their autumn finery, it was a prettier walk than the main path between the training complex and the school proper, and more importantly it lead directly to a door on the east wing. A cool autumn wind rustled through the leaves of the trees, and Kiyomi slowed as Hotaru slipped her arm free. With a smile she glanced down at Taru’s hands as the girl started to sign.

You’re stuck with me now! That was really cool! We should try it again.

Kiyomi looked back over her shoulder to be sure that no one had followed after them before flashing Hotaru a conspiratorial grin. “Yeah that was a lot of fun wasn’t it?” She asked, her voice low but her gray eyes flashing with a touch of mischief, “if you don’t have any plans we can meet up after school. There’s a part on the north side where the trees are all losing their leaves, it might be fun to freeze.”
 
[Stitches]

Absolutely! I can meet you there!!



Hotaru bit her lip in a wide smile, her eyes gleaming at the thought of doing whatever it was they had done again. She had so many questions about Kiyomi's powers, and so many ideas. A part of her almost wished that she had somewhere where they could practice even bigger things, but she also knew she didn't have the control to operate at that capacity quite yet. Eventually, though, she was sure she'd be strong enough to reign in the energy and use it to help others. She owed the world that.



A brief thought of introducing Penny to Kiyomi crossed her mind, but she tucked it away. That would have to wait until she was sure Kiyomi was, well, cool. It wouldn't take long for Taru to decide if she could trust the other girl- but trust was necessary in this situation. For the time being, she'd let herself be excited about having a new partner, one she hadn't received any backlash from. Partner. I wonder if she really means that.



I'll meet you after our classes, for sure!
 
And all too soon the duo found themselves outside of Hotaru’s next class. She paused a step, her gaze flicking this way and that to be sure no one was earshot. One group of girls a little down the hall, but it wasn’t like any of them were likely to eavesdrop. Still Kiyomi leaned in and spoke low, “I’ll meet you at the front gate after class.” She said. “Then we can sneak over to the edge of campus.”

Kiyomi winked and turned away, “I’ll catch you later Hotaru, I hope class goes well!”

-~~—~~—~~-

Overhead the bells marking the start of club activities chimed as Kiyomi rested her hip against an empty bike rack. A cool early autumn breeze slid it way through the courtyard as students left for the day. Kiyomi’s eyes flicked this way and that as she looked out for Hotaru. This would be so much fun once they could get started! There were so many things they had to test out!

Kiyomi’s eyes lit up as she raised a hand in greeting.
 
[Stitches]

The rest of the school day passed in a excited blur for Taru, who could do nothing but think about what waited after school for her. When the time finally came, and the bells rung out her freedom, she made straight for the gate, her book bag hitting her hip in a rhythmic bounce. With her head held high, she found she was almost half a foot to a whole foot taller than all of the girls who she passed, some of whom stared up as she passed. Not uncommon, and something that would normally make the mute girl pretty uncomfortable- but not today, at this moment, when she was so excited. Instead, she looked confident and happy, something that attracted even more stares. Stealthy was definitely not the word as she made her way out to the gate. There, there were far less students, and the ones who were there didn't pay her any mind, getting their bikes ready and heading to cafes and each other's houses, as girls tended to do.

Kiyomi saw her coming- hard to miss, she guessed, and waved in greeting. Something in the other girls eyes lit up when she saw Taru, and it made her heart skip a beat. That must mean she was excited, right? Taru raised her own hand in greeting and started to pantomime to the other girl, I'm so excited. I don't think anyone really watched me leaving, so I'm ready when you are.
 
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