During lunch today, I was eating by myself because I had no idea where Saionji had gone.
Still, just as I was about to finish, I saw Saionji walk into the cafeteria together with Takizawa.
The moment the two of them saw me, they headed straight toward me.
"Hello, Nanakusa-san. May I sit here with you?"
"Of course."
After the two of them sat down with their trays in hand, I could not help but wonder what they had been doing before this.
But in the end, I decided not to ask.
If I brought it up now, I would probably just interrupt their meal for no reason.
So instead, I chose to get up first.
"Then I'll be going now."
"Yes, See you later, Nanakusa-san."
"Ah..."
Saionji answered in her usual indifferent way.
I could roughly guess that whatever they had been doing earlier had something to do with curses or something along those lines.
Because of that, I spent the time before class walking around the school grounds to investigate a little.
But in the end, I found nothing of note.
So I decided to head back to class before I was late.
After that, time passed until kendo club.
But today was different, because Takizawa was walking there with us as well.
I turned to him and asked lightly,
"Takizawa-san, are you coming to the club too?"
"Yes. I'm planning to join the kendo club."
"I see."
I glanced at Saionji for a moment.
She answered for herself in a flat tone.
"I invited him. It's nothing much."
I gave a small nod.
It wasn't really a problem.
The more people there were, the more fun it would be.
1
After asking him a few brief questions about his experience, Kurosawa gave a short nod.
Takizawa was accepted into the club surprisingly quickly.
"Then you'll start practice from today."
Takizawa bowed politely.
"Thank you. I look forward to working with you."
After that, he was taken to change clothes, shown where the equipment was stored, and briefly taught the basic rules of the club.
Before long, Kurosawa looked toward the training area and gave an order.
"Saionji, go spar with Takizawa."
Saionji raised her shinai without showing much expression.
Takizawa walked out and stood opposite her.
The tips of their shinai were raised steadily at mid-level.
"Begin."
Saionji moved first, exactly as expected.
She opened by attacking aggressively, just as she always did, as if she had no intention of giving her opponent even a moment to settle himself.
The shinai in her hands came down sharply.
Takizawa managed to block it in time.
The sound of bamboo striking echoed loudly once before the two of them separated slightly.
But Saionji did not let the distance stay open for long.
She pressed the attack again immediately.
A straight slash.
Closing the distance.
Another slash.
At one moment, I saw a flicker of cursed energy aura appear at Saionji's legs and arms before she burst forward with greater speed.
But Takizawa handled it better than I expected.
I focused on him for a moment and soon understood why.
Unlike Saionji, who used her aura only in bursts, Takizawa had a faint aura coating his entire body at all times.
Because of that, both his reaction speed and physical strength were clearly enhanced beyond normal.
To an ordinary observer, Takizawa would probably just look like someone far more skilled than expected.
Saionji continued to press him relentlessly.
Takizawa, meanwhile, was still not confident enough to seize chances to attack, but he was steadily regaining his footing.
Before long, the one starting to gain the advantage had clearly become Takizawa.
At the same time, Saionji was becoming more rushed.
At one moment, Takizawa stepped back half a pace to evade an attack, then in the instant Saionji's aura slackened for the briefest moment, he swept his shinai toward her torso.
The tip stopped perfectly at her dō.
"Enough."
Kurosawa-senpai's voice rang out at once.
The atmosphere in the training room fell silent for a brief moment.
For those who could not see cursed energy, the result of this practice match was probably quite surprising.
Takizawa was a brand-new member, yet he had handled Saionji far better than expected, and had even won.
I heard Tanaka mutter softly from beside me.
"This new guy... he's not ordinary."
I looked toward Tanaka for another moment.
Then Tanaka turned toward me with a grin.
"Nanakusa, why don't you try sparring with him?"
I looked back at Takizawa.
Those words visibly startled him.
He turned toward me at once.
"Nanakusa-san is going to fight me?"
His voice carried both surprise and worry.
Tanaka laughed softly.
"What, are you scared?"
"N-no, that's not it."
Takizawa denied it at once.
Tanaka grinned.
"Haha, don't worry. She may look like a rich young lady, but Nanakusa is really strong."
Takizawa went quiet for a moment before looking at me again.
As for me, I didn't really have much to say.
So I simply went to retrieve my shinai, put on my dō, and returned to my position.
Kurosawa waited for Takizawa to get ready, then swept his gaze over the two of us before giving the signal.
"Begin."
I raised my shinai slowly, but I did not attack first.
To be honest, I was not very used to being the one to initiate.
Normally my sparring partner was Saionji.
And Saionji always rushed in first.
So when my opponent still did not move, I ended up standing still for a moment, letting the atmosphere tighten between us.
Takizawa didn't move either.
He held his stance firmly.
...Is that how you want to play it?
If he wasn't going to come at me, then that meant I had to move first.
I stepped in first, opening with a stance that looked slightly more aggressive than usual, though I was still holding back a fair amount.
Because of his cursed energy reinforcement, his reaction speed was fairly good.
Even so, it was still obvious that he lacked actual fighting experience and had several openings.
After exchanging a few blows, I paused my attacks for a moment.
I intended to wait and see whether he would finally start attacking in return.
But he remained motionless in a defensive stance.
...How boring.
If that was the case, then I might as well end this right here.
I shifted my footing once more, then launched what looked like an ordinary straight strike.
Takizawa lifted his shinai to block, just as I expected.
But in the next fraction of a second, I twisted my wrist, changed the angle of my strike mid-swing, and swept immediately toward his torso.
That technique had always worked.
The tip of my shinai was almost at his body.
But in that instant, Takizawa's shinai moved in a way that felt fundamentally wrong.
For a brief moment, the position of his shinai slipped beyond my sight before reappearing suddenly.
The bamboo struck.
My attack was deflected aside.
I froze slightly.
...What was that just now?
If it was only cursed energy reinforcement, it should not have felt like that.
I was certain that a vampire's eyes should be able to track the movements of a novice jujutsu sorcerer.
At the very least, even with Sebastian, I could still read his movements.
So was Takizawa's cursed technique the type that distorted space and time?
I took half a step back without saying anything.
My eyes remained fixed on Takizawa's hands.
I slowly raised my shinai again.
If this had been a real fight, and the opponent had been a special-grade sorcerer, there was a real possibility I might have died before I could even react.
For the second time, I felt a small tremor of unease.
I steadied myself once more, watching my opponent, who still showed no sign of moving.
...If that was the case, then I would just have to get a little more serious.
I needed to figure out what it was.
I shifted my weight onto the balls of my feet and burst into close range with speed.
The tip of my shinai shot straight at Takizawa's torso at high speed.
He showed no sign of dodging.
Just before the tip touched his armor, I stopped in the final fraction of a second.
What was wrong with him...? He hadn't moved at all.
"Enough."
Kurosawa-senpai's voice declared it immediately.
I slowly lowered my shinai.
2
Takizawa was certain he had seen it.
In the brief instant before Nanakusa's shinai would have struck him, the entire atmosphere around him changed.
The world's colors faded until everything nearly turned gray.
Nanakusa's shinai stopped moving.
Everything happened in an instant as Takizawa shifted his shinai to intercept Nanakusa's strike.
In the end, he successfully blocked it.
He remained standing in the same posture.
But inside, his heart was shaking violently.
...What was that just now?
He had nearly lost to her.
No—
if that had not happened, he would have been struck directly.
A cursed technique?
And if his guess was right, its ability was to stop time.
Wasn't that kind of power absurdly unfair?
So unfair that the corners of his mouth had nearly risen on their own.
But Takizawa only raised his eyes and looked at Nanakusa once more in silence.
If not for cursed energy, he would have lost long ago.
She was far stronger than he had imagined.
To the point that even someone like him, a jujutsu sorcerer himself, was left with no options in a mere kendo spar.
Because of that, Takizawa decided that he would not use his own cursed technique again until the match ended.
In the end, he simply stood there.
And quietly accepted defeat.
...
On the way home, Saionji smiled at Takizawa.
"Heh... I've never seen Nanakusa get that serious in practice before."
She continued, a trace of satisfaction still in her voice.
"The truth is, Nanakusa has always been pretty chill during club activities. She always seems to hold back against me, and honestly, that gets irritating sometimes."
Saionji paused for a moment before glancing at him.
"But you made her get serious toward the end."
Then she spoke again of her own accord.
"And after that, she just walked out of the club without saying a word."
Takizawa remembered the sight of Nanakusa leaving the club.
That image still lingered in his mind.
So Saionji continued, without trying to hide it.
"Even so... even with the two of us using cursed energy, we still can't match Nanakusa at all."
She let out a soft huff.
"Nanakusa is always telling me she likes playing sports."
Saionji went on.
"Even with cursed energy, I still don't think it would be enough to keep up with her."
Takizawa fell silent for a moment before answering briefly.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
Saionji gave a small nod.
Then she turned to him with suspicion in her eyes.
"By the way, what exactly did you do during that fight with Nanakusa?"
Takizawa flinched slightly.
So Saionji pressed on immediately.
"That finishing move of Nanakusa's... I can almost never block it. So how did you manage to stop it?"
Takizawa was quiet again for a moment before answering in a lower voice.
"Don't tell anyone."
Saionji raised an eyebrow.
"Sure."
Takizawa glanced at her.
"It's my cursed technique."
Saionji froze.
"Its ability is to stop time."
Her eyes widened at once.
"What? No way... that's insanely cool."
Takizawa went silent for a moment at that reaction.
He had expected suspicion.
But Saionji looked excited instead.
She slowed her pace a little, then turned to him again.
"How long can you stop it for?"
"Just now, I couldn't even stop it for a full second."
Takizawa answered honestly.
"If I want to try again, I'd have to test it more back at my room."
Saionji nodded.
"I wish I had a cursed technique like that too."
Takizawa smiled.
"You definitely will someday. A cursed technique, I mean."
Saionji paused for a moment, then her smile widened.
"Right?"
...
When they arrived at the room, both of them took off their shoes and stepped inside.
Saionji looked around.
This wasn't her first time here.
And every time, she clearly disliked how cramped it was.
"Jeez... it's so cramped."
She frowned slightly, then looked at Takizawa.
"Next time, want to come to my room instead?"
Takizawa hesitated for a moment.
"Really? That'd be the first time I've ever been in a girl's room."
Saionji raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?"
"Well... it's the first time I've ever gotten this close to a girl."
Saionji looked at him for a moment.
"That much, huh?"
Then she resumed looking around the room as if it didn't matter much.
"Got anything to eat?"
Takizawa glanced at the small table beside the bed before answering,
"I've got potato chips. Want some?"
Saionji looked over at once.
"Yeah."
Takizawa handed her the bag, and she took it without hesitation, opening it immediately as if she were the owner of the room.
While Saionji sat on the chair, chewing chips comfortably, Takizawa stood in the middle of the room and began coating his body with cursed energy.
A faint aqua-blue aura slowly spread around him.
Saionji simply watched from her seat, not looking wary at all.
Then Takizawa spoke in a slightly more serious tone.
"Time-control technique... time stop."
In the next instant, the chip bag in Saionji's hand vanished.
When she blinked again, it was in Takizawa's hand instead.
Saionji froze for a moment, looked at her now-empty hand, then turned back to him.
"What the hell just happened?"
Takizawa looked at the chip bag in his hand before replying thoughtfully,
"It seems like chanting the name of the technique makes the duration a little longer."
Saionji frowned slightly.
"How long did it last?"
"Almost three seconds."
"Wow..."
Saionji muttered softly before staring at him with even more interest than before.
Then she asked another question.
"So what are you actually going to use a power like that for?"
That question made Takizawa fall silent for a moment.
Right.
He had never seriously thought about that.
He was just an ordinary high school student who had nothing to do with the main story.
At most, maybe he could use this ability for daily life.
Or for self-defense if he ever ran into a curse too strong for him to handle.
In the end, he answered honestly.
"I guess I'd use it to defend myself if I ever ran into a curse spirit too strong to deal with."
Saionji nodded slightly.
"That makes sense."
Then she took another bite of chips and spoke as if suddenly remembering something.
"By the way, speaking of strong curse spirits... there's one at school. Have you ever seen it?"
Takizawa froze immediately.
"No... what does it look like?"
Saionji thought for a moment before answering uncertainly.
"Kind of like a giant worm."
Takizawa frowned.
He had never seen a curse like that.
At least as far as he remembered, the school only had small, low-level ones.
"I've never seen a big one like that."
Saionji looked at him for a moment, then shrugged.
"Then I guess you've been lucky not to see it."
Takizawa fell silent.
"Yeah."
He really did have to call that luck.
At the very least, he had never had to face a curse spirit like that himself.
Thank God.
He was just some ordinary side character.
Please don't throw anything too strange his way yet.