48

.

How curious.

Shiki peers at the run-down building in front of her, tilting her head. From the faint traces of cursed energy residuals that she's picking up, there's nothing in particular that seems to be amiss. All signs point towards a brief fight having taken place, with the Grade Four cursed spirit in question successfully exorcised at the end. Clean and simple. There doesn't appear to be much property damage, either, so Hoshi-san shouldn't have struggled too much on this mission, especially not with Takagi-sensei watching out for him.

But appearances can be deceiving. And if things had really gone as smoothly as the scene indicated, then it made absolutely no sense that Shiki couldn't get in touch with either her classmate or her teacher in the aftermath. She'd even checked with Kusakabe-sensei earlier, too –similar to Shiki, the second year teacher was also unable to reach Takagi-sensei.

The most innocuous explanation for this situation would be that there was a small mishap with their phones. Maybe both Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei forgot to charge their cell phones last night and it ran out of battery, or maybe the small devices somehow got destroyed during the mission. It was possible, but… rather unlikely. Shiki doubted that this was actually the case. Furthermore, even if it was, then it still didn't explain why Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei were missing. Phones or not, they should've returned directly to the Tokyo school once the mission had been completed.

Kusakabe-sensei confirmed for her that neither of them had returned to the school, even now.

So… clearly there was something wrong. Choki seemed to agree with her, too, when she'd informed him of the situation and expressed a desire to visit the mission site in person.

"I will accompany you, ojou-sama."

"Thank you, Choki."

And here they currently are.

… At a cursory glance, the mission itself had been completed successfully. No trace of any overt struggles, and Shiki most certainly didn't sense the presence of any malicious cursed spirit lingering around here.

Except, Shiki still doesn't see where her classmate and her teacher are.

Hmm…

"Oi! You two! What are you loitering around there for?"

Shiki doesn't actually realize that the shout is directed towards them at first; it's Choki who straightens and turns around.

"Hello, sir," he greets politely. The one stalking towards them is a middle-aged man with graying hair, whose brows are furrowed in a distinctly angry expression. "I assure you that there is no trespassing going on. We're only–"

"Oh, save it," the man snaps, with an impressive scowl that's almost enough to give Kiyohira-sensei a run for his money. The stranger then proceeds to cross the street swiftly, despite a distinct limp to his stride. Leg injury?

There's no time to dwell on the thought, though. The man proceeds to bodily stand between them and the dilapidated building, as if to prevent them from entering.

"If you're looking for a scare, then go find some other fucking haunted spot, you hear me?" he thunders. "I don't care if this suddenly became a recommended tourist spot or something, people have died in this building before! Go take your test of courage and shove it somewhere else!"

At the end of his tirade, the man is visibly panting, chest heaving up and down. His eyes flick towards Shiki, freezing for a moment, before determinedly looking away again.

Shiki follows the line of his gaze… oh. That's the distinctive button attached to the collar of her kimono. Was he–?

"… As I was saying, sir," Choki continues dryly, "We're only here to search for a few acquaintances. My lady's friend visited this area earlier today with a guardian, but it seems that we're unable to get in contact with either of them now. You look like someone who's familiar with this area –would you happen to have seen anyone, ah, 'loitering' around this building?"

The older man squints at Choki suspiciously. Choki responds with a disarming smile.

"… There's always a bunch of idiots who don't know any better, poking their noses into this place," the other man eventually grumbles. His hands clench into fists at his sides, before he seems to catch his own movement and forcibly relaxes again. "And… no. No. Didn't see anyone around, and I've been here all day. You're better off looking elsewhere."

"Are you certain? They should've come by here earlier. We're looking for a high schooler with light brown hair, and he should've been accompanied by another man with dark gray hair." A slight pause. Choki's voice remains even, but Shiki notes the appearance of a distinct light in the young man's eyes, careful and assessing. "Any information that you could provide us would be helpful."

"I said I didn't see anyone!" the other man denies, staring at the ground. "Now get out, or I'll–"

"Keep lying?"

The man's head snaps up in a jerky motion and he makes an offended sound, face turning red. Shiki can't understand why. It was fairly obvious that he knew something, even if he was obstinately being difficult about it–

Choki coughs. "Perhaps… a little more discretion would be prudent, ojou-sama?"

… If the man didn't want someone to call him out on it, then he shouldn't have lied in the first place. Shiki thinks that this is a perfectly reasonable opinion to hold. Not to mention, she wasn't feeling particularly patient at the moment, either. If he didn't–

"She's got you there, old man!"

A new voice. One that's male, but much younger than the trembling old man standing across from them. Shiki looks upwards, and sees a young man half-hanging out of an open window with a wide grin on his face. Dark-haired, with a strange hairstyle. There's a mess of curls sticking upright atop his head, a hairstyle that Shiki hasn't ever seen on another person before.

The middle-aged man hisses. "Stay out of this, Kinji!"

"Yeah, I dunno about that," the teenager throws his head back and laughs. "Sounded to me like someone's calling you out on your bullshit, and I figured–"

"It's none of your business," the man glares upwards, hands on his hips. "Also, why aren't you in school? Are you skipping again? You know you're not–"

"Not supposed to skip? Eh, whatever. School's lame and everyone is so boring–"

"–already the third time this week, Kinji! Also, if I catch you slinking into a pachinko parlor again I'll–"

Choki coughs. "Pardon my interruption, but if I may ask–?"

"Oh yeah, about the two who came by earlier, right?" An exaggerated, thoughtful hum from the younger of the two. "I might recall something 'bout that, but I'd need a little extra help remembering…"

The teenager raises a hand, rubbing thumb and forefinger together in a pointed gesture that means absolutely nothing to Shiki. Choki seems to understand, though, quirking an eyebrow in response but not appearing entirely surprised.

It's the middle-aged man standing across from them who has the most extreme reaction, though.

"KINJI," the man bellows. "NO EXTORTING!"

"Hey, hey, it's not extorting! Just a little… fair transaction. You know I need the money!" Ah, so was that what the strange gesture meant? The teenager was asking for money?

That wouldn't be an issue.

Choki is clearly of a similar line of thought. "Payment would not be a problem, so long as you can point us in the right direction for our search."

The teenager whistles, pleased. "Ooh, how generous of you, uh, mister…?"

"Suzurigi."

"Suzurigi-san!" A firm nod. Then, the teenager grabs the frame of the window that he's leaning out of, and jumps.

… It's a considerable distance to the ground. Choki makes an aborted movement as if to catch him, but freezes when it becomes apparent that it's a controlled jump –the teenager twists and uses a rocky ledge as a temporary foothold, bounces off without a single pause, and lands deftly on the ground.

There's cursed energy in those movements.

Behind her sunglasses, Shiki raises an eyebrow. Interesting. The cursed energy that she was sensing from him… didn't exactly seem like that of a regular civilian's either. Another sorcerer, perhaps? The potential was there, certainly. But if anything, it seemed more like…

The teenager straightens from the crouch he'd landed in, and smiles. "Hakari Kinji, at your service."

"You foolish boy," the other man hisses. He steps away from where he'd been blocking Shiki and Choki off from the 'haunted building' and limps over to Hakari-san, then promptly cuffs him over the head. "What do you think you're doing?! How many times have I told you not to–"

"It's fine, Higa-san," the teenager rolls his eyes. "I've jumped from this height plenty of times before, there's no need for you to always get worked up like this."

"And I've told you," Higa-san takes another swipe at the boy's head, "You need to take better care of your body or it will fail you one day!"

Hakari-san waves off the man's concern with a laugh, "I got it, I got it."

Higa-san's eye twitches. "Clearly you do not–"

"You can natter at me sometime else, okay? Let's not keep the clients waiting!" Hakari-san turns his attention back towards Shiki and Choki. "So, about the two that you were asking after–"

"The boy doesn't know anything." Higa-san immediately slaps a hand over the unruly teenager's mouth. "He doesn't know anything, he's just–"

"Hey, no, I do know what's going on!" Hakari-san wrestles away from him, slipping out of the man's grip. "The guys who came by earlier and went straight for this haunted place, right? One of them was wearing a school uniform, and the other was wearing a coat… sorta like the color of that kimono she's wearing, actually…"

The teenager gestures directly towards Shiki, who's currently dressed in the dark-colored kimono that serves as her own school uniform. Jujutsu High colors, one could say.

"Kinji, enough!" Higa-san cuts him off, frustrated. The man whirls around, ignoring Shiki and Choki entirely as he grips Hakari-san by the shoulders. "For once in your life, listen to me. Just leave it! Nothing good ever comes from being involved with their kind."

There's an odd twist to those last few words, something bitter and wistful all at once. If it were Yuzuki-san standing here in this moment, he would probably be able to make more sense of that tone. As it is, though…

"You could just say 'sorcerers,'" Shiki says, unimpressed.

Choki startles and gives her a slightly alarmed look from where he stands beside her, but Shiki is unconcerned. While there are general rules about exposing regular civilians to the jujutsu world –namely, don't do it– Shiki thinks that it's hardly relevant in this particular case. Besides, there are always exceptions.

The suspicious behavior of Higa-san, who'd appeared out of nowhere to warn them off from entering the building. Who'd tensed, when he saw Shiki. More precisely, he'd tensed when after catching sight of the swirled button sewn near the collar of her kimono, the insignia of the jujutsu schools. His words made it clear that he was determinedly hiding something. And added on top of Hakari-san, who evidently had some form of conscious control over his cursed energy…

The question was: Did they have anything to do with Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei's disappearance?

… Going by what she's seeing so far, Shiki wouldn't say that they're entirely unrelated. Particularly in Higa-san's case, given that the man seemed to actually know what was going on, and was currently staring at Shiki with wide eyes and a rapidly-paling face.

Hakari-san, on the other hand, "Oh hey, so you do know about sorcerers!"

There's a faint expression of triumph that he's wearing as he says those words. Triumph and vindication, mixed with unabashed interest –which stands distinctly at odds with the distinct horror that Shiki is able to decipher from Higa-san next to him.

… Hmm. Going by cursed energy alone, Hakari-san far outstrips Higa-san, but judging by their reactions… Higa-san is the one who appears to be much more aware of things. Who appears to be actively trying to hide what he knows.

In contrast, Hakari-san doesn't seem to be trying to hide much of anything at all, much to Higa-san's obvious dismay.

"Guess that makes things easier, then!" The teenager straightens, hands shoved into the pockets of his loose, scruffy jacket. "So whose gang do you run with? Those guys that came around earlier, are they actually part of your–"

"Kinji," Higa-san interrupts, long-suffering, "Just… stop talking, please."

A beat of silence falls between them after that. Higa-san does his level best to look anywhere but at them, while Hakari-san appears faintly confused. Choki, however, wears an expression of dawning comprehension, mixed with mild consternation.

Her assistant's reaction is quite understandable, really. Shiki has never heard the jujutsu school referred to as a 'gang' before.

She tilts her head at Hakari-san. Since he's the one who's more forthcoming with information out of the two of them…

"Curse user?" she asks.

"I mean… I guess?" Hakari-san scrunches up his face. "I think I remember them calling all this stuff 'curses,' so it's not like that's–"

"He is not!" Higa-san bursts out, unable to hold his tongue any longer. "He hasn't committed any crimes according to your regulations! So even though he has a cursed technique, that doesn't make him a curse user!"

Hakari-san pauses. Turns around slowly. "Sounds like there's a lot that you've been keeping from me, Higa-san."

"Shut up," the man hisses, full of despair, "You'll thank me later once we get out of this goddamned mess."

"What do you mean? That's not–"

… They're getting sidetracked again.

Shiki hums noncommittally, taking time to mentally review the situation while Choki keeps an eye on the ongoing argument apprehensively.

Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei are still missing. They're missing, but it appears that Higa-san and Hakari-san here have some idea of what's going on. Yet despite having been the one to approach them initially, Higa-san seems remarkably reluctant to share any information, even though it's now clear that he knows she and Choki are affiliated with the jujutsu school. That means he's not aligned with the jujutsu administration, then, and likely shares ties to curse users –who have a thing about avoiding authorities.

She doesn't get the feeling that Higa-san is a sorcerer himself, but for a non-sorcerer he seems to be remarkably well-informed. Definitely connected to the jujutsu world in some way, although the details remain unclear for now. He'd also seemed genuine in his initial attempt to keep her and Choki out of the haunted building where Hoshi-san's mission had taken place, though… had he not realized that Shiki was a sorcerer? That was a possibility. He hadn't been skittish until his eyes had fallen upon the swirled button on her dress and recognized what it stood for.

Higa-san wanted to stop non-sorcerers from entering the building. Had he tried to stop Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei as well? … And why was he trying to prevent others from entering, for that matter? Was it simply because of the dangers surrounding a 'haunted' building… or was there something to hide?

People have died in this building before, Higa-san had claimed. That might be true. All cursed spirits are dangerous, and even a Grade Four can kill. But most Grade Four cursed spirits hold that rank because they are only nuisances, rather than something truly deadly. People have gotten injured or People have seen strange things would be indicative of a Grade Four. People have died… sounds more like something along the lines of a Grade Three.

Shiki hasn't seen the information regarding Hoshi-san's mission, but she thinks that it's rather unlikely that Takagi-sensei would choose a Grade Four cursed spirit with a confirmed kill count for her classmate's first assignment. Furthermore, Takagi-sensei is a Semi Grade One sorcerer. With him watching over Hoshi-san… whether or not the cursed spirit was Grade Four or grade Three shouldn't have posed any sort of problem.

But now both of them were missing, without so much as a single word. Quite odd, wasn't it?

Higa-san and Hakari-san. The potential involvement of curse users, in an otherwise unremarkable run-of-the-mill mission.

… Something still didn't quite add up, here. A piece of the puzzle was missing.

…

Regardless, what was most important at the moment was ensuring Higa-san and Hakari-san's cooperation. The problem would be Higa-san –who appeared to be extremely wary of the jujutsu school. Not unreasonable, if he was truly affiliated with a gang of curse users.

So in that case…

"Higa-san," Shiki addresses the man directly. "We are not here in any official capacity."

If the man's main concern was the jujutsu administration, then making it clear that their current presence here had nothing to do with the authorities should help to set him at ease. Choki catches on to her intentions immediately, glancing towards Shiki briefly for confirmation before he steps forward to explain.

"My lady speaks the truth," he says to Higa-san. "You are not incorrect that she is from the jujutsu school, but the only reason for our presence here is to search for my lady's classmate, as well as… the other sorcerer assigned to the boy. It is unnecessary for you to be so cautious. And the sooner we are able to find the ones we're searching for, the sooner we'll leave this area. If there is any information that you –or Hakari-san here– could provide for our search, it would be greatly appreciated."

We don't intend to cause any trouble. The sooner we find them, the sooner we'll be out of here.

Despite those words, however, Higa-san remains silent, and tugs fiercely at Hakari-san when the boy opens his mouth to speak.

There are two possibilities that Shiki could think of to explain this lackluster reaction. First, Higa-san didn't believe them. As for the second… well, it might be a slight leap, but…

"Choki, please get in touch with one of the assistant managers." Shiki observes the way Higa-san twitches minutely, then forcibly represses himself. "Request information on curse users active in this area."

Higa-san stiffens and sucks in a sharp, "How did you–?!"

"So that's how it is." His reaction confirms it, then. She'd thought that Higa-san had seemed rather sensitive to the term curse user when she spoken it earlier. Coupled with his insistence that Hakari-san wasn't a curse user, his own wariness of the jujutsu administration…

Had Hoshi-san and Takagi-sensei gotten entangled with curse users? … On a mission to exorcise a Grade Four cursed spirit?

Wow, Hoshi-san was quite unlucky, wasn't he?

"For fuck's sake, Higa," Hakari-san rolls his eyes, finally extricating himself from the man's grip. "Why are you acting like this? It's not as if you've ever had any fondness for Negi's gang, anyways, and you don't–"

"You don't understand, Kinji! I'm keeping us safe!"

Shiki doesn't particularly care about their argument. However, "Hakari-san. Do you know where the ones we're looking for might be?"

"Yeah, 'course I do," the young man swivels around to nod rapidly. In a mock-conspiratorial whisper, "Negi and his guys aren't exactly discreet. Although, I might have a little trouble remembering…"

Thumb and forefinger rub together again.

"If you can lead us to them, then we'll provide monetary compensation," Shiki informs him. It's a simple arrangement that she doesn't mind agreeing to, provided that he's actually being truthful. Reminds her a bit of Mei-san, to be honest. Shiki isn't too familiar with Mei-san, but she likes that interacting with Mei-san is usually very straightforward.

"Sweet! Love that attitude," Hakari-san grins. "So, uh, what should I call you, ojou-sama?"

Choki frowns slightly at the casual attitude. Shiki doesn't really mind it, though. Because it's not as if Hakari-san is actually being rude –or at least, not that she can tell. Besides, if they're talking about rudeness, then Aikawa-senpai's demeanor would be the one that comes to mind…

"My name is Gojo Shiki," she responds.

"Gojo-san, then! It's a pleasure to–"

"G-Gojo?"

Three sets of eyes turn towards Higa-san at that. Higa-san, who gapes at Shiki, and has the look of a man who has only just realized that he might be in over his head.

"You wouldn't…" Higa-san's voice trembles, and falters. He swallows roughly, "You wouldn't happen to… to be related to a 'Gojo Satoru' now, would you?"

… There's only one clan that bears the name Gojo in the jujutsu world, and only one Gojo Satoru.

The answer is rather obvious, isn't it? "Is that of concern to you?"

The man hesitates. "Look, I… it's not… I've…"

Shiki doesn't have the patience to continue listening to his stuttering; they've wasted enough time here already. She turns around.

"Hakari-san, lead the way, please."

"Wait! You can't go!" Higa-san finally bursts out, "If you're related to Gojo, then it's dangerous! Negi is trying to curry favor with another curse user who's at odds with Gojo Satoru, so if you're a relative then he might decide to make you a hostage!"

Shiki pauses.

Another curse user… who's at odds with Gojo Satoru?

That… didn't exactly make sense. Satoru-niichan is a Special Grade sorcerer. Curse users fear him and actively flee from his presence. If anyone would stand at odds with him, then it would be…

"… Geto Suguru."

Geto-san. Was he involved with this mess, somehow? That's… unexpected. Completely unexpected. It didn't make any sense for Geto-san of all people to show up here out of the blue! And wasn't this originally a mission to exorcise a Grade Four cursed spirit?

Hoshi-san's luck was truly atrocious. Shiki is amazed at how far things seem to be flying off the rails on his first mission.

If Geto-san was really involved somehow, then… there was definitely no time to waste. There was a silver lining to this, though. Given that Shiki knew Geto-san's hostility was firmly directed towards non-sorcerers, it was unlikely that Hoshi-san would be harmed. Of course, this was supposing that this 'Negi' followed a similar line of thought to Geto-san and believed sorcerers needed to be protected, instead of being thrown into endless fight and fight against cursed spirits.

It was unlikely that Geto-san was actually here in person. The man was good at hiding, and Shiki hasn't seen him since that time when she'd killed a Special Grade cursed spirit on a mountain. That was… three years ago, thereabouts? And she hasn't seen hide nor hair of him since.

Satoru-niichan had seen him once, briefly, around the time when Shiki had been kidnapped by the Kamo Clan. After that, though…

…

This was a potential lead, then. If Higa-san wasn't lying, and if Negi and the curse users involved here truly held some sort of relation to Geto-san…

An unexpected turn of events. But Shiki can't say it's unwelcome.

"Let's go, Hakari-san," she turns towards her guide.

"… You're sure?" he asks, scratching his chin. "I mean, I don't really know what's going on here, but it kinda sounds like–"

"I'll pay you extra."

"–you've got things well in hand, so who am I to say anything about it?"

.

.

Extra.

.

Takagi Hajime is no stranger to missions taking unexpected turns. Cursed spirits are unpredictable, and dangerous. Even a Grade Four cursed spirit has the potential to be dangerous, but–

Not like this.

"Can't say this was how I expected to run into you again, Hajime," the young man in front of him says. Negi Toshihisa. An old acquaintance, one whom Hajime hadn't been expecting to see again, and… certainly not like this.

Short dark hair, held up by a headband. Dark eyes, shining with faint amusement. Toshihisa looks different, now, but there's something so achingly familiar about him all the same.

… But Hajime isn't here to reminisce about old times with a former-friend-turned-enemy.

"I can't say that this was what I expected, either," he finally says as the silence stretches on between them, once it becomes evident that Toshihisa is waiting for a response from him. "Out with it already. What do you want?"

"Don't make this difficult," Toshihisa sighs. "For now… nothing. I would've preferred that you left things well alone and didn't come here at all, but… now that you're here and kicked up a whole fuss, obviously I can't pretend that nothing happened. You always did like to make things harder for me, Hajime."

The captive sorcerer scoffs, folding his arms across his chest –or he would've, if his wrists weren't bound together tightly with thick ropes and sealing scripts subduing him. "You think I planned to run into your ragtag gang? While I still had my student with me?"

Toshihisa smiles tightly. "Well, that's exactly what ended up happening, isn't it?"

"It was just a mission to exorcise a Grade Four cursed spirit!" Hajime is going to have words with whoever gathered intel and put together this mission. Grade Four exorcism his ass. Hajime had walked in with Hoshi-kun and found Toshihisa and his gang… they'd been…!

… Gods. They'd been feeding humans to a cursed spirit. Hajime is currently still doing his level best to repress his reaction to the gruesome sight, but he has no doubt that this will be new, bloody fuel to add to his nightmares.

Toshihisa. Toshihisa, what the fuck.

Grade Four cursed spirit… ha, what Grade Four? There was a Grade Three cursed spirit sealed in the basement, and they'd been throwing other humans inside. Non-sorcerer civilians, and Hajime had known in that instant that things were not going to turn out well.

Toshihisa had turned around and smiled, surprised but friendly. Hajime had felt his blood run cold.

"Don't look so gutted, Hajime. They're not worth your sympathy; they're not like you or me! These are just… monkeys."

…

Including Toshihisa himself, they had five sorcerers on their side. Curse users, all of them –who didn't even bat an eye at throwing helpless civilians to a cursed spirit's cavernous maw. Living, breathing human beings!

… Back before they'd parted ways with each other, Hajime and Toshihisa had been more or less equal in skill to each other. Now, though, there was a distinct edge of ruthlessness to Toshihisa's movements, one that Hajime lacked. And while Hajime's abilities were much more polished than they used to be, it still wasn't enough to overturn the severe disadvantage of fighting against five other opponents while protecting a vulnerable student.

All of them had underestimated Hoshi-kun. Even Hajime. Despite his fear, Hoshi-kun had used the situation to his advantage –and in the split second when he was completely overlooked, lunged forward and killed the cursed spirit on his own.

Hajime is proud of him. Hoshi-kun has come a long way from that nervous, stuttering wreck who'd stepped foot into his classroom, and he has no doubt that the boy will go far in the future, if he keeps up the hard work like this.

… And stays alive, for that matter.

It's extremely fortunate that Toshihisa doesn't seem like he intends to kill them –either of them. Hajime can't claim to understand what Toshihisa is thinking. But… he suspects that it has nothing to do with their former relations with each other. Toshihisa isn't the type of person to be blinded by sentiment, after all.

(Not like Hajime.)

"… I never took you for the kind of person who enjoyed blood sports."

"I don't, not really," Toshihisa shrugs, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. How many people have those hands killed? "It's more a byproduct than anything else, you could say. Cursed spirits are capable of becoming more powerful, but it doesn't necessarily always seem to be solely through combat experience. We were just trying to see if the consumption of monkeys changed anything."

Hajime stares at his former friend in horror. "… Why on earth would you want to make cursed spirits stronger?"

What was he thinking? Did Toshihisa finally snap? Is this… is this what Hajime is looking at here? The broken shell of a man who had once been–

"This is for the sake of the future," Toshihisa says firmly, then leans forward. "Listen. Hajime… it doesn't have to be like this. We don't need to be enemies."

"You're insane," Hajime breathes. Toshihisa even sounds sincere, holy shit.

"I'm not," his former friend responds. The man leans forward, close enough that Hajime can see individual fragments of light flickering in those dark, silken eyes. Eyes that meet his own, clear and confident, but Hajime is positive that what he sees in those eyes is nothing but madness. Isn't it? "Hajime, listen to me. I was right. Sorcerers can't keep going on like this; the cycle needs to be broken. Geto-sama confirmed that himself."

"And how many people are you going to kill for it?"

"As many as necessary," Toshihisa responds. "As many as it takes."

Hajime sucks in a deep breath, "Absolutely not."

"You know I'm right, Hajime," the man leans back slowly. "Even if you don't agree with the methods… something needs to change. Jujutsu society is rotten to the core. You should certainly know that better than me, right?"

Hajime grits his teeth. His not-friend lets out a small huff of laughter.

"Stubborn. But I guess that's not so surprising–"

Toshihisa suddenly freezes, words cutting off in his throat as his eyes promptly widen, bulging.

Hajime can't blame him.

It's like –like a tidal wave. That's about the best way he can put it. A thick, suffocating wave that crashes over a person with no warning at all, with no regard for anything caught in its wake. It encompasses them, and then pulls them under; heavy, choking. Utterly merciless. It takes a long moment for Hajime to register what he's feeling, before his mind dimly becomes aware of the rapid thump-thump-thump that is his heart's best attempt to leap out of his throat. Chilling pinpricks twist along his spine, shards of ice cutting deep into his veins, freezing his blood.

Muddled. Everything is muddled. There are black spots dancing in front of his eyes –wait, is he breathing? Is he still breathing? Fuck, he needs to breathe. His lungs are burning and he can't breathe. It takes every ounce of strength for Hajime to force himself to suck in a short, shuddering breath, and it feels as if the thin trickle of air is barely able to squeeze down his throat.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe, goddamnit!

Something wet slides down the side of his face. Hajime blinks, and something takes the opportunity to trickle over his eyelids as well, rolling down and dropping plip-plop onto the table in front of him. It's not blood, but it feels like it should be. It certainly hurts enough to be, every wet trail of beaded sweat feeling like it's being carved into his flesh with a knife upon the surface of his hypersensitive skin.

… Across the table, Toshihisa doesn't look like he's doing any better than him, but that's about the only comfort that Hajime can find in this situation.

What the hell is going on?

Hajime needs to run. He needs to run, but his body won't move. There's a primal corner of his mind containing all the survival instincts that he's cultivated over his years as a sorcerer that screams RUN RUN RUN at him and Hajime mentally roars back I KNOW, but he just can't–

He can't move. He can't move–!

Distantly, Hajime hears a bell tolling.

…

What feels like both an instant and an eternity later, the door swings open.

Hajime watches with wide eyes as a very familiar white-haired girl proceeds to step inside the small room, blue eyes glowing eerily. In that instant, through his frozen terror, there is only a singular nonsensical thought that crosses his mind:

So this is what death looks like.

The girl's eldritch blue eyes fall upon him.

"Ah, Takagi-sensei," she says. "There you are."

.

.

…

.