fics I read

"

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Silence reigns briefly in the room. Ken-jichan's eyes widen in alarm, before he rears back sharply at her words.

"Araya Souren?" His voice wavers incredulously, underscored by a distinct note of disbelieving horror. "You mean the sorcerer that Jihei-san was investigating, before he…?"

"Yes. The very same," Shiki confirms. Outwardly, her voice still remains calm and unperturbed, but inwardly there's no denying that part of her is severely unsettled by the unnerving discovery.

… Ken-jichan knew Araya? Knew Araya from years and years ago, apparently? And Araya had once been in contact with her mother?!

Shiki's head is spinning from the unexpected revelation. She does not like any of the implications of this.

He was the one who my sister visited quite often for guidance.

Shizuka-nee was concerned for your health.

She would often visit temples to pray.

Had… had Araya Souren known Shiki when she'd only been an infant? The very thought sends a cold chill running down her spine. Because surely, this couldn't be a coincidence.

"Explain," Kiyohira-sensei's voice cracks through the air like a whip, low and rumbling. "Araya Souren already knew about Shiki? Long before she awakened her cursed eyes and stepped onto the path of a sorcerer? Did Araya ever do anything to her? What do you remember about him? No, how did this even come about in the first place?"

Ken-jichan's face is pale, and he looks severely rattled. Kiyohira-sensei's barrage of questions probably isn't helping things any. "I… I'm not personally familiar with the man. But my sister… she was extremely worried about Shiki back then. We all were. There were birth complications, and Shiki was nearly mistaken for a stillborn… it was a rough time. We visited so many different doctors, but nothing seemed to work. It was around then that Shizuka-nee started visiting and praying at temples for Shiki's health."

The older sorcerer scowls. "And she met Araya there?"

"Yes. She met Araya. He was one of the monks from the temple, I didn't expect…" Ken-jichan's voice wavers, and he shakes his head. Clearly, he's also severely shaken. "Prayers seemed to ease her mind, at the very least, and having something else to focus on prevented her from becoming helplessly consumed by her worries. My brother in law said it was good for her. Then… Shiki's health improved, eventually, so we put it out of our minds. A few years later, our family moved, and there wasn't any nearby temple to visit, so she fell out of the habit."

Shiki… hadn't known that about her mother. Her faded recollections of the woman consist of a quiet smile and warm hug. The unquestionable surety that she was loved, and it weren't for Ken-jichan's occasional stories about Nanami Shizuka and the photos that he would show her, Shiki's impression of her mother would be even fainter than it already was.

But still, she never could've expected this.

"Did she ever bring Shiki along with her, when she was visiting the temple?" Kiyohira-sensei asks curtly, although there's no masking the urgency beneath his words. "More importantly, do you know if Araya was ever directly in contact with Shiki?"

"What? No," Ken-jichan shakes his head, faltering. "I… I remember that she brought Shiki out with her, once. But my brother in law brought them back, berating her about wandering around an empty temple after visiting hours. He also had an argument with her afterwards on how Shiki's constitution was too delicate to be traveling out and about like that. Shizuka-nee eventually agreed with him. As far as I knew, that was the end of the matter."

"I see," the older sorcerer exhales slowly. One hand rises up to rub at his forehead. "An empty temple… a ritual setting? … I'll need to refer to some of the clan's archives for this. Still, whatever it was, it's probably a good thing that your brother in law interrupted things when he did. At least that's one piece of good news about this entire fu– … for heaven's sake."

Shiki cocks her head.

"… I can't believe this," Ken-jichan murmurs, reaching for the photograph from Shiki again. She wordlessly relinquishes it to him. "So this is Araya Souren? … The same man that Shiki encountered during Obon that year? The one who died with Jihei-san in the cursed ruins?"

"He's not dead," Shiki corrects her uncle absently. Oddly enough, this causes both men to immediately whirl towards her –wait, did they not know that Araya had been on the mountain? But Shiki told Satoru-niichan about this already, so… oh. Now that she's thinking about it, Satoru-niichan had been the only one who she'd directly informed of this. Did Satoru-niichan just not get around to telling anyone else yet? … Or had he been expecting that Shiki would?

Oops.

The girl coughs, "Araya was there on the mountain, when I was fighting that Special Grade cursed spirit."

Kiyohira-sensei slaps a hand over his face and grimaces, head tilting backwards and up toward the ceiling. The strange sound strangling his throat is something that's a cross between indignantly frustrated and acutely pained.

"Why in the world would you not mention something important like that?"

I forgot probably isn't an answer that would go over too well.

"… My bad?" Shiki tries instead. It doesn't go over too well, either, not if the thunderous look that Kiyohira-sensei shoots towards her is any indication of things.

The man groans. Then audibly sucks in a slow, deep breath, and gradually lets it out again to calm himself. He proceeds to repeat it, several times, as he visibly struggles to regain his composure.

"Alright. Alright," he mutters under his breath. "So Araya was there, and watching… was he the one behind it, then? If we assume that he knew Shiki would be taking a mission in the area at the time, and then he deliberately sabotaged the seals so that the cursed spirit would break free… then… he was purposely trying to lure Shiki in? … Just to fight the cursed spirit, without any other movements from his end? Why would he go to all that trouble, and then do nothing? That doesn't make any sense."

It does, actually, when one takes into consideration that Araya had ran directly into Geto-san, who'd been on that very same mountain at the time.

I wouldn't have allowed you to die.

I'm not your enemy, Shiki.

… Come to think of it, Geto-san had also confessed that it was his companion Suda who sabotaged the seals in order to release the cursed spirit. Yet the uncanny timing of the events that occurred… the way the cursed spirit's unexpected release had coincided with Iori-sensei's mission, and then how that coincided with Shiki's mission in the area shortly thereafter… it all seemed to fit together a little too neatly to be waved off as simply being due to 'chance.'

In all likelihood, this wasn't so much 'coincidental' as it was 'specifically planned,' by someone who wanted to lure Shiki to the mountain.

All signs pointed towards Araya as the culprit. Araya, and the Kamo Clan that stood behind him.

Assuming that Araya Souren was the one who'd leaked information to Geto-san and encouraged him to break the seal –certainly, it would've brought Shiki to the mountain as he wanted. It wouldn't have been hard to ensure that Iori-sensei was the sorcerer chosen for this mission. Then, once Iori-sensei failed to exorcise the cursed spirit on her own, it would only be natural for her to call for help. Shiki being in the area meant that she was highly likely to provide assistance, and knowing that the sorcerer in danger was Iori-sensei would only serve as additional assurance of Shiki's arrival on the scene.

But at the same time… surely Araya would've avoided Geto-san, if he'd known that the other man would be there? If his goal was only to target Shiki, getting waylaid by Geto-san was something that ran counter to those plans. Yet, Geto-san had spoken of a brief altercation between them.

… The other remaining possibility was that Araya hadn't been the one to inform Geto-san of this particular cursed spirit. But if that was the case, then it still didn't explain how Araya was coincidentally there, perfectly poised to take advantage of the unfolding chaos.

Unless there was a third party who'd interfered in the situation? … But who, and why?

Shiki doesn't know.

The girl rubs at her head, faintly irritated.

These tumultuous thoughts are all vague suppositions that only add to the overall confusion regarding the suspicious set of circumstances. Regardless, it's not as if she can voice any of her thoughts aloud, not with a binding vow limiting the words on her tongue.

"You should ask Satoru-niichan about what he thinks," Shiki suggests to Kiyohira-sensei instead. It's all that she can offer to him, and the girl dips her head apologetically at the frustrated look that her teacher gives her.

"I most certainly will," he eventually grumbles and sighs, looking up towards the ceiling in a mixture of frustration and resignation. "Gods, what a mess."

Indeed, it's quite a messy problem that they have on their hands, one that's difficult to make any proper heads or tails out of. But despite the confusion surrounding everything, at least there were still a few certainties that could be parsed from it all.

First: Araya Souren's presence on the mountain indicated that the recent incident with the Special Grade cursed spirit was no mere accident. It had been planned, Shiki's involvement included.

Second: The man had had his eye on Shiki starting far earlier than the first time she'd encountered him during Obon. Years and years ago, long before she'd ever even awakened her cursed eyes, which was… quite frightening to even consider. The thought of Araya's attention on her starting from when she'd only been an unknowing infant was extremely discomfiting.

Shiki thinks that her reaction is completely understandable, especially in light of the man's recent actions.

On top of this, there was also the Kamo Clan's involvement to think of. Because if she's recalling everything correctly, Jihei-san had once mentioned that Araya Souren's employment with the Kamo Clan started… seven years ago, by this point. Which meant that he'd entered the Kamo Clan's service when Shiki had been all of five years old, although it was unclear whether he'd done so before or after the accident that ended up with her in a coma and both of her parents dead.

… Did Araya have anything to do with her parents' deaths?

Something inside her stutters sharply at the thought, twisting with a burst of something that's not quite pain, but… uncomfortable, nonetheless. The girl slowly raises a hand to her chest, unsure of how to identify this new emotion welling up within her.

"Shiki?"

Red lines flicker wildly for a moment in front of her eyes as her concentration slips. The world wavers between remaining normal and being full of fractured lines, and Shiki forces herself to breathe in deeply, calmly, in order to recenter herself.

Focus. Get a hold of yourself, now.

She slowly opens her eyes. Ken-jichan's face swims into view, brimming with concern as he crouches down before her. Kiyohira-sensei is situated a few steps farther away, but his gaze is focused unerringly in their direction all the same.

"… I'm fine," she says quietly. The ache inside her chest gradually fades with every passing moment, becoming much more manageable with each new steady intake of breath. "I just thought… Do you think Araya was involved in my parents' deaths?"

Ken-jichan tenses, jaw tightening at the implications. At the very real possibility that the 'accident' that had resulted in Shiki's parents dying and Shiki herself ending up in a year-long coma was no accident at all, but instead deliberately engineered for… for what? For Shiki's cursed eyes?

Had Araya known that Shiki possessed a cursed technique?

… But how? It wasn't as if she'd ever shown any 'signs' in her childhood, back when her parents had still lived. Shiki might not have known anything about sorcery at the time, but her father was someone who'd grown up as a member of the Gojo Clan. Even though he hadn't been a sorcerer himself, he most certainly would've been aware of the know-hows. If his child had the potential to be a sorcerer, then he would've been the first to be aware of it.

Furthermore, Gojo Ima had also specifically visited their household once before, when Shiki was young. It had been her first encounter with her aunt, when the woman had looked her over and performed some kind of assessment, to measure Shiki's potential for sorcery. Gojo Ima had shaken her head, then left disappointed.

Your daughter has certainly inherited the Gojo looks, but none of the ability. What a pity.

So if her father and her aunt both never noticed anything different about Shiki –how had Araya known?

According to Ken-jichan, Araya had been aware of Shiki back when she'd only been a newborn. Did that mean he knew, even then? … As far as Shiki was aware, only certain kinds of cursed techniques were identifiable upon birth. The Gojo Clan's lauded 'Limitless,' for example, and the prized 'Six Eyes.' Another case would be the Inumaki Clan's 'Cursed Speech,' indicated by the unique 'Snake and Fangs' seal etched across the sorcerer's face.

Shiki, on the other hand, had been perfectly normal up until waking up from a coma with cursed blue eyes.

… It didn't make any sense, yet Shiki couldn't deny that there was something about the situation that made her feel as if–

"We don't have any proof on our hands that Araya is the one behind the incident that killed Nanami Arata and Nanami Shizuka," Kiyohira-sensei's voice breaks through the heavy silence. "But I do agree that this is a very suspicious set of circumstances that we're looking at. The possibility… isn't zero."

Ken-jichan's lips are twisted into a deep frown. "I'd say that it's a great deal more suspicious than just 'not zero.' If Araya somehow had his eye on Shiki back when she was just a newborn and has actually been plotting from the shadows all this time, then this is just… it's utterly insane. We need to keep him away from Shiki, no matter what. I doubt his intentions are anything good."

"You and me both," Kiyohira-sensei grunts. "But you also need to keep in mind: Aside from just Araya, the Kamo Clan has a stake in this as well. Araya might've come across Shiki before he officially entered the Kamo Clan's service, but there's no telling how long he may have been involved with them beforehand in an unofficial capacity. 'Hojutsu expert' my ass –ahem. Assuming that… that Araya only used hojutsu as a cover, he might've been working on some other secret, undisclosed project for the Kamo Clan instead. If Jihei stumbled across that… it explains why the Kamos would've been so eager to silence him."

Noticing the strange cough in the middle of her teacher's sentence just now, Shiki promptly pours another cup of tea and helpfully holds it out to him. The man clears his throat and accepts it with a quiet 'thank you.'

"An 'undisclosed project?'" Ken-jichan's brows furrow as he focuses on the older sorcerer's words. "What do you mean by that?"

"All clans tend to have a few of their own projects going on, but the Kamos have a history of… going overboard, to put it mildly," Kiyohira-sensei makes a scornful, derisive sound. "Ever hear of Kamo Noritoshi?"

A faint memory stirs in Shiki's mind –the disastrous visit that served as her introduction to Kamo Clan as an unknowing six year old child. There had been a rampaging cursed spirit, and a Kamo boy with Blood Manipulation who'd tried to fight it off… she doesn't really see what that boy has to do with the situation at hand, though. "The contender for the Kamo heir position?"

"What?" her teacher startles, then swiftly shakes his head. "No, not the bastard heir. I'm talking about Kamo Noritoshi, the one that lived during the Meiji Era and went down in the history books as the vilest sorcerer to have lived. The shame of the Kamo Clan. Haven't you covered this in your history texts yet?"

Shiki pauses briefly, before it finally clicks. "Ah. The sorcerer who decided to go for human experimentation, right?"

"Yes, that's the one," Kiyohira-sensei confirms. "Eventually, his misdeeds were discovered and he was executed for his crimes. But prior to that… looking at the scale of the horrific experimentation that was discovered, it's impossible that he was able to keep it a complete secret on his own; there had to have been someone supporting him. The Kamo Clan may have denounced the man afterwards, but the information from his research is something that's still filed away in their archives as 'forbidden knowledge.'"

"… You think the Kamo Clan was behind Kamo Noritoshi's work?"

"Maybe, maybe not. All I know for sure is that the public outcry over the man's crimes certainly isn't something the Kamo Clan would want to risk running afoul of again, lest they potentially lose their status as one of the Three Great Families." Kiyohira-sensei's arms fold heavily across his chest. "However… I wouldn't be surprised if they've been making use of the knowledge from Kamo Noritoshi's experiments. In fact, I'd be more surprised if they didn't."

Ken-jichan rubs at his temples. "… And what does the Kamo Clan's history have to do with Shiki, exactly?"

"'What does this have to do with Araya,' you mean," the older sorcerer corrects him. "Due to the foundations that were laid by Kamo Noritoshi, even though they decry him, it does not change the fact that the Kamo Clan is… skilled, when it comes to research involving the human body. The body of a sorcerer, to be precise. How cursed energy interacts with the brain, what factors account for the difference in efficiency between sorcerers when they output cursed energy… things like that are generally all research projects that have some shadow of the Kamo Clan's backing behind them."

Ken-jichan hums. "Forgive me if I don't see where you're going with this. Despite the questionable origins, that… sounds like a good thing, if the Kamo Clan is spearheading this sort of research."

"It is. There's no one who denies that this sort of research is important," Kiyohira-sensei agrees, "But the lack of suitable 'research material' for their experiments is a major problem. And Kamo researchers are known to engage in questionable means in order to obtain the materials they need."

The blond man's eyes narrow. "When you say 'research material,' do you mean–?"

"Yes. It's exactly what you think," Kiyohira-sensei says succinctly.

Human bodies.

… More importantly, bodies of sorcerers. Shiki can see why it might be a difficult 'research material' to source –not only are sorcerers already few in number, most of them also tend to die gruesome deaths where there's not much of anything left to be buried, much less provide a proper corpse to be 'donated' for research purposes.

And even then, sorcery families were likely to be extremely leery of allowing their sorcerers' bodies to be dissected for research. Wanting to preserve what little remained of their loved ones was one thing. When it came to dead sorcerers, there was also the not-insignificant problem of vengeful cursed spirits to consider.

Vengeful cursed spirits were cursed spirits that were born from a human death. Those who died cursed deaths already ran the risk of becoming a vengeful spirit, and for sorcerers, this risk was only compounded –unless they were properly killed using sorcery.

Of course, not all sorcerers were guaranteed to become vengeful cursed spirits if they were not killed properly, but there was always a risk. A risk that no one in their right minds would take, not if there was any way to prevent it. Regular cursed spirits were already bad enough to deal with, and who knew how strong a cursed spirit born from a powerful sorcerer would be? It was a major part of the reason why the ceremony during Obon was treated as importantly as it was, in order to minimize the chances of resentful spirits wreaking havoc in death.

All of this meant that the difficulties that the Kamo Clan and their associates experienced in sourcing sorcerers' corpses were compounded. Not many people were willing to allow a sorcerer's corpse to be desecrated in the name of science, not unless they were curse users with zero inhibitions and morals when it came to such things.

There was also another aspect of the issue to consider –what if the Kamo Clan succeeded?

What if the Kamo Clan succeeded in their experiments? What if they really figured out how cursed energy worked? … With the importance that sorcery clans placed on their cursed techniques… what if the Kamo Clan learned how to isolate and harvest a cursed technique from a dead sorcerer's body? Then, what would that mean for the clan that so foolishly provided the Kamo Clan with 'research material' to accomplish such a feat?

There were most likely several other issues to this problem that Shiki was overlooking, but it's not so hard to see why this would prove to be such a double-edged dilemma. Both for the Kamo Clan who wanted to further their knowledge without being branded heretics, and for other sorcery clans who wholly approved of discovering that knowledge, but not at any real risk or expense to themselves.

"So… the Kamo Clan is complicit in ambiguous human experimentation, and Araya might be one of their researchers," the frown on Ken-jichan's face deepens. "That would explain the interest in Shiki, if Araya had his eye on her early on and brought her to the Kamo Clan's attention. But, it still doesn't make sense. Shiki is important to the Gojo Clan, isn't she? So if she suddenly goes missing, there's no way that your clan would remain silent on this matter. Have the Kamos gone mad?"

"The Kamos went mad the moment they killed Jihei and thought they could get away with it." Kiyohira-sensei bares his teeth in a low, vicious expression. Grief, anger. Even now, it's clear that he feels strongly about Jihei-san's death. Shiki is struck by the sudden thought that, out of all of them, perhaps it's Kiyohira-sensei who is most deeply affected by the man's loss. "I'll be reporting everything to Satoru-sama, he needs to know about this. I can't believe this didn't come up earlier, actually –did you honestly never see any of the files we had on Araya Souren?"

"I knew of the ongoing investigation into Araya Souren, there were enough discussions on that. I've also seen some of the documents, but… not any photographs, no," Ken-jichan shakes his head.

Kiyohira-sensei clicks his tongue irritably, "An oversight. I wonder if… no. No, it doesn't matter. At least we're aware of it now, and we'll know to be even more cautious going forward."

Indeed. There was a world of difference between being wary of a suspicious character who Shiki only noticed during a one-time encounter during Obon, and being wary of a suspicious character who'd apparently had his eye on Shiki ever since she was born.

It's… scary. Is that the right word for it? More like disturbing, and Shiki is most certainly perturbed by it. Unsettled. Not quite nervous, but there's an underlying sense of anxiety regarding the situation all the same, and she doesn't like it.

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Kiyohira-sensei promises. "Whatever Araya and the Kamo Clan are planning, they won't get away with it."

Her teacher's voice is firm, resolute. Steadying, because Kiyohira-sensei is someone who means his promises.

… They'll figure this out, one step at a time.

.

.

"Still nothing?"

"Nope!"

Shiki suppresses a tired sigh. From the other side of the training field, Megumi-san looks up from where he's preoccupied with his shikigami dogs with a questioning look.

"What are you guys doing?" The white dog that he's scratching suddenly leaps upwards with a joyful pounce, knocking the boy over entirely. "H-hey, stop that!"

"Trying to figure out what my cursed technique is doing," Shiki responds, while Megumi-san loses a fight against his own shikigami dogs. The black one rolls over playfully on top of him following its white twin, tongue lolling. "I still don't really understand where I'm going wrong with this…"

For now, Shiki was back to focusing on her cursed technique. Unexpected revelations about a certain not-monk aside… Araya was slippery, and backed by the Kamo Clan. Until they were able to pin down the leak in the Gojo Clan, it would be difficult to trace things back to the Kamo Clan in any official capacity, which was irritating. A sentiment echoed by Satoru-niichan, who'd pursed his lips and gained a flinty look in his eyes when he was updated on the situation regarding Araya Souren.

Then, a mirthless smile.

"There are easier ways for a man to rush headlong towards his own death, wouldn't you agree?"

Currently, with the progress that was being made internally with the Gojo Clan… it shouldn't be long before they were able to take their next steps. Preferably before another trap was sprung on Shiki, like the recent incident on the mountain.

Ah, if only all problems were killable ones…

The girl sighs, faintly wistful.

In the meantime, Satoru-niichan was making an effort to set aside more time to help Shiki figure out her convoluted cursed technique. Which apparently had more to it than just 'killing things,' even if that was the effective result, for the most part.

"I'm actually starting to think that your cursed technique might just be a passive one, in its base state," Satoru-niichan muses thoughtfully. Cursed eyes shimmer beneath the sunlight as he continues his observations, a thousand glittering shards of clear blue glass reflecting each other in a kaleidoscopic swirl. "Otherwise, we should've already seen a sign of something by this point to indicate activation of the technique, with the amount of cursed energy that you've been putting into your attempts."

"But even if it's passive, it still doesn't explain the entire thing about the," Shiki waves her hands in a wordless gesture. "The whole 'stasis' thing."

"And that's the mystery, isn't it?" Satoru-niichan's head tilts back, and the young man laughs. "I think our current leading theory for it actually being your cursed technique lapse is starting to look more and more likely!"

"… I still haven't managed to replicate it again, though," the girl gives her own hands a dubious look. She's mostly guided by instinct, when it comes to understanding her cursed technique, so it's hard for her to actually pick apart the details like this.

Furthermore, it's not as if Shiki actually remembers what she did. During the fight against the Special Grade cursed spirit, Shiki had extended her own cursed energy over Iori-sensei in an effort to support the older woman… but that had been all she'd done. Shiki most certainly doesn't remember any exact moment when she'd 'activated' her cursed technique –if there was anything to be activated about it in the first place– not that she'd really been in any state of mind to focus on herself at the time, as preoccupied as she'd been with staying alive.

Still, one would think a person would know when they were using their own cursed technique. It's… mildly infuriating.

A hand lands down atop her head, and Shiki pouts up at her cousin.

"You'll figure it out eventually," he says, relaxed and confident in a way that makes it clear he believes in her, even though Shiki lacks that same conviction.

"How do you know?" she can't stop herself from asking.

His hand lifts up, then comes back down, patting her on the head a few times in quick succession. It almost makes Shiki feel like she's one of Megumi-san's shikigami dogs… or maybe she's just misreading things again, as Yuzuki-san is always so fond of pointing out to her.

"That's a se-cret!" Satoru-niichan sing-songs obnoxiously above her. He tugs teasingly on a stray lock of her long, loosened hair. "It's okay not to get something immediately. After all, not everyone can be a genius like I am."

Shiki lets out a small 'hmph,' even as part of her… relaxes at her cousin's words, despite herself.

… Kiyohira-sensei never says it aloud, but there's always a sense of expectation that Shiki gets from the man during their training sessions. And she does her best, she strives to meet those expectations, because she understands that she needs to be strong–

But sometimes, it's exhausting.

Don't hold yourself to standards of perfection, is what Satoru-niichan is telling her, beneath the ribbing and good-natured teasing. Shiki wonders if there had been anyone to say these words to Satoru-niichan during his own childhood.

Probably not, if the way that the Gojo Clan still treats Shiki is anything to go by.

"I just… I don't understand," the girl folds her arms, doing her best to tamp down on her frustration with herself. "… It feels like I should know this. I don't know why I'm struggling so much with figuring things out properly."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," the older sorcerer tells her. "You saved Utahime. You killed a Special Grade cursed spirit. You managed to pull off 'Black Flash.' Did you know that you're the youngest to ever accomplish that? The previous record was held by yours truly, and I was a full year older than you when I managed that. Yeah, you might've hit a snag with your cursed technique right now, but you'll get it eventually."

"… I broke your record?" Shiki hadn't known that.

"Mhm, you did! Congratulations," her cousin laughs and ruffles her hair again. "You should be proud of yourself! Don't let it get to your head, though."

Honestly, Shiki still feels more frustration than pride right now. But she supposes that's the entire reason why Satoru-niichan is saying things like this to lighten her mood. She appreciates it, even though the vague aggravation she feels over the matter isn't something that's so easily dispelled with a few words.

You know this.

… Or rather, she should know this. Shouldn't she?

"Cheer up," her cousin says. "Y'know, there are some sorcerers out there who go their entire lives without really figuring out what their cursed techniques do –yes, really, you don't need to look at me like that. Of course, people like that usually don't end up becoming sorcerers, but that's a bit besides the point here."

Yes. Because for Shiki, becoming a sorcerer is the only path forward. So it would be greatly preferable if she could figure out what her cursed technique was, since it apparently wasn't just 'killing things' as she'd assumed for the past six years.

… It doesn't make sense. Because Shiki knows that what she sees is 'death,' in a way that really isn't meant to be seen by human eyes. Beginning and end, open and close. Everything that starts somewhere, eventually reaches a finishing point. Her cursed technique is one that allows Shiki to truly understand the hollow, inevitable nature of things, expressed as lines through her eyes. The inescapable death that arrives when its time comes to a quiet close.

I'm empty, she'd told Satoru-niichan once, long ago when she'd first haltingly explained what she knew of her innate technique to him. It hadn't been a lie. Even now, the words still ring true. Despite the understanding that there was more to her technique than just 'enforcing death,' she knows this to be true.

So why can't she just–?

An excited bark suddenly breaks her out of her thoughts. Shiki blinks, and finds herself awkwardly balancing a lapful of fluffy, friendly shikigami dog. The black-furred Divine Dog barks at her again once it sees that it has her attention, and promptly licks her face.

For a shikigami, it's actually not much different from a real dog. Its weight is heavy, pressing, present in a way that's undeniable. The fur beneath her fingers is soft, silken. And then there's the wagging tongue, wet and warm and slobbery–

Coming back to her proper senses, Shiki makes an offended sound. First the cat, and now this? "Megumi-san, this is a new yukata."

"And you have dozens of them that you change and discard on the regular anyways," the boy deadpans. Something in his expression softens when Shiki starts absently petting the cuddly shikigami sitting atop her, so she takes that as a sign that she's doing something right.

"It's not my fault that blood is hard to wash out," she defends herself, which makes Megumi-san pale a little bit. Weird, wasn't he the one that brought up this topic?

Satoru-niichan grins as he leans in from the side, "Sounds to me like someone should be making less of a mess, no?"

"… You cheat with Limitless, you don't get to say anything," the girl sniffs.

Her cousin laughs at her. "Hey, think about it this way: If 'stasis' really is a subset of your abilities, then you'll be able to save your favorite dresses if you can figure it out, right?"

Shiki pauses. That… would be nice, actually. Assuming that was how her cursed technique really worked, and there wasn't some strange condition that meant the 'stasis' only applied to other living beings. Some cursed techniques could be finicky like that.

… Well, that was more incentive to figure things out, at least.

Shiki pushes aside the overly-friendly Ten Shadows shikigami and settles in for another try, her hands folding into a seal as she focuses.

Trying to use her cursed energy to 'activate' her cursed technique is like trying to flex a muscle that should be there in theory, but you don't actually have any control over, because you never knew it even existed. A muscle that Shiki couldn't even pinpoint where it was at all, and so she stumbled about blindly.

Cursed energy swells beneath her fingertips, and she–

"Satoru-sama! Shiki!"

–doesn't quite break her concentration, but stutters and ends up breaking off her attempt nonetheless, from the sudden interruption. People usually know better than to disrupt any ongoing training sessions in the Gojo Clan, and for the person doing the disrupting to be Kiyohira-sensei of all people is… very, very surprising.

The white-haired girl looks up, and finds her surprise to be further compounded.

Kiyohira-sensei is striding towards them at a brisk pace, wearing a sharp, vicious smile. Behind him, there are two other unexpected faces:

Ima-san, whose expression is calm and confident. She catches sight of Shiki and there's something that flashes through her eyes, but it's gone too quickly before Shiki can make anything of it.

Daisaku-sama, whose expression is a lot less calm in contrast, but perhaps that's only to be expected. After all, the elder is also carrying a decapitated head in each gnarled hand, leaving a clear wide blood trail behind him that no one dares to approach.

… That's going to be hard to get out of the floorboards. Shiki eyes the bloodstains, inwardly shaking her head. No consideration for the household staff at all, really.

Megumi-san startles and makes a choked sound, turning pale. The Divine Dogs leap to their master's side, bristling in agitation with their fangs bared.

"Interesting," Satoru-niichan murmurs beside her, arching an eyebrow. "Sorry, I guess it looks like we'll have to put today's training on hold. Let's go see what they have to say about this now, shall we?"

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…

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