"Akira, what did I tell you about using magic in public?" Yuki asked, smiling, but anyone could tell she was furious.
"You said not to use magic in public," Akira mumbled, his head lowered like a child who had done something wrong. "And if I do, I should make sure not to get caught, and never use large-scale magic in public."
"Good. Now, how big do you think this magic of yours is?" she asked, pointing at the sky.
"Probably... big enough to cover the city," Akira replied, his voice small.
"And what do you think normal people would think if a storm this size suddenly appeared in the middle of summer?" she continued.
"Global warming?" Akira offered with a sheepish smile. After all, in this day and age, the climate was unpredictable.
"You little brat, do you think this is a joke?" Yuki snapped, grabbing his ear in frustration.
"Yuki-san, please don't punish Akira. It's my fault...I asked him to do it," Erika quickly intervened, trying to take the blame.
"Erika, you really are my true friend," Akira thought, feeling genuinely touched by her attempt to protect him.
"Erika-chan, you don't need to take the blame for this idiot," Akira's mother said with a knowing smile. "I know exactly what kind of trouble he gets into. Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
"Well, I asked him to block out the sun because it was a bit uncomfortable for me. But instead, he created this massive storm. He didn't even stop when I told him to," Erika explained, sounding serious as she recounted the events.
"Et tu, Erika?" Akira thought as he watched her reveal everything, but he couldn't really blame her, since he did kinda messed up.
"So, he tried to create some clouds but got carried away and made a full-blown storm?" Yuki sighed, shaking her head. She could easily picture what had happened, knowing her son's tendency to lose control when experimenting with new magic.
"Akira, you caused a huge problem this time, so you're grounded for a week," she said sternly.
"Okay, Mother," Akira replied with a sad expression. But internally, he wasn't too upset. As an introvert, spending a week in his room didn't seem like much of a punishment.
"And no internet, no manga, and no games for that entire week," Yuki added ruthlessly. She knew her son well, without those, a week would feel like an eternity for him.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Akira fell dramatically to the ground, wailing in grief.
"Yuki-san…" Erika tried to plead for Akira, but she was interrupted before she could say anything.
"Erika-chan, you can just call me Aunt Yuki. And don't worry about Akira, this kind of punishment is pretty common for him. He's always causing trouble when learning new magic. He needs to learn a lesson, or he'll keep making bigger messes," Yuki explained with a smile.
"Yes, Aunt Yuki," Erika replied with a sad expression. She wanted to help Akira, but it seemed there was nothing she could do. She also wanted to play with him, but if he was grounded, that wouldn't be possible.
"But Erika-chan, you can come and play with him whenever you want. I won't stop you," Aunt Yuki added with a smile, seeing Erika's disappointment.
"Really? Thank you, Aunt Yuki!" Erika beamed, her mood lifting.
"And by the way, Erika-chan, if he ever does something like this again, you have my full permission to knock some sense into him," Yuki said with a grin.
"Mother! Are you really my mother? How could you tell her to punch me?" Akira asked, outraged.
"What else can we do? No matter how much someone yells at you, you won't stop once you're caught up in something. Knocking you out is the only way," Yuki replied with a sharp look.
"So, what do you say, Erika-chan?" Yuki asked with a mischievous smile.
"Sure, Aunt Yuki! You can count on me," Erika replied confidently, matching her smile.
Akira's mother smiled, then noticed that both of them were still drenched from the rain. She waved her hand, using magic to dry them off in an instant.
"Sigh, you two can go play inside the house. The garden is a bit damaged from the storm anyway," Yuki said, eyeing the torn-up yard.
"Yes, Aunt Yuki," Erika said, smiling as she dragged the sulking Akira back into the house to play.
"Seriously, that kid always causes trouble," Yuki muttered with a sigh.
"So what are we going to tell the public about the storm? It looks completely unnatural," Ryuji asked, suddenly appearing next to her in a flash with teleportation magic.
"Just blame it on global warming or something," she replied, shrugging. After all, what else could they say?
"Sigh. I'll contact the Nogizaka family. They're good at dealing with these kinds of things," Ryuji said, resigned, as he thought about the future. It seemed like he would have to do more to help his son hide his magical "mishaps" from the public.