02小说网

原稿（第3页）

（“Therewasevenaparodyvideoonline，onhowtomakebegiaichimovements:gentlyholdoneairwatermelon，cutitinhalf，totheleftfallsonehalf，totherightfallsanotherhalf，leftfootgoesoverthewatermelon，tracethecurve，liftyhtlegtoavoidsteppingonthemelonandslipping，nowmovetherightfoottogoovertheotherhalfofthewatermelon，closethefridgedoorwithbothhands。”）

“Whowouldliketotryfirst?”somevoicecalledKagamibackfromherthoughts。

（“Itwouldn’thurttotry。IalwaystryagaiyearifIfail。Beingadaycareworkerisn’ttoofarawayfrombeingateacheranywayifworseestoworst。”）Kagamitookastepforward。“Me!”

Kagamisteppedintothematrix，andimmediatelygaspedforair。Themagicelementswerevicious，eveniftheireffectsweredampenedbythemagicspells。Kagami’sfeetweresweptoffthegroundasshewasbeingcaughtinawhirlpoolofelements，andherneckfeltlikeitwasbeingseizedinachokehold。

Kagamisihoughtshewouldpassoutsoonifshedidn’tdosomethingimmediately。（“Foot。。。stepoverawatermelon。。。lefthand，letamelonfall。。。right。。。hand。。。theotherhalffalls”）andthensuddenlyshecouldbreathe!Kagamiwasnolhtingforherverybreath，butwasgoingwiththecurrentintherapidwhirlpool;itwasstilldifficult，however，tobeintrol。Herbodyspuntoofastandwasnolongerinsyncwiththerotation，likeapieceofclothinginawashingmaethatgottangledwhenmomentumcarrieditforwardwhenthemaewasshiftingitsdireofturning。

（“Sothisishowitfeelstobeabedsheetinthewash。。。”）Kagamiponderedifshewasableto“ridethecurrent”whenshe’sbarelysix。。。

（“Yoga?Palate?Zumba?anythinghelpmerightnow?”）Kagamigottiredquickremedies，anddecidedtocallitquits。Sheslashedthetorrentofmagicelementsopenwithherforearmandsteppedout。

“Welldone。”camethejudgement。

“Heh?????”Kagamiwasmorethanfused。“ButIgaveuptryingtotroltheelements。”

“Youwereabletobreathe，andyouknewwhentostop。Weotpossiblyaskmorefromasixyearold。Wherewouldyouliketogo?”

“Aohiyama。Iliketheuniform，it’s。。。”

“Youwouldn’twanttowasteyourtalentatAohiyama，wouldyou?”AyoungvoicecutKagamioffhalfwaythroughhersentence。“ewithme，toKageyama。”

Kagami’seyeswidenedassheturolookatthegirlfromKageyama。

“。。。Rin。。。”awhisperescapedbetweenherlips。

ChapterThree

Nostalgia（Natsukashiikoto）　懐かしいこと

“ThegeniusofKageyama?”“ArashitheprodigyisapersonalinvitationtoKagami。。。”Kagamiheardthecrowdwhisper。

（“Clearly，Rinhasmadeanameforherselfhere，thoughuhenameArashi。”）Kagamipondered。（“ButIotbeahundredpertcertainthatthisisRin。ShelookslikeRininherchildhoodphotos，aoherhand，Ididn’tfeellikesheknewme。Hervoicewasrathercold。SoeitherRindidn’treizeme，ormaybethat’sactuallyanotherpersoirely。Iwillprobewithsomeharmlessquestionslateron。”）

“ThankyouforinvitioKageyama。Iwillgladlyaccepttheoffer。I’mKagami，pleasetakecareofme。”Kagamisaidwithaslightbow。

“I’mArashi。Gladtomeetyou。”Shegaveashortreply，andturoresumewatgtherestofthechildrentaketheirtest。

KagamisawthatArashiwasalittlebitaloof。Notwantingtomakeapoorimpression，shewalkedtothesideandaskedtheotherrepresentativefromKageyamaforsomeinformationfirst，beforedegonhowtoiwithArashi。

“Excuseme，I’mKagami。IheardthatArashiisquitefamous，beingcalledagenius。Couldyoupleasetellmesomestoriesofhers，ifthat’sacceptable?”

“Withpleasure。EventhoughArashiistheyoubyage，weallcallheroldersisterinrade，forshewasthefirstoneinmanyways。”

“AtKageyama，studentsspecializeinswordsmanship，alchemy，icmatrixandspells。I’lljustcallthat‘magic’forshort。Studeertheacademywithoutspecialization，andtakegeneralinstru。Everyoolearnsomeintroductorybasithethreesubjects。”Thegirltinued。

“Howyoudesignateaspecializationisby‘resonatingwithit’。Someyearsafteryoustartstudying，usuallytwoorthree，youwillfeelyourheartbeingdrawnbyohearts。Soyouwillknowbytheodirectyourefforts。Uponwatgdemonstrationsfrominstructors，yourspiritwillbemovedandyouwilleverynowandthenfallintoabrieftrance。Reallybrief，liketwoorthreeseds。That’swhenyouaskyourinstructorformorelessonsonthesubject。”

“Eventually，yourheartandspiritcallstotheart，anditresponds。Asword，acrystal，oramatrix，willresonateasyourwholebeinglongsforit。That’swhenyouarereadytotakeonaspecialization，usuallyaroundtheagefifteen。”

“Arashimadeaswforjoythemomentshegotoneinherhand，atagesix。Soshe’sthefirstoneinthisgeiontohaveaspecialization，andsheenteredadvaudiesafterspeedingpastgeneralcourses。She’snoweleven。Shehasalreadyhadmoreadvancedcoursesthananyoneelseattendingtheacademy，andthat’swhywestudentsallcallher‘oldersister’。Withoutadoubt，shewillbeinthehistorybooksiure。”

“I’mAkishi，bytheway，”thegirlsmiledwarmly，“Ijustgotmyspecializationinmagiclastyear，atagefourteen。”

“gratulations。Akishi。”Kagamismiledback，“Youmustalsobequitetalented。Iamonlysix，soI’llneedyourhelpalotwhenIarriveinKageyama。”

（“Hmm。。。”）thoughtKagami，（“beingelevenyearsold，she’sstillfiveyearsolderthanme，soitispossiblethatsheisRin。Iwillgetclosertoherwhentheseletesthascluded，andaskhersomequestions。”）

Kagamisawthatthe“gradeoranceexam”ofthisworldwasjustabouthalfwaythrough。Allthesixyearoldchildrenhadpletedtheirturns，withfourofthemsucceeding，outofatotalofteoversfrompreviousyearshadbeentryingtheirluck，andthenolderteenslineduptogivetheirlastbestshotatlivingoutside。

MostchildrenavoidedchoosingKageyama。Swordsmanship，alchemyandmagic，thoughmagnifitinname，weredifficultsubjects。Academiesthattaughtmetalwork，carpentry，plasswork，agriculture，stru，nursing，bookkeeping，businessma，maeryrepair。。。wereinfinitelymorepopularthanKageyama。

Intheend，Kagamiwastheonlyonewhojoined。

（“Iguesstherewon’tbeacrowdaroundArashiwhenItrytotalktoher”）KagamimadeherwaytowardArashiasthetestsdrewtotheirclusion，“OldersisterArashi，mayIholdyourhand，please?”

ArashilookeddownatKagami，anddidn’tsayaword。

“SorryifI。。。”KagamiwasabouttoapologizewhenArashitookherhandandledhertostarttheirtripbacktoKageyama。

（“*Giggles*it’sjustlikeinamanga，maybeArashiisatsundere!Seemscold，butinfactisfullofkindness。”）Kagamirejoicedinsideherself。