Foreign Girl, Pretty Boy and Scowly

In elementary school...

Minamino Shuichi watched her.

This new transfer foreign student that came to his school.

Brown-black hair, vivid-green eyes and somewhat pretty, though a tad on the skinny side and a bit shy.

Normally, this would not concern him if not for one thing...

...that she has some power, and she was stronger than him.

Neutral or enemy?

That he did not know...who this Potter Rosette is.

'So call her this in Japanese as she gets used to Japanese school life, OK?' sensei wrote the name 'Shouko' on the board, the kanji for 'rose child' as apparently, the name Rosette means 'little rose' so the teachers decided on her class name.

From England, apparently.

Well, he stalked her home in secret.

She lives on her own in an apartment, a 1ldk. Pretty wealthy to afford this, huh?

Her apartment is what you'd expect from a young girl. Femininely-decorated.

So far, she does everything herself.

After a year of patience, he finally got clues to what supernatural ties she has.

An...imp like creature dressed in a filthy pillowcase appeared before her.

'Miss Rosie, as expected, wizarding society went crazy with your disappearance.' said the imp.

'Well, considering who and what I am to them, its natural they run like headless chickens or something.' Shouko giggled. 'What matters is I live a free life now! No more being a cinderella to relatives and no more dangerous magic schools with useless unreliable adults either! If you never came none of this is possible!'

'Dobby be glad to help Miss Rosie!' ah, so that's the imp's name?'

'Haha, yeah! Keep me posted and derail any attempts to find me OK? I like this country!'

'Yes miss! Dobby be going now!' and Dobby was gone.

"Magic school...?" now he got more intrigued. And she ran away because she can't stand being her family's cinderella anymore?

She also gets letters and uses big mirrors to contact her home tutors who would teach her.

She practices magic at home with...a stick?

And herbology...with herbs and a pot, why? Oh, it turns into little round balls when set on fire in what looks like...an incense burner?

This is strange.

She also speaks to her teacher at the mirror, showing him her pills. What else can they be out of herbs she's burned?

But still, she could be a useful ally...

xxx

For Shouko, she spent a whole summer going back to Grade 5.

Catching up to Japan's current academic standards gave her one hell of a migraine as she had underwent 'study rituals' just to learn Japanese. The rest she can do on her own. She wasn't THAT helpless. Language and culture were all she needed.

Then she could live here.

Her Trust Fund can help her live in Japan for two years before she runs out of money, and then it will refill from the Main Family Vault every January 1.

She had to hold out by then by saving money for needed fees and had to do budgeting, then spend like crazy on livelihood enough that her money will refill on January 1.

She lived a healthy, fulfilling life here. Tasty food, nice people...she has no complaints, really.

She now applied and studied in Youkai Gakuen, a magical school for ALL supernatural beings in folklore, learning how to be a better witch. And how to fight, most importantly.

With a Time-Turner, she can juggle both worlds.

Wizarding Society and Youkai Gakuen have different ideas of what a Witch is supposed to be. She preferred Youkai's idea. She has bad guys to fight after all.

But she cannot deny usefulness of Pharmacology of Asia.

Spill proof, and both efficient and sufficient instead of being forced to gulp down 8 oz of shit.

So now she was getting stronger and the powers of Youkai Gakuen that she gained made her undetectable by human-based magic spells designed to track down a person.

Her first year here was peaceful...until she got a visitation next year.

It was from her classmate who brought in an injured boy.

'Shouko-san, help me with him!'

'Shuichi-san, what on earth happened to this kid?!' Shouko squawked as she helped her classmate bring in the black-cloaked boy but as she helped carry him...

...boyish face he may have, but she felt his muscles around her shoulders. His arms are stacked!

'Things happened...' said Shuichi evasively.

Shouko huffed with an armfold.

'Oh, come off it! You guys fought the local troublemaker!' Shouko grunted. 'I didn't say a word about you but I knew from day one that one of my classmates has powers and likewise you kept quiet about me. Privacy and all.'

Shuichi looked relieved.

'Well, help me disrobe the big lug, he's heavy. For someone around our age, he has a body most athletes would envy. He's stacked with muscles.' said Shouko, taking out a jar of pills and proceeded to take a pill and a bowl. She put the pill in it and drew a small amount of water from the tap so Shuichi disrobed the other boy. 'You guys fought that monster that stayed at the abandoned doll factory right? I can't do a thing about him other than curse the factory to make him bound there until someone strong enough comes to get rid of him.' she said. 'Too strong.'

'Beyond you too huh?'

'Hey, I just got started fighting lessons in Youkai Gakuen, no way I can defeat that guy!'

'Haa? Somebody literally named their school that?!'

'The Headmaster has a weird sense of humor.' Shouko giggled as she began stirring the pill in the water until it melted. 'All beings of supernatural folklore go there to learn how to be human, while growing stronger and mastering their powers. Human Urbanization and Development force ayakashi to leave their ancestral homes and territories due to disturbances, so the school teaches them how to blend in so they can still live in their territories without being driven out of their own damn homes. If you wanna have er, friends, it's best to approach places ordinary people aren't allowed in. You'll know by feel of their aura alone.' Shouko advised as she began applying the melted, cream-looking mix onto the black-haired boy's wounds. 'They can conceal their longevity if no human sees them. They even set up working companies and agencies with fine print that basically says 'no humans allowed' to maintain secrecy.'

'Heee...so you go online course there?' Shuichi asked, interested.

'Yup. As a Witch, since I'm one. All sorts go there.' Shouko shrugged.

'Wow...does that school have Koorime?'

'Yuki-onna?'

'Er, koorime are different...they're youkai.'

Shouko paused before hitting eureka.

'Nope. No koorime will step foot in Youkai Gakuen. Yuki-onna are pissed that they're constantly mistaken for Koorime so it's a hate-on-sight basis with good reason.' Shouko shook her head. 'Koorime are living gold mines for lazy despicable bastards due to how valuable their tears are so people attack anyone with resemblance for capture and enslavement. Yuki-onna can't cry those precious teargems and their eyes are icy blue, not koorime red.'

'Ah...so there's a difference?'

'Yup. If you meet a yuki-onna or yuki-otoko, never mistake them for koorime or they'll flay your ass.' Shouko warned. 'They're scary when mad!'

'Right...we're looking for a koorime, his twin sister.' Shuichi said, glancing at his companion. 'She left the ice world and was gone.'

'I see...so they're born from outside relations since last I checked, Koorime are man-haters with good reason.' Shouko mused thoughtfully. 'Men are greedy for money and treasure but there's an odd one once in a while. But I might be able to give you a clue.'

'A clue?' Shuichi perked up.

'There are teargems circulating the black market.' Shouko told him. 'And humans are dealing with it, selling a tear for 100 million yen a pop.'

'What...did you say...?' the boy on her couch looked pissed, forcing himself to get up. 'Where...?!'

'The teachers are investigating because our kin is in danger.' said Shouko. 'All ayakashi in the human world help each other. Not sure about youkai though. Teachers warned us off them cuz' they're a violent lot like that Yatsude guy...we students keep our ears peeled as well to save one of our own.'

'I see...anything else?'

'I'm looking into high-profile humans who are stupidly wealthy enough to pay Japan's national debt.' said Shouko, summoning some of her files and let him look at it. 'Nearly-died getting them too because I hit jackpot. They have youkai bodyguards and I'm not a good fighter! With my measuring device, they're upper-class-D I barely recovered!'

'Is that right?'

'The richest one seems to be this Tarukane guy...it's clear he's the dealer.' Shuichi frowned, pointing at the file of Tarukane Gonzo and his huge net worth. 'Anyone who sells teargems are insanely wealthy!'

'I know who to kill next then!' the brunette boy growled in anger.

'Heeeey at least wait till you're OK!' Shouko bopped him on the head. 'You can't go in there charging with a hole in your gut! Heal that first, moron! And again upper-D bodyguards! Tons of em'! I'll give you six months. If within six months you haven't done it yourself, I'm telling my teachers so we can mobilize a rescue mission and leave it to the adults. The teachers are A-S-classes, it'll be OK if you hadn't done it on your own then.'

The boy began thinking. Shuichi looked at her, shocked.

'A and S-classes?' he asked, shaken. 'And Reikai hasn't detected them yet?' he asked incredulously.

'Yup. Youkai Gakuen is in its own dimension.' said Shouko. 'Once graduating from the Academy, we are obliged to stay within C-Class powers by wearing limiters so Reikai won't harass us. But for witches like myself since I am mostly human, Reikai won't even care if I'm an A as long as I don't cause trouble. And in the beginning, ayakashi like yuki-onna, gashadokuro, teketeke etc are native human world supernatural denizens, not makai natives! Reikai can't even tell the difference, what incompetence!' she huffed with an armfold and looking cross.

Shuichi sweatdropped.

'One week to recover from your wounds before you get your sister out.' Shouko told the boy. 'But if anything happens, use this.' she gave him a candy. 'It looks like candy when in fact, it's a homing emergency beacon. Humans would ignore candy in your possession so we disguised our homing beacon. Unwrap it, and the school's alarm systems will ring and you'll be rescued so stay alive until then because if you die, signal dies as it detects the energy of the user in order to register in the security radar system!'

'...thanks.'

'Don't mind! We ayakashi help each other in Japan~' said Shouko reassuringly as the brunette left by her window. 'As long as they don't commit heinous crimes on fellow ayakashi that is! And return that beacon to me when you're done because asking for a replacement will cost me 5 million yen!'

'Ayakashi huh? And we're youkai...' Shuichi pointed out. So Ayakashi are human world natives and Youkai are Makai natives? His mind is spinning...

'As long as you're peaceful or at least neutral its OK. But if you're a violent brute who endangers secrecy we'll be obliged to put you down, remember that.' Shouko warned her classmate. 'Youkai Gakuen's information network is formidable they have feelers all over Japan.'

'Heee...'

Needless to say, Shuichi decided to be better friends with this girl as he had no idea that the human world has its supernatural side too. And they're going to school to learn 'Humans for Dummies 101'!

She clearly didn't need Youkai Gakuen as she can live by herself just fine, she was taking courses she can do at home in how to be a proper witch.