Thursday, April 26th.
Tatsuya was on the commuter train, performing his morning ritual of checking the news on his mobile terminal, when his expression shifted. The change was minuscule, as always, but just as always, Miyuki did not miss it.
"Is there a particular article of interest, Brother?"
"It's about the experiment from yesterday. As expected, the coverage is split between the favorable and the hostile. Though, honestly, there's an unexpected surplus of positive press."
Miyuki's expression posed a silent question: Is that not a good thing? She waited for him to elaborate.
"Setting aside politicians, who are always quick to see which way the wind is blowing, I didn't expect veteran journalists from major agencies to fold so easily. I predicted they'd double down on stubborn, one-sided hit pieces. To tell you the truth, I was planning to use their hysteria as a springboard for a counter-campaign to manipulate public opinion."
"My," Miyuki murmured with a faint, knowing smile. "I shouldn't be surprised, but you really can be quite wicked, Brother."
"Just as I thought, this site here is being quite hysterical," Tatsuya said, showing her a sensationalist tabloid headline: Magic High School Students Attempting Hydrogen Bomb Experiment? "But this one… this I didn't see coming."
He pulled up a different screen.
"'The Challenge of Youth: Toward the 22nd Century'?" Miyuki read. "This is that newspaper's recurring column, isn't it? They wrote about yesterday?"
"Yeah. Their reporter was there, so the fact that they wrote something isn't strange. But this specific outlet has been aggressively pushing anti-magic sentiment until literally yesterday…"
"Perhaps they were simply moved by your Stellar Reactor, Brother?" Miyuki said it as if it were the most obvious conclusion in the world.
Tatsuya looked unconvinced. "...An individual journalist with a soft spot for innovation might have felt a personal spark of sympathy. It's a column, after all. I suppose it's not impossible that the entire editorial department is just a collection of eccentrics."
Tatsuya understood—or rather, he felt firsthand—that organizations were never monoliths. The larger they grew, the more they tended to fracture. He decided to accept, for now, that one section of the company might have simply gone rogue against the corporate narrative.
"Brother Tatsuya, I agree with Sister Miyuki's assessment," Minami added.
"Is that so? Well… perhaps. It's certainly a more pleasant way to look at it."
With Minami's "covering fire" supporting Miyuki, Tatsuya decided to stop overthinking it. He tucked his terminal away.
In truth, the situation was far from simple. While it was true that yesterday's experiment had sparked a pro-magician shift within the previously anti-magic media, and several editors had recognized the "news value" of high schoolers outwitting a Diet member, there were other gears in motion.
Principal Momoyama had lodged a fierce protest with the high command of the opposition Civil Rights Party regarding the unauthorized press intrusion. This had forced Councilman Kanda and the rest of the anti-magic faction into a temporary retreat. In a sense, the Principal had masterfully hijacked Tatsuya's scheme for his own political leverage.
Furthermore, "covering fire" was being provided by the industrial sector as well.
"Hey, Tatsuya, look! They're playing that interview again!"
It was lunch break in the cafeteria. Leo was pointing at one of the push-notification news videos streaming on the wall-mounted displays. Tatsuya didn't even look up from his meal.
"It's rare to see a member of the Rosen family appearing on Japanese news, isn't it, Brother?" Miyuki noted.
"Between the Rosen name and the fact that they've stationed someone here in Japan, they may be undergoing a major policy shift," Tatsuya replied.
He could ignore Leo, but ignoring Miyuki was an impossibility. Consciously avoiding the gazes of Erika and Mikihiko, Tatsuya offered a neutral response. The massive wall display, split into sixteen segments, was using four of them to broadcast an interview with Ernst Rosen, the Japanese branch manager of Rosen Magicraft. On screen, Ernst answered the anchor's questions in fluent Japanese.
"—It was entirely unexpected to see high school students handling such sophisticated magical theory. The level of Japanese technical expertise is truly astounding."
"Man, he's singing your praises!" Leo grinned.
"..."
Erika remained uncharacteristically silent. In her stead—though not intentionally—Leo continued to chatter excitedly, while Tatsuya continued to professionally ignore him.
"The experiment successfully conducted by the students of First High yesterday demonstrated that magic can be a technology that brings further prosperity to all of human society."
"That's incredible," Shizuku said, sounding genuinely impressed. " 'Prosperity for all of human society'..."
"It's because everyone worked so hard," Tatsuya replied, his answer again carefully balanced and humble.
"Miyuki and Honoka were amazing too," Shizuku added.
"O-oh, I didn't really do much…" Honoka stammered.
As he watched Shizuku and Honoka begin to tease each other, Tatsuya felt a dual sense of curiosity and mild surprise. He wondered what Rosen was actually aiming for—and felt a small sense of relief that the man had the common decency to keep the students' specific identities out of the press.
"Hey, Tatsuya. What's up with Erika?" Leo asked, finally noticing that his usual partner-in-crime was being a ghost at the table.
"Who knows? I'm sure Erika has a lot on her mind," Tatsuya said vaguely.
"Her? Thinking? Nah, no way."
Leo, entirely ignorant of the complex history between Erika and the Rosens, let the loaded comment slide right past him.
"Well, I'm worried she's down, but hey—Tatsuya finally got some recognition! Let's live it up today!"
"Just don't cause too much trouble for the people around us," Tatsuya warned.
"I know, I know! Mikihiko, come on—drinking contest!"
"What?! No, I'll pass…"
"Don't be a buzzkill! It's a duel!"
Mikihiko, who had been as silent as Erika, was unceremoniously dragged into the center of the chaos by Leo's brute force.
"Tatsuya-kun… did you hear about it from Miki?" Erika asked quietly.
"In a manner of speaking. He told me it was too heavy a burden for you to carry alone."
"I see… That Miki. I guess I'll have to punish him later."
Her tone was her usual one, but the energy behind it was missing. Erika didn't say another word, remaining in her shell of silence for the rest of the lunch break.
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