"Oye, ain't that your seventh one since we left Haiku?" asks Masaru while the pair walk down the hallways.
Flushing, Moriko swallows the last bite of onigiri she holds in her hand. "Hai," answers Moriko meekly.
"How come you aren't like Sensei Abe? You've been eating snacks insanely often the past three months. You're even a skinnier twig now than then," Masaru says, poking Moriko's side.
She giggles reflexively at the poke, pushing Masaru's hand away. "It is not polite to poke people." Moriko tells her taller friend.
Masaru grins before he swiftly pokes her in the other side. A laugh escapes Moriko who pushes his hand away. "Stop it, Masaru!" She takes a few steps ahead to escape the possible third tickle attack from Masaru. Her footsteps take her to near the end of the stretch of windows to their class with Toshiyuki. Moriko's ear flicks to her right. Looking outside the window, Moriko catches a brief glance of the man from the exam day before he disappears from her sight.
He is here again? Moriko wonders. That is—
Moriko's ears twitch. She ducks and feels Hoshi sailing over her head. The wolf eared girl sees Hoshi landing on her feet besides Masaru. Hoshi whirls towards Moriko, scowling.
"Again!?" exclaims the enraged girl. "I was super quiet!"
"Your breath quickens when you are about to pounce," Moriko explains. The polite girl pauses before she asks, "How was your practice?"
"You two broke my concentration," the green-eyed girl complains. "I kept mistiming things. What are you looking at?" Hoshi demands Masaru.
Moriko looks to see Masaru jerking his head elsewhere with a slight flush on his face.
"It's weird seeing you now after seeing you in a kimono," Masaru grumbles.
Standing on her tiptoes, Moriko reaches up to feel Masaru's forehead. She asks, "Are you feeling well, Masaru?"
"I'm fine!" Masaru answers hastily while the flush deepens on his cheeks. He clears his throat before he says, "Let's get into class."
He disappears quickly into the classroom.
"What's up with him?" asks Hoshi, puzzled.
"I do not know," the older girl confesses.
The young women walk into the classroom. Moriko smiles when Toshiyuki's cinnamon and chalk scent reaches her nose. They purge Mia's stench of garlic and mint. She takes her seat between Masaru and Hoshi at the front of the classroom when Toshiyuki exits his office. He smiles and nods at the three before he greets other students entering the class. Sensei Amachi truly cares about his students, Moriko thinks while he listens to a student speaking to him. She smiles when the elderly man laughs and gestures the student in the direction of the seats. The bell rings.
"Right," Toshiyuki declares, clapping his hands together. "Since everyone will have the jitters because of the announcement made today, we'll make today a Kido practice day. Barriers are already up, so pair off!"
"Yeah!" Hoshi cheers. She cranes her body around Moriko to leer at Masaru. "You're so going down in this class."
Masaru glowers back before he growls, "That's my line."
"Maybe I should be one of your—"
"No!" The pair cut into Moriko's offer. They quickly leave their seats and beeline it for the training courtyard.
"They seem rather enthusiastic about Kido today," remarks Toshiyuki from before Moriko. The black-haired girl turns her attention to her sensei, smiling a bit.
"Anything that lets them compete with each other makes them cocky," answers Moriko.
"Shall we, Moriko-san?" asks Toshiyuki with a gesture to the door, grinning.
"Are we doing what I think we are doing?" inquires Moriko at the sight of the grin that takes away the years from Toshiyuki's features.
"Hai."
Beaming, the well-mannered girl leaves her seat. She places her samisen and the satchel on the table before she walks out to the training courtyard with Toshiyuki. Kido spells fly across the yard and damage the ground. However, the spells bounce harmlessly against the Academy walls, glowing blue from a Kido barrier. A similar Kido barrier prevents debris from flying out of the training courtyard when the debris goes skywards. Moriko sees Masaru gripping his left wrist with his right hand. He glows red.
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" shouts Masaru. In addition to the red glow, yellow sparks of electricity hum into being. Moriko holds her breath while Masaru finishes the incantation. "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkahō!"
A huge pillar of red energy with threads of electricity shoots towards Hoshi who stands confidently.
"Hoshi, dodge!" Moriko yells, but Hoshi remains where she is.
KA-BOOM!
The Kido clashes into a rectangular, transparent wall that springs up before Hoshi. However, the spell obliterates the barrier and crashes directly into Hoshi. Hoshi yowls from within the electricity laced red energy pillar. Other students throw themselves out of the way. To Moriko's great relief, the barrier holds. The tiger eared girl appears spread eagle against the Academy wall. Soot covers Hoshi's face and skin. Her clothes are torn into shreds that barely preserve her modesty with her hair sticking up on end. Electricity sparks between her hair strands and her ears. However, an orange outline glows around her body.
"Hoshi-san, are you alright?" Toshiyuki asks, hurrying with Moriko and Masaru behind him to the tiger eared girl.
"I did it," Hoshi exclaims cheerfully. She looks at the three. "I did Bakudo Number 81: Dankū without saying a word! It worked! Course, it broke through, but my special thing pulled through! Got to work on it a bit—" Her glee slips a little. "What are those funny looks for?"
"Hoshi—" Masaru begins before he swears. The young man drags his blue kosode off and drops it onto Hoshi's head. Electricity sparks from him wildly in comparison to the controlled hum of earlier. A yelp escapes Moriko when a spark of electricity from Masaru's body zaps her ear.
"Hey!" exclaims the tiger eared girl. She pulls the kosode off, scowling at Masaru.
"Just put the damn thing on!" growls Masaru. "You're giving the class more than an eyeful."
Moriko notices the flush on his cheeks. She glances back to see leery and perverted looks from the other young men in their class.
"That orange glow about you…that's something that hasn't come up before now," remarks Toshiyuki.
"Just something I invented when I was fooling around with my star net kido," Hoshi answers carelessly. She considers the kosode before she slips it on. The kosode nearly reaches her ankles. Hoshi undoes her obi to put it on the outside. "It worked pretty well, didn't it?"
Toshiyuki puts his hands on his waist and looms over Hoshi. "That was extremely reckless, Hoshi-san," the elderly man states. "Kido spells are not as strong when they are done without words. You could have gotten yourself seriously injured."
Hoshi backs up slightly, waving her hands around with a slightly panicked look on her face. "Okay, okay, I get it…. But why can she get away without saying the name!" demands Hoshi, pointing at Moriko.
Moriko squirms slightly and looks to Toshiyuki.
"Every student has their own challenges," Toshiyuki answers simply. The man then turns to Masaru who still sparks electricity. He grips Masaru's wrist. The electricity dies away.
"Ow! What's this for?!" cries out Masaru, indignantly.
"Endo-sama, control yourself," the sensei snaps. "You struck Moriko-san with your electricity."
The fury dies away from Masaru's face. His features resemble the look of icy water being dumped on him. Toshiyuki releases the younger man's wrist. Masaru turns towards Moriko, apprehension on his face.
"Moriko, you okay?" He asks.
"I will be fine," Moriko reassures the young man with a smile to cover up the stinging pain her ear feels.
"Well, it seems both of you still have work to do," Toshiyuki sighs out. "Hoshi-san, remember to say the Kido aloud. Endo-sama, control your temper. You've gone far, but there's a way to go before you can reach Moriko's level in Kido."
"Kay/Yeah," answer Hoshi and Masaru together. The pair wanders off to a different part of the training ground, dodging Kido spells from their classmates.
"Now," Toshiyuki states, turning towards Moriko, "Shall we spar, Moriko-san?"
Moriko nods before she takes a few steps back and holds her hands at her side. She nods again.
"Right, I'll start," says Toshiyuki, clapping his hands together. Between the palms of his hands, white energy gathers around the palms of his hands. He holds them out before him. The energy acquires the shape of a six-pointed star on each hand. These stars start spinning rapidly, becoming a flashing of white. He charges Moriko.
She remains still before she brings up her wrists, one to guard her neck and the other to her head. Two orbs of light blue energy form and collide with Toshiyuki's spinning stars. His arms fly back before he skids back to the courtyard's wall with an 'OMPH!' His spinning stars disappear. Moriko snaps her fingers to produce the moon flame balanced on both her fingertips. She passes her hands through the opposite flames before her hands form into flaming fists.
"Here I come, Sensei Amachi!" Moriko runs at the sensei. Toshiyuki points his index finger at Moriko. A spark of yellow appears at the end of his fingertip that separate into six thin rods. Moriko finds herself jolted to a halt by the six thin beams of the Kido spell. Growling in her throat, Moriko concentrates. The moon fire on her hands expands its area to cover her entire body. A second passes before the six beams shatter into pieces. Moriko smiles triumphantly before she falls to her hands and knees.
"Moriko-san, what's wrong?"
Moriko grimaces when her stomach growls. She smiles sheepishly at her sensei before she answers, "I think I have reached my limit again. I did the Bakudo #8: Seki silently on two parts of my body. I think breaking out of your Bakudo #61: Rikujōkōrō did it."
Toshiyuki helps Moriko stand with an aggravated sigh. "Have you been doing the extra assignments of practicing your Kido?"
"I am unable to complete them in the timeframe you ask," Moriko confesses.
"Moriko-san, I've told you. Practicing Kido will improve your ability to perform multiple spells without suffering from hunger. It's no surprise that you're doing the reverse each time we spar. The higher the spells, the more it takes from you. You must practice your Kido and control the flow of your spiritual energy."
"I know what I should do… But it is not easy," Moriko answers. She bows to her sensei. "I am sorry, Sensei Amachi."
Shaking his head, Toshiyuki ushers Moriko towards the classroom. "Go have some of your onigiris. Afterwards, I want you to practice the kido energy opens and closes for the rest of the class."
"But—"
"Your health is more important," the older man states. "You need to control your spiritual energy or else you'll be defenseless in battle. You know this lecture."
Moriko opens her mouth to protest but huffs when her stomach growls again.
"Hai," Moriko answers reluctantly. Toshiyuki smiles before he walks into the chaos of the Kido sparring.
Sighing sadly, Moriko slips into the classroom. She blinks at the sight of a box beside her satchel and samisen. Moriko approaches the seat and finds her name written in beautiful calligraphy on a folded piece of paper. The young woman hesitates before she opens the paper.
"Pick up your feet when you flash step," Moriko reads the short sentence aloud. There is no signature. She brings up the paper to her nose, sniffing. Her eyes widen at the faint traces of sakura blossoms on the paper. Moriko's cheeks turn very red before she gingerly lifts the lid to the box. Inside is a brand-new pair of sandals with cobalt blue string. She feels her cheeks darken.
He saw me this morning? Moriko wonders to herself. Taking the sandals out of the box, Moriko crouches down to put them on her feet. A sigh escapes her. Sandals still feel so weird, but I should not give Kato more means to torment me, Moriko remarks mentally. The black-haired girl puts her broken sandals in the box to place near the trash bin by Toshiyuki's desk. As for the note, Moriko slips it into her kosode before she sits down to pull out and remove the wrapping around an onigiri from her satchel. She bites into it, thinking, I must thank him for the sandals. But…I must find him first, Moriko thinks to herself as she polishes off her onigiri and gets another to start eating.
To Be Continued…