Takeo picked out the student card that Tsuchi's finger had lingered on, observing it. A notorious troublemaker, this Osamu Hinomori... a perfect candidate, but then....

"Ahh, your clearly defensive and mood-defusing sarcasm once again sparks an idea in my mind, Utazawa, like a cigarette bud that starts a forest fire and sends many adorable animals and metaphors running for their lives," Takeo said, bringing a hand to his chin. "It is what happens in the movies... Now, could it be that's just the product of writers needing some sort of narrative conflict, or some ancient truth that has remained in our collective unconscious?"

He frowned.

"On that note, how many of the things we know about magic, aside from the decidedly erroneous notion that it's not real, might be true?"