fics I read

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They return to the school shortly in the aftermath of… everything. Hoshi-san's first assignment to exorcise a cursed spirit, Shiki's impromptu search-turned-retrieval mission, Geto-san's unexpected arrival and subsequent escape…

"I can't believe you ran into him out of the blue again."

"I can't believe it, either," Shiki makes a face. Satoru-niichan drags his hand down his face, groaning exaggeratedly.

"… You said that Suguru tried to recruit you?" the older sorcerer lets out a mock-sigh. "Really, now? Dropping in out of nowhere like that, and trying to lead my cute little cousin astray while he's at it? Ru-de."

His tone is light, careless. But beneath those airy complaints, it's not so hard to discern genuine frustration, mixed with bewilderment.

Shiki sympathizes. She doesn't really understand what Geto-san is thinking here, either. Shouldn't he be focusing on Satoru-niichan instead? Aren't they friends? And friends are supposed to talk things out with each other, right? … Not leave the other person hanging in confusion? Yuzuki-san never does that to her, and neither does Tsumiki. Megumi, too, even though he's about as talkative as Shiki herself is.

"You need better friends," she tells her cousin. "I nominate Ken-jichan."

"I'll be sure to let Kento know that you nominated him, then," Satoru-niichan tips his head back and laughs. He also reaches out and tousles Shiki's hair; it's a good thing that she's not wearing any hairpins today that would otherwise be tangled in the motion.

"… I'm sorry."

Satoru-niichan blinks. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I let Geto-san escape," Shiki stares fixedly ahead of herself, out towards the grassy training field of the school grounds. "I thought, if he was interested in talking… it doesn't matter. I didn't delay him long enough. I should've broken his legs the moment he showed up in front of me."

"… Bloodthirsty little thing, aren't you? I'm going to set that aside for now," Satoru-niichan says, half-affectionate and half-amused. "If it helps… I think you made the right choice. Choosing to refrain from engaging in a fight against him was the best call. Too many liabilities present on the scene –for both of you, from what I'm hearing."

Her cousin has a point. Hoshi-san had been injured and Takagi-sensei exhausted; neither of them were likely to be useful in a fight against Geto-san. Hakari-san… wouldn't be a match for Geto-san, either.

The most problematic thing about a fight with Geto-san would be the sheer number of cursed spirits that he could potentially bring out. If Geto-san had been aiming to kill –unlikely, but still a possibility– then the situation would've turned quite dangerous indeed. Shiki… couldn't guarantee the others' safety in such a scenario.

'White' is good as a defensive technique, but it's not without its drawbacks. For one, physical contact is necessary for the activation of the technique. And while it's possible to imbue the lapse technique onto another target, it's also strictly limited to one other target –Shiki has yet to figure out a way to extend this to multiple targets when excluding herself.

So, protecting herself and Hoshi-san from Tamamo's sudden attack using White was doable. But if Shiki had applied the technique separately to Hoshi-san beforehand, and then Hoshi-san and someone else had ended up being the ones caught together by that attack… in that scenario, Shiki would've only been able to guarantee Hoshi-san's safety.

So, it's probably a good thing that Geto-san didn't intend to kill anyone. The man had also been concerned about his own people getting caught in the crossfire as well, which was to Shiki's benefit.

At the same time, "Who knows how long it will take for Geto-san to show up again?"

Reported sightings of the curse user Geto Suguru came few and far between. This was a missed opportunity for them. If Geto-san slipped into hiding again after this…

"Yes, I do want to get ahold of Suguru," her cousin admits easily, "But not at the cost of other sorcerers' lives. Suguru and I are both on the same page regarding this."

Shiki blinks, "Since when?"

Satoru-niichan smiles, small and secretive. "Let's just call it a tacit understanding between friends."

… A tacit understanding? When? Shiki was still laboring under the impression that her cousin had yet to hunt Geto Suguru down for a proper conversation. Years and years ago when they'd parted ways with each other upon Geto-san's defection, Satoru-niichan had been left with more questions than answers. Suguru thinks that killing non-sorcerers is the solution.

Shiki spares an idle thought to wonder when Geto-san started feeling this way. Personally, she can relate to the thought of wanting problems to be killable… but unfortunately, it's rarely a viable solution, and extremely prone to coming with its own host of issues.

Shiki doesn't really have any particular reservations about killing, be it curse or human. It's something that she's accepted about herself. She's also self-aware to realize that this mindset is a not-insignificant part of what makes her distinctly different from others around her, even aside from her cursed eyes and cursed technique. For all the similarities that she shares with her cousin… even Satoru-niichan is not the same as her in this respect, not when it comes to human lives, and he's the closest person that Shiki has for someone who understands.

Like recognizes like, but the opposite is true here as well: Geto-san is most certainly not like Shiki. He's changed significantly from the person Shiki had once known, but even so, they're still entirely different breeds of people. And as far as Shiki can tell, Geto-san's murderous tendencies aren't as much instinct as they are some… strange conviction that he'd bizarrely decided to commit himself wholeheartedly to.

… It's not something that Shiki understands. She doesn't think that it'll ever be something that she understands, Geto-san's fervent desire to eliminate all non-sorcerers from the world. There is meaning in the very act of living itself, which has nothing to do with whether one is a sorcerer or not.

Shiki hopes that Satoru-niichan will be able to get through to Geto-san eventually. Otherwise, things could prove to be… messy, the way they currently looked to be headed. And no matter what either of them thought, there would be a lot of collateral damage if these unresolved issues ended up in a violent clash. Non-sorcerer and sorcerer alike.

Satoru-niichan knows this, too. He doesn't need Shiki to remind him of that.

"Even though you didn't manage to catch him, it's still good that you ran into Suguru," her cousin hums. "Confirms that he's still active in the area, at least. And discovering that he has a teleporting cursed spirit… well, that explains some of the strange patterns in his appearances over the years."

"It probably has some strict limitations." There usually tends to be, for such techniques. "… I'm glad this information is useful to you."

Satoru-niichan pats her on the head. "Suguru is my problem to deal with. He shouldn't be dragging you into this mess."

And yet he is, if his persistent desire to recruit Shiki into his merry band of curse users is genuine.

"You really need better friends, Satoru-niichan," the girl repeats her earlier words, heartfelt.

"Your opinion is duly noted," her cousin responds dryly. "And how are you doing on the friends front, hmm? I heard that you have a little deal going on with Tsumiki. Three new friends from school, was it?"

"… It's a work in progress." Aikawa-senpai is… Aikawa-senpai. Shiki isn't really holding out for any further developments on that end, considering the other girl's unpleasant attitude towards her. Hoshi-san is a lot less nervous around her now, though, and Shiki thinks that she's been making good progress with him –but he's only one person. He's the only other student in her class.

Although… on the topic of students…

"Satoru-niichan, I think there's someone who I would recommend to be scouted as a prospective recruit for the jujutsu school."

"A new recruit?" The young man turns towards her, making a small sound of interest. "Now I'm curious about just who caught your eye. This wouldn't happen to be the boy you mentioned earlier, would it? The one who led you to the curse user's hideout?"

"Hakari-san, yes. He already has most of the fundamentals down with cursed energy, especially with physical reinforcement." Shiki remembers the easy way that Hakari-san had hauled a bedraggled Takagi-sensei out of the rubble, when Tamamo had caused a minor cave-in. It hadn't been entirely based on the natural strength of his body. But more importantly, "He could withstand my cursed energy, when I stopped suppressing it."

The cursed energy of an overwhelmingly stronger sorcerer or cursed spirit was said to be terrifying to lower-ranked sorcerers, even when it wasn't deliberately wielded as an intimidation tactic. But Hakari-san's reaction to feeling Shiki's cursed energy hadn't been fear.

"… He was smiling," she recalls.

"Oh?" Satoru-niichan leans forward. "Interesting. Sounds like this kid is worth looking into, then."

Shiki tilts her head. That cheerful tone of voice she's hearing from him… "You're planning to go personally?"

"Why not? It's a personal recommendation from my adorable little cousin! A glowing endorsement! Of course I need to go take a look in person," Satoru-niichan laughs brightly. "Plus, I need to swing by that area, anyways. See what I can track down from Suguru's cursed energy residuals and what not."

"I see," Shiki nods, kicking her feet slightly.

… It's rather unfair. Even though they're both sitting on the same stone ledge together, Satoru-niichan makes it seem like a comfortable seat, while Shiki's feet are dangling a good distance from the ground.

"Well, I should get going now," her cousin says, shifting his weight and easily rising up to his feet. "There's lots of work to do, lots to take care of… and it seems like you've got someone looking for you as well."

The two of them both look over towards the other end of the field, where Takagi-sensei had just appeared. He looks to be in a much better state than the one Shiki had found him in. That's good.

… The man also seems to stiffen awkwardly, upon noticing both of them staring at him. Satoru-niichan snorts and looks back down at Shiki.

"A little twitchy, isn't he?"

Shiki shrugs. "A little bit. But he does a good job with teaching Hoshi-san."

"And what about you, then?" Satoru-niichan arches an eyebrow. "You're both his students, aren't you?"

"… He's trying." It's clear that Takagi-sensei is at a slight loss as to how to deal with a student like Shiki who outclasses and outranks him, but it's undeniable that the man is making an effort. He'd been the one to reach out to Kusakabe-sensei for Shiki to practice her swordplay against the other teacher, after all. Takagi-sensei had also been very upfront in how he'd asked Shiki what she would like to learn from him on her very first day… Shiki still has yet to get back to him with a proper answer, but the gesture is still appreciated.

The man is uncomfortable with her, but he's trying. It's more than what Shiki can say about Aikawa-senpai, although Aikawa-senpai probably isn't a very high bar to clear…

"Hmm." The sound that her cousin makes is one that doesn't belie any of his thoughts in this moment. Shiki looks up towards her cousin curiously, only to be flashed a small smile in response. "Don't look so worried. If your teacher doesn't get his act together soon… well… I'd bet there's plenty of people out there who would be interested in a teaching position…"

Shiki huffs at those teasing words, "Are you really that bored? Don't you have cursed spirits to kill, or a curse user friend to hunt down?"

Satoru-niichan tilts his head. "Oh? You want to keep him?"

"Why do you sound so skeptical?" Although… it's not like she can't understand where her older cousin is coming from. Satoru-niichan is absolutely correct in that Shiki doesn't care enough about her teacher to want him to stay. But, "He's a good teacher for Hoshi-san."

"… That's it?"

"Hoshi-san would be sad if Takagi-sensei is gone." At the very least, her classmate had shown himself to be very concerned for their teacher… even though he himself was the one who'd suffered the worst injuries from the entire debacle with Geto-san that had taken place.

Hoshi-san wouldn't have reacted that way if he didn't genuinely care about Takagi-sensei on a personal, emotional level. And it was clearly reciprocated on Takagi-sensei's end as well –he'd been very worried for Hoshi-san after catching sight of his student's injuries, and had made a beeline for Shoko-san's office himself after they'd returned to the school.

The feeling of caring for someone's wellbeing, and wanting to stay with them… it's not something that Shiki is unable to relate to.

So.

If she wants to be friends with Hoshi-san, then it would be in her best interest to have the boy be happy. Removing Takagi-sensei was unlikely to make Hoshi-san very happy. In fact, it would probably be detrimental to that end. Following the logic, the choice to make here was obvious.

"Ah, well. In that case," Satoru-niichan stretches, arm lazily raised over his head. "Far be it for me to interfere with your friend-making efforts, then! But if your teacher doesn't get his act together soon, I'm not making any promises."

Shiki rolls her eyes, "Don't scare my teacher, Satoru-niichan."

"… I don't think you have any room to be saying that to me," her cousin says.

"What? Why?"

Satoru-niichan refuses to elaborate, instead giving her one last pat on the head before he turns to leave with a laugh and a small wave. "Remember to call Nanami and update him, alright? Neither of us are going to hear the end of it if he ends up learning about what happened today through an incident report or something!"

"… I'll do that." Ken-jichan was unlikely to be happy about this, but he'd be even unhappier if Shiki actively hid this from him. And… Shiki can understand the sentiment. If Ken-jichan had an unexpected run-in with Geto-san, she wouldn't want Ken-jichan to hide things from her, either.

Satoru-niichan pauses for a moment when he passes by Takagi-sensei. Leans down, right next to the man's ear, and whispers something to him. Shiki is too far away to hear what is said, exactly, but she is not too far away to miss the way that Takagi-sensei stiffens.

"Satoru-niichan!" What did she just say to him about scaring her teacher?

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Satoru-niichan straightens, giving the other man a friendly little pat on the back. For some reason, Takagi-sensei still stumbles harshly from it, nearly tripping over his feet. Shiki hadn't thought he'd been injured that badly…?

She waves a bit to her cousin as he makes his leave, and looks up as her teacher finally approaches her.

"Are you feeling alright, Takagi-sensei?" It's generally polite to ask after the wellbeing of someone who is injured or has recently just undergone a harrowing experience. Shiki is fairly certain she remembers Yuzuki-san saying something to this effect at one point.

"I'm doing well enough, thank you."

A standard response. Shiki thinks back to Yuzuki-san's instructions. First, politely inquire how an injured person is doing, in order to set them at ease. Then… well, it's probably fine to get straight to the point now? "Do you need something?"

"I… not precisely," her teacher responds slowly, after a slight pause. "Although there… are a few things that I'd like to talk about with you."

"Go ahead."

The man dips his head. "… First, thank you. For coming to search for us. I know perfectly well that you did not have any assignments scheduled in the area, and there was no reason for you to show up at all. But if you hadn't come… it would've taken time before the school sent anyone after us. Hoshi might've been blinded in his eye, if he hadn't been treated by Ieiri-sensei in time. I… wasn't able to keep him safe. Not against Toshihisa and all the curse users that he brought with him."

A small pause, followed by a short, reproachful chuckle.

"The last time an assignment went this badly was probably last year, when Ueda…" Takagi-sensei falters, and shakes his head. "… I'm digressing. Apologies. I'm just glad that Hoshi will make a full recovery."

Shiki nods, even though she's not quite sure what Takagi-sensei is implying. She hadn't been particularly concerned about Hoshi-san's injuries herself –Shiki had taken one look at the boy's state and concluded that it was something well within Shoko-san's abilities to deal with, and left things at that. One would think that Takagi-sensei would have a little more faith in Ieiri Shoko, who was a trained doctor capable of using reverse cursed technique to heal. He was near-permanently stationed around the school; shouldn't he have had a front-row view to the miracles that Shoko-san has worked over the years?

"And, aside from expressing my gratitude, there was another question that I wanted to ask you," the ashen-haired man continues. "… Were you previously acquainted with Geto Suguru?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Ten years ago. I met him when I was six." Although Geto-san had ended up becoming a curse user a year later, and Shiki hadn't seen him again until that incident with the Special Grade cursed spirit in the mountains… roughly three years ago, give or take. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

The man is silent for a moment. "Geto Suguru is a curse user with a standing execution order, for reckless use of sorcery to deliberately cause harm to and kill non-sorcerers."

"I am aware." Shiki leans back, starting to idly swing her legs again. "This isn't news, Takagi-sensei."

Her teacher exhales slowly. "Of course you do. I guess… your attitude towards him made me doubt it. Whether or not you truly regarded him as an enemy, as someone who must be put down. You said that you didn't want to kill him, so I thought… you didn't…"

"Oh, did you want me to kill him?" Shiki blinks. And here she'd been under the impression that Takagi-sensei was uncomfortable around her in no small part due to the fact that Shiki was so… comfortable, with the act of killing. What a strange man, Takagi-sensei. "Satoru-niichan would be upset with me if I did, though. I've decided to break Geto-san's legs next time, if I run into him again."

"What?"

"And Geto-san wasn't interested in fighting. I thought it would be better to stall than to fight, since neither of us would be able to guarantee that there wouldn't be… significant collateral damage." Shiki might not be a Special Grade, but she has a few tricks up her sleeves. But Geto-san had likely amassed a lot of cursed spirits over the years, so there was a high chance of things getting messy if he truly became serious in a fight. A fight to the death most certainly sounded like it would be serious. It would've been a different story if Satoru-niichan had been there as well, but there was no point in dwelling on 'what if's like this.

"Why was Geto interested in recruiting you?"

"… Because he thought I would be useful?" The same reason why the Gojo Clan decided to raise her as one of their sorcerers. Power equated usefulness, and Shiki had the potential to become a powerful sorcerer.

"Allow me to rephrase," Takagi-sensei shakes his head, "Why did he seem so confident that he could recruit you?"

"I don't know," Shiki responds candidly. One would think that Geto-san would try to recruit Satoru-niichan instead, given that they were best friends… ah. No, it makes sense that Geto-san wouldn't approach Satoru-niichan for this; their falling out had been over this very matter, hadn't it? Geto-san decided on genocide, and Satoru-niichan disagreed. "Does this bother you, Takagi-sensei?"

Her teacher's complicated expression implies some degree of yes, but what he answers with instead is, "No. I think I might understand, a little bit."

"I rejected his offer," Shiki reminds him.

"You did," Takagi-sensei nods. The words seem to settle him, somehow, and his expression relaxes. "You… did. Yes. That's good."

Shiki peers towards her teacher, "… Were you expecting me to agree with Geto-san?"

"You didn't refute anything he was saying, when he started talking about his agenda. What was I supposed to think?" The man runs a hand through his hair, briefly closing his eyes. "… I apologize. It's my mistake to doubt you like this, even though you… I… I haven't been a very good teacher for you at all, have I?"

It takes several moments for Shiki to follow Takagi-sensei's line of thought, and even then, she doesn't really understand his thought process. What did his teaching have to do with Geto-san trying to recruit her? That was Geto-san's own decision to make an impromptu recruitment pitch, just as it was Shiki's own decision to refuse him.

Whether or not Takagi-sensei had confidence in Shiki's morals had nothing to do with the unexpected situation that came up, nor his own teaching abilities. Kiyohira-sensei had not held any sort of confidence in Shiki when they'd initially been acquainted with each other, either. It hadn't stopped the man from properly teaching her how to wield a sword.

That being said, "I don't think I've learned very much from you so far."

Takagi-sensei smiles, faintly self-deprecating, "… You're not wrong. I don't feel like I've taught you very much so far, either."

Shiki studies the man carefully. "Are you saying this because of whatever Satoru-niichan said to you just now?"

"Not entirely. And Gojo-sama… wasn't wrong, really," Takagi-sensei sighs. "I'm trying. I'm trying. But it's not enough to just try, is it?"

The question seems more rhetorical than anything else. Takagi-sensei shakes his head roughly, then turns back towards Shiki again.

"I apologize," he says. "I'm… used to teaching students who require help with fundamental techniques. Not students who might as well be Special Grade."

Shiki blinks, nonplussed. "But I'm not Special Grade?"

"Not yet, maybe. But that's not the important thing here," the man waves his hand. "I… I've held my reservations towards you. Not completely unwarranted, perhaps, but… it was wrong of me to make hasty judgments largely based on preconceptions and hearsay. I apologize for that, too."

There seems to be a lot of apologizing going on here. Shiki doesn't feel like she's been wronged or anything, even if Takagi-sensei seems to think so. But if it makes the man feel better to get everything off of his chest like this, then by all means, he could apologize as much as he wanted.

"I'll try to do better," the man tells her, and pauses. "… I will do better. It's true that you're a terrifying sorcerer, but not in the way that I originally thought you would be. Hoshi was right."

…

… Why is Takagi-sensei calling her terrifying?

Once again, Shiki reaffirms her private suppositions: Takagi-sensei makes no sense.

At least Hoshi-san was able to make sense of their teacher.

Shiki rests her hands against the stone ledge that she's sitting on, leaning back and straightening her posture. A cool breeze brushes past, sending loose strands of long white hair flying upwards around her face–

Far too many strands than there were supposed to be. How badly had Satoru-niichan messed up her hair without her noticing this time?!

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Classes resume.

Hoshi-san is instructed to rest for a few days before returning to his lessons, while Shiki continues taking her own missions in the meantime. When Hoshi-san is finally back, there's no sign nor trace of the injuries that he had suffered at the hands of Geto-san's curse users. Shoko-san does good work, as always.

A few days later, there is a new addition to their class.

"This is Hakari Kinji, your new fellow classmate," Takagi-sensei introduces superfluously; all of them already know each other. His voice is calm, level. "Please get along with each other."

Hakari-san's reaction is not nearly so lukewarm. "… Are you kidding me? There's only two other students?!"

"Hello, Hakari-san," Shiki greets. Classes in the jujutsu school are small by nature, although she supposes that would be surprising to someone who'd previously attended a regular school. Presumably. She'd encountered Hakari-san on a regular weekday, come to think of it… "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see… wait." Hakari-san squints at her, "You sent your brother after me, didn't you? Tall, smiley, looks pretty much exactly the same as you?"

"Satoru-niichan decided to visit you on his own," Shiki shrugs. "And he's not my brother; we're distant cousins."

"Yeah? Could've fooled me," the boy grumbles. "He nearly gave Higa a heart attack when he showed up out of nowhere the way he did. So all of you are sorcerers?"

"You're a sorcerer now, too."

"Yeah… I probably would've tried to get myself recruited sooner, if I'd known that sorcerers make some good money," Hakari-san grins broadly.

"… By any chance, have you ever met a woman by the name of 'Mei Mei' before?" Takagi-sensei suddenly asks.

Hakari-san turns and gives the man a blank look, "Who?"

That's a no, then. But Shiki can certainly see why their teacher would ask that question. "I think you'd get along well with Mei-san, too."

"I don't think we need two of them," Takagi-sensei mutters under his breath, sounding a little faint. Except… Mei-san is a Grade One sorcerer. An independent contractor rather than someone working for the administration, but surely it's a good thing to have more Grade One sorcerers around? The vast majority of sorcerers were all Grade Twos and Grade Threes.

Only time would tell if Hakari-san would eventually reach the level of a Grade One. Shiki has a good feeling about it, though.

"Why the focus on money, if you don't mind my asking?" Takagi-sensei inquires cautiously. "Sorcery isn't something to commit your life towards on a whim. Even if you possess a talent for it, it's not the easiest path to take. Fighting and killing curses, the dangers inherent in it–"

"Geez, you sound just like that big dude with the weird dolls," Hakari-san says. From the sounds of it, he's already met Yaga-san –Yaga-gakucho. Panda had said something about Yaga-gakucho being busy conducting an interview the other day, maybe that had been Hakari-san? "I mean… a man's gotta pay the bills somehow, right?"

Something in Takagi-sensei's eyes softens. It's not pity, but it is something markedly sympathetic. "You–"

"So far I've been paying off the credit card bills in installments," Hakari-san's hands clench into fists. "But if I can get a sorcerer's paycheck, then maybe I'll finally be able to clear my debt by the end of the year! I'll finally be free of the debt my ex-girlfriend racked up for me from her shopping spree!"

Takagi-sensei twitches. "… What."

"Saddling you with debt like that? Sounds like an asshole," Hoshi-san comments.

"Language," Shiki reprimands, channeling her inner Kiyohira-sensei. It seems to work, because Hoshi-san startles and ducks his head, evidently embarrassed and slightly abashed.

"… Sorry, did I say that aloud?"

"I mean, you're not wrong. She was kind of an asshole," Hakari-san pats Hoshi-san on the shoulder. "Which was why we broke up! …After she maxed out all my credit cards. Now that was a rush, ha!"

"Wait a second," Hoshi-san twists around to look properly at Hakari-san. "… How old are you? Don't you have to be, like, twenty in order to get a credit card or something?"

"… Don't sweat the details," Hakari-san says, very obviously sweating.

Shiki rests her elbows on the desk in front of her, fingers lacing together under her chin. "Legalities tend to get a little murky when it comes to sorcerers. But even if you did something illegal, I'm sure that the school would cover it up for you."

Hoshi-san turns towards her with wide eyes, "Say what now? You're actually encouraging this?!"

"It's just how things are. The existence of the jujutsu school itself probably breaks a few dozen laws already," Shiki shrugs casually. She hasn't studied Japan's legal code before, but she's pretty sure that no country would legitimately allow a pseudo-military force to entrench itself inextricably into their society and operate independently with no governmental oversight.

"That's…"

"The administration already has numerous connections and agreements arranged with government officials. Some of which have been in place for centuries, consolidated through generations' worth of binding vows," she explains. "If there's ever a time when sorcerers are called to court to answer for transgressions, I think Hakari-san's age falsification would be the least of their worries."

Hoshi-san nods slowly. "Huh, I never really thought of things that way before. I guess that makes a certain amount of sense… and it does explain some things, like how Windows sometimes collaborate with detectives and police in their local precincts."

"Exactly so. That aside, there's also a glaring shortage of sorcerers, in contrast to the high number of cursed spirits that need to be exorcised," Shiki continues. "So even if Hakari-san was a criminal, as long as he agreed to work for the school and abide by jujutsu society's rules, then they would be able to overlook things. It's what happens with curse users, sometimes, although there's usually no issue if you just go ahead and kill them."

Takagi-sensei makes a strange coughing sound.

"Being indebted to the higher-ups is something that you should try to avoid, if possible," Shiki advises her classmates, while making a mental note of her teacher's fragile condition. "If you find yourself beholden to them, that's… not ideal. Making a binding vow with them should be your last option, if you ever find yourself in such a situation that requires it."

Worse than the clan elders, was how Satoru-niichan had put it. Shiki is not about to question her cousin's assessment of the higher-ups, knowing what she does of the higher echelons of sorcery clans –and it's from those very clans that their numbers are chosen. This does not inspire any confidence.

"Uh, good thing we won't have to worry about that because I'm not a criminal, then?" Hakari-san laughs nervously.

"Age falsification?" Hoshi-san asks pointedly.

"Listen, it's only a crime if you get caught," the other boy sniffs. "Otherwise, it's just an unfortunate clerical error."

Takagi-sensei sighs and looks up towards the ceiling. Shiki chances a quick glance upwards too, following her teacher's line of sight, although she doesn't manage to spot anything out of place. What is the man staring so intently at?

"… I'm glad you're all getting along well with each other," Takagi-sensei finally says. "I have no idea what I was even worried about in the first place, truly."

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…

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