"Good morning, Rio-chan!"

"Good morning, witch girl."

Kotori covered Rio's mouth with her hands, looking around nervously. "Don't say that!" she whispered loudly – she looked like she was going to faint. "Nobody else knows about me. You can't tell anyone! It's law for us 'overseas' students from the magic world." Rio stared at Kotori in disbelief. "But you told me."

"Because you're trustworthy! You helped me find my computer, and you're not the type to gossip. I think you can protect my secret, right?" Kotori smiled warmly. Rio could swear she felt her eyebrow twitch. You made me part of this without my permission!

Making their way to the school's entrance, Rio opened her cubby. "What would happen if I told someone? Would it be a crime?" she asked. "It wouldn't be a crime but… a lot of money would be taken." Kotori replied. "Money?"

"Magic would be used to erase your memory, and that uses a lot money, since it's a very advanced spell." Kotori said casually, as if this sort of thing happened every day. "Erase my memory?! I don't want that to happen!" Rio shouted, earning her some looks from passerby students. "Then you'll protect my secret?"

It's not like Rio wanted to go blabbing to the world about Kotori anyway, but she sighed and agreed. Kotori giggled and all seemed to okay. "Oh, wait! You looked angry earlier. Did something happen?" she asked. Rio seemed to get angry all over again, and she glared at nothing in particular. "Some strange guy kept trying to touch me in the bus."

"You take the bus?" Kotori asked, walking with Rio to their class. "I usually walk, but today I wanted to ride the bus," she replied. "I felt so weird! Ugh, I'm not taking the bus anymore!"

Rio kept walking, but Kotori stayed behind, watching her go. Her head was swimming with thoughts. Then, an idea popped into her head.

Rio was sitting in her homeroom class, arms folded and staring straight ahead. She was tired from the ruckus this morning. Her teacher, Ukyo-sensei, was taking attendance, as usual.

"Omoteura?" "Here!"

"Todoroki?" "Here!"

"Tenjō?" "Here."

At the sound of his voice, Rio turned to look at him. She sat behind him in class, and she spent a lot of time just looking at him. Tenjō-kun looks cool today too!

That's when Rio noticed something strange. Turning to her right, the desk next to her was empty. By now, she should've had her ear talked off. Kotori's not here… I wonder if she's okay.

Unknown to Rio, Kotori was on the other side of the school, behind the main building. Her magic box was open, and she put a few small beads inside. Content with her work, she pressed a button on her computer. "Practice!"

The magic box glowed white for a few seconds, then stopped. Opening the box, Kotori smiled as she saw the contents inside. A ring made out of the beads she put in earlier was now sitting there. "Yay, it's done!" she cheered, taking out the ring and looking it over. This will help Rio-chan!

Hearing the bell, Kotori got up and dusted herself off. Homeroom was now over, and she wanted to catch up with Rio. Running back inside, Kotori made her way over to the direction of their second class. "Rio-chan!" she shouted, spotting Rio ahead of her in the hallway. "Kotori! Where were you?"

"Here, I've got something for you!"

The ring was placed in Rio's hands, and her entire face light up. "It's… so cute! What is this?" she asked excitedly. Kotori giggled and put her hands behind her back. "It's a magic ring! I made it using a magic bead kit. If you put it on, you'll get protected from strange men on the bus!" she said. Putting it on, Rio stretched out her arm to examine her finger. "Whoa… can it really do that? That's amazing!"

For the first time, Rio seemed actually happy with Kotori's magic. "Thank you, Kotori!"

Together, they made their way to their next class, chatting animatedly. Rio didn't notice a group of boys coming their way, and accidentally bumped into one of them. Suddenly, a huge static shock bursted out of nowhere. Rio jumped back in surprise, letting out a shriek. Then, there on the floor, was the boy she had bumped into. "Are you okay?!" she asked, bending down to hold out her hand to help him up. When he grabbed her hand, the static shock happened again, and the boy started screaming. The group of boys circled around him, trying to figure out what happened. Rio turned to look at Kotori, who had a guilty look on her face. Suddenly, she grabbed Kotori's hand, running away from the commotion.

"What did you do!? What kind of magic did you put in this ring?"

"When a man touches you, he received an electric shock."

Rio groaned, stomping her foot. "Not every man I bump into a pervert!" Kotori bowed her head in shame, fiddling with her skirt. "Yes, I'm sorry." Sighing, Rio pulled on the ring, but it didn't budge. "I can't take it off…" she muttered. "It's a magic ring. There's a magic protection on it."

"Take it off, quickly!"

Nodding, Kotori pulled out her computer, tapping away to look for a spell to take off the ring. After a while of silence, she looked up at Rio, and laughed nervously. "Sorry, I can't find anything!"

"Don't say that!" Rio shouted. This seemed to be a reoccurring thing with Kotori's spells – she never actually had a way to remove them.

"Excuse me!"

Turning around, Rio noticed their teacher, Ukyo-sensei, walking towards them. "You left one of your schoolbooks back in the classroom" he said, handing Rio her book. Then, he turned to look at Kotori. "Mizuki, you weren't here during homeroom. You're a transfer student, so you can't afford to be late this soon in the school year." Kotori nodded, bowing. "Yes, I'm sorry!"

Ukyo noticed Rio's ring, smiling. "That's a cute ring! But you can't wear it during school, so please take it off." Rio laughed nervously, clutching her schoolbook tighter. "I can't take it off, so I'll do it later!" she said. "You can't take it off? Here, let me see." Ukyo offered, reaching for Rio's hand.

"STOP!" she screamed. Ukyo stared at her in confusion, raising an eyebrow. Rio didn't know how to get her teacher to leave her alone. How would she explain her ring is stuck on her finger because of magic? While she was thinking, she didn't notice Ukyo grabbing her wrist until the familiar light of electric shock came. He fell to the floor, unconscious. Grabbing Kotori's hand, Rio ran away, trying to get them alone. She kept bumping into random guys, leaving a trail of knocked out boys behind her. "Kotori, I'll be waiting in the school infirmary. Try to find a counter spell, quickly!"

Parting ways, Rio made her way to the school infirmary, glad that the hallway was empty for now. "Leaving already, Rio?"

Turning to the familiar voice, Rio's eyes widened at the sight of Kaito. "Oh, Tenjō-kun! I'm going to the infirmary, actually." Kaito's face got a worried look to it at the mention of the infirmary. "Are you sick?" he asked. "A little, but I have something to do there," Rio replied. Getting closer, Kaito looked at her face. "You do look a bit pale. Are you sure you're okay?" he said, getting closer.

"Ah, don't come closer!"

"Why?"

"I… it's dangerous, uh…" Rio muttered, trying to get away and taking steps backwards. She didn't notice she was backing up into the stairs, and missed a step. Losing her balance, Rio screamed as she fell back, nothing to hold on to. Kaito reached out to her, grabbing her arm. "Rio!"