Rising Against Fate

"Even though the MMs were invented in the late 22nd century, there has been no development in their functionalities since then. This is because the scientists are yet to understand the true nature of mana."

The recording that was being played ended, and the monitor behind the teacher's desk turned white.

Theory classes usually consisted of two parts. In the first part, students were shown a recording of the lessons. Then, they would then be given a five-minute break before starting the second part. During that break, students could ask questions using the screen on their desk, and those questions would be answered in the second part.

Even though the classroom looked gloomy, most of them were paying attention. But Razak, who was sitting at the second-last bench of the right row, was engaged in something else. He was busy preparing the presentation that he needed to present in front of the student council.

"...and with that, today's lesson ends here. Please refer to the course materials for more information."

After those words from the teacher, students slowly started walking out of the class. But since Razak was on a tight schedule today, he hastily rushed towards the hallway. In the hallway, Kat was waiting for him.

"Hey Kat, let's talk on our way to the cafeteria."

"Okay."

Both of them started walking towards the end of the hallway. There was a moment of silence until they reached elevators, but when they got inside the elevator, Kat broke the silence.

"Man, student council is really after us now, aren't they?"

"Yeah, we expected them to be."

"But who would have thought they would do the meeting publicly."

The lift stopped on the second floor where the cafeteria was. Even though the lunch break had just started, the cafeteria was already getting crowded.

After getting out of the lift, both of them walked to the self-service and made their order. The house-bots at the cafeteria were designed to bring students their orders. So, they just walked to one of the four-person tables and sat on the chairs facing each other.

This time, Razak was the one who started the conversation.

"I am not sure why the student council is doing the meeting publicly though. This is obviously advantageous to us."

"Well, they probably wanna make an example out of us."

"If their confidence gives us the advantage, it's alright. But we will need to change the plan slightly."

As they were talking, the house-bots brought the food and served it on the table. Razak was served sandwiches in a sandwich box while Kat was served a bowl of ramen. After the house-bots left, they resumed their conversation.

"Change?"

After saying that, Kat took a spoon full of soup and sipped it. Ramen was a popular dish in the Eastern Province. Normally, people ate it using chopsticks, but Kat, who was from the Western Province, had no idea how to use them. Fortunately, an option to choose between spoon and fork or chopsticks was available at self-service.

"We will need to do the presentation together."

"Well, for your information, I suck at presentations."

"Yeah, I figured you would say that. But all you will need to do is change the slide and say the topic."

Kat still looked uncomfortable, but before he could object, a familiar voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys, it has been a while, hasn't it?"

Both Kat and Razak looked towards the source of the voice. And there, Yasumi was standing wearing a smile on her face.

"Oh, it's the girl from the welcome program."

The slothful tone in which he said those words would make anyone feel like an uninvited guest. But Yasumi, who at this point knew this was his usual way of speaking, remaining unaffected.

"If I remember right, I didn't introduce myself to you back then. I am Yasumi, nice to meet you."

"Ah, okay. I am Kat Nerdy. Also, I didn't tell you back then, but you somewhat look like my girlfriend."

"Huh?!"

Both Yasumi's and Razak's eyes widened in surprise when they heard that, but that wasn't the end of it. He took out his MM, his gesture was clearly indicating that he was trying to show them her picture.

"This is her."

With those words, he showed them the screen. And when they saw it, the look of surprise on their face changed into disappointment. Yasumi was the first one to change that disappointment into words.

"A cat?!"

What he showed was the picture of a small white cat. It looked like any normal white cat, but for a cat lover, this cat—like any other—could be the best thing in the world.

"Yeah, she is my girlfriend Nia."

"Oh! She's really cute, ha-ha!"

Yasumi had an awkward smile on her face as she was saying that. Before things could get even more awkward, Kat explained.

"Man, you guys are too dumb for jokes to even work on you."

Razak smiled a little when he heard that. "No, it's just that you made it look so serious."

Yasumi was just standing behind one of the chairs. She was planning to ask if she could sit before, but Kat took the conversation in a different direction. And now that things were finally calm, she decided to use this opportunity.

"Hey, can I sit here?"

"Yeah, feel free."

After hearing those words from Razak, Yasumi slowly pulled the chair next to him and sat on it while smoothing her dress. Even though it was the simple act of sitting, her lady-like manners were clearly being displayed through it.

"So, are the two of you in the same class?"

"Yeah, 1B. Though Kat rarely attends any of the theory classes."

"Aren't they compulsory though?"

"They are. But he had made his arrangements elsewhere."

Yasumi still looked confused, but then she realized that she was being too interrogative, so she stopped there.

"So, is the white-haired dude still bugging you?"

"No, I haven't heard from sir Arasi since the welcome program. We aren't in the same class."

As they were talking, Razak looked at the watch in his wrist. It was 11:15 which meant he had to get to the general lab building in 5 minutes.

"Guys, my class is about to start. Kat, I will email you the presentation this evening."

With those words, Razak stood from his chair. He hadn't opened his box of sandwich, so he grabbed them for later.

"Okay, cya."

"Have a nice day."

And with that, he walked towards the elevator.