On the way back to the apartment, the thing that kept circling in my mind was Takizawa's cursed technique.
I still couldn't conclude for certain what his technique actually was.
But if I had to guess, then if it wasn't teleportation, it had to be time stop.
And if it really was the latter, then Takizawa might possess one of the most terrifying techniques imaginable.
Because simply stopping an opponent's movement for even a short moment would be enough to create an opening.
Fortunately, the one who possessed that technique was not some stranger, but someone I at least knew a little.
And more importantly, at the moment he was still just an amateur jujutsu user.
Because of that, I could still let the matter go for now.
At the very least, right now he was not a threat I needed to eliminate immediately.
Even so, one thought still remained in the back of my mind.
It was no different from how I had felt when I wanted to get rid of the user of the Ten Shadows Technique.
Because if people like that simply did not exist, I would feel far more at ease.
I stopped thinking as I arrived at my room, then dropped myself onto the sofa.
I placed the white bow at my side and loosened my collar and necktie a little.
I wanted Mahoraga's wheel on my head so I could adapt to Takizawa's technique.
Just in case—if one day I changed my mind and started to see him as an obstacle.
Then I remembered the time I had been able to use Madoka's Reverse Cursed Technique without actually summoning it.
Because of that, I wanted to try something.
Nue's lightning.
I raised my hand and focused my concentration on my index finger.
In an instant, purple sparks of lightning appeared around my finger.
I then shifted from focusing on the finger alone to spreading it through the whole hand, and in the end it worked.
It seemed that the Ten Shadows Technique was not limited to simply summoning shikigami.
It could also draw out certain properties of the shikigami for use.
Once I realized that, I tried imagining a wheel above my head.
Perhaps because it required a huge amount of cursed energy, the black aura around me spread outward noticeably.
Come to think of it, that itself was strange.
Why wasn't my aura covering the entire room like it had when I showed it to those jujutsu students?
I could guess that the cursed tool was probably what changed the color of my aura.
But I hadn't even considered that it might affect the size of the aura too.
As I was thinking that, I suddenly stopped when I felt something above my head.
I looked up.
And there it was—a golden wheel floating overhead.
Just as expected.
So I decided to test it immediately in the simplest way possible.
First, I removed the wheel.
Then I went into the bathroom to wash all the sunscreen off my body.
After taking care of that, I left the bathroom and returned to the living room completely naked.
I walked straight to the window and slowly opened the curtain just a crack.
The afternoon sunlight poured in instantly.
I summoned Mahoraga's wheel once more.
Then I held out my bare hand.
The moment the light touched it, the skin on that hand began to evaporate away until the muscle beneath was visible.
It hurt, but I was already starting to become numb to it.
Yet thanks to my body's regenerative speed, my skin regenerated before being destroyed again, and that repeated itself over and over right in front of me.
Clack.
The wheel made a sound.
The evaporation of my skin started to slow.
Clack.
The wheel sounded again.
Clack.
When it sounded a third time, everything stopped.
The sunlight was still falling directly on my hand.
But my skin no longer dissolved at all.
I stared at it for a moment, and then a smile slowly appeared at the corner of my lips.
I opened the curtain all the way.
From here, I could clearly see the cityscape of Tokyo from above. Countless buildings stretched far into the distance, while the golden afternoon light dyed everything orange.
"At last..."
I knew this would not really change my daily life all that much, since I had been using sunscreen to block sunlight all along.
But still, sunlight had always been my fatal weakness.
And who knew what might happen in the future?
One day, sunscreen might stop being produced entirely.
But wait...
I had only enjoyed the moment for an instant before realizing that the adaptation had come from the wheel.
So what would happen if I removed it?
If there was no wheel, would my adaptation disappear too?
That was something important I needed to know.
So I removed the wheel.
But my body still showed no reaction at all.
Even without the wheel, the result of the adaptation had not gone anywhere.
I still wasn't sure what kind of rules the Ten Shadows Technique followed when it came to Mahoraga's abilities.
But at that moment, I was fairly certain of one thing.
I did not need to keep the wheel active all the time.
The corners of my mouth rose wider, exposing my white teeth.
I hurriedly summoned the wheel again almost at once and moved on to the next experiment.
I picked up a knife and stabbed my own arm with all the strength I had.
The wound opened deeply enough for the wheel to begin turning in response.
It took two rotations.
Then I began to feel my skin become noticeably thicker and denser, until the tip of the knife started having trouble piercing it.
"Haha..."
A laugh slipped out of my throat before I could stop it.
I would adapt to everything.
And when that happened, I would become a being that no one could touch ever again.
It was absurd, ridiculous, and miraculous all at once.
"Ahahaha!"
I laughed again, this time a little more madly than before.
Then I slowly ran my hand through my bangs.
This feels so damn good.
1
The next morning, shortly before class began, Saionji was standing in the back corner of the classroom with Takizawa.
She held the manga volume she had borrowed the day before in her hand.
"Here. I'm returning it."
Takizawa accepted it with a small nod.
"You finished reading it?"
"Yeah."
Saionji answered only that, then fell silent for a moment before continuing as if it were nothing important.
"Do you have the next volume?"
Takizawa looked a little surprised, then answered immediately.
"Yeah, I do. I'll bring it."
"Good."
At that moment, the back door of the classroom slid open.
Nanakusa Mayumi entered.
"Good morning, Saionji-san. Takizawa-san."
Takizawa turned and immediately replied out of courtesy.
"Good morning."
Saionji merely glanced at her and answered shortly.
"Mm."
Although it was her usual sort of answer, the attitude she showed toward Nanakusa was clearly different from the way she spoke to Takizawa.
Even Saionji herself could not explain it, and that made her uneasy.
It was not just because of what had happened in the kendo club yesterday.
Over the past few days, many things had happened between her and Nanakusa, but Saionji herself had never really intended to take that relationship too seriously.
Or more accurately, she herself could not predict her own feelings.
Because of that, many things had simply remained vague and unresolved in her heart.
Even so...
Nanakusa looked noticeably happier than usual today.
And when she saw the smile on the other girl's face, Saionji stared at her for a moment before asking,
"You seem happy today."
Nanakusa froze, and her smile faded, as though she had only just realized she had been smiling.
"Do I?"
Saionji folded her arms and continued.
"You usually smile when something catches your interest."
Nanakusa lightly touched the corner of her mouth.
"Oh... it seems I'm not very good at hiding my joy."
Takizawa looked back and forth between the two of them, then asked curiously,
"Did something good happen, Nanakusa-san?"
"I just happened to run into a cat this morning."
Saionji narrowed her eyes at once.
That answer sounded far too flimsy.
"I see."
"Yes."
Nanakusa answered with a perfectly calm face, then her gaze shifted to the manga volume in Takizawa's hand.
"But it seems you two have gotten pretty close. Did something happen between you?"
Takizawa hesitated slightly.
Saionji answered before he could.
"I just made this guy tutor me for class."
"I see."
Nanakusa tilted her head a little.
"Then why didn't you ask me to help?"
Saionji frowned immediately.
"Well... because you're a rich young lady. I didn't think you'd have time."
Nanakusa smiled faintly.
"I always have time, but..."
She paused for a moment.
"Well, I suppose it's a good thing. At least Saionji-san has gained one more friend besides me."
Saionji looked at Nanakusa in confusion.
Takizawa smiled a little, then casually added,
"But I think Saionji-san is just kind of sharp-tongued, that's all."
"Huh!? What did you just say?"
Saionji spun around sharply.
Takizawa flinched a little, though he still wore an awkward smile.
Nanakusa let out a quiet laugh.
Meanwhile, Takizawa stole a glance at Nanakusa, who was silently laughing.
2
The afternoon art class began in an atmosphere somewhat different from the other subjects.
Inside the room were canvases, drawing paper, and paint boxes.
The teacher stood at the front and announced that students would be paired up randomly to work together during this class.
The sounds of chairs moving and people calling names immediately filled the room.
Some students looked as if they had already lost hope before the assignment had even truly begun, simply because they had not been paired with the person they wanted.
Once the pairings were decided, Nanakusa discovered that her partner was Takizawa.
She turned slightly toward him and politely said,
"I look forward to working with you, Takizawa-san."
Takizawa nodded back, a little awkwardly.
"Same here."
The two of them moved their desks together as instructed, then spent a moment looking at the supplies on the table.
Takizawa was the first to speak, sounding somewhat relieved.
"Well... I guess we were lucky to get paired together."
Nanakusa gave a small nod.
"Yes."
But before the conversation could go any further, Nanakusa turned to look at the other side of the room.
Takizawa followed her gaze.
Over there, Saionji was sitting with her assigned partner.
Momose.
"I hope she won't cause trouble for her partner."
Takizawa muttered, almost as if speaking to himself.
Nanakusa replied quietly,
"Indeed."
However, whenever Saionji had to be around other people, she looked clearly more reserved than when she was with Takizawa or Nanakusa.
Before long, the teacher began explaining the class assignment.
Each pair would sit facing each other and take turns drawing the other person on paper.
Simply put, the person sitting across from you would be your model.
The moment they heard that, the mood in the room shifted immediately.
Nanakusa stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of her for a moment.
She had no idea where to even begin.
She had very little experience drawing.
So Nanakusa looked at Takizawa for a moment.
Then she discreetly glanced at the work of other students around the room.
Most of them seemed at least fairly decent.
...Are Japanese people really this good at drawing?
Nanakusa fell silent for a moment before deciding to start with the face outline in the simplest possible way.
The pencil touched the paper, and she carefully drew the basic guiding lines of a face.
But the moment she saw what appeared before her, she stopped.
...This is terrible.
As time passed, some of the students around them had already made decent progress, while Nanakusa continued producing something that was obviously below standard.
In the end, she let out a quiet sigh and set down the pencil.
If she forced herself to keep drawing at this point, it would only become more painful to look at.
So Nanakusa got up from her seat and walked around to look at Takizawa's drawing.
On the paper in front of him was a sketch of her that had turned out far better than she had expected.
"Wow..."
The exclamation slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Takizawa, who had been bent over adding details, immediately turned around. When he saw Nanakusa standing there looking at his work, he froze slightly.
"Ah... don't expect too much, okay? I'm not really that good at drawing."
Nanakusa continued looking at the drawing for a moment before replying honestly,
"No, I think it's very beautiful."
Takizawa froze again, clearly not expecting that answer.
"Really?"
"Yes."
She answered without hesitation.
Takizawa smiled and scratched his head.
"Well... I've liked drawing characters I like for years, so I at least know the basics."
He paused, then looked at his own drawing before continuing as though making excuses in advance.
"But that's only a little better than normal people. Compared to people who are actually good at drawing, I'm still nowhere close."
Nanakusa tilted her head slightly.
"Is that so?"
Takizawa nodded.
Nanakusa looked at the drawing once more, then said in her usual even tone,
"You're very humble, Takizawa-san."
She paused for a moment before continuing slowly, as if something had suddenly come to mind.
"But you should also be proud of what you have."
"At the very least, if you can acknowledge that what you love has value, then you'll probably be able to find more motivation and a clearer purpose in life."
The words slipped out before she realized it, born from her experience in her previous life.
That made Takizawa fall silent for a moment.
"..."
Nanakusa herself only then realized that she had said much more than she should have.
So she lightly touched her cheek.
"What am I even saying... could you forget that, please?"
Takizawa quickly shook his head.
"No."
He answered a little more slowly than usual.
"I think you're right, Nanakusa-san."
Nanakusa fell silent for a brief moment.
Really?
Was it really that easy to encourage someone else?
"In any case, could you try grading my drawing?"
That request brought Takizawa back to normal, and he immediately nodded.
"Sure."
He followed Nanakusa over to her drawing.
And then he froze the moment he saw what was on the paper.
Nanakusa had already accepted her fate, so her expression did not change at all.
"What score would you give it?"
Takizawa was silent for a moment.
It was obvious he was struggling with this evaluation.
But in the end, he answered carefully.
"Five points..."
Nanakusa raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh, that's more than I expected."
She turned to look at him and asked in a calm tone,
"Are you being biased?"
Takizawa flinched immediately.
"N-no, it's not like that!"
Nanakusa fell silent, as if thinking deeply.
"I see..."
But no matter how she looked at it, it still seemed like he was being biased.
To the point that she had begun to genuinely worry whether she would survive this class at all.
Takizawa quietly watched her as she sank into thought before carefully asking,
"Is something wrong?"
Nanakusa lifted her head and answered shortly, as usual.
"No, it's nothing."
...
By the time class ended, Nanakusa had reached one very clear conclusion about herself.
She was terrible at drawing.
And what she hated most was being below average.
If she left things as they were, she would keep feeling awful about it.
At the very least, she ought to train herself until she could climb above that level.
She would probably have to start taking it seriously tomorrow.
Assuming she still had the will to do it.