28

zenith of stars

"26: respite"

.

Geto-san kept his word.

Not that Shiki had particularly doubted he would break it –that was the entire point behind making a binding vow in the first place– but part of her had remained wary nonetheless, even despite the assurance of her and Iori-sensei's safety.

There was once a time when Shiki would've confidently said that she felt perfectly safe and at ease walking alongside Geto-san. But, that's no longer the case. Things have changed too much since then. So long as the man in question remained an unrepentant curse user and set himself firmly at odds against Satoru-niichan, Shiki couldn't see how things would take a turn for the better.

What a mess.

Even messier was the discovery that Araya Souren had somehow been involved in this situation. The man was alive, and he'd been –watching? Observing the fight?

… If Geto-san hadn't been there, would Araya have interfered while Shiki had been fighting the Special Grade? Would he have ensured that an unfortunate accident took place for her?

Just like the accident that had claimed Jihei-san's life?

…

If that was really the case, then she probably owed Geto-san a 'thank you.' However, In light of the information that the man intended to recruit Araya, showing any sort of gratitude like that was probably not the wisest course of action to take. And so, Shiki had refrained from expressing anything at all.

True to his vow, Geto-san had seen them safely down the winding mountain path. It had been a long walk down, to the point where Shiki almost would've suspected something sneaky going on in the background… except that seemed a little too petty for Geto-san. She hadn't noticed anything with her eyes, anyways, so it probably all came down to sheer exhaustion clouding her mind's better judgment.

If Geto-san picked up on her flagging strength, he'd been tactful enough to not draw attention to it. Probably for the best; while Shiki still retained some semblance of trust for Geto-san, she had absolutely none for his companion. Suda-san did not seem fond of Shiki in the least, either, so the feelings were very much mutual on both sides. If the woman had caught onto any signs of weakness…

… With Geto-san and the binding vow standing between them, it was unlikely that things would've devolved to the point of them coming to blows with each other. But it still could've made things… difficult.

Luckily, they reached the foot of the mountain without any incidents.

"This is where I leave you. You'll find your people straight ahead along this road." Geto-san smiles at her. It's such a familiar expression, except at the same time… she doesn't recognize it on him at all anymore. "I'll see you around, Shiki. Let's have a longer conversation next time."

Next time?

Wait, why is there going to be a 'next time?' And why not with Satoru-niichan, for that matter?

… Does she get to refuse, or is she suddenly going to find herself just. Unexpectedly fighting for her life against another Special Grade again one day?

Shiki is mildly grumpy during the long car ride to the Tokyo school, and for good reason. Choki carefully inquires on the subject of her ire, but is quick to drop it after Shiki makes it clear that she has no intention of elaborating on this particular topic.

Instead, he gives her a brief report of how events had progressed on his end. Thankfully, things had gone much more smoothly for him than they had Shiki and Iori-sensei.

Choki's first action had been to contact Kiyohira-sensei. Except, it turned out that the man had been called away for an emergency mission of his own, shortly after Shiki had left the compound. Kiyohira-sensei muttered something about bringing reinforcements, then hung up immediately.

Choki turned his attention to finding and helping survivors, after that. There hadn't been any sort of organized evacuation going on –just scattered, traumatized civilians that he had slowly gathered together while obeying Shiki's order to remain outside the cursed spirit's territory. Choki ended up calling in further assistance from the jujutsu schools, once it became clear that they would need a lot more manpower to contain and deal with the situation.

He'd also found the bloody, perforated corpse of the Kyoto assistant manager. The one who'd made the call for Shiki's assistance.

… How unfortunate. There were questions that Shiki would've liked to ask them.

…

Reaching the Tokyo school campus is a relief, when they finally arrive at their destination. Because it means that they've reached Shoko-san, and Ieiri Shoko is the only person in the world who is able to use reverse cursed technique to heal others. Without her, the casualty rate among sorcerers would definitely be much higher than it already was.

Iori-sensei will be in good hands.

Embarrassingly enough, Shiki accidentally ends up dozing off a little bit while Shoko-san is treating Iori-sensei. It's a very light sort of sleep, the kind where a person still remains vaguely cognizant of the world around them. A half-sleeping half-awake state that's not restful at all, but… probably still better than nothing.

She doesn't really relax until she hears Iori-sensei's voice again. The relief that crashes into her feels like a tidal wave, and were Shiki any less disciplined, she might've physically staggered beneath its weight.

Iori-sensei is fine.

She's alive.

… I didn't get her killed because of my mistakes.

The white-haired girl slowly lets out a quiet breath, long and slow.

Then, she stands up from where she's sitting and walks forward, doing her best to hide the slight limp in her stride when her injured leg refuses to properly support her weight. Going by the look that Shoko-san gives herwhen she pauses by the doorway, though, she's probably not very successful.

"You should be resting, Shiki." The brown-haired woman's voice is faintly reprimanding, though not entirely unsympathetic.

"Sorry, Shoko-san." Her own words are polite but insincere, and both of them know it. Shoko-san sighs, but does not openly call Shiki out on it. "I thought I heard Iori-sensei's voice."

"Yeah, she's awake," Shoko-san nods, gesturing towards the woman lying on the bed beside her. "Your Iori-sensei is going to be just fine."

That's excellent news to hear.

Shiki inches a few steps closer.

Iori-sensei is looking a lot better now, thanks to Shoko-san's efforts. The injuries that she'd suffered on that mountain had been terrible, even before Shiki's arrival and the subsequent debacle with the Special Grade that took place afterwards.

Her teacher is still looking rather pale, but no longer deathly so. There's a large scar on her face, accompanied by stitches, but it's not a gaping, bloody mess anymore. That's good. Shoko-san had mentioned something earlier about the scarring being removable, too, hadn't she? That was even better, then.

Iori-sensei is beautiful, and it would be a shame if her face became permanently scarred because of Shiki's failings.

"I'm glad you're alright, Iori-sensei," she says quietly. Then, she folds herself into a deep bow, ignoring the way the motion tugs at her wounds. It's nothing, compared to what her teacher has suffered. "I apologize for the mistakes I made that allowed the curse to reach Special Grade, and put you at risk."

"Don't apologize, Shiki," Iori-sensei's voice is weak, but her response is no less immediate. "You have nothing to apologize for. I should be thanking you for saving me. If anything, it was my fault for getting you involved in this."

"You're not the one at fault, Iori-sensei." Technically, it was Geto-san's fault. That woman, Suda, had only unraveled the suppression seals in the first place so Geto-san could add a new weapon to his arsenal. But it's not as if Shiki can just come out and say that.

… That look of guilt on her teacher's face is almost enough to make Shiki feel guilty. The girl discreetly averts her gaze.

Her motion does not go unnoticed by Shoko-san, who's long familiar with Shiki's habits by this point. "Hmm. So you know who is to blame for this, then?"

Shiki glances at the woman, and sighs. Hadn't she already explained this, earlier? "I'm under a binding vow not to disclose this information."

"You agreed not to disclose any identities, not to refrain from divulging any information you obtained," Shoko-san corrects her. She's –not wrong. But wouldn't Shoko-san be able to infer the identities based on the information that Shiki provided? … She wasn't sure if she felt comfortable with skirting the spirit of a binding vow like this.

"Well, it's none of my concern." Luckily, Shoko-san doesn't seem inclined to press the matter. "You'll probably get an earful about it from Gojo, anyways, once he finally manages to get down to the school here."

… Right, Satoru-niichan. Just how is she supposed to hide this from Satoru-niichan?

If Geto-san is truly intent on there being a 'next time,' Shiki is going to have words with him for leaving her to deal with this sort of situation!

"I already got an earful about it from Kiyohira-sensei," she tries not to think too hard about how she'll need to lie to her cousin. Shiki doesn't want to lie to Satoru-niichan… not to mention, he'd probably be able to tell that she's lying in a heartbeat. Which renders everything moot, anyways.

Her vow with Geto-san was, 'Healing and protection for Shiki and Iori-sensei, until being reunited with their support staff.' In exchange, Shiki would not inform anyone of Geto-san and Suda's presence.

If she didn't inform anyone, but others came to the conclusion on their own… would that still count as breaking her half of the vow? Hopefully not. Shiki doesn't want to lie to Satoru-niichan, but she also really, really doesn't want to find out what the consequences of breaking a binding vow are. Even a relatively harmless, benign sort of low-stakes vow like this one.

"Binding vows aren't things to undertake so easily."

Yes, Shoko-san, she's realized that by this point.

Shiki rubs at her temples, the way she's seen Kiyohira-sensei do to indicate an incoming headache. The motion seems appropriate here. "… I know, but I wasn't exactly left with very many options at the time."

And that's the unfortunate truth of the matter, isn't it? If Shiki hadn't agreed to Geto-san's offer… if the man had decided to just kidnap them, then there's not much resistance that Shiki would've been able to muster up against him. She would've fought, of course. But Geto-san is ranked Special Grade for a reason.

Had Geto-san been the one fighting the Special Grade cursed spirit that had given her so much trouble, Shiki has no doubt that he would've been able to win, handily. He and Satoru-niichan had once been the Strongest together, hadn't they? Even though they'd gone their separate ways, Geto-san's power was nothing to scoff at. Of that, Shiki was certain.

Moreover, if just one Special Grade curse was enough to reduce Shiki to this state, then what would've happened if Geto-san summoned multiple cursed spirits to attack her? Just Tamamo-no-mae alone would be able to make things intensely difficult for Shiki, and that's not even taking into consideration the numerous other cursed spirits that Geto-san has amassed by this point. Accounting for her injuries as well, any confrontation that turned violent was unlikely to end well for her.

No, a battle between them would not have been in Shiki's favor. And… Geto-san had been right about Iori-sensei needing medical attention, too.

It's a good thing that Geto-san didn't intend to harm them, even if Shiki still struggles to understand why.

… Maybe Yuzuki-san would be able to explain things?

"Let's get you caught up to speed, Utahime," Shoko-san's voice breaks Shiki out of her wandering thoughts. "Maybe you can help us sort out some other points of confusion, too. So, how much do you remember?"

Iori-sensei has a confused-looking expression on her face… ah, that's right. The woman had been unconscious the entire time, when Shiki had encountered Suda, then Geto-san. Iori-sensei wouldn't know anything of what went down in the time frame between the death of the Special Grade cursed spirit, and waking up in Shoko-san's examination room.

"The last thing I remember…" Iori-sensei pauses. Then, her head suddenly snaps around towards Shiki. "Wait, there was a cave-in, wasn't there?!"

"There was," she confirms. "Please be careful, Iori-sensei, sharp movements like that can't be good for your injuries."

"Shiki is right. You're on painkillers right now, which is why you're not feeling the brunt of the pain, but be a little more mindful of your injuries," Shoko-san scolds gently, clicking her tongue at the older woman. Iori-sensei mumbles something indistinct, appropriately chastised. "Also, a cave-in? Shiki, you didn't mention anything about this earlier."

"It wasn't important," the girl shrugs. "Iori-sensei and I were already fairly close to the surface, so it wasn't too difficult to deal with."

'Difficult' would've been something like… being trapped in the heart of the mountain, or deep underground. They would've been crushed and trapped beneath the collapsing earth, if that was the case.

"'Wasn't important'…? I'd say that a cave-in would be plenty important to mention," the doctor shakes her head. "So, you got Utahime and yourself out of the rubble. Then… what, you just carried her down the mountain until you found the assisting staff?"

"… Something like that," Shiki says. Shoko-san gives her a dry look for the completely ungraceful sidestep.

"Alright. I'm sure that there's more to the story, but you know what? I'll leave that to Gojo to dig out of you," she drawls, then beckons Shiki with a finger as she turns to leave. "Come on, let's leave Utahime to actually get some proper rest, while I take a proper look at your leg. Is it still painful to walk?"

"Only a little bit," Shiki answers, shifting and moving to follow. She pauses at the doorway, "… Rest well, Iori-sensei. I wish for your swift recovery."

"Thank you, Shiki," Iori-sensei's voice is warm. Warm, and filled with an unwarranted gratitude that makes her want to hide. "Make sure to give yourself enough rest so you can recover too, alright? I don't want to hear anything from Shoko about you overworking yourself!"

Iori-sensei is… concerned about her?

… Even though she's the one who's injured to the point of being confined to bed rest, while Shiki is still up and standing?

She'll never understand how Iori-sensei thinks.

Swallowing her confusion, the girl only nods mutely, then swiftly hurries after Shoko-san, who's… looking towards her with a faintly amused expression on her face, for some strange reason. Shiki glances at her questioningly, but Shoko-san only shakes her head and proceeds to lead her into a different room, then motions for her to sit down again.

The feeling of Shoko-san's cursed energy seeping into her body is the same as Shiki remembers. Clear, and cold. Not freezing, but chilling in a bone-deep way. For a moment, there is the faint impression of something almost scouring that lingers in her body, as the doctor gradually withdraws her cursed energy.

"Y'know," Shoko-san breaks the silence between them with a wry little smile, "I don't think Gojo was ever as awkward as you, back when we were students."

Where did this suddenly come from? Shiki frowns, "I'm not awkward."

"Oh really?" Shoko-san's voice is good-natured, even though it doesn't contain a single jot of belief in her denial.

The girl pouts, finally catching on to what's going on here. "Please stop teasing, Shoko-san."

"What's this I hear? Shoko, are you teasing my cute little cousin? Tsk, tsk, shame on you."

Something tensely coiled inside her that she hadn't even noticed before finally relaxes, at the sound of that voice. Shiki brightens, and whirls around. "Satoru-niichan!"

A hand lands on her head, messily ruffling her hair.

"Seems like you've had an exciting day," her cousin grins. Across from them, Shoko-san coughs strangely, but waves a hand dismissively when they give her twin questioning looks for it. Satoru-niichan shrugs, then turns back to her. "Tell me what happened?"

Shiki nods, and recounts the events from the beginning again. From when Choki had received the sudden call for help, to searching for Iori-sensei, then fighting the cursed spirit. Satoru-niichan hums thoughtfully at certain intervals, but doesn't interrupt her until she mentions heading down the mountain.

"Carrying Utahime? On your own?" he asks with a raised brow.

… Shiki knew this would happen.

"Not on her own, we've already established that earlier," Shoko-san interjects, waving her hand. She's not helping! "Shiki said that she can't disclose who helped her because she made a binding vow to remain silent."

Both brows shoot up. "A binding vow? And you agreed to it?"

Shiki looks up helplessly at the ceiling for a long moment. Not quite despairing, but definitely resigned. "… Yes."

"Why would you agree to something like that?" Satoru-niichan's skeptical voice is faintly incredulous. "If someone helped you, wouldn't they want to be recognized by the Gojo Clan for it? Why would anyone bother deliberately trying to hide their identity? Unless…"

There is a beat of suspicious silence. The girl tries not to fidget under her cousin's piercing gaze, but it's probably a lost cause. No, it's definitely a lost cause.

"Shiki," Satoru-niichan's voice is completely flat. "Was the person who helped you a curse user? A certain curse user whose innate technique happens to be curse manipulation, to be precise?"

… As expected, her cousin's intuition is frightening. "Can I decline to answer this question?"

Satoru-niichan snorts, clearly reading the answer straight off of her face. "Yeah, I see how it is. Geez, he really didn't even have the decency to stick around? How long does he plan to keep running? It's been years!"

"So it's really him, then?" Shoko-san asks.

The young man rolls his eyes. "Who else would try so hard to keep their identity secret? Or even be able to corner Shiki into a binding vow like this in the first place?"

"Ah. That does make sense."

Satoru-niichan makes a disgruntled, deeply offended sound, and promptly turns towards the doorway. "I'm going to head over to this mountain and take a look. Knowing him, he's probably already covered his tracks and is long gone by now, but… who knows, there should still be some clues."

Shoko-san tilts her head as she regards him, carefully expressionless. "… You really think there's still any chance of convincing him to turn back? He's been racking up a pretty long list of casualties over the years, from what I've heard."

"True. But it's not like heinous curse users haven't been pardoned before," the sorcerer responds lightly. Then, briefly ruffling Shiki's hair one last time, "Anyways, good work! I need to run now, but we'll review your fight again when I see you back in the clan compound."

"Alright, Satoru-niichan."

Now that she's actually thinking about it… Geto-san probably hadn't really expected her to be able to keep things secret from Satoru-niichan. But he probably wasn't expecting Satoru-niichan to be able to deduce the truth so swiftly, either. Probably

Shiki… technically… didn't break her half of the vow? She hadn't 'informed' anyone of his or Suda's presence, Satoru-niichan –and Shoko-san– both guessed it on their own, evidently.

She pauses cautiously for another half-beat. No divine retribution seems to be forthcoming; that's a good sign, right? It's probably indicative that she truly hadn't broken her vow, not that Shiki intends to press her luck any further on the matter.

… If she ever sees Geto-san again, she's going to have some very pointed words for the man. Such as, don't get Shiki caught up in the middle of whatever it is that's going on between him and Satoru-niichan! Please and thank you!

The girl sighs tiredly.

Hopefully, Satoru-niichan would be able to pick up the trail of his wayward friend. Whether or not they would be able to sort things out between them at this point was still debatable, but maybe they would be able to get everything together before things become irreconcilable? Yes, there's a kill order out on Geto-san, but Satoru-niichan was right. It's not as if curse users haven't been brought back into the folds of jujutsu society before.

More importantly, from all appearances, Geto-san still appeared to care for Satoru-niichan, as evident from his lack of hostility towards Shiki, probably because he didn't want to upset his friend. And, Shiki knows that Satoru-niichan still considers Geto-san to be his best friend in turn.

Would it be enough to change things between them?

… She doesn't know the answer.

.

.

"Shiki! You're safe!"

The disoriented girl blinks, unsure of how to react when Tsumiki-san suddenly barrels into her and wraps her in a tight hug, the very instant she steps through the doorway. She stumbles back a little from the unexpected weight, automatically opening her mouth to console the other girl –Tsumiki is upset, and it's probably Shiki's fault again– when she notices the slight tremble in Tsumiki-san's frame, and ends up finding herself at a loss for words.

This… this isn't the first time that Tsumiki-san has seen her injured from a mission before. Shoko-san had even healed up the worst of it earlier, too. So why…?

Ah.

Ah, Shiki understands!

It's because of Jihei-san's death, isn't it?

Sorcerers were always exposed to the risk of death on their missions, but Jihei-san's sudden death had shaken her. Had made death real to Tsumiki-san, when before it had only ever been a distant concept. Understood, but not acknowledged.

Silly girl.

Shiki gives herself a mental pat on the back for finally succeeding in picking up on her gentle-natured friend's source of distress. Then, she proceeds to pat Tsumiki-san on her head a few times, the way she's seen Yuzuki-san do on occasion, instead of copying Satoru-niichan's habits for the gesture. She gets the distinct feeling that Tsumiki-san wouldn't appreciate having her hair mussed up into a bird's nest.

"Kiyohira-san told us what happened," the younger girl's voice wavers briefly, as she sucks in a shaky breath to steady herself again. "You were fighting a really dangerous cursed spirit, and I… I… I'm just glad that you're alright."

(I'm glad that you're still alive.)

"It's usually not so bad," Shiki tells her, which is the honest truth. Usually, sorcerers don't go out and get in a fight with a Special Grade curse. This was the exception, not the norm. "Thank you for worrying about me, Tsumiki-san."

… Did she say that in the right tone just now? Her voice had accidentally lilted upwards a little bit towards the end, slightly questioning, betraying her inner lack of surety on whether or not this was the right thing to say, in this sort of situation. Acknowledge that others are concerned for you, Yuzuki-san had once told her. This is Shiki, acknowledging.

Tsumiki-san's arms tighten around her. Was this… not the right thing to say, then?

She thought she'd understood it just fine, though… Shiki really needs to ask Yuzuki-san to clarify things, the next time she sees him again.

"… Shiki."

The girl glances up, "Hello, Kiyohira-sensei."

For a moment, her teacher remains silent. The tall, burly man towers over the two of them with an unreadable sort of expression on his face.

Shiki immediately braces herself for another impromptu talking-to. Kiyohira-sensei had not been happy when he'd picked her up with Choki at the foot of the mountain, to say the least. After a brief rundown of the situation, he'd proceeded to angrily scold Shiki about not properly assessing the situation and disregarding her own safety, and–

"You even broke your sword? What were you thinking? If you were even slightly less lucky, do you know what would've happened? You would've gone the exact same way as he did, that idiot boy who… who…"

Kiyohira-sensei hadn't finished that sentence, back at the mountain. Shiki had found herself mildly curious about just who her teacher had been referring to –a previous student, perhaps? Anyone who properly went through Kiyohira-sensei's training must be a talented student, although she's never met any of her senpais before… which was a little strange, now that she's thinking about it.

But, this probably wasn't the best tangent to be focusing on, not when Kiyohira-sensei was currently looming over them like this.

To Shiki's surprise, he doesn't say anything aside from a simple, "You should start using Kuji Kanesada."

Yes, that's what Shiki was thinking of as well. These past few years, she's been consistently using the Kotetsu wakizashi that Kiyohira-sensei gifted her as a birthday present, since Kuji was a full-length katana whose length would've been slightly unwieldy for her at the time. That, and the sheer power imbued within the blade was overkill for most things. It wouldn't have allowed Shiki to polish her swordplay.

On the other hand, it would've been very useful to have Kuji on hand during her recent encounter with that nameless Special Grade.

"I will." Jihei-san always used to say that he looked forward to the day when Shiki would begin using Kuji. The man would never be able to see it now, and the thought makes her a little wistful, but that's no reason to refrain from wielding a powerful cursed tool. That's not what Jihei-san would've wanted, either.

I may not have the means to protect her as I'd like, but at least I can provide her with the proper tools she can use to protect herself with.

Kiyohira-sensei gives each of them a brusque pat on the shoulder, then moves past them without another word.

Shiki stares after the man, thoughtful.

Maybe it's just her imagination, but Kiyohira-sensei seems… tired, even though he hadn't been the one fighting a Special Grade curse. She doesn't mean that as an uncharitable thought; merely an observation. He seems tired, even though he's probably not tired in a physical sense, but more… mentally, sort of?

Was it because he'd been worried about Shiki? The man had a funny way of showing it, given how severely Shiki had been scolded by him in the aftermath…

Come to think of it, Shiki probably shouldn't have contacted Kiyohira-sensei. Shiki should've gotten Choko to contact Satoru-niichan instead… even though Choki might've quietly hyperventilated a little bit beneath his calm demeanor, if he was ordered to call the clan head on his personal phone. But Shiki hadn't thought to contact her cousin at the time, because the situation was dangerous but still seemed manageable to her. She'd also known beforehand that Satoru-niichan would be quite busy with several meetings throughout the day, and hadn't wanted to disturb him.

… Maybe it was time to invest in a personal cell phone? Shiki had never really felt like she needed one before. There wasn't any point in getting one, not when she was always accompanied by the clan's serving staff, who carried their own phones for communication.

In retrospect, considering everything that went down, all problems could've been solved if Shiki had just called Satoru-niichan for help. A Grade One cursed womb evolving into a Special Grade cursed spirit, Geto-san's unexpected appearance, Araya's even further unexpected appearance–

Hold on a minute. Had she… had she mentioned Araya's presence in the middle of this mess to Satoru-niichan, earlier?

Shiki freezes a little bit, causing Tsumiki-san to give her a quizzical look. But right now, Shiki's mind is a little more preoccupied with going over the conversation that she'd shared with her cousin while they'd been at the jujutsu school.

She… really hadn't mentioned it, had she? Because Satoru-niichan ran off to search the mountain himself near-immediately, after learning of Geto-san's involvement in the debacle. Shiki hadn't managed to say a single word about what came up in her conversation with Geto-san, since she'd been reciting the events in chronological order.

… That was a major oversight on her part, and Shiki feels like kicking herself for it. Tsumiki-san is starting to look concerned, though, which probably indicates that she's been lost inside her own head for a little too long to be 'socially acceptable.'

"Is everything alright?" Tsumiki-san asks, worried.

Shiki's mouth opens and closes mutely.

"… I need a cell phone," is all she ends up saying, because it's not like there's anything else she can actually say to Tsumiki-san. The younger girl startles in surprise at the unexpected response, then laughs –a bright, happy sound.

Shiki has no idea how this of all things is apparently the right thing to say, but she isn't going to be questioning it.

Exhaustion claims her swiftly that night; the girl ends up falling asleep instantly the moment her head touches the pillow. When she blinks awake, it's already the next morning, with sunlight filtering through the windows.

She hadn't meant to sleep in so late. Why hadn't anyone woken her up?

"Because you're injured and need to rest."

Megumi-san's voice is dry and deadpan as he states it like it'sobvious. But his gaze is concerned, as is his overall demeanor, which is the only thing that keeps Shiki from making a mental note to go for his kneecaps the next time they spar with each other.

"I need to find Satoru-niichan," she sighs. Megumi-san gives her a look upon hearing that she intends to be out and about instead of resting in bed, but Shiki is injured, not invalid. She'll be fine.

What's with all these overreactions? … At least Satoru-niichan still makes sense.

Shiki ends up finding her cousin in one of the gardens, slouched over and lounging on his side. His casual sprawl forms a sharp contrast to the stern elder seated neatly across from him, upright and proper. The white-haired young man's expression lights up when he catches sight of her, and the next thing Shiki knows, he's carrying her in a piggyback hold as they abscond over the wall together.

There's an agitated, indignant shout behind them, but Satoru-niichan's movements do not slow in the least.

"… Was that Takatomi-sama?" Shiki asks. She hadn't even been able to get a clear look at her cousin's visitor, before he'd cheerfully snatched her and promptly bounded away.

"Yup! That was Takatomi," the young man confirms breezily. "He basically just put forward the same plan to me that Daisaku did yesterday, except he also wanted to push for some additional internal restructuring while he was at it. Nearly bored me to tears."

Shiki sympathizes. It's never fun when one of the elders goes on and on and on, and you're forced to just stand there, listening. "Maybe you should make him submit it as a paper report instead?"

"Ha! I'd love to see the look on his face if you suggested that in front of him," Satoru-niichan laughs. "But enough about that –how are you feeling right now? It'll probably be a few more days until you're in top condition again, but how much would you say you've recovered by now?"

The girl pauses to think about it for a moment. When she woke up this morning… her cursed energy had replenished itself to the point that her limbs no longer felt light and shaky. Her body was still very sore, though, and Shoko-san had advised her to go easy on her training regime and be careful with her newly-healed leg.

"Something like… sixty to seventy percent?" That sounds about right, more or less.

"Good enough," her cousin nods. "Your fight against the Special Grade –good job on that, by the way– there's a few points we need to address about it."

"Okay." Shiki understands where he's coming from –there were probably things about the fight that she'd missed on her own, and being able to go over things again with Satoru-niichan would only be helpful for discovering subtler mistakes and pinpointing improvements to make. But, before they get into any of that, "On another note, I actually need to tell you something first."

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday, on the mountain," Shiki leans forward and hooks her chin atop her cousin's shoulder. "Araya was there."

"Araya?" Satoru-niichan's astonishment is clear. He doesn't break stride or stumble, but for a moment, his hold on Shiki tightens perceptibly. "You're certain? Araya was watching you? It's not so surprising that he's still alive, but –wait, why didn't you mention this yesterday?!"

"I didn't actually see him myself, but… my benefactor, who shall continue to remain unnamed, mentioned encountering a skilled hojutsu user. His reaction when I asked him confirmed that they introduced themselves as 'Araya Souren.'" An inexplicable chill suddenly runs down Shiki's spine as soon as the words leave her mouth, seemingly for no reason at all. She hadn't even referred to Geto Suguru by name here; best not to push her luck any further, then. "Also, you left before I could mention it!"

"No, you could've mentioned this at the very beginning, y'know?" Satoru-niichan's voice is dry and faintly amused. "'Fess up. You forgot, didn't you."

"… I forgot," the girl mumbles into her cousin's collar. It wasn't on purpose! She'd just been recounting things chronologically to him yesterday, and it… slipped her mind to…

"Silly little thing," Satoru-niichan laughs at her. Shiki pouts –not that he can see it. Probably. "Well, thanks for letting me know. The confirmation that Araya is still around eliminates a few possibilities for what's going on with the Kamo Clan."

"Yes." It meant that the Kamo were lying to them… not that that had been much of a secret, already. Shiki doesn't believe for a single instant that the Kamos would be unable to properly identify a counterfeit corpse, and they had said that Araya Souren was dead. Which meant they were knowingly, blatantly lying.

Why?

"And if he was there, watching you…" Her cousin clicks his tongue, clearly irritated by the unpleasant thought. "Either he was just scoping you out, or there was something else that he intended to do, before getting waylaid by a certain someone."

'Something else that he intended to do?'

… Like what? Killing, or kidnapping?

Shiki makes a face.

"Have the Kamos lost their minds?" She may not be very well-versed in clan politics, but she gets the feeling that if it became known that the Kamo Clan were enacting nefarious plots against the Gojo Clan's 'blessed child,' heads would roll. Mainly by Satoru-niichan's hand, most likely.

"Your guess is as good as mine," her cousin shrugs. "Although, it seems that we'll finally be making some proper headway in terms of the Gojo Clan's internal matters, so… hopefully we'll be able to piece together whatever it is that the Kamos are hiding from us."

… Hopefully, then. Shiki fully intended to get to the bottom of the suspicious circumstances surrounding Jihei-san's death, and an explanation for what was going on with Araya –and the Kamo Clan at large– would go a long way towards her peace of mind.

"Now," Satoru-niichan touches down on one of the empty training fields, and carefully sets Shiki on the ground. "Back to our original topic. We need to clarify some irregularities in your fight against the Special Grade cursed spirit –namely, the implications it brings up about your cursed technique."

The girl blinks, "What about my cursed technique?"

"Well, for starters… how about the fact that apparently it allows you to 'kill' things that don't have a physical form?"

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