Today is a very important day, for reasons that are still a bit unclear to me.

  Hazuki Kurokawa turns 16 today. That means, it's my birthday. But even so, this is not the only reason to why there's a air of uneasiness at home today.

  I wash my face one st time before getting out of the bathroom and getting ready to head out.

  "Atsuya-nii, are you done?" I called out seemingly to no one in the living room, while i tied my hair in a ponytail and looked at myself in the mirror one st time.

  "Yeah, we're all set. Wait, you really went out of your way to look good for today, huh?" My brother spoke while inspecting my outfit closely.

  It's a bit awkward to be stared at like that.

  "It is a important day after all... so if it's gonna turn for the worse at least i can look good, i thought." i replied with a grim expression forming on my face slowly.

  "Maybe you're right for that... anyways, let me make that call and we're good to go." he spoke with a calm smile in his face and walked into the kitchen.

  Today, i will be taking my magical aptitude exam. And this means, that i will possibly be moving out of this house real soon.

  Magical aptitude has been appearing since the st 100 years in the country, and it's said to manifest as early as 16 years old for close to 50% of people.

  The magical aptitude that a person can get is a bit of a formality more than anything, and it's manifested in three different categories.

  There's offensive type magic, which is pretty self expnatory. It can involve direct manipution of the 4 basic elements, mostly used for attacking as the user sees fit.

  There's defensive magic, which specializes in deflection of general magic and can reduce the effects of it, and as the st one, is also pretty self expnatory. It's aligned towards neutralizing attacks, and towards keeping the user or the people surrounding safe.

  And for the st type, there's original magic. This is a special case, which consists of specific alignments of magic that can be presented due to genetics, heritage from certain families, and is often magic that isn't specifically aligned towards either defensive or offensive capabilities.

  These three all work around the 4 basic elements, which are Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Anyone can use all four elements, but some people might have a higher aptitude for certain types of magic and will allow them to master it further and easier.

  In the st 50 years research has advanced greatly, and all magic is categorized strictly under basic terms, becuase magic itself is incredibly flexible and the goal is to further encourage the evolution and research of the ways magic itself can evolve, and can be mastered.

  But... those that do present magic aptitude at the age of 16 are all instantly pced under a list to enroll at the Institute of Special Magic Research, with no exceptions.

  There was a agreement that magic is too dangerous without monitoring and investigation pced after the first few years where it started appearing in people, so anyone that presents aptitude is set to enroll at the special faculty they built for it, this being the special magic research institute. There's a special program there that's set to cover the basics of a normal high school, with also a focus on the further development and evolution of the student's magic, through multiple methods as scientific research, simutions of combat, physical training and more that im not aware of.

  Today... i'll know if im going to say goodbye to my life here in the town i've lived in since i can remember... or if im going to stay here and figure things out from then.

  That's the reason to why things feel so tense in here. The person living with me is Atsuya Kurokawa. He's my older brother.. and he's done everything in his power to keep me away from the grasp of my parents, for the st decade or so.

  And i can't even begin to imagine how he feels after having the little sister he's done everything for be taken away so suddenly.

  Atsuya-nii has no aptitude for magic, and he's currently the only member of the Kurokawa family that's been freed of having to enroll in the special magic research institute.

  This has made him object of abuse of our family for the longest time. And is what nearly got me thrown into a childhood of preparation for this very exact day.

  It sounds pretty on paper... but the first couple of magic users of the Kurokawa family were one of the first ones to have Original Magic.

  This has turned our household into a pretty tense, and love-less one. We're not precisely nobility, which made each and every single one all the more desperate to produce good magic users, trying their hardest to cling into the small glimpse of the Original Magic the family once had.

  And i know for sure that i would have simply been another one in the line... but Atsuya-nii saved me from it, and gave me the chance to live my life until this day.

  Even if i end up losing everything Atsuya-nii worked for... i want to hold my head high and eventually repay him for everything.

  "Hazuki, we're clear. Let's go" he called out to me, and we left shortly after.

  The sky was filled with clouds today, as if to fit the tense mood at home, and both of our clouded minds.

  Our way there was dead silent.

  Atsuya-nii probably knew there isn't much he could probably say to make this a little bit easier.

  And i couldn't bring myself to say any words either, since i was hoping from the bottom of my heart to face the same fate he did: to have no aptitude at all.

  I treasured all these years i spent here. I wasn't sure how life would be without seeing my few friends, and all the familliar faces of the people that have always been so kind to me.

  That's precisely why i dread to know the results to this cursed test so much.

  As soon as we arrived at the building for the research brand of the I.S.M.R , Atsuya-nii's face was filled with a expression of slight anger, and bitterness.

  He probably doesn't have good memories of this pce at all...

  "You can wait outside if you really don't want to head in, you know..." i said timidly, trying my hardest to make things easier to him.

  "I really don't want to head in.. but im not just gonna stay outside here. Don't worry about me, Hazuki." he fshed me a tiny smile.

  As a slight sense of regret stirred up in me, we walked in.

  I took a quick look at the paper that was carefully folded inside my pocket.

  "Third floor, room 28, it says here." I gnced at Atsuya-nii as he started ughing quietly.

  "That's a bit messed up, it's the same room i had back then."

  "Funny, huh? If only it was a good sign..." i sighed as we slowly made our way upstairs, and we finally stood in front of room 28.

  I looked at Atsuya-nii as he nodded to me, and i knocked on the door three times.

  "It's Kurokawa Hazuki. Im here for my magic aptitude test." my tense and uneasy voice was really unstable in volume, which ended up making me a little embarassed.

  I was so nervous i couldn't even try to hide it.

  A man that seemed to be in his thirties opened the door, and welcomed me in.

  "If im not mistaken, you're his legal guardian, right?" He turned towards Atsuya-nii, since no one is allowed inside the room as im being examined.

  He nodded silently and he waved goodbye at me as he turned around, but the man stopped him.

  "You can stay in. Im not supposed to, but... we could be robbing you of your sister for a while, so you deserve the chance to be present" he said with a face that was full of regret. Almost like he was ashamed of what he was doing.

  Atsuya-nii thanked this man as he finally broke and was on the verge of tears, and that made me all the more anxious to know about this.

  "So... Hazuki-san. This procedure is incredibly simple. We have three instances. You're just going to put your hands on this device for the first two, and in the scenario where you do present magical power inside of you, we're going to make you channel it as a test."

  I nodded in silence and he pulled out a device that was like a oversized button.

  "Take the time you need, and when you feel ready concentrate your mind as much as you can and pce your right hand on top of the device."

  Atsuya-nii pced his hands on top of my right hand and whispered to me "good luck", as he stepped back.

  I took one st deep breath, and i drowned out everything around me as i pced my right hand in the middle of what seemed like nothing more than a bck square.

  For a few seconds, i got lost in thought.

  Am i fine?

  Did i fail already?

  I don't have to move away?

  A thousand questions in my head popped up, and as i finally snapped back i could see a dark blue glow behind my hand.

  "Lift your hand, please." The man asked calmly, in contrast to my growing anxious behaviour.

  Another device was pced in front of my hand, and this one was quite literally a bck ball.

  "Hazuki-san, please lift this up with both of your hands, and repeat the same process."

  I shortly pced it in between both of my hands, and tried to lift it.

  At first, i thought it was incredibly heavy. It felt like i couldn't lift it.

  But as soon as i closed my eyes and stopped tensing my entire body, it moved. Out of nowhere, it was as light as a feather.

  "We're done, please pce it carefully back on the table."

  I nodded and released it calmly, because i soon realized what was going on.

  "Kurokawa Hazuki-san, you've sucessfully presented magical power. So far, we can see very clear traces of aptitude for magic, and a clear affinity for the Water element. We're going to move on to the third and final test, where as i said before we're going to ask you to channel a little bit of your magic. Please, follow me."

  I stood up and followed the man with my head looking straight down, as i couldn't even bring myself to look at Atsuya-nii.

  I felt like if i did, i was going to instantly start breaking down in tears and i thought it'd make him feel that much worse.

  "Here it is. Please, wear these bracelets on both of your wrists. It'll help you channel your magic effectively, and it will give us the data we need to give you a detailed expnation."

  "So, what am i supposed to do?"

  "With a single hand, or with both hands as you see fit, concentrate your energy on the target in front of you. That alone should release your magic power and we'll be able to tell you what it's aligned to exactly."

  I hate this already. I know he's doing his job only and that he was nice enough to let Atsuya-nii in... but i want to get out of here as soon as possible.

  I joined my hands together and pointed them at the target behind. I took a deep breath again, and i tried to drown out everything around me, but i couldn't. My pulse was all over the pce, and i could hear how quick my heartrate was going.

  I thought "i can't do it after all", but...

  A ray of bck water suddenly shot out towards the target, cutting it in multiple pieces, and as it did both of the bracelets snapped and broke.

  The man that was in charge of my exam couldn't hide the shock in his face.

  Atsuya-nii covered his face with his hands and shook his head from side to side.

  I couldn't believe what i just did, as my face became more and more grim by the minute.

  After he sat down and read the information he recieved in the computer, he turned to me again.

  "Kurokawa Hazuki-san. You have average aptitude for magic, but you have just manifested what our records believe to be some sort of alternate version of the Original Magic of the Kurokawa family. We don't have any record on what you just channeled exactly, but we're certain that you're going to be enrolling in the Institute of Special Magic Research for further studies on your magic. We're going to handle all of the paperwork and we're going to get in contact with your guardian when we're ready to move forward with this procedure."

  Original Magic.

  It's almost funny, isn't it?

  Atsuya-nii has no aptitude. And i have Original Magic.

  Sure, it's just average aptitude... but it's still enough to take my current life away.

  We both thanked the man as we got out of the room, and Atsuya-nii didn't say anything else.

  It's incredibly ironic, that the "bck river" in my very own name is what's going to take away my current life and repce it completely.