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"Y'know," Satoru-niichan says, bemused, "I feel like you always get up to such interesting things whenever I'm not around."

"It's not on purpose." … It really, really isn't. These things just somehow always seem to happen on their own, mystifyingly enough? It's not as if Shiki is the type to deliberately poke her nose into matters that don't involve her directly, or go about looking for trouble.

But, she's also not the type to take any trouble lying down. Trouble is best dealt with swiftly and directly –and permanently, too, when it's a feasible and acceptable option.

Her cousin snorts.

"So. Another civilian kid, is it?" The young man rocks back on his heels, hands in his pockets as he lets out a thoughtful hum. "You certainly seem to have a knack for finding new recruits."

"It's not on purpose," Shiki repeats herself, mildly exasperated. Although, on that note… "You think this boy would be a good recruit as a student?"

"Why not?" Satoru-niichan counters with an idle shrug. "From what you just told me, this kid has a lot of cursed energy, and a Special Grade cursed spirit haunting him, too. Seems like he'd be a perfect fit for the jujutsu school, don't you think so?"

It's either that or an execution order courtesy of the higher ups who generally did not like unexpected, dangerous elements appearing so suddenly in their notice, Shiki supposes. Or appearing at all, really –not unless they could be easily collared and controlled.

… Come to think of it, this strange boy that had appeared in Kinji and Kirara's last mission may potentially fulfill that criteria in the higher ups' eyes, considering the lack of any previous connections to anything in the jujutsu world. The preliminary background check on Okkotsu Yuta confirmed that his background was quite civilian –the son of a white-collar worker and a housewife who lived in a normal neighborhood, with a younger sister attending the local elementary school. By all appearances, there was nothing that was particularly unusual about such a plain-seeming background at a glance.

Save for the considerable amount of cursed energy shared between the boy and the cursed spirit that followed his every footstep. Cursed energy of a Special Grade level, which wasn't something that one saw very often.

"Students enter the jujutsu school in order to learn how to exorcise curses. They do not bring in Special Grade cursed spirits with them!"

"Settle down, Takagi-sensei," Satoru-niichan lets out a light 'tsk' at the other man's interjection in their conversation. "As a teacher, shouldn't you be all about the education and betterment of the youth?"

From the other side of the table in the meeting room, Takagi-sensei slowly sucks in a deep breath. "My job is to prepare students to become sorcerers. What Okkotsu-kun needs right now is assistance from a sorcerer, not to be thrown off the deep end into a dangerous, unfamiliar environment. We don't know what triggers that cursed spirit haunting him. If he ends up endangering any of the other students, the consequences of that would be–"

Satoru-niichan reaches out to his side and drags Shiki closer to him. Unresisting, Shiki allows herself to be manhandled by her older cousin.

"I don't think you need to be concerned about that," he says to Takagi-sensei, patting Shiki on the shoulder meaningfully.

Shiki sits docilely beside her cousin, blinking.

Takagi-sensei makes as if to nurse an incoming headache, but apparently thinks better of it at the very last moment. There are layers of cloth bandages wrapped around his head from his recent injury, so this is probably for the best. His fingers twitch and hover awkwardly mid-air for a moment from the aborted movement, before he eventually lowers them down slowly.

"That's… still not quite…" Takagi-sensei trails off helplessly for a moment. Shiki and Satoru-niichan wait for him to gather his words again, Shiki doing so patiently while Satoru-niichan waits with an air of amusement. "… I understand that you have confidence in her ability to subdue Okkotsu should either he or his cursed spirit pose any problems. But that's still not…"

"Still not what, hmm?"

Is it the collateral damage that Takagi-sensei is worried about, perhaps? Shiki is not particularly concerned about a fight against the cursed spirit, even if it's Special Grade, but she cannot guarantee that she'll be able to exorcise it with zero damage to their surroundings.

"I still don't think that this is the best course of action to take," Takagi-sensei confesses in a quiet, conflicted-sounding tone of voice. "Concerns about safety aside… if Okkotsu Yuta were to be accepted as a student, it would doubtlessly bring down more attention from the higher ups, and I think that the Tokyo students have already had quite enough of that already. I just want the children to have a safe environment to learn and develop their skills in, without having to worry about… any of this, really."

The words are slightly rushed, but heartfelt nonetheless. For all his flaws, Takagi-sensei does genuinely care about his students –as seen in the careful attention that he provides while instructing Kinji and Kirara. If Shiki were a girl who was not an experienced Grade One sorcerer upon her entry to the school, then perhaps she would've found his guidance to be invaluable as well.

But, this is not the case.

Gojo Shiki is a Grade One sorcerer of the Gojo Clan and the head of one of its branch families; more importantly, she is the bearer of a pair of cursed eyes –the only one aside from her cousin and clan head to possess such eyes. The political scenery and machinations that Takagi-sensei so very clearly does not wish for his students to become involved in is something that Shiki grew up with as a talented young sorcerer of the clan.

So, this desire to protect his students that Takagi-sensei professes is not something that includes Shiki. She does not bear her teacher any ill will for it. After all, the circumstances of their current reality makes it impossible for Shiki to be an unknowing student who needs to be protected by a teacher in such a manner… who even can be protected by someone like Takagi-sensei.

Not that it seems to stop him from attempting to protect Kinji and Kirara nonetheless, which is not something that Shiki can fault the man for.

Briefly, she wonders if there is any measure of guilt that Takagi-sensei is attempting to compensate for, here. The ordeal that the students experienced during Obon is not something that Takagi-sensei could be blamed for, but recent events during the Kyoto exchange event and the latest mission…

Both situations were unexpected, certainly, but Takagi-sensei had been responsible for looking out for his students in both situations, and failed to properly do so.

"You're not going to be doing your students any favors, y'know," Satoru-niichan tilts his head towards the other man. His words come out in a lazy drawl, but his eyes are sharp. "There's a difference between protecting and coddling. And really, no matter how many reasons you find to pretty things up… isn't the core reason why you're so against accepting Okkotsu Yuta as a student just because you don't think you can deal with him as a teacher?"

Takagi-sensei tenses. "That's not–!"

"You might be a decent teacher to Kinji and Kirara, I'll give you that," Satoru-niichan interrupts his protest carelessly. "But to Shiki? Can you honestly say that?"

The man's face pales slightly. "That's… I…"

"Takagi-sensei isn't so bad," Shiki says, obliged to speak up in her teacher's defense.

Satoru-niichan arches an eyebrow skeptically. "Really? Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me what you've learned from him as a student in his class this year?"

"… I'm better at using video cameras now." Computers, too. Although oftentimes her unfamiliarity with the devices means that she's quite slow in operating them, so it's not uncommon for Kinji or Kirara to deftly take over things and press a few buttons before passing it back to Shiki.

"Great," Satoru-niichan folds his arms across his chest, "Anything else?"

"Takagi-sensei arranged a few spars for me with Kusakabe-sensei." Come to think of it, there hadn't been any recent sparring sessions lately, not since… Obon, thereabouts. Missions had been quite busy after that, and there had also been that trip to China. Then, immediately followed by the mess with Kinji's Domain Expansion.

Shiki… is probably also not very well-liked by the Yagyu Clan at the moment. Kusakabe-sensei, as a sorcerer who is closely related to the Yagyu Clan as a talented practitioner of Shin Kageryu swordplay, may or may not have been instructed to maintain a certain distance from her as an expression of the Yagyu Clan's dissatisfaction with her. Which might be another reason for the recent lack of any spars.

Pity. There were a few interesting tricks that he'd shown using Shin Kageryu.

"So there's not really anything that your Takagi-sensei here has actually taught you himself so far," Satoru-niichan's voice breaks through her thoughts, returning Shiki's attention to the ongoing conversation –and her teacher's evident growing discomfort. Her cousin's voice doesn't contain blame, precisely, but it is… overwhelmingly neutral, in a sense, and his words are all the more sharpened by bluntness for it.

Well. Takagi-sensei is a shikigami user; more to the point, he is a sorcerer who happens to be a shikigami user in the more traditional sense. One who prefers fighting at range, staying far away from any immediate danger and supporting the shikigami that is sent into close combat in their stead.

It's quite different from how Megumi has been trained, or from what Shiki recalls of Geto-san's fighting style. Both of them summoned familiars to fight for them –Megumi his Ten Shadows shikigami, and Geto-san the cursed spirits that he'd subsumed through Cursed Spirit Manipulation– but neither were the type to stay back and linger at a distance as most shikigami users preferred. In a way, this is quite sensible. Summoned creature would not be useful if its summoner was taken out, and an ineptitude in close combat for the sorcerer would be a glaring weakness for others to take advantage of.

Takagi-sensei wasn't incapable of close combat, but in this he was… distinctly lacking in this area, especially when compared to his proficiency with summoning and utilizing his shikigami. Which also translated to him not having much to teach Shiki combat-wise, not even as a sparring partner.

Ranged fighting was a weakness on her part, but it wasn't something that Takagi-sensei could help with, seeing as Shiki did not intend to add combat shikigami to her arsenal of tools. It would be a waste of cursed energy for her, and the last thing that Shiki needed was to waste her cursed energy reserves, considering her previous experiences.

… Takagi-sensei isn't a bad teacher by any means. Kinji and Kirara have both learned a lot from him. The man just does not happen to be a particularly suitable teacher for Shiki. But he tries his best nonetheless, and is willing to listen to her opinions, so Shiki does not find him to be objectionable as a teacher.

She has Satoru-niichan paying attention to her training, and the resources and backing of the Gojo Clan behind her. Shiki does not begrudge her classmates the additional care and attention that they receive from their teacher; it's not as if she needs it.

"It's fine, Satoru-niichan," she tells her cousin, who makes a face at her and sighs dramatically.

"You're such an easygoing, good-natured little thing," he says to her, which makes Takagi-sensei choke slightly out of nowhere. But Satoru-niichan ignores the man, instead reaching out towards Shiki to tap her gently on the nose. And in a quieter tone, "Be a little more selfish."

For a moment, Shiki wonders if it's even the matter of Takagi-sensei's teaching that her cousin is talking about anymore.

However, Satoru-niichan does not give her any time to dwell on the thought as he turns back towards the teacher in question.

"Anyways, to return to the point I'm making," he claps his hands together. "Takagi. Even if you don't feel prepared to take on a Special Grade student, you do realize what's going to happen if you refuse to accept Okkotsu, don't you?"

Takagi-sensei eyes Satoru-niichan warily. The faux-cheerful smile on the white-haired sorcerer's face does not falter. "… Sorcerers will be assigned to properly assist the boy in exorcising the cursed spirit following him, won't they?"

"Bzzt." Both arms come up and cross over Satoru-niichan's chest, forming an 'X' in front of him. "Wrong answer. Okkotsu is going to get shipped over to Kyoto."

Takagi-sensei's brows furrow, lips curving down into a frown.

"This is how the higher ups are going to spin it: If the Tokyo school does not feel properly prepared to contain and deal with the threat presented by Okkotsu Yuta, then the responsibility falls to those in Kyoto to do so," Satoru-niichan informs the other man. "Do you also need me to tell you what they would do with the kid there, once he's fully in their custody?"

"You're saying… that the higher ups will try to make a weapon out of the boy?" Takagi-sensei blanches at the implications.

"Shiki and I are a little too difficult for them to push around as they please, and they also know that we won't represent their interests," Satoru-niichan responds lightly. "They've been salivating for the chance to dig their claws into a Special Grade sorcerer to properly be at their beck and call for far too long."

Takagi-sensei lowers his head, clearly mulling over the words. And judging by the stiffening expression on his face, he clearly does not find it to be a particularly pleasant outcome that Satoru-niichan is painting here.

"The higher ups…" Takagi-sensei pauses, lips twisting. "Even if what you say is true, they would not… you speak as if they're malicious, and they aren't. I don't necessarily agree with the way that they do things, but surely they wouldn't go that far, or intentionally harm him."

Satoru-niichan stares at Takagi-sensei for a moment, "… I think I understand why you were assigned this mission with Okkotsu."

Shiki blinks in confusion for a moment at the seemingly-unrelated comment that comes out of nowhere, before catching onto her cousin's meaning.

Takagi-sensei, on the other hand, clearly misses it. "Excuse me? This recent mission –it was assigned to my students, not me."

"And if the two of them were assigned a mission while Shiki was away, then who else but you would accompany them?" Satoru-niichan instantly points out.

Takagi-sensei frowns in consternation, "But… what does that have to do with anything?"

His voice is plainly bewildered, as if he cannot think of why it would be significant that Takagi Hajime attends this mission involving an encounter with a Special Grade cursed spirit, and the boy whom the cursed spirit was haunted by.

"… Besides, this was just a misranked mission, wasn't it?" Takagi-sensei says slowly, looking between the two white-haired sorcerers sitting in the room. "You talk like it was intentionally arranged so that I would be sent on this assignment, but if it was already known that the mission would involve a Special Grade cursed spirit, then surely another sorcerer more suited to the task would've been tapped instead."

"Maybe," Satoru-niichan drawls, "You were just supposed to die."

"What?!"

Shock twists over Takagi-sensei's features, and he stares at Satoru-niichan like he does not understand the words that just came out of the other man's mouth. But he regains his composure swiftly, expression shuttering as he forcibly returns it to a mask of calm.

"I… don't understand what you mean."

"Let's look at this hypothetically, then," Satoru-niichan hums. "Suppose that Shiki didn't get notified about the situation, and didn't manage to get to Sendai in time. A rampaging Special Grade cursed spirit kills three sorcerers –a Semi-Grade One and his two students. What do you think the consequences of that would be?"

"The results of the mission would be reported to the higher ups, and a higher-ranked sorcerer would be sent in to exorcise the curse," Takagi-sensei answers.

"And?"

"… And?"

Satoru-niichan sighs.

"There's more than just your typical sorcerer's perspective to consider here, Takagi," he says. "First, the immediate result: If Okkotsu Yuta's cursed spirit wiped you guys out, then Shiki is not going to look kindly upon him. There would be no place for him in Tokyo, leaving Kyoto and the higher ups as his only recourse."

"But–"

"Secondly," Satoru-niichan continues, bulldozing over Takagi-sensei, "There's the kid himself to take into account as well. He grew up in a civilian environment, Takagi. Even though there's a Special Grade cursed spirit haunting him, and there have been various accidents throughout his childhood, he doesn't actually have a body count behind him. But if his cursed spirit kills other humans, then the blood is still on his hands. Most people don't take killing in stride very well, y'know."

Shiki glances at her cousin at the last comment. Her cousin does not look towards her, but he gives her another gentle pat on the shoulder. You're not 'most people,' and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

"So aside from it becoming obvious on the administrative side that there's a dangerous curse on the loose, you also have a kid who's dealing with deaths on his conscience. In addition to already being ostracized and bullied by his classmates, and being on difficult terms with his own family." Each word from Satoru-niichan causes Takagi-sensei to look increasingly uncomfortable, but the man does not shy away from any of it.

"Guilt, trauma, helplessness," Satoru-niichan intones gently, feather-soft. "Such a precarious mental state for a civilian kid would make them exceedingly easy to manipulate and nudge along in the right direction, wouldn't it?"

… Which would suit the higher ups' goals perfectly.

The Gojo Clan has stood in an overwhelmingly powerful position with no challengers even close to matching them for far too long. Long enough that there are many people who grow uneasy, especially as Satoru-niichan has made it clear that he does not intend to follow the same orthodox ways that so many cling blindly to.

So the appearance of Okkotsu Yuta, a boy with a Special Grade cursed spirit bound to him, who was Special Grade himself with the amount of cursed energy that he possessed… the higher ups would have to be fools to let him pass.

But how to ascertain that he would be a good, obedient little tool?

Estrange him from Gojo Satoru. Gojo Satoru is exceedingly fond of his younger cousin, so if Gojo Shiki heavily dislikes Okkotsu, then there would be no worry of Gojo deciding to take the boy under his wing. And with a fragile mental state, surely Okkotsu should prove receptive towards those offering him help. Towards those who take him away from the hostile environment that he is in. They will approach the boy in the role of authorities passing judgment on one who has committed the most severe crime of murder, placing them in a position of power and giving them the moral high ground from the start.

But rather than execution, which is a sentence that they might have genuinely considered had it not been for the unbalanced political situation with the Gojo Clan… they will be magnanimous. They will allow this young criminal a second chance to redeem himself.

If, and only if, he listens to the orders that he is given for his own good.

"T-That's…" Part of Takagi-sensei looks as if he dearly wishes to deny what he's hearing. But another far larger part is an expression of realization that this would make sense.

Sorcerers constantly weigh gain and loss against each other when making decisions. For the higher ups, the loss of three sorcerers –a Semi-Grade One sorcerer and two students, one of whom had an undesirable cursed technique that was an affront to their sensibilities– was acceptable. It was something that was perfectly acceptable, if in exchange they would gain control over a malleable young Special Grade sorcerer to train as they liked.

Takagi-sensei's expression appears faintly ill with this new understanding of how the recent mission potentially could've played out instead.

"Orimoto Rika died around five years ago," Satoru-niichan says. Orimoto Rika would be Okkotsu-san's 'Rika-chan,' the girl who became a vengeful spirit in death and proceeded to haunt her friend ever since. Investigations regarding the circumstances of this were currently still underway, but… "Do you think the Windows stationed in Sendai really failed to notice the presence of a Special Grade cursed spirit, all this time?"

The answer to that is a definite, resounding no. Shiki knows the administration to be backwards and stagnant, full of traditionalists that are far too meddlesome for their own good or that of anyone else's. But despite everything, they still have their uses, and they're not utterly incompetent. There would be a lot more chaos and disorder in the jujutsu world otherwise.

So. The ones who had assigned this mission involving Okkotsu-san to Kinji and Kirara had most likely known exactly what they'd been doing. Takagi's death in addition to those of his students would've been a crucial layer of insurance in ensuring that Okkotsu would not be placed under the aegis of the Tokyo school. That the Tokyo school would struggle to accept the boy, and the boy himself would be reluctant to stay in the Tokyo school as well.

… Which would leave Kyoto as the only reasonable option. Coincidentally, this was also an option that allowed the higher ups convenient access to their new Special Grade weapon.

"Luckily, this isn't the situation that we're dealing with." A hand lands atop Shiki's head, mussing her hair affectionately. She's going to have to comb her hair again later, isn't she? "So that leaves us a lot more room to work with things here."

Shiki nods, "The higher ups didn't properly account for Kinji and Kirara."

They'd underestimated Kinji, thinking that he had no chance of survival against a Special Grade cursed spirit –even with his own Domain Expansion. And they'd also overlooked Kirara, most likely thinking that the most unassuming Tokyo first year would be unable to offer any meaningful resistance.

But just because the two of them had been helpless against Araya Souren did not mean that they would remain helpless forever.

Kinji had held his own against a Special Grade cursed spirit, the effects of his Domain Expansion making him resilient enough to shrug off injuries that would've incapacitated or killed another sorcerer. Kirara had been the one to successfully send word of what was going on to Shiki, instead of being paralyzed by fear as a civilian unused to life-threatening situations might be.

"Exactly," Satoru-niichan snaps his fingers. "Good on your classmates for that, by the way… speaking of which, where are they right now?"

"With Shoko-san, in the morgue."

Kirara always made a funny little twitch whenever they visited Shoko-san down in the school's morgue, which was mildly amusing but not something that Shiki quite understood. Shoko-san was always meticulous about keeping her supplies well-stocked in the school, whether it be in her office or the morgue. There was no need for Kirara to worry about that.

"Ah, I see," Satoru-niichan idly taps his fingers against the arm of the couch he's leaning back on. "No one got permanently maimed, did they?"

Takagi-sensei makes a strange sound, something that's between a choke and a wheeze.

Shiki ignores her teacher's overreaction, as does Satoru-niichan beside her.

"Just a little bit maimed," she responds. "They're fine."

"That's good to hear." Satoru-niichan might not be personally invested in either of her classmates, but it's still nice that he asks after them because he knows they are important to Shiki. "Think either of them would object to Okkotsu and his little friend staying in Tokyo?"

"Little friend?"

The two of them continue to ignore Takagi-sensei.

"Kirara was protective of him." Shiki recalls pointing her sword at Okkotsu-san and demanding answers, only for Kirara to bodily step in front of him and proclaim that he wasn't a threat, even though there was no way that Kirara would've been blind to the overwhelming cursed energy that the boy radiated just by standing there like a scared rabbit.

"And Kinji?" Satoru-niichan asks her.

Shiki isn't too sure about Kinji's thoughts on the boy. She doesn't think that he'd had any particularly notable reaction towards Okkotsu-san… but at the same time, there had been no hostility that Kinji had shown towards him, overt or otherwise. That was likely indicative that Kinji did not think Okkotsu-san to be a 'threat,' either.

And, "I believe Kinji would trust Kirara's judgment."

"Last question, then," Satoru-niichan drops his arm, resting an elbow on a folded knee to prop up his chin in one hand. "What do you think about Okkotsu and his cursed spirit?"

What Shiki thinks…

She doesn't have a very strong opinion of Okkotsu Yuta so far. The boy had struck her as… nervous and fearful, but perhaps any civilian would be, if they suddenly found themselves on the sidelines of a fight involving a Special Grade cursed spirit. If the preliminary reports are true, then the vengeful spirit of Orimoto Rika has accompanied him for years, and it probably takes a certain sort of mental fortitude to be able to live with a Special Grade cursed spirit following one's every waking action. Typically, if a person is haunted by a cursed spirit, they are either murdered in short order or commit suicide themselves.

If Orimoto Rika started acting out and inflicting grievous harm upon other people, from causing serious injury to killing other humans… would Okkotsu-san still have been able to maintain that same mental fortitude?

Is there a way to help Rika-chan?

… He hadn't run. When the cursed spirit was rampaging, he hadn't run. According to Kirara, Okkotsu-san had even tried to stay and help, even though his efforts had been unsuccessful in the end. Was it simply because he didn't want Rika to harm anyone, or was it because he was concerned for the cursed spirit?

"He's soft," Shiki finally says. "If he can't control his cursed spirit, then I will kill it."

"Sounds good to me," Satoru-niichan laughs at her tacit acceptance of the boy in Tokyo, and the acknowledgment that she will keep an eye on the boy and his cursed spirit for him. Her cousin is not a teacher in the Tokyo school, so it's not as if he can consistently keep watch on the boy himself.

Takagi-sensei leans forward, brows furrowing. "… If things are as you say, and the higher ups intend to mold Okkotsu into a weapon, then would they even permit the Tokyo school to hold custody of him?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Satoru-niichan counters lazily. "Shiki already proved herself capable of subduing this cursed spirit, and she's agreed to monitor things here. There aren't any Special Grades in Kyoto, are there? They'd have to stick the poor boy in one of their holding cells or something, and pray that it's enough to contain any accidents."

"Technically, there aren't any Special Grades in Tokyo, either," Shiki chimes in, earning herself a sudden sharp-knuckled rap on the forehead from her cousin.

"But if Okkotsu Yuta is to enter the Tokyo school as a student…" Takagi-sensei looks as if he's at a loss for words. "Does that… doesn't that just mean that we are the ones forging him into a weapon instead?"

"I mean," Satoru-niichan says, "That's kind of your job, isn't it?"

Takagi-sensei stiffens and flinches back, "Absolutely not, Gojo, I don't–"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it that way," Satoru-niichan raises both hands placatingly. "You're a teacher. To what degree your student is treated as a weapon instead of a person is something that you'd be able to decide."

"I teach my students the fundamentals of how to exorcise curses and to protect themselves. Not turn them into weapons."

Shiki and Satoru-niichan exchange a quick, confused glance with each other. All sorcerers are weapons, more or less. Weapons destroy curses and kill their enemies, don't they?

Except Takagi-sensei seems to be… oddly insistent about the wording here. Some sort of misunderstanding, perhaps?

"Fine, not weapons," Satoru-niichan turns back and rolls his eyes. "But you'd have to admit that it would be better for the kid to be in Tokyo, rather than Kyoto where he'd be under the higher ups' scrutiny."

For some reason, Takagi-sensei hesitates, conflicted.

Satoru-niichan tilts his head. "Do you not have any confidence in yourself as a teacher?"

"… I'm not equipped to teach a Special Grade."

"For what it's worth," Satoru-niichan shrugs, "Okkotsu's situation is quite different from Shiki's. He's a regular civilian, isn't he? So it's not like he'd have nothing to learn about from the fundamentals and everything."

"I know," Takagi-san acknowledges quietly. "But I…"

"You'd have a while to prepare, anyways. Okkotsu probably won't be cleared to enroll as a student until the upcoming school year." There is a brief pause, as Satoru-niichan carefully studies the other man. "Unless… you have other concerns. Are you scared?"

Takagi-sensei grimaces. "I don't–"

"I mean, there is another option." The white-haired sorcerer interrupts smoothly, clearly amused. "Quit the teaching, and nominate someone else to take your place."

Takagi-sensei splutters, "It's not so simple! And where would I even look for a qualified sorcerer willing to take this post? It's not as if–"

"How about starting from right in front of you, then?" Satoru-niichan smiles slyly. "What do you think about yours truly?"

The other man is shocked into silence, mouth dropping slightly agape as he stares at the satisfied sorcerer.

Shiki blinks, and gives her cousin a skeptical look. "You want to teach? But what about your missions?"

"I can make it work out," Satoru-niichan waves a hand lackadaisically, as if it's no big deal. As if his schedule isn't a nightmarish mess already, with so many missions and clan matters and everything demanding his attention all at once. It was already quite surprising that he'd made it back as early as he did this time, when Shiki informed him about the situation with Okkotsu. "If anything, teaching might actually be a vacation for me! Doesn't that sound fun?"

Takagi-sensei suddenly starts looking a lot less shocked and a lot more skeptical instead.

… Shiki can't say that she saw this coming from her cousin. Satoru-niichan can be spontaneous sometimes, but he's not that spontaneous, with no rhyme or reason to his actions. This has to be something that he's thought about for a while already, if he's bringing it up as a possibility.

She cocks her head, "… Satoru-sensei?"

"Aren't you just the cutest," Satoru-niichan says, and starts messing up her hair again.

Never mind. "I'm never calling you 'sensei' again," Shiki huffs.

"Aww, c'mon, don't be like that–"

.

.

…

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