The Irregular at Magic High School: Secret Silhouette
In the year 2095, magic is a recognized science. At First National Magic University Affiliated High School, known as 'Magic High School,' siblings Tatsuya Shiba and Miyuki Shiba appear to be just a close brother and sister. However, the look in Miyuki's eyes holds something far beyond familial affection. One rainy night, she realizes the truth: 'I'm in love with my brother, as a man.'
Knowing this love is forbidden, Miyuki locks it deep inside her heart. But then, a new transfer student, Alice
The Irregular at Magic High School: Secret Silhouette - The librarian's tea and the secret that melts a frozen heart
Monday. The sky had been a gray on the verge of tears since morning.
All day, Miyuki did nothing but gaze at the sky through the classroom window. The teacher's voice, the murmur of the students around her—all of it felt like distant noise. Deep in her chest sat a thick sheet of ice. Cold, heavy, with nowhere to go. Her heart had been freezing all along.
Friday night, she had frozen her brother's hand with her own magic.
That fact stabbed at Miyuki's chest again and again, like a blade.
*(My brother's hand. With these hands of mine.)*
Beneath her desk, Miyuki clenched both hands into tight fists. Her white fingers were so thin and cold they seemed as if they might snap.
Saturday and Sunday. Miyuki barely left her room. Tatsuya acted as he always did. In the morning, when they met in the living room, he would say "Good morning." When Miyuki couldn't say anything back, Tatsuya asked nothing—he simply began preparing breakfast, the same as ever.
Was that kindness? Or had he simply stopped expecting anything from her?
Miyuki couldn't tell the difference.
The only thing she understood was that, for the first time, a clear wall had risen between them. Usually, they understood each other without words. But not now. He was right beside her, yet so far away. She reached out, but couldn't touch him.
*(Will I never laugh with my brother again?)*
Miyuki thought about it over and over, curled up in her futon. Each time she did, the ice in her chest grew thicker.
After school on Monday, Miyuki didn't want to see anyone.
*(I don't want anyone to see me like this. The pathetic face of the sister who hurt her brother.)*
Leaving the classroom, Miyuki walked quickly toward the Nova Library. The east wing of the main building, second floor. That place was quiet after school. The smell of books, the scent of old paper. A hiding place just for her, where no one would disturb her.
The library was hushed, just as she'd expected. A high-ceilinged, open space. Countless bookshelves stood in orderly rows. Evening light streamed through the tall windows, making fine dust glitter.
Miyuki headed straight for the secluded study seats. The very end seat, where no one would find her. A small desk facing the wall.
She pulled out the chair and sat down gently. Then, from her bag, she took out a crumpled wad of paper she didn't want anyone to see. The written apology. The document she'd been ordered to submit on Friday night. She'd rewritten it, blurred it with tears, and rewritten it again. Over and over. And still, she couldn't write it properly.
*(I hurt my brother. And I'm supposed to write that I sincerely regret it. That's a lie.)*
Miyuki placed the bundle of papers on the desk. The edges of the white paper were slightly warped. Traces of tears.
*(I don't regret it at all. I'm just afraid that my brother hates me now.)*
Miyuki felt sick at her own wretchedness.
*(...I want to go home.)*
But even if she went home, Tatsuya would be there. She didn't know what face to show him.
Miyuki slumped over the desk. The cold surface of the tabletop felt pleasant against her forehead.
That was when it happened.
*Clink.* A small sound.
Miyuki raised her head.
On the desk in front of her sat a white cup. It was filled with tea. Steam rose from it, swaying gently. The fragrance of the tea softly tickled Miyuki's nose.
*(...Ah.)*
Miyuki turned to the side.
There stood the librarian, Hiiragi Yui.
When Yui noticed Miyuki's gaze, she smiled faintly. Thirty-four years old. A former researcher at Magitech—the Magic Technology Research Institute—she now served as the sole librarian of the Nova Library. She wore a calm, deep navy cardigan, her long hair loosely tied back. Gentle eyes. But to Miyuki, those eyes seemed to see straight through to the depths of her heart.
"You don't have to say anything."
Yui spoke in a quiet voice.
"Please, have some tea. And this too."
Yui placed a small plate beside the cup. On it were three homemade cookies. A simple, buttery aroma drifted up. The Nova Library's specialty—Yui-san's tea.
"...Thank you very much."
Miyuki offered her thanks in a voice barely audible.
She wrapped both hands around the warm cup. Not too hot—a gentle warmth. It seeped slowly into Miyuki's frozen fingertips.
*(...Warm.)*
Miyuki brought the cup to her lips. She took a sip of the tea. The faintly sweet fragrance of Darjeeling. A gentle liquid passing down her throat. That warmth soaked into the depths of her chest.
*(...I feel like crying.)*
Miyuki bit down hard on her lip. Tears welled up. The back of her eyes grew hot. She desperately held them back. She couldn't cry here.
While Miyuki drank her tea in silence, Yui said nothing. She sat quietly in the seat beside Miyuki, drinking tea from her own cup.
That silence was a blessing to Miyuki.
*(Don't ask me anything. Don't say anything. Right now, I just want this warmth.)*
For a while, a quiet time flowed between them.
In the distance, she could hear the sound of pages turning. The library was still, cut off from the noise outside.
Eventually, Miyuki set her cup down on the desk. It was empty. But the depths of her chest were still cold.
Miyuki couldn't open her mouth. She didn't know what to say. There was no way she could show such a pathetic version of herself.
Then, Yui began to speak, softly.
"...You know, a long time ago, at Magitech, I worked on adjusting the CADs—the Casting Assistant Devices—of magicians."
Miyuki raised her head.
"It was a few years ago now. I adjusted Shiba Tatsuya-kun's CAD once. Just once."
Miyuki's heart gave a great leap.
Tatsuya's CAD. Her brother's magic device.
Unconsciously, Miyuki gripped the ring on her left hand. The ring with the blue magic stone. The one Tatsuya had given her for her birthday last year.
Yui seemed to notice the movement of Miyuki's fingers. She quietly lowered her gaze to Miyuki's left hand.
"That boy's activation sequences were unusual. There were almost no activation sequences for offensive combat magic. Everything in there was defensive. And all of it was optimized to protect one specific person, no matter what."
Miyuki held her breath.
*(My brother's activation sequences. All of them, to protect someone.)*
The depths of her chest stirred restlessly.
"A normal magician incorporates defensive magic to protect themselves. But Shiba Tatsuya-kun's activation sequences weren't for protecting himself. ...They were the magical structure of someone who had resolved to stand against the entire world, if necessary, for the sake of a single existence."
Miyuki gripped the ring tightly. The blue stone bit into her palm.
It hurt.
But that pain told her what was real.
"At the time, I thought it was strange. Who could he have skewed his power so far for? ...But now, I understand."
Yui said, gazing quietly at Miyuki's ring.
"That's a lovely ring. It's made of magic stone, isn't it? I know about the magic imbued in that ring, too."
Miyuki couldn't move, still clutching the ring.
"Three years ago. Shiba Tatsuya-kun spent days processing that magic stone himself. He brought the dimensions and the magic formula data to an acquaintance of mine at Magitech. He was still in middle school back then. ...The defensive magic in that ring—it was the first magic he ever built from scratch, not for himself, but to protect someone. A powerful, auto-activation type, composite defense against both physical and magical attacks. It's designed to activate in response to your psions."
Miyuki's breathing grew ragged.
*(My brother. For me. Since so long ago.)*
Miyuki raised the ring to her chest.
The blue magic stone caught the pale evening light, shining like the deep sea.
"Shiba Tatsuya-kun always responds to others' magical interference with magic nullification—Gram Dispersion, isn't that right? But when your cooling magic went out of control, he never once nullified it. If he truly thought your magic was dangerous, he would have canceled it long ago."
Miyuki's vision went white.
*(My brother didn't stop my magic. My rampage. That dangerous cold. ...He stayed by my side the whole time. Until I calmed down.)*
The scene on the rooftop Friday night resurfaced in Miyuki's mind.
Tatsuya's silence.
Tatsuya's chest.
Tatsuya's arms.
Without a word, he had simply held her.
*(That wasn't rejection. It was an act to calm me down. My brother held me—rampaging magic and all.)*
Tears spilled from Miyuki's eyes.
They wouldn't stop.
*Plip, plop.* Tears fell onto the desk.
"...Brother."
Miyuki choked back her voice. No sound came out. The back of her throat was hot and aching, and she could only swallow her sobs.
Yui quietly drew close beside Miyuki.
"When Shiba Tatsuya-kun talked with Alice-san or Erika-san, he always seemed to be holding himself one step back. But when he looked at you, he had the eyes of someone looking at the most precious thing in the world. ...I might be mistaken, but that's how it seemed to me. What you see isn't everything."
Miyuki shook her head.
*(No. That's not it. My brother isn't like that.)*
But Miyuki's heart clearly remembered Yui's words.
*(The way my brother looks at me. ...That guardian-like gaze.)*
Miyuki remembered Tatsuya's eyes.
In the morning, on the way to school.
At night, at home, when the two of them spent time together.
That time when Miyuki was practicing her magic.
Tatsuya always looked at her with a hint of loneliness, but he was certainly looking at her.
*(Those aren't the eyes you turn toward a lover. ...But they weren't the eyes of someone who found me a nuisance, either.)*
Miyuki understood clearly now.
*(My brother still thinks of me as his sister. ...But even so, he's trying to protect me. Because I'm his sister. ...Because I'm his precious sister.)*
That fact squeezed Miyuki's chest, warm and tight.
She was happy.
But it ached.
Her brother's "precious" was surely different from romantic "love."
But even so.
*(My brother treasures me. Right now, that makes me happier than anything.)*
At last, Miyuki collapsed onto the desk and wept aloud.
Her crying echoed faintly through the quiet library.
Yui gently placed a hand on Miyuki's back.
It was a warm palm.
They stayed like that for a while.
Miyuki's tears gradually began to stop.
Eventually, she slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were bright red. Her nose was red too.
"...Hiiragi-sensei."
Miyuki spoke in a voice hoarse from crying.
"...There's something I want to tell my brother. ...All of it, properly. My feelings."
Yui nodded quietly.
"Yes. I think that's a good idea. You've always been that kind of child, after all. An honest girl who's bad at hiding her feelings."
Miyuki tried to smile, and failed.
"...I always make mistakes in front of my brother."
"Hehe. That's fine. A clumsy little sister is surely cuter than a perfect one."
Yui gently stroked Miyuki's hair, just once.
That hand felt like a mother's to Miyuki.
Miyuki stood up.
"...I'm going."
Miyuki slung her bag over her shoulder.
Yui smiled, as if pushing Miyuki forward.
"Yes. Go on. I'll brew you tea again anytime."
Miyuki bowed deeply to Yui.
Then she rushed out of the library.
—
Outside, rain had begun to fall.
Miyuki didn't have an umbrella.
But she ran.
Fine rain struck her black hair, her white cheeks.
Her uniform grew wet and heavy.
*(I'll tell my brother everything. These feelings of mine. That it's not as siblings. That I love him as a girl. ...If I don't, nothing can begin.)*
Miyuki dashed out into the schoolyard.
The wide schoolyard.
The zelkova trees lining the path stood wet with rain.
Raindrops bounced off the ground.
Miyuki stopped.
Her wet bangs clung to her forehead.
She stared at the ring on her left hand.
The blue magic stone, wet with rain, shone as if it were crying.
*(I'll contact my brother now. I'll tell him my true words.)*
Miyuki took her terminal from her uniform pocket.
On the rain-speckled screen, Tatsuya's name appeared.
H
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