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The first thing that Shiki does, when the flames suddenly leap out of control, is grab Tsumiki.

Tsumiki is the one sitting closest to her. She's also a non-sorcerer who has no practical way of defending herself from something like this.

A faint white glow suffuses the air around both of them as Shiki's hand closes over the other girl's wrist, right before the fire reaches their position. And then they are engulfed by the ravenous flames, as is everyone else around them.

Something hums in the air for a brief moment, tension pulling taut.

Then, nothing.

There's nothing but fire –fire that seems to burn nigh-endlessly into the infinite horizon-line.

… This isn't regular fire.

That much isn't difficult to discern, not with how there's something in the environment that seems to shift between one moment and the next. Which is most certainly not characteristic of regular flames.

Then again, regular fire does not have the tendency to spontaneously burst outwards in a hungry, uncontrollable blaze to begin with.

Tsumiki makes a faintly distressed sound, a startled half-scream that comes out as a strangled choke.

"It's alright," Shiki tells the other girl. She's already extended her cursed technique lapse; there's nothing that will pose an immediate threat to either of them.

The younger girl sucks in a shuddering breath. "S-Shiki–!"

"It's alright," she repeats, hoping that repetition will help to provide reassurance in this instance.

As for these flames surrounding them…

Shiki lifts her free hand, and reaches forward into the fire. The flames do not harm her, as protected as she is, but neither do they reveal any particular secrets. For all intents and purposes, they seem to only be regular flames, for there is no backlash that meets her motions, but–

But that does not change the fact that there is something very unnatural about it.

In their immediate surroundings, stretching out as far as the eye can see, there is nothing but an endlessly burning sea of flames. Which definitely isn't right, especially considering how they'd been standing in a clearing full of other people mere moments prior, for the okuribi. Now, however, there is no one else in sight. So that means…

A separate space, or something along those lines.

But why, and for what purpose? And more importantly, how?

There were multiple points of suspicion regarding this entire situation. The rituals of Obon were intended for pacifying deceased spirits; to disrupt the ceremonies was unthinkable for a sorcerer… or rather, for most sorcerers, evidently, going by the current mess in front of them. Was the perpetrator someone who wished to drive the Kamo Clan into a difficult position? One of the numerous sorcery clans who wished to replace them as one of the Three Great Families, perhaps?

Or was it… Araya Souren?

Off the top of her head, there were three potential reasons that Shiki could think of to explain this unexpected fiery onset:

First, that someone was targeting the Kamo Clan. After all, it was no secret that the Kamo Clan's strength had been on a steady downhill decline these past few years. If they were to make such a severe misstep during Obon, then such 'misconduct' would surely see their reputation plummet even further. To the point where it was entirely possible that their name would be struck from that of the Three Great Families entirely, even despite their vaunted bloodline.

Alternatively, the disruption of the okuribi itself was the main goal. Which was a preposterous notion to consider –for what sorcerer would deliberately choose to interfere with the ceremonies meant to calm restless souls? Not even the most foolhardy of curse users were liable to fall prey to this sort of… foolishness. Certainly, there might be some who scorn such practices as 'baseless superstitions,' but that was still no valid reason to knowingly disrupt the okuribi in front of a full gathering of influential sorcerers. Ruining the ceremony ran the risk of agitating powerful deceased spirits. There were already enough cursed spirits sowing seeds of destruction in the world; why would anyone knowingly exacerbate the chances of new vengeful spirits coming into existence?

As for the third possibility…

… Araya Souren had once used the Kamo Clan's hand to kidnap Shiki. If he was still at large, and if he had even sent shikigami to follow her in Kyoto, then… it was not impossible that he was the mastermind behind this unnatural barrier of flames distorting the space around them.

Moreover, assuming that Araya was the one behind this, then it was reasonable to suspect that his goal was still Shiki.

The very thought causes a small frown to tug at her lips.

Killing Jihei. Destroying Kiyohira-sensei's arm. Posing a latent danger to her friends… and now, this.

If Araya was truly the person responsible for ruining the okuribi on top of everything else, then the man has a lot to answer for. Not that Shiki doesn't already intend to hold the sorcerer responsible for his previous transgressions.

… But this wasn't the time to be getting lost in such thoughts. What was most important right now wasn't deciphering the identity and motives of the perpetrators behind the current situation, but getting out of this endless sea of flames. Although Shiki was confident in her ability to protect herself, she was not alone. Which meant that it wasn't just her own wellbeing that she needed to worry about.

"W-what's going on?" Tsumiki asks, tentative.

"It seems that we're currently inside a separate space," Shiki explains to the other girl. To be perfectly honest, though, Shiki herself isn't entirely certain of what exactly these flames are. There's something decidedly strange about them, undoubtedly. "… A barrier? Or a cursed technique?"

Both were possible, or perhaps even a mix of the two. If she were a barrier specialist, then this would be easy to analyze, but while Shiki is practiced with barrier spells, she's only mostly proficient with pulling down Curtains.

"This will take a moment," she tells her friend apologetically.

Tsumiki murmurs a quiet assent, and Shiki returns her attention towards the task at hand.

While she might not be as well-versed in barriers as she would like for this… it's not entirely necessary. One does not have to understand how to craft fine porcelain in order to break it; the same logic applies here as well.

Shiki looks out into the crackling expanse of flames.

There are brief flickers of fragmented crevices that blink in and out of her field of vision as the fire shifts, tendrils of flames blazing upwards tirelessly. Unlike the lines on physical, solid objects, the lines of spells and cursed techniques were slightly more difficult to properly identify and discern.

But only 'slightly.'

Because no spell or technique is truly eternal. And beneath these cursed eyes of hers, all is laid bare.

Shiki continues to stare into the flames, unblinking. Jagged lines flash into existence, then disappear. Again and again. But undoubtedly, the frequency is picking up, and Shiki continues concentrating.

This has nothing to do with manipulating cursed energy, or establishing control. Instead, this is about perception –and that's probably the best way that Shiki can explain it.

The perception of death.

"I see it."

Beside her, Tsumiki startles. "U-um, what?"

"I see it now. The lines," Shiki elaborates for the other girl's benefit. It might've taken a moment for her eyes to adjust to what she was seeing, but the lines have finally stopped flickering now. They're not entirely sprawled across the flames; some lines are partially twisted into the shimmering, smoky air as well. Regardless, the lines are now solid, so the next step will be to–

Tsumiki's hand suddenly shifts and grabs at her own. Shiki blinks and glances over in surprise.

"It's easier than having you hold onto my wrist like that," the younger girl explains herself. "You're using your technique right now, aren't you? The one that requires physical contact?"

She is, yes. It doesn't make that much of a difference to Shiki, whether she is holding onto Tsumiki's wrist or hand, since both options are the same in that it means she won't have one of her hands free. But… the thought is appreciated.

Tsumiki's fingers tighten for a brief moment.

"… Sorry," the other girl lets out a breathless little laugh, something that sounds distinctly nervous. "I… I'm kind of scared right now."

Shiki supposes that's only natural. Despite living with sorcerers, Tsumiki leads a regular life that is far removed from the world of sorcery and curses. Although she knows of the danger inherent in their line of work, there's a difference between knowing about dangerous situations and being personally trapped in one. And unlike Shiki, Tsumiki has not been trained to fight. Tsumiki does not possess a cursed technique, nor even the ability to use cursed energy. Neither is she capable of seeing cursed spirits –widely considered to be the minimum requirement for learning the arts of sorcery.

Just like any other civilian unfortunate enough to be caught in an accident involving the supernatural, of course Tsumiki is scared.

There is part of Shiki that almost automatically responds with a simple 'Don't be scared.' But, she is aware of the fact that emotional feelings and reactions are oftentimes difficult for most people to control. And it's not as if Tsumiki herself wants to be scared, right?

Shiki can't say that she understands how Tsumiki feels, but… it's not as if the rationale behind the other girl's fear is beyond her comprehension.

So…

"I won't let go of you," is what Shiki decides to tell Tsumiki instead. Reassurance, instead of a straightforward command that will be completely meaningless to her friend.

"I know," Tsumiki responds with a small, tentative smile.

Shiki nods.

Then, she returns her attention to the flames. Or, more precisely… to the numerous lines in the fiery landscape around them.

They're even clearer, now. Glowing a deep, burnished orange-gold that shines brilliantly even through the bright backdrop of relentless flames. The flames continue to twist and leap upwards to an erratic beat, burning fiercely.

Shiki flicks her wrist, raising her free hand–

"Is that a knife?!" Tsumiki yelps.

Shiki arches an eyebrow. "… Are you complaining?"

The other girl sputters, "N-no, that's… that's not what I mean! Excuse me if I'm a little surprised by you pulling a knife out of nowhere!"

She decides to take it as a good sign that Tsumiki is being so energetic.

"Knives are convenient, and useful." Personally, Shiki is still of the firm opinion that every sorcerer could use a few extra knives on their person. It's a pity that neither of her classmates seem to be particularly enthused about the idea, although Shiki hasn't given up hope on convincing them to see reason yet…

But that's something to think about some other time. Preferably at a moment when they weren't trapped in a suspicious fire-cage.

"We're surrounded by fire, Shiki. What are you going to do with a knife?"

"This."

Shiki slashes out with the blade in her hands, cutting directly into the lines before her. There's a perceptible tremor that quivers through the air as she does so, but she does not pause. Continues to move forward and cut, while being careful to keep a hold of Tsumiki. Who makes a startled sound that turns into outright alarm when the space around them warps and collapses–

There's a dizzying swirl of fiery colors, mixed with harsh strokes of absolute darkness. Warm, blazing light, mingling but never truly intermixing with the glacial, murky gloom. For a single instant, though, it's almost as if everything disappears, and Shiki glimpses–

Glimpses–

A fearful cry, and a slender hand starts slipping from her own.

Shiki instantly tightens her own grip, lifts her feet to step forward–

Smoke.

The first thing that catches her attention is the scent of smoke. Then, other things start filtering in through the darkness –the silhouette of the nearby forestry, the familiar clearing. The low murmur of other voices beside her, confusion mixed with alarm, and no small amount of outrage.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

… They're back, now. They've returned to the original clearing in which the final okuribi was to be held –both Shiki and Tsumiki, and all of the other attendees of the ceremony. Except where the clearing was once well-lit with numerous lanterns, all of them have now been extinguished, plunging the entire clearing into nighttime darkness.

From what she can hear of the faint snippets of the conversation going on around her, it seems… it seems that everyone else had also been caught in the same strange fiery landscape. Separated into different groups, or so it seems–

"Shiki!" A familiar voice calls out from behind her, and Shiki turns around obligingly.

"Kiyohira-sensei." Her teacher swiftly approaches her in a few quick steps, and looks her over. Someone from the Zenin entourage has begun re-lighting the lanterns in the clearing with a fox-fire cursed technique, luminous trails of small bobbing flames darting from one empty lantern to the next to slowly illuminate the clearing in full once more.

It's for this reason that Shiki is able to clearly observe the way that Kiyohira-sensei's expression smooths out in relief for a split-second, before returning to its usual half-scowl.

The man's gaze lingers on her for a moment longer, then turn towards the girl behind her. "Tsumiki was with you?"

"Yes." Shiki releases the other girl's hand, and finally terminates her technique.

"I see," Kiyohira-sensei's brows furrow briefly. "… Was it only the two of you?"

Shiki nods in confirmation.

"That's…" Whatever he had been about to say, Kiyohira-sensei appears to change his mind at the last minute with a sharp, short shake of his head. "Never mind that for now. Are you both alright? Did anything happen to the two of you?"

"Not in particular." Aside from being trapped, that is. Which was… quite odd. If everyone else had been trapped in larger groups, then why was it that Shiki and Tsumiki had been trapped on their own apart from the others? And it was stranger still that nothing had actually happened.

On one hand, Shiki was glad that nothing happened. If they had been isolated, then attacked… she would've done her best to keep Tsumiki safe, of course, but it still would've been a risk to her friend. And there was also 'trauma' to worry about, right? So it was good that things didn't come to that.

Yet on the other hand, it was suspicious. Because if it was a conscious decision on the mastermind's part to have Shiki and Tsumiki separated from everyone else, then surely it wouldn't be for no reason.

So why had nothing of note happened in that fire-cage?

… Moreover, why would anyone target Tsumiki, who wasn't even a sorcerer? The only reason that Shiki could think of to explain this was Tsumiki's connection to her and Megumi. Which wasn't a particularly pleasant prospect to consider, if that was really the case.

This entire situation reeked of suspicion. Shiki didn't like it. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she was overlooking something about this all, which was…

"Do you know how the barrier was lifted?" Kiyohira-sensei asks. "Ippei was still analyzing the construction of the barrier to figure out a countermeasure before we suddenly found ourselves back here again like nothing had happened earlier."

"I broke it," she explains helpfully.

Kiyohira-sensei stares at her for a moment. "… You broke it?"

Why did he sound surprised? "You know I can break barriers."

"Yes, but you do so by cutting the edge of the barrier, don't you?" Kiyohira-sensei huffs. "According to Ippei, there was a strange spatial distortion going on, which made it hard to reach the barrier's edge."

Cutting the 'edge' is the easiest way for Shiki to break a barrier, but strictly speaking, it's not–

There's the sudden sound of raised voices not far to their side, followed by the sound of a small scuffle. Both of them end up being distracted by the commotion, which seems to be happening between someone from the Kamo delegation and…

… Kinji?

Wait, was that Kirara over there, too?

"I look away for one moment…" Kiyohira-sensei grumbles under his breath, exasperated, then begins stomping his way over. The nearby crowd automatically parts for him –partially because of his bulky stature, but mostly because the ones lingering closest are Gojo clansmen and Kiyohira-sensei is a clan elder and a respected sorcerer– and Shiki follows along after her teacher.

"Is that your classmates?" Tsumiki whispers.

"It seems so." Kinji is standing in front of Kirara, and glaring at the Kamo clansman towering above the two of them. Which is a little odd. Kinji can be confrontational sometimes, but he usually doesn't pick fights for no reason.

"What's going on?" Kiyohira-sensei demands, his voice a low rumble as he approaches.

The nameless Kamo gives the two boys one last dirty look, before turning towards Kiyohira-sensei. "I understand that these boys might be guests of the Gojo Clan, but justice must be upheld. For causing such a commotion and ruining the okuribi, proper punishment must be meted out. Ignorance is not a valid reason for committing such–"

"How many times do I have to keep telling you?!" Kinji snaps, "We're not responsible for any of this!"

"Hah! A likely reason!" The Kamo man snorts derisively. "That boy hiding behind you suddenly appeared before us in that barrier trap! To be able to freely move through barriers requires having a certain degree of control over it. This clearly indicates that he is, at the very least, an accomplice!"

The last words come out as a near-shout, ringing loudly in the silence that has fallen over the clearing.

Kiyohira-sensei scoffs, "You seem to be in quite a rush to pin the blame on someone else."

The other man colors, face darkening an angry red. "Are you implying that the Kamo Clan sabotaged ourselves? Madness! Utter madness!"

"Hardly," Kiyohira-sensei sounds almost bored, but his eyes are sharp and flinty. "But you cannot deny that the Kamo Clan cannot escape blame in allowing such a thing to even occur in the first place."

"That's not–"

"Moreover," Kiyohira-sensei raises his voice and easily speaks over the other man's splutters. "Hakari Kinji and Hoshi Kirara are both students of the Tokyo school. Who have been living under the eyes of the Tokyo teachers ever since spring, and stayed with the Gojo Clan after arriving in Kyoto. Their actions can be accounted for, and neither of them would've had any opportunity to accomplish what you're accusing them of."

The Kamo man's gaze turns resentful, baleful. "… Of course you would speak for them. What, has the Gojo Clan not had enough of the Kamo Clan's suffering? Come to hammer the final nail in the coffin?"

… Was he implying that the Gojo Clan was behind this entire mess?

Kiyohira-sensei's eyes narrow. "Watch your tongue, Kamo."

"Me? You are the one who should do so, Gojo Kiyohira! Aren't you the one who–"

"Now, now," a new voice suddenly interrupts with a small laugh. A familiar voice."Let's not get too worked up here, hmm?"

Both men's heads immediately snap upwards, an action that is repeated by most everyone else. Shiki included.

Floating above the clearing as if he's standing upon an invisible platform, Satoru-niichan smiles. There's no mistaking it for any expression of joy, however. He's not alone, however; he also seems to be holding…

"Is that Megumi he's holding onto?" Tsumiki cranes her neck and squints. "Megumi, and also…"

Shiki follows the other girl's line of gaze. Aside from Megumi, who's being held by the back of his collar with a distinctly pale face, Satoru-niichan also has someone else with him. It's a little more difficult to make out the appearance, but the ceremonial outfit that they're dressed in is unmistakable.

They're also completely motionless, perfectly still in death.

Satoru-niichan doesn't seem to be particularly concerned about holding a corpse the careless way he does, though.

"Our sneaky little instigator behind this mess," he drawls, lifting the other figure in his hand almost lazily, and–

–releases his grip.

Suddenly, and without any forewarning, Satoru-niichan lets the corpse fall. Startled shouts rise up around them as gravity pulls it downwards, but this does not stop the unmoving body from plummeting to the ground with a sickening wet crack.

Mangled flesh, broken bones. Blood splatters across the dirt clearing.

But more concerningly–

Beneath the blood and viscera, there's the sharp glint of metal that is revealed beneath the firelight. An intricate array of small gears and what looks to be pieces of machinery embedded within the body.

… A cursed corpse. A puppet.

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"Where the hell did a human puppet come out of?!"

Kiyohira-sensei's voice remains angry, frustrated, even after returning to the relative calm of the Gojo estate. He reaches up with a large hand and rubs tiredly at his face with a low, aggravated grunt.

"As if this entire situation wasn't enough of an utter mess already…" he grumbles.

Things hadn't quite devolved into outright chaos after Satoru-niichan had reappeared with a human puppet in hand, but it had still caused a minor furor among the other sorcerers in attendance. For multiple reasons.

First, the matter of sabotage in the okuribi this year. For all the Kamos' protests that they had nothing to do with the unexpected turn of events, they weren't entirely blameless. That the ceremony was interrupted and ruined like this spoke of either dereliction of duty or ineptitude on their behalf, neither of which portrayed them in a very flattering perspective. And, in addition to the failure to complete the okuribi, the suspicious fire-barrier that had been dropped over all attendees was also a significant point of concern. Especially since it didn't seem like anything happened to anyone, but… no one would drop a complex barrier like that for no reason. Which could only mean that the reason was something that they still hadn't figured out.

Then, there was the matter of the human puppet that dropped down out of nowhere –literally.

Satoru-niichan had said that he'd seen something trying to hide within the flames, inside the boundaries of the fire-barrier that he and Megumi had been swept up in. So he'd fished it out, and–

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised, too," her cousin says. He leans back in his seat, a nonchalant motion. "Human puppetry is a lost art. The only leading expert on jujutsu puppetry that I know of who might be capable of replicating something like that is Yaga-sensei. But last I'd checked, Yaga-sensei was still working with felt and cotton instead of, hmm. Organic materials."

Somewhere off to the side, Kirara makes an unhappy sound that's somehow reminiscent of a cross between a squeak and a wheeze. It's not good for a sorcerer to be so sensitive to blood, but considering his background, it's not entirely surprising that he isn't used to such things yet.

"So you're telling me that we're potentially dealing with an unknown curse user who inherited the art of human puppetry that no one's ever heard of before?" Kiyohira-sensei's voice drips with incredulous disbelief. "Sorcerers with skills like that don't just suddenly appear out of nowhere. And what even was their intended goal with disrupting Obon like this, anyways? They just… left a puppet to anchor the barrier? What for?"

"Excellent question!" Satoru-niichan enthuses, "I have no idea."

Kiyohira-sensei's brow twitches.

"Okay, well, I have some idea," Satoru-niichan swiftly amends himself, "To address your specific concerns, though… yes. I think there's a possibility that we're looking at Araya Souren's handiwork."

A brief silence falls over the room.

"… He's a hojutsu user. That's not puppetry."

"He's also spent years working on dubious experiments with the Kamo Clan," the white-haired young man points out. "I've checked the records. The only known master of human puppetry, Aozaki Touko, died without anyone inheriting her work back during the Meiji period. And she was one of Kamo Noritoshi's contemporaries."

Kiyohira-sensei frowns. "You think… the Kamo Clan seized her research? And Araya gained access to it during his time under the Kamo Clan?"

"It's definitely a possibility," Satoru-niichan shrugs. "I also don't think that the Aozaki Clan's abrupt disappearance shortly after her death was a coincidence."

"The alternative is that this is the work of an Aozaki survivor, or someone else who inherited these techniques. But in that case, we'd still have to ask the question of why…" Kiyohira-sensei clicks his tongue, and his gaze briefly flicks over towards Shiki. "There's a nonzero chance that it's the work of an unknown Aozaki who desires vengeance upon the Kamo Clan."

"You're right about that," Satoru-niichan allows easily enough. But the silent words that remain unspoken between the two sorcerers echo loudly all the same: There's also the nonzero chance that it's the work of Araya Souren, targeting Shiki.

"… If it is Araya, then why would he go to the trouble of making a human puppet?"

"To act as a stand-in for himself, probably?" A light hum, and Satoru-niichan folds his arms across his chest. "Barriers aren't remote techniques, and they need to be deployed by a person. So if he's a suspicious bastard who doesn't trust anyone, but also doesn't want to risk being here in person–"

"–then he needs a proxy, hence a puppet," Kiyohira-sensei finishes, and makes a disgusted sound.

"Yup," Satoru-niichan gives the other man a thumbs-up, popping the 'p.'

"Is it possible that he intends to use the reveal of human puppetry as a smokescreen for something else?" Kiyohira-sensei asks, then shakes his head. "No, that still doesn't make any sense. And there's already enough chaos from the disruption of the okuribi."

"And another important question is, why use such a complicated barrier to disrupt the ceremony?" Satoru-niichan swings one leg over another, and glances over towards Shiki. "Any thoughts?"

Shiki takes a moment to mull over the question. "… If the goal was just to cause a commotion and interrupt the ceremony, then there are a number of other options to take. Using human puppets to just attack directly, or even replace the person in charge of the dance entirely–"

Kirara makes a pained sound.

"–but evidently the perpetrator opted for that fire-barrier instead," she continues, giving her classmate a slightly mystified look. Next to Kirara, Kinji fixedly stares up at the ceiling, while Tsumiki has her face buried in her hands. "Either the goal has something to do with everyone trapped within the barrier, or… was there something else happening outside the barrier?"

… Except, aside from being separated into individual groups, nothing of note had happened within the fiery barrier itself. And upon returning to the clearing, there hadn't been any changes to the surrounding environment, not aside from the lanterns having gone out. But that might've been related to the aspect of fire in the barrier, rather than–

"I'm inclined to think that it's the former."

Shiki blinks. "Something to do with trapping sorcerers within the barrier?"

"Yes," Satoru-niichan confirms. "I know it seems like nothing happened, but… there was definitely something else that was attached to the barrier. I caught a glimpse of it while catching that puppet, but I didn't manage to get a good look before it broke."

"… Sorry?"

"No, no, don't apologize," her cousin laughs, reaching over and patting her on the head. "You did the right thing, don't worry about it."

So he says, but Shiki isn't entirely convinced. If Satoru-niichan had managed to have enough time to study what he'd noticed about the barrier properly, then they would have more information to work from now.

… But on the other hand, for all that the fire-barrier hadn't appeared to be particularly dangerous, there was no telling that for certain. There had been many other sorcerers trapped inside that barrier along with them, and under such circumstances it was only logical to escape the prison as soon as possible before things could take a turn for the worse.

"U-um…" Kirara tentatively raises his hand, as if he's still inside a classroom. "About the fire barrier, I… I don't know if it's what you were referring to by 'something else attached,' but… I didn't instantly get sent somewhere surrounded by flames at first."

"Ah, right," Satoru-niichan snaps his fingers. "The Kamos said something about you tumbling out of nowhere in front of them?"

"Yes," Kirara nods firmly, and cringes slightly. "They weren't particularly happy about it…"

"I'll bet they weren't," Satoru-niichan says, amused. "So, what happened on your end?"

"… I'm not really sure," the boy responds quietly. "I… I was sent somewhere really dark at first. Like, really dark, and it was kind of hard to see anything. There was no one else around me, so I kind of just started walking around, trying to find my way out."

"And you found one in the end?"

"I found one in the end, yes, but it wasn't on my own." Kirara hesitates briefly, "He kinda just… suddenly showed up? And told me that I 'wasn't supposed to be here,' or something like that. Then he said he'd show me the way out, and ended up opening some sort of hole with flames burning on the other side."

"Interesting," Satoru-niichan hums. "I'm guessing that's our fire barrier."

"Probably," Kirara rubs his head, "… I landed on top of Kamo-san after getting shoved through."

"Wait, which Kamo-san?" Kinji asks.

"Kamo Noritoshi-san."

"Never mind the Kamos," Kiyohira-sensei cuts in. "Do you know who that person was?"

"He said his name was Gojo… err, Gojo something. I didn't actually catch the rest of it," Kirara shifts awkwardly on his feet. Shiki resists the urge to frown –was another Gojo clansman involved in these plots? … Like Gojo Kansuke?

"There are a lot of Gojos," Satoru-niichan says dryly.

"… It seemed like he had a water-based cursed technique? Sorry, I don't know if that helps to narrow anything down–"

"Gojo Jihei."

Shiki blinks, and turns towards Kiyohira-sensei –who's suddenly risen to his feet, towering above the table. His gaze is fixed unerringly upon Kirara, who looks a little disconcerted to suddenly become the sole focus of the sorcerer's attention like this.

"Gojo Jihei," Kiyohira-sensei repeats. "Was that the name you heard?"

"I –m-maybe?" Kirara stammers. "I'm sorry, I really didn't manage to hear his introduction clearly, and there wasn't really an opportunity to ask… he also had a sword on him, if that helps?"

As far as Shiki was aware, Jihei-san was the only one who possessed a water-based cursed technique in recent generations of the Gojo Clan. He'd been fairly well-practiced with a sword, and would occasionally spar with Kiyohira-sensei in the training room.

But even so, this… this was…

Kirara looks between them slowly, obviously discomfited by the sudden silence that falls across the table. "… Who's Gojo Jihei? I-is he a curse user…?"

"No," Shiki responds shortly, although she supposes that she can't blame the boy for coming to that conclusion. "He's dead."

Her classmate blinks as the words take a moment to register, and then promptly scrambles back and pales.

"… You mean that I encountered a ghost?" he yelps.

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…

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