39

"Yuzuki-san, I need advice."

The pale-faced boy sitting by the window coughs, a rattling sound. Had she startled him?

"Hello, Shiki-san," he says, after the sudden coughing fit subsides. There is a certain sort of inflection to his next words, but Shiki can't quite put her finger on it. "I'm glad to see you well, considering everything that's happened with the Kamo Clan. How are you feeling? Is everything still alright? You weren't seriously injured, were you?"

… Weirdly enough, Shiki gets the feeling that Gojo Yuzuki might be trying to tell her something with these pointed questions, more than just expressing his genuine concern.

"I should be asking you about how you're feeling," Shiki sets aside her confusion, frowning. "Your cough sounds like it's gotten worse again. Is the new medicine ineffective?"

For some reason, her words cause the older boy to briefly close his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"Yuzuki-san?"

"Shiki-san," he starts, then pauses and shakes his head roughly. "… No. Never mind that just now."

Just now what? Shiki tilts her head, faintly bewildered, but for once Yuzuki-san is not so readily forthcoming with an explanation.

"I'm glad you seem well," he says quietly. "When we were informed of what had happened…"

Pale fingers curl tightly into the surrounding blankets, as the boy trails off into silence. It seems as if he has something he wants to say to her, but changes his mind at the last minute.

Why?

"… I'm glad you came back safely," is all he says in the end. The words are firm and steady, and Yuzuki-san offers her a small smile.

"Yes," Shiki nods. Whatever it was that he'd wanted to tell her earlier… if he changed his mind on speaking of it, Shiki would not push her friend on the topic. "Thank you for helping out with the Fushiguros yesterday."

Currently, the Fushiguro siblings are still with Satoru-niichan. Shiki had spent the earlier portion of her day with them, before Satoru-niichan had shooed her on so she could catch up with her bedridden friend 'before he's worried out of his mind.' Satoru-niichan is clearly exaggerating, though –Yuzuki-san isn't someone prone to overreacting easily.

"You're welcome, but there's really no need to thank me for that. They're my friends, too," he responds simply. "Now, you mentioned that you needed advice?"

"Mhm." How does she put this… "So… hypothetically, how does one go about being the head of a branch family?"

The boy's eyes widen fractionally with surprise, before coloring with amusement. "There's nothing hypothetical about that at all, is there?"

There is not, no.

Shiki folds her arms across her chest with a small 'hmph,' then proceeds to fill him in on the chain of events that led to her current situation. She really should've just kept her mouth shut during that meeting with Daisaku-sama and Ima-san…

"… so I said that she should be demoted, and someone else more suitable for the position should take her place."

Her words do not garner her any sympathy. Instead, Yuzuki-san laughs at her, a bell-like sound that he's swift to hide behind his sleeve. Shiki is torn between feeling happy that she made her friend laugh, and betrayed by his reaction to the predicament that she'd inadvertently brought upon herself.

"Who else were you expecting Daisaku-sama to pick?" he chuckles.

Literally any other Tobiume clansman aside from Gojo Ima? Who was not a twelve-year old girl who had no idea how to run a branch family? Shiki can barely take care of herself –she'd just been kidnapped, and needed to be saved by Satoru-niichan. How is she supposed to take care of other people?

The girl makes a faintly frustrated gesture with her hand, "Aren't there any competent adults in the Tobiume branch family who can replace her?"

"Less than you might think," Yuzuki-san informs her, deriving far too much amusement from the situation. He's lucky that Shiki likes him. "There are less than twenty constituents remaining within the Tobiume branch, only three of whom have any aptitude for arts relating to sorcery. Among their number, none possess a cursed technique, and none have any skill in creating barriers."

"Sorcery skills don't equate to good leadership skills," Shiki points out reasonably. It's the latter that's more important for a branch head, isn't it?

"A branch head represents their branch of the family in the eyes of the wider clan at large. And you know the emphasis that's placed on strength," the boy sighs, even though he very pointedly doesn't disagree with her. Which is rather telling. "It would be disadvantageous against other branch heads for the Tobiume head to be a complete non-sorcerer. Moreover, it would also make it extremely difficult for the Tobiume to command any respect, or be acknowledged in any serious capacity."

"But Gojo Ima wasn't a sorcerer, why–?"

"Why do you think she was so desperate, then?" Yuzuki-san counters serenely, reaching for the medicinal tea cooling on the low table beside them.

Shiki frowns. That… made a certain amount of sense, but even so–

"It's stupid," she says flatly. Her friend pauses for a moment in his movements, then proceeds lifting the cup to his lips as if nothing had happened. "Is this customary for all branch families? Strength above all else?"

"Not quite," Yuzuki-san shakes his head in the negative. "In families of better standing, there's an emphasis on candidates cultivating other skills in addition to sorcery that would be expected of a leadership position. Management, delegation, communication…"

Shiki does not like where this seems to be headed. "But the same does not apply for the Tobiume?"

"The same does not apply for the Tobiume," her friend confirms. "They've been on the verge of dissolution long before your entry into the Gojo Clan. It doesn't matter if they have a decent head leading them if there's no one else in the clan who will give them the time of day from the start."

… This just kept getting better and better, didn't it. Shiki rubs at her forehead, faintly irritated. Why did Daisaku-sama have to go and make this her problem?

Oh, right. Because Satoru-niichan made the Kamo Clan his problem, and Shiki was the reason why this problem came up in the first place. Looking at things from this perspective, Daisaku-sama's reasons for handing the Tobiume to her weren't entirely unreasonable… even though Shiki Does Not Appreciate having the title of 'branch head' dropped on her out of nowhere.

"No need to be so upset," Yuzuki-san tells her, amused. "For what it's worth, I'm sure that you'll make a good branch head."

"That's what Daisaku-sama said, too," Shiki mutters crossly.

The boy tilts his head at her, "You disagree?"

"Of course." Isn't it obvious? Shiki doesn't know how to be a branch head, and just the thought of having to manage an entire branch family of veritable strangers is… not something that she's looking forward to, to say the least. Being branch head will also doubtlessly mean having to attend more clan meetings in the future, and Shiki is not interested in getting entangled any further in clan politics than she'd already inadvertently done so.

I think it'll be good for you, Satoru-niichan's voice floats across her mind. You'll never know unless you try.

That might be true, but it doesn't mean she has to be graceful about it.

Yuzuki-san sighs, a soft sound. "Do we need to have a talk about this again? You know that your words and actions bear a certain weight to them within the clan."

Right. He'd made that clear to her in wake of Satoru-niichan's rise to clan head. But…

"It's not about that," she shakes her head. "Having weight to my words and being a suitable branch head are two completely different things."

Yuzuki-san automatically opens his mouth to respond, but pauses. Instead, he levels her with a thoughtful, considering look.

"… You're not the type of person to give in to self-doubt," he hums. "So what is it that you're really concerned about here? Why do you think that you won't be a good branch head?"

Astute as always, Yuzuki-san. And perceptive. He's good at understanding what makes people work, and talented at gleaning insight into how they think, on top of being eloquent with his words. See, someone like Gojo Yuzuki would make a much better branch head than Shiki.

How does she phrase this? Simply speaking, Shiki doesn't want the position because she's not trained to deal with it, unlike her role as one of the Gojo Clan's sorcerers. But perhaps a much larger portion of the reason can be more accurately summarized as, "I don't want to be in a position where other people's livelihoods and quality of life depends on me."

Because that's what a branch head is supposed to do, right? Take care of the people in their branch of the clan and provide them with the proper resources and opportunities that they would need to flourish. To smooth out any disagreements that may arise, and to ensure that they're happy.

Shiki can't do that.

She tells Yuzuki-san as much, only for the boy to lean back and give her a long, long look.

"Did you think that Gojo Ima did this for the Tobiume?" he asks her.

"… No?" Shiki makes a helpless gesture. The woman's failings in her role aren't really what's important here, though. Besides, "That would be another reason why she's being replaced."

"Let me rephrase," Yuzuki-san huffs out a slight breath. "Did you think that all branch heads did this for their respective branches?"

Shiki frowns. "Isn't that the point of having a branch head in the first place? To have a representative who will look out for the branch family's best interests and make sure that all members are doing well?"

"Strictly speaking, yes. But in practice, that's not always the case. That's a little bit besides the point, however," a note of something faintly exasperated seeps into the boy's tone. "Shiki-san, there's not a single branch head who is able to ensure that all members of their branch are happy and leading fulfilling lives. If you think that you're not suitable as branch head just because you can't do a perfect job–"

"I don't expect to be perfect; no one is perfect." Least of all Shiki. "But I…"

The girl sighs.

"Look. Yuzuki-san, people have died because of me before." It's not something Shiki likes to dwell upon, but it's the truth. Shiki acknowledges and respects the sacrifices made for her, even though they shouldn't have happened. "Gojo Isao was killed by that doll curse user who targeted me. Suzurigi Hideo died in the same incident. More recently, Jihei-san was murdered investigating the Kamo Clan… and yesterday Kiyohira-sensei would've died if Satoru-niichan hadn't arrived in time. Kiyohira-sensei lost his arm."

"You don't want the people around you to come to harm," Yuzuki-san murmurs slowly, as if the last pieces of a puzzle are sliding together into place. "It's not necessarily about whether or not you like them personally. You specifically don't want other people to be hurt because of you, so you don't want to be put in a position where you're expected to be responsible for their wellbeing. Even if it's for people that you're not emotionally attached to."

Of course. Trust Yuzuki-san to be able to put into words what Shiki doesn't know how to verbalize herself. She doesn't get why he says it like it's an epiphany, though. No one should like it when others are hurt or die for them, right? Especially since a person can only be truly killed once.

Shiki knows that she will doubtlessly continue killing and killing in her future, but it's not as if she's numbed to it. With eyes like hers, it's hard to be. Even though some things still remain unclear to her, she knows that every death means something. So every life means something, too. Being deserving of death does not simultaneously exclude a person from being deserving of life. The reverse is true as well.

Isn't that obvious?

Shiki tilts her head, not quite sure what her friend is getting at here.

Yuzuki-san exhales, breaking into a small laugh, which turns into a slight cough. Thankfully, it passes quickly. Shiki lowers the towel that she'd snatched up to pass to him.

"That's… not unexpected, in retrospect," he says at length, still a little breathless. "But you do realize that this only means you're more suitable to be branch head, right?"

Shiki stares flatly at her friend, "What."

"You might not care for any of the Tobiume as individuals, but you care about what will happen to them now that you've been named as their branch head, correct?" The ghost of a smile flickers at the edge of Yuzuki-san's lips, "Because this means that you're responsible for them."

The girl nods. A branch head is responsible for their branch family. Right? What is Yuzuki-san getting at here?

"Then, that's enough."

Shiki raises an eyebrow. "That's most certainly not enough. I don't know how to be a branch head! I'd have to look into the problems that they're currently facing, which might mean I'll need to negotiate with other branch families and argue with elders and –why are you laughing?"

The boy clears his throat, smiling broadly. "I think you'll do just fine as a branch head."

Shiki makes a face. Yuzuki-san reaches over and pats her on the shoulder consolingly.

"If you're really against this," he says, "I'm sure that Satoru-sama would arrange some other alternative so that you don't have to take up the role. Or, you could try keeping an eye out among the Tobiume members to find someone else that you can pass headship to eventually."

Oh! Now that was an idea. Shiki refuses to believe that she's the only viable candidate for the Tobiume. Maybe Daisaku-sama just hadn't had a chance to take a closer look at the Tobiume's situation because of the Kamo Clan mess that landed on top of him? If that was the case, then… it should be fine if Shiki only temporarily takes the branch head position, and let the Tobiume sort themselves out afterwards.

While it was heartening to know that multiple people had confidence in her apparent ability to lead for some reason, Shiki could really do with a lot less clan politics in her life, please and thank you.

She'd agreed to become a sorcerer of the Gojo Clan, not to get embroiled in their headache-inducing, never-ending clan politics!

"I know it might not seem that way to you," Yuzuki-san says suddenly, "But you're a lot more suitable for this sort of position than you might think. Trust me. The Tobiume are very lucky to have you."

"You would make a better branch head than me," is all Shiki has to say in response to that. Something in the older boy's expression flickers and turns faintly brittle for a brief moment.

"No, I would not," Yuzuki-san denies. "I'm flattered by your faith in me, but no branch family would want a branch head who's slated for an early death."

He's not wrong on that front, but even so, "Your health doesn't invalidate your skills and talents, Yuzuki-san."

"And none of it matters, because I won't live long enough to make any true difference." There's nothing else that exists in the boy's voice aside from calm acceptance in this moment. "That would also be why my own parents casted me aside. Their generosity in providing medical care for me is the only tangible mark of their presence in my life."

… Shiki had wondered before, idly, why it was that Gojo Yuzuki appeared to live by himself, save for the servants who attended to him. She'd assumed it was something to do with the traditions that most of the clan adhered to, and maybe there was some ridiculous sort of unspoken stigma about living under the same roof as someone who was chronically sick. Not that Yuzuki-san had been effectively abandoned and left to his own devices.

"Your parents sound awful," she tells him.

The boy shakes himself out of his thoughts and smiles wryly. "They're not the most caring or attentive, no. My uncle was the one who watched over me, before… before."

… Before Shiki had gotten Gojo Isao killed.

Looking back on things, it was a wonder that Yuzuki-san had never hated her for it. Instead, he'd ended up becoming her first friend.

"You never mentioned this."

"It never really came up," he shrugs. Liar. There had been plenty of opportunities over the years for Yuzuki-san to tell her about his relationship with his uncle, or to confide in her the neglect from his own parents. But he'd never done any of that.

… Had Yuzuki-san wanted to spare Shiki from feeling guilty over his uncle's death? Had he been trying to prevent Shiki from coming into any sort of contact from his cold-blooded parents?

Most of their conversations had revolved around the various subjects in the scrolls that they read together, or Shiki asking Yuzuki-san for an explanation on why other people made absolutely no sense, yet again.

She was a bad friend, wasn't she?

A sudden thought strikes her. "You should leave the clan compound with me."

The boy promptly chokes on thin air, alarmingly enough. This time, Shiki passes the cloth towel by her hand to him, gently rubbing slow circles on his back as he struggles to get his breathing under control again.

"Excuse me, Shiki-san?"

Did she come off too strongly just now? Shiki reflects on her tone, and modulates her voice to something that she hopes is a little more calming.

"The Gojo clan compound isn't safe for me, as proven by the Kamos. Satoru-niichan also thinks it's time to make a statement to the elders, so I'll be moving out from the compound," she explains. "I'll probably be living with Ken-jichan, I think? … They're still sorting out details right now. You should come with us."

Yuzuki-san nurses his head like he has an incoming headache, although Shiki has no idea why that would be the case.

"In the future, please don't say such alarming things with no buildup or explanation beforehand," he says wearily. "And… putting aside the fact that this is something that you should properly discuss with Satoru-sama and Nanami-san first before issuing any invitations… Shiki-san. It… I'm honored, truly. But it would be for the best that I remain here in the Gojo Clan."

Shiki tilts her head, "I'm sure we would be able to make arrangements to accommodate your medical needs, even outside the compound."

"That's not the entire reason," the boy shakes his head. "I would only be a burden for you. If I leave with you, then it would mark me as one of your weak points. Others would take advantage of it, both within the clan and outside of it. There would also be the matter of my parents; they might not care for me, but if they see that I will be an effective tool to get to you–"

If she allows him to continue talking, Shiki has no doubt that Gojo Yuzuki can come up with several dozen reasons why taking him outside the clan compound with her would be a bad idea.

"You're not a burden," she tells him, only to receive a bittersweet smile in response.

"I am," he says softly. "This body of mine is only a hindrance, not just to me, but also to anyone and everyone around me. A glaring weakness, one that I cannot work around."

"That's not–"

"You know this too, Shiki-san," he presses, continuing to speak in that soft, soft tone. "That year when you snuck the Fushiguro siblings out to the Obon festivities in Kyoto. Why did you not bring me along with you? When you and Kiyohira-san went to look for Gojo Kikuhime, why didn't you ask if I could help you?"

The words flow out from his mouth without pause; clearly, these thoughts have been weighing on his mind for quite some time.

"It's not because you don't trust me. It's because you're concerned for me –because you're worried about my health. Because you don't want to do anything that might aggravate it," Yuzuki-san answers his own questions simply. He sucks in a deep breath, "I… I know that. All of it. And I… would never want to be a hindrance to you."

If their roles were reversed –if it were Shiki pouring out her confusion to Yuzuki-san, and receiving proper explanations in response– then Shiki has no doubt that Yuzuki-san would know the right words to dispel all doubts. Unfortunately, it's Yuzuki-san pouring his heart out to Shiki here. And while Shiki can definitely provide a good listening ear, she isn't nearly as eloquent with her words as her friend is.

She doesn't know what to say in order to lift his spirits, just as she hadn't known what to say to Tsumiki in order for her to stop crying. Her tongue is heavy inside her mouth. Shiki wants Yuzuki-san to feel better. She wants him to know that even despite his illness, Shiki would never consider him to be a burden to her the way he so staunchly believes himself to be.

Yes, what he'd said was true. It was out of consideration for his health that he was oftentimes excluded from various matters, but that didn't make him a hindrance.

And even if he really was a hindrance –so what?

Gojo Yuzuki is Shiki's friend. He's her friend, just as Tsumiki and Megumi are.

…

But how does she convey all of that to him?

"If anyone calls you a hindrance," Shiki says seriously, completely sincere, "I'll slice them into pieces."

"… Please don't do that."

.

.

In the days following the Kamo Clan's fall from grace, most members of the Gojo Clan are focused more on the Kamos than they are on Shiki. Which is good. Satoru-niichan still needs to deal with various matters brought to him, which is less good, but there's not much that anyone can do about that, considering that he is the clan head responsible for the Kamo Clan's current misfortunes.

Shiki takes the time while Satoru-niichan is busy to acquaint herself with the Tobiume branch family. She still has her reservations about the role, but it's a task that has been assigned to her. Shiki isn't going to ignore it, and until she can find a better replacement, it's up to her to do the job of a branch head, no matter her personal misgivings on the matter.

Much to her quiet relief, the Tobiume are quite small for a named lineage, surprisingly so. Daisaku-sama really hadn't been lying when he'd said that the Tobiume were few in number.

In its entirety, the Tobiume branch family consisted of nineteen individuals. Adding Shiki, that made for an even twenty. Of those nineteen individuals, three were elderly, eight were adults, two were teenagers, and six were younger children –one of whom was a small toddler who had just been born earlier in the summer this year.

According to Gojo Toku ("Call me obaa-chan, child. Would you be a dear and help fetch me my walking stick and glasses… oh. Oh my. Greetings, ojou-sama, apologies for my rudeness. I'm afraid these old eyes aren't what they used to be."), there used to be five more able-bodied adults. All of whom had died over the years, four of them from sorcery-related incidents, and the last… possibly through a sorcery-related incident as well. Shiki still wasn't ruling out the possibility that Araya Souren had been responsible for her parents' deaths.

It was a little strange, though. The Gojo Clan was a sorcery clan, but only those who were properly trained went out on missions to exorcise cursed spirits, or act in the capacity of Windows or assistants. While there was a certain prevalent attitude throughout the Gojo Clan that clan members who did not possess any skill for sorcery were lesser, in a manner of speaking, they were not in the habit of sending clansmen towards certain death. Which included non-sorcerers.

So Shiki found it confusing that four members of the Tobiume family had all died accompanying the clan's sorcerers on various exorcism assignments, because as it turned out, none of them had ever been specifically trained for the role. One had been three years into an apprenticeship with a toolmaker, another had been a musician, and the last two had been an artist and housewife. All of them had been going about their lives perfectly fine. Three of them had even been married and had children! Children who had been orphaned in wake of their deaths, and subsequently left to other overworked clansmen to take care of.

What possessed them to give up the perfectly fine lives they'd led in order to involve themselves in the work of a sorcerer that none of them were particularly suited for?

"It was such a pity," Gojo Toku sighs. A crestfallen look flickers across the old woman's wrinkled face. "They were such wonderful children… your father Arata used to love listening to Asahi play the koto, did you know that? Genjiro and Machiko were the sweetest couple, and Gaku had a deft hand with the younger ones. But in order to restore honor to the Tobiume name, they decided to step forward and perform their duty, no matter how much it pained us all to lose them."

Something clicks in Shiki's mind. That phrasing of honor and duty in those faintly bitter words was uncannily familiar to her. "Did their sudden decision to take on a task that they knew they were unsuited for have anything to do with Gojo Ima?"

The old grandmother startles, paling. Her mouth falls open mutely, but she doesn't deny it, and that's an answer in and of itself. Shiki can't say that she's happy to have her suspicions confirmed like this.

Gojo Ima hadn't made it a secret that she wanted the Tobiume to have a stronger position, and higher status in the Gojo Clan. But the Gojo Clan was a sorcery clan that respected strength at its core, so… so was this the plan that she'd previously enacted? Had she pushed for her fellow branch family members to step forward and actively involve themselves in the sorcery side of things in the clan?

Clearly, it hadn't ended well for them.

… Had Gojo Ima convinced them to attempt this freely of their own will? Persuaded them with honeyed promises and false assurances of a better future? Or had she threatened and coerced them, forced them onto a path from which there was no return?

"She meant well," is all the old Tobiume grandmother is able to bring herself to say in the end. "Ima… she meant well. That girl has worked hard and sacrificed much for the Tobiume over the years. If she'd been born to any other branch family, she would've been a credit to her family. She… she would've had a brighter future."

There's an air of wistful nostalgia mixed with cautiousness to Gojo Toku's words. The old woman is being markedly more careful of what she's saying now. Is it because she wants to protect Ima-san? Or is it because she fears her former branch head? Or… is it because she fears Shiki?

None of that matters in the end, though.

Shiki hums, before asking her next question. "Is there anyone in the Tobiume family right now who wants to be directly involved with sorcery?"

"I… I don't know," the elderly grandmother responds haltingly. Then, after a brief hesitation, "Would you… require the Tobiume to send forth new candidates to integrate into the clan's exorcism work?"

If Shiki does that, there probably won't even be a Tobiume branch family left by this time next year.

"No," she tells the old woman bluntly. Gojo Toku relaxes marginally with that straightforward answer. Although, now that they're on this subject, "Is there a hard requirement for this? That a certain number of people from each branch must be involved with exorcising curses?"

"Traditionally, yes," the elderly grandmother confirms. "If a branch family is unable to meet even the minimum requirement of contributing towards the clan's strength, then that is grounds for revocation of the lineage name and immediate disbandment. Ima was able to negotiate and preserve the Tobiume name, but heaven knows what she gave up in the process to ensure this…"

"I see."

Gojo Toku raises her hand as if to reach out towards Shiki, but freezes mid-air as she apparently thinks better of it. "T-This won't be forever. None of the younger children show any signs of any inherited techniques, but Tetsu-kun has a decent amount of cursed energy. Once he's trained, he could–"

"And how old is Tetsu?" Shiki asks.

"He's four years old, ojou-sama."

That's even younger than Shiki had been, back when she'd been brought to the Gojo Clan and thrown headfirst into this world of sorcery and curses.

The girl shakes her head.

"I don't need anyone from the Tobiume to force themselves to get involved with sorcery." She just needs them to stay alive and be relatively happy while she smooths out a few wrinkles and figures out who to pass the branch head position to.

"But now that Ima isn't branch head anymore, if the quota is reinstated–"

"I'll take care of the quotas on my own." There were quotas for each branch family to meet? It made a certain amount of sense… well, Shiki will deal with it. No one in the Tobiume is well-versed in skills relating to sorcery, and Shiki isn't about to demand a four-year old kid to 'contribute' to the glory of their branch family. Considering the minuscule size and the relatively weak position that the Tobiume were in, the 'quotas' that they had to meet probably wouldn't be completely unreasonable.

Even if they were, Shiki was still confident that she would be able to deal with it, whether it be taking more missions by herself or throttling some smarmy high-ranking clansman. Even though she still had yet to receive an official rank, Shiki was treated more or less as a Special Grade One sorcerer within the clan, of whom there were only six total.

The Tobiume grandmother makes a quiet, choking sound. Then, to Shiki's alarm, the elderly woman starts crying –why do people keep crying around her?– but Gojo Toku assures her that these are 'happy tears,' whatever that means. Is she just… happy that the Tobiume finally have an active sorcerer in Shiki? No, that can't be right. Hasn't Shiki technically been a Tobiume sorcerer these past few years, ever since the Gojo Clan had obtained custody of her?

She'll never understand the way other Gojo clansmen think.

"So, how did your little meeting go with your branch family?"

"Most of them weren't available on short notice." Which makes sense, especially since Shiki hadn't announced her arrival beforehand or anything, merely wandered over to the Tobiume's corner of the clan compound while Satoru-niichan had been busy. "I ended up speaking with one of their elderly. Gojo Toku."

"Gojo Toku…" Satoru-niichan adopts a thoughtful look for half a second, "Nope, that name isn't ringing any bells for me. Is she someone who married into the clan?"

"Possibly?" Shiki shrugs, "I didn't ask."

Her cousin laughs, "What did you guys end up talking about, then?"

"Apparently, no one in the Tobiume is properly trained in any aspect of sorcery. Several Tobiume clansmen died getting in over their heads by assisting in missions that they weren't prepared for, and Gojo Ima might be responsible for that," Shiki responds. "She might've also done something to get the… quotas? Suspended while she was branch head, and Gojo Toku was worried about the Tobiume having to deal with that again."

Satoru-niichan makes a vague sound of understanding. "Ah, that. Yeah, that's a thing. Usually, a branch is required to contribute a certain number of sorcerers and assistants to exorcise curses."

Shiki had figured as much. The Gojo Clan is one of the Three Great Families upholding the sorcery world, so of course they would be active in taking missions to exorcise cursed spirits. While they might not require each and every single clansman to be accomplished in the arts of sorcery –an impossible task to achieve– it's not unreasonable that they would set certain expectations for their branch families to contribute to the wider clan at large.

"You won't have to worry about that," Satoru-niichan continues easily, "Just you alone more than makes up for whatever quota that the Tobiume are expected to meet. Honestly, I find it more interesting that the Tobiume were actively worried about not meeting it in the first place. I mean, you are on their family registry, aren't you?"

"Right?" Shiki nods, vindicated. If she was a Tobiume sorcerer, then the Tobiume family shouldn't have been worried at all on this front for the past six years. Evidently that was not the case, which was rather curious.

"They might be scared now, though," her cousin muses. "You might technically be a Tobiume, but it's pretty obvious that you don't care much for Gojo Ima. You haven't visited the Tobiume a single time ever since you moved in with Kiyohira, either –until today, I guess. It makes sense that they would be uneasy, now that you're suddenly back as their new branch head, while the Kamo Clan is having their little rough patch. Times are changing, and they're scared of what this might mean for them."

That makes sense.

"I really don't care much for the Tobiume, though," Shiki points out.

"You might not care about them, but you care about getting the job done. That's not necessarily a bad thing," Satoru-niichan pats her on the head like she's one of Megumi's fluffy shikigami. "On a brighter note, we're heading over to Shoko's now! She texted me just earlier –Kiyohira finally woke up."

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Extra.

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Unfamiliar ceiling. Unfamiliar lights. Sleek and modernized, rather than the traditional styling that most clan structures are built in. Which meant that he most likely wasn't anywhere in the Kamo Clan compound anymore. It meant that–

Shiki!

Gojo Kiyohira jerks and bolts upright–

–and hisses, when he finds himself unable to. Pain. Pain lances through his entire body in a veritable shockwave, accompanied by a pounding inside his head, as if someone took a hammer to his skull. Kiyohira forces himself to breathe in and out, slowly and steadily, as he continues the monumental task of sitting upright…

But to no avail. His body refuses to cooperate. Frustrated, Kiyohira pushes down with his arm to heave himself up–

His arm is gone.

His arm is gone, because that fucker had torn it off of him. Fuck!

Heart pounding heavily in his chest like a beating drum, Kiyohira determinedly–

"Easy there, Gojo-san," a feminine voice sounds somewhere above him. A gentle hand rests upon his shoulder, pushing him down. "You're safe. I wouldn't advise moving around; you were in a terrible state and I'd thank you not to undo my hard work. How are you feeling? You've been unconscious for the past few days."

Days…? He's been unconscious for days?

No, never mind that–

"Shiki." Kiyohira nearly winces at the sound of his own voice. He sounds terrible, his throat gravelly and raspy from disuse, and Kiyohira finds himself coughing involuntarily. Still, he presses on. "Shiki, is she… is she alright? The Kamos, did they–?"

"Shiki is fine," the woman says. Kiyohira belatedly recognizes her; she's Satoru-sama's other classmate. The girl whose ability to apply reverse cursed technique to others aside from herself had caused quite a furor, several years back. Her name was Ieiri Shoko, if he's remembering correctly. "Satoru reached the two of you in time, and he brought you to me so I could fix you up."

Satoru.

Satoru-sama had reached them in time.

Relief courses through him, hitting him like a tidal wave so powerful that Kiyohira finds himself swaying slightly from the force of it. If it wasn't for Ieiri reaching out to steady him, he might've toppled over, but Kiyohira can't quite find it in himself to be concerned about the possibility of aggravating his injuries.

He'd deserve it, anyways. He deserves this. Every single scrap of pain, he deserves it all. Every cut, every bruise, every broken bone –all of it is well-deserved, because he'd nearly let his student die.

(Again.)

… Hell, it was even worse this time. This time, Kiyohira was the reason why Shiki had gotten captured in the first place! He'd led her straight into that trap like an utter imbecile. What had he been thinking, assuming that Gojo Kikuhime –formerly Kamo Kikuhime– wouldn't harbor any thoughts of conspiring with her mother clan to conspire against them? She was Kamo Matsuhime's sister! Certainly, Gojo Kikuhime had only ever played the role of a dutiful wife and mother, and didn't possess any talent for sorcery, unlike her son. But Kiyohira should've known better than to let his guard down around a viper's sister.

For years, Gojo Kikuhime had acted as a grieving widow to her unfortunately-deceased husband. Had it all been a lie? Had it all been preparation on her part to lull them into a sense of false security, so she could strike the Gojo Clan at a critical moment?

… It still didn't excuse Kiyohira's utter carelessness, when he'd sought her out without thinking anything of it. He'd gone in expecting her to be another deferential clansman, but he should've known better. And he certainly shouldn't have brought Shiki along with him!

Shiki trusted him. She trusted in his decisions and his judgment, and he had led her astray. Kiyohira had allowed her to be poisoned and kidnapped under his watch. Even the cursed chains that she'd been bound by –Kiyohira hadn't been able to do a damn thing to free her from those bindings. She'd had to break out of it herself.

What a useless teacher you are, Gojo Kiyohira. What good are you for, aside from getting your students killed?

But Shiki wasn't dead. Miracle of miracles, their clan head had arrived on time and saved the both of them, going by Ieiri's words. That was already so much more than what Kiyohira could ask for. At the time, he'd just wanted Shiki to live, even if it cost him his own life.

He'd gladly lose both arms, if it meant that Shiki would be alive and safe.

This precocious little girl, who'd he watched grow up day by day… Kiyohira knows for a fact that he wouldn't be able to live with himself, if she died in front of him. Gojo Ryoma's death had shattered him, the heart-wrenching passing of that bright young boy who'd been brilliant with a sword but so, so very gentle in temperament and –in retrospect– utterly unsuited for the work of a sorcerer. So very unlike the frightening girl called Gojo Shiki. Kiyohira had been little more than a mess of jagged pieces and sharp, broken edges by the time that Shiki had walked into his life.

If Shiki died…

… no. No, Kiyohira can't survive the death of another student. He can't!

All humans die, eventually. But her death should be somewhere far-off in the distant future, far after Kiyohira moved on first. She didn't deserve dying on a dissection table to the Kamo Clan's whims.

Kiyohira didn't want her to die. Shiki deserved to live, whether it was as a powerful sorcerer or just as a normal girl. He realizes this, now.

(Perhaps he'd always known this, somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind.)

… Fuck. He'd nearly gotten her killed.

How was Shiki right now? Ieiri had said that she was fine, but the girl was terrible at taking care of herself. Was there someone watching over her? Hopefully not Satoru-sama –there was no doubt by this point that he genuinely cared for her, but with all due respect, Satoru-sama was barely competent at taking care of himself. Kiyohira strongly suspected some bullshit with reverse cursed technique going on there.

He wouldn't be able to rest easy until he could confirm for himself with his own two eyes that Shiki was alright. Ah, but would she even still want to see him? … Did she blame him for everything that happened? Kiyohira would certainly deserve it.

(She would never blame you for this, a corner of his mind whispers insistently. Kiyohira ignores it.)

Who was taking care of her right now? Was it Nanami? He'd always fretted over his niece. Kiyohira just hoped that Shiki wasn't staying with Yuzuki. Gojo Yuzuki was a good kid, but if Shiki was living with him, then that was a surefire way to attract his father's attention –not to mention the rumors that would be started– and Kiyohira would prefer that Gojo Hajime stays far away from his daugh–

… No. Not his daughter. Shiki is his student, and he is her teacher. This is the nature of their relationship, and… and it's for the best that it stays that way.

Was she eating well? The girl had a tendency to skip meals when she lost track of time or was engrossed in a new scroll. A bad habit that she'd picked up from Jihei, no doubt. Was someone making sure that she was eating side dishes aside from natto?

Kiyohira is starting to get a painful headache.

"Get some rest, Gojo-san," Ieiri's voice sounds next to his ear, too close and too far all at once. "I've informed Satoru that you're awake, and he says that he'll be here in a bit. He'll be bringing Shiki with him, too. Rest up so that you'll have enough energy to deal with them, alright?"

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