Chapter 1

It was the beginning of my third year in high school. And I definitely wasn’t happy about it, on the contrary. I really hadn’t enjoyed my time in school up to that point all that much. And what bothered me the most was the fact that I had gone all this time without ever getting a girlfriend. My class was full of really cute girls to whom I constantly dreamed of being close with. Of course, with me being considered one of the class losers, it’s not like any girl would ever accept going out with me.

It was a nice morning, I was already in class waiting for my dumbass homeroom teacher to show up, his name was Mr. Aragaki, a fat middle aged and incredibly strict teacher that everyone hates, including the other teachers. I was sitting there, listening to music in headphones as the rest of the students entered the class. It turns out I had arrived early, I sigh as I hear the loud chattering in the room start and then turn up the volume of my music in the smartphone.

The first person entering one to really catch my eye was Asuka Fujimura. She was the most popular girl in my class, possibly in the whole school. Her bright blue eyes and silky ginger-colored hair, both a testament to her foreign heritage, made almost every boy (and girl) in the school go nuts for her. As always, she was surrounded by her little group of popular girls, not giving a rat’s ass about the existence of losers like me.

Then it was my friends who entered the class, all fellow losers.

Akira Katsuya, Makoto Takeda, Yusuke Oribe and Takato Kido. Think of them as your run of the mill group of high school friends. That last one though, I didn’t really consider my friend, since he’s an asshole hated by the whole school. He was infamous for spreading nasty gossip and rumors about other students just for the sake of causing strife, and of course most of the time it’s all fake. He’d even gotten beat multiple times because of it, and rightfully so. I really don’t know why we tolerated hanging out with him, possibly it was because our loser group accepted anyone into the group, there wasn’t much selecting involved with becoming our buddy.

The last one to catch my attention was Masaki Arakawa. She was a delinquent looking girl who didn’t take her studies seriously at all, her grades were amazingly low and pretty much everyone knew that her future wouldn’t be much promising. She didn’t even look good, as far as prettiness, she was as average as a girl can be. She had brown hair at her shoulder’s length and hostile-looking amber eyes. The girl mostly kept to herself in class, I always imagined that all her friends were from outside the school and that they probably hung out in some back alley drinking and smoking. To be honest I never had any interest in interacting with her.

Classes then soon started. It was all very boring for me. It’s not that it was boring because it’s easy for me or anything, it really wasn’t, my grades were average at best, I just wasn’t interested in studying a whole lot. I spent most of class time waiting for it to end so that I could go home and do something else, probably masturbate or play video games.

Finally, it all ended and it was time to head home. However, before heading back, I bought some tea in a vending machine and, after finishing the drink, I went to throw it away in the nearest trash bin, where I finally found it: A dusty old book with a black cover. It looked interesting, very old indeed, almost ancient, the kind of book that you wouldn’t find in a school library. I didn’t have much to do after class, so I decided to take the book home with me.

I then got home. I lived alone in a pretty decent apartment complex, my parents lived abroad and I didn’t have any other relatives here, so I had to be alone, I really had gotten used to it at this point and didn’t mind it much though.

After I started reading the book, I realized that something was off. Some parts of the book were in english, which I could read, but most of it was in french. One of the english parts I could read said this: “Love Spell: You shall pleasure yourself while thinking of the target, and as you climax, recite the magic word “Fakyros”. Then, you shall wipe the fluids with something, and bury it in fertile soil. Do it, and the target will fall deeply in love with you.”

This had to be a prank. I scoffed as I closed the “spellbook” and laid in my bed to go to sleep. But I kept thinking of that book, what if it was real? I imagined. With that, I could get anyone to supposedly fall in love with me, even Asuka Fujimura. The thought of that slowly but surely convinced my horny teenager self, and I decided to attempt to cast that spell. I already masturbated every day anyway, wouldn’t hurt to try it with a different spin.

I did everything as the book instructed and then went back to sleep. Thinking it would all be just a fun little jerk off experience.

A few days after that...

“Kageyama ... I don’t really know the reason why, but recently I started thinking a lot about you ... That I wanted to get to know you better, so ... Please go out with me!” Said Fujimura, looking at my eyes while blushing.

I had gotten to the school earlier, it had been a totally normal day, until Fujimura took me to a deserted part of the grounds and dropped that bombshell on me. There was no way, it had to be a coincidence. But could that spellbook be for real?

“Kageyama?” Fujimura seemed worried that I’d turn her down, as if there had any chance of that ever happening.

“Fujimura...” I answered, with a smile. “I accept.” The girl seemed incredibly happy, as if I had made her all her dreams come true. She then hugged my passionately. There was no mistaking now, the spellbook was for real. And just like that, my shitty student life had done a complete turn for the better. My girlfriend was the most popular girl at school, I had finally gotten my first kiss, all of the boys and girls were jealous of me. I was on top of the world, and I didn’t need the spellbook anymore, despite the help it gave me. So I just kept it in my bag and moved on with my dream life. All I cared about was when would be the day I finally ask Fujimura to have sex, so that I can finally get rid of my virginity, with me being a virgin, I was very nervous of approaching her for that, so I just decided to wait until it happened naturally.

Then, a few weeks later...

It was a beautiful evening, the setting sun had painted the sky in a beautiful red and orange tint. I had spent the afternoon with Fujimura on the school rooftop, but it was already time to go home. I then noticed that I’d forgotten my bag in class, and then I quickly went there to grab it.

And that’s when it happened.

There was someone else there: I saw Masaki Arakawa, the delinquent looking girl of the class, on my seat, with my bag open beside her, while reading my spellbook.

“Arakawa!?” I asked, confused as to why that was happening.

“Oh, Kageyama.” Said her, calmly closing the book as she noticed me. “I was wondering when you’d show up.” She had an evil grin in her face, her look sent shivers down my spine.

“What’s the meaning of this?” I asked, trying to remain calm. “Why are you going through my stuff!?”

Arakawa kept grinning at me as she put down the book on the table. “I thought that your sudden relationship with Fujimura was a bit suspicious, I honestly thought you were blackmailing her or something of that nature.” Confessed Arakawa, nonchalantly. “So I waited for an opportunity to go look for something that I could use to blackmail you. But I honestly never thought i’d find something this scandalous.” Said her while putting her left hand on the book cover. “You used this to make Fujimura do all that, didn’t you?”

I was in a terrible spot. Not only had I been figured out by someone, it was seemingly by someone who actually believed all of that occult crap in the book. I’d have to be very careful on what I say and do from now on, right now I have to focus on damage control here, especially since she straight up said that her goal was to attempt to blackmail me, I have to convince her to not go against me.

“So what? What are you gonna do about it? Tell Fujimura? Snitch on me to the school staff? As if anyone would believe that load.” I said, trying to feign some confidence. “And unless someone at the school staff is some occult nutjob, you got nothing on me. Or do you want to ask the teachers to watch you masturbate and see if the spell works? Sounds like a good way to get yourself suspended.” I gave her a defiant look, doing my best to gain some ground.

Arakawa chuckled a little. “No, not at all.” Answered her, not really getting affected by any of my tactics. That caught me by surprise, I was at a loss for a few instants before I continued speaking.

“Then what is it that you want?” I asked, crossing my arms, afraid of what she’d answer but still doing my best to maintain that confident facade.

“All I want ... is a partnership.” Revealed Arakawa, as she got up, smiling mischievously. “Wha ... what do you mean by that!?” I asked, taking two steps back as she walked in my direction. I was in shock, all of my confidence had quickly disappeared. “Don’t worry, i’ll explain it...” Said her, as she took two more steps in my direction. “It seems that the only part written in english is that love spell you used on Fujimura. The rest is in french.” How did she know that? And, if she was speaking the truth, could it mean... “Yes, I know french, and I can translate the rest of the book. All these other spells, I can make them understandable.”

I was in shock, I know looks can be deceiving but I sure as hell never imagined that Arakawa would speak any language other than Japanese. “Kageyama, the only things I ask in return, is that you assist me if I ever need to perform any of these spells for myself, and that you never speak of our arrangement and of the spellbook to anyone else.” Finished her, piercing my soul with her eyes as she stared right through me.

“And what if I refuse? What are you going to do?” I just had to ask, I was completely all right with just carrying on with my life with Fujimura as my girlfriend, I didn’t need any other spells. “Well, don’t forget that you don’t know what the rest of the book says...” Explained her, not showing even a hint of self doubt. “What if there is some catch? What if that spell has a time limit? Or some way for it to be broken? This is magic we’re talking about.” She was right, there was no way for me to know if my life with Fujimura was secure.

It was a checkmate. Arakawa had won, I had no other choice but to take her deal.

“Very well.” I steel myself, trying to strengthen my resolve as I take two more steps, getting closer to her. “I accept, we’re partners.” Said me, as I extended my hand for her to grab and seal the deal. She once again grinned at me, satisfied, and shook my hand as well. “Then we start the translation tomorrow, come to my house at night, a little bit after class so as to not arouse suspicion. We don’t need people spreading rumors that we’re going out together.” Ordered her, probably referring to Takato and his rumor-loving antics, turning her back on me. “Wait, Arakawa!” Said me, as she walked out of the room. “Why are you doing this? What is your reason for wanting to translate the spell book?” I just had to know that, how are supposed to work together if I didn’t know her motivations?