Chapter 25: Kaito’s Visit

"Chicken in the morning isn't exactly healthy." Sora said before taking a bite of the chicken.

Zatanna let out a giggle as he continued to eat despite his words.

"I'm sorry. I was just in the mood for chicken." She said unapologetically to which Sora simply shook his head.

The two were able to actually have a decent and enjoyable conversation for the first time.

With the problem of evading detection taken care of, part of the problems on his mind had been temporarily alleviated.

"Wait I'm still confused about what exactly your powers are." She said as Sora took a sip from the glass of orange juice that was magically squeezed.

"What's so confusing about it?" He asked.

"It feels like magic but different. I was getting some powerful feeling from you before but now it's like it's gone." Zatanna explained with a confused look on her face.

"It's not magic. It's chakra. Although they are similar, magic is more flexible than chakra whereas chakra is superior in some areas." Sora explained calmly.

"I used magic but I've never shot conjured fire that powerful." She mock complained.

"You've never actually tried. From what I've seen you do, the method of using magic is far different from the molding of chakra." He explained again before continuing.

"My turn. Do you need to chant before you can use your magic or is it just for show?" He asked, paying more attention for this.

"Not necessarily. The words are more of a focus for the actual spell. They help in concentration when casting spells." She explained before looking a bit down.

"I've tried casting spells without the words but they either barely work or just don't work at all." She said with a sigh.

'So it's basically like hand seals.' He thought before having a thought.

"Can you try a spell without the words?" He asked, getting a raised eyebrow from her.

"I just told you they don't work." She said getting confused.

"Just try." He said insistingly but not so much that it was rude.

She looked towards the pillow in the living room across from them before stretching her hand out to it.

She squeezed her face in concentration as she tried to focus her magic. Sora immediately activated his sharingan to observe it closely.

He saw shaky wisps of mana being emitted from Zatanna's palm towards the pillow. He watched the pillow shake a bit before seizing all movement as the mana couldn't get a hold of it.

His eyes reverted to their normal color just before she turned back to him.

"See." She said, a bit of frustration leaking into her tone.

"You used too much mana while having little to no control over it." He said, putting what he had observed to words.

"You can tell that much from just that?" She said, questioningly.

"It's a gift." He answered vaguely before continuing.

"You said that the words are simply a focus, right?" He started, getting a nod from her.

"Though casting a spell requires a focus, it doesn't strictly specify the manner of the focus. It could be something physical or not."

"Why don't you try again but this time instead of using words as the focus, create a mental focus to concentrate your magic." He finished his theory.

"What? That won't work. It goes agai-" She started to argue but Sora her off.

"What do you stand to lose by trying?" He asked, shutting down her argument.

With a sigh, she turned back to the pillow across the living room. She closed her eyes in concentration as she extended her hand towards it.

Immediately activating his sharingan, he saw the wisps of mana still as shaky as before. He monitored it closely, noticing how they slowly became stronger.

While this was happening, a prompt appeared in front of him.

[*Ding!*]

[You have gained 'Teaching'!]

He raised a brow at the prompt before reading the description.

[Teaching: It allows the host to impart skills skills or theoretical knowledge to the intended 'student'.

It increases student's rate of learning.

Skills taught by the host cannot be copied or stolen through any means.]

Just as he finished reading it, he saw the pillow slowly and shakily float a few feet off the couch before falling back up.

Zatanna, who had by now had her eyes opened, watched the scene of the floating pillow.

"It worked?" She asked herself out loud in doubt.

"It worked. It worked!" She screamed in joy before rushing towards, crashing into him in a hug before continuing her shouts.

"We did it! I don't know how that worked. According to the books my dad taught me with, that isn't supposed to work. How did you come up with that?" She asked eagerly.

Sora could only look on with a puzzled expression. To him it made perfect sense why she was able to learn it.

First of all, the skill seemed to vague but he had a the basic sense of how it worked. As long as the theory makes sense and is compatible with the available variables, anything can be taught.

He resisted the maniacal grin that threatened to emerge on his face. She wanted to continue barraging him with questions when a knock was heard on the door.

They both froze in place. Zatanna realized the position they were in while Sora became tense. Any positive atmosphere that was built up was gone now, replaced with the caution and wariness that Zatanna had met upon their first encounter.

The instant switch made her shiver.

"Who is it?" Sora asked while also using Energy Sensing to spread his senses.

He noted that the person at the door was alone. That was assuming there wasn't anyone hiding just outside his range.

"It's me! It's Kaito!" The now familiar voice called out from outside.

Sora's blood went cold as he remembered something he seemed to forget. Kaito had said told him that he would visit once a month to check up on him.

The month was almost up so Sora guessed that he would come anytime soon in the next few days. He just wasn't sure which day he would come and he had come at a bad time.

"Damnit!" He cursed under his breath as he turned to Zatanna who seemed confused on what to do.

"I need you to hide till he leaves." He said, watching as she quickly nodded.

"Are you going to open the door?" Kaito asked from outside.

Sora watched as Zatanna cast her spell in a low voice before disappearing but he could still feel her around.

He went to the door, peeking through the peep hole to make sure it was actually him. He then opened the door slowly and deliberately.

"What do you want?" He asked rudely, stared at Kaito through the small space of the doorway he had opened.