Once they passed by the bridge that crossed to the Hokkaido Island, the air changed from its seasalt breeze to a freezing one. Autumn already has fallen on Hokkaido, and it needed to layer up compared to the ones you were in the mainland.

Ijichi, hopefully the last time of this trip, was convinced to stop by a cafe to get some hot drinks. Mai insisted on having even Ijichi join the cafe as a treat for driving them all the way here.

"But I'm just doing my job he-"

"No excuses!" protested Mai. "The more the merrier."

Nobara didn't go against Ijichi joining them. She was too weirded by how friendly Mai is to Ijichi.

As the trio entered the cozy cafe, Ijichi walked behind the two girls not making sure not be in between when a fight will break out

"I'll get a Hokkaido Milk bread, please!"

Both girls ordered in unison that made the cashier startled.

"Actually, I'll just get a Hokkaido Milk tea," said Nobara, sideying Mai.

"That doesn't make sense, it's like freezing out."

"Since when you get to say what I eat, Mai?"

"If you stop copying my orders then I'll-"

"How about the soup curry?" Suddenly interjected the cashier.

Ijichi held his breath that this cashier even had the courage to take the bullet to stop these two brats. It left Mai quite annoyed as her eyebrow twitched.

"It's a favorite in our cafe. Perfect for cold weather, too!" The cashier continued to sell it.

Nobara agreed to buy it.

As soon as the two girls had food to eat, they were a bit least grumpy and Ijichi was safe to say that there's less chances they'll be choking each other's neck soon.

"Holy crap! There's a nearby farmer's market here." Nobara scrolled through her phone. "They'd be selling watermelons!"

"You should definitely try out Hokkaido melons, too," Mai suggested. "It's said they're the best kind in the world!"

"For real? For real?!"

Their driver couldn't believe it. They probably forgot how they wanted to strangle each other hours later and now, they looked like a bunch of kids geeking about food.

"Uh girls," Ijichi voiced out in the middle of their conversation. "You two still have a mission to do."

"Right, right." Mai slightly pouted, waving her hand "I guess it's just for future reference."

The rest had a peaceful meal, and up they quickly left to get back again to the one last final stretch to Sapporo. Both Nobara and Mai ended up taking a nap at the back seat, giving a guaranteed break for Ijichi as he sped up his driving.

Nobara was the first to wake up from her nap, greeted by the autumn colors of Sapporo. Tree leaves fell around the streets as she peeked at the car window. Even one singular orange leaf slapped on the window to let its excentence. Nobara smiled, this was way different from all the fall seasons she experienced where it's more later in the year. Meanwhile, Sapporo had it earlier. She quickly rolled down and stuck her head out with her hand out, feeling the Hokkaido Breeze.

Mai fluttered her eyes from all the noises from Nobara.

The car had entered the city and through the mere window, you can see the contrasting blue tint of the building to the orange season. It looked truly magnificent, awing Mai. She hesitated in even bringing out her phone to take a picture

Ijichi would have advised them to keep their heads out of the window, but for now, he thought that they deserved it.

—-

"She's late," said Nobara as she checked the time on her phone. Ijichi had dropped them off at a bus stop that was supposed to have Nobara's mom pick them up.

"And it's freezing cold." Mai tried to rub her shoulders with her hands. She might have been underdressed for the weather with the thin material but cute outfit she bought.

A car pulled up to the bus stop, its tires screeching. The door harshly opened, and a dark haired woman stepped out to the pavement covered in a long coat and fashionable scarf. Black glasses were on her eyes.

"Looks like it's my offspring," she greeted, already dripping with hostility in her tone.

"Like I would forget an absentee mom like you," Nobara snarled back.

Mai paced her eyes between the two of them. She started getting how some had the traits of the other. The sass was there. The obsession of having nice clothes, then there was the lashing out of each other.

"I just need to get this mission done, and I'll be out of your hair like you always wanted." Nobara entered the car as she also motioned Mai to come in.

"You must be Mai," said Nobara's mom. She slid down her black glasses on her nose and eyed the green haired girl at her windshield mirror. "Call me, Miss Kugisaki," she added before making a harsh turn to the road while muttering road rage curses.

Nobara definitely got that potty mouth of hers from the mother herself. It made Mai feel awkward about getting caught between their "arguments" when it's basically like watching them throw equally lethal daggers to each other. People wouldn't really love getting into that kind of mix. To some degree, Mai understood now what people felt every time Nobara and Mai quarreled. Welp, this was gonna be a looooong mission for Mai.

When they got to the mom's house, Nobara and Mai had yet again shared another room which at least had a bed but someone had to sleep on the floor with the futon on.

"I'm sleeping in bed; my mom owns this house," reasoned Nobara. Another fight in the making that might go down between these two. Luckily, Miss Kugisaki had intervened with an air mattress in her hands.

Before getting into bed, they discussed how the mission involved some cursed humanlike corpses that their team had to hunt down at the black market. Cursed corpses are usually inamite objects but dolls were used to make them as human like as possible

"Gojo and Nanami had actually dealt with the masterminds who sold these cursed corpses." Mai remembered Miss Kugisaki telling them. The mention of Nanami's name caught her ears.

"So we're just here to clean up their residues?" asked Nobara.

"More like the black market has been trying to make copies of them, keep them alive."

"Exactly, what I said!" Nobara threw her hands up.

Mai flinched; she felt an incoming argument brewing from this mother and daughter. In the midst of their conversation, she decided to step out and head for any clothing shop. The closest she found was a thrift shop at the closest shopping district, and she didn't mind it really. As she shifted through the clothing racks, she heard the two female workers gossipping to each other.

"You wouldn't believe it," started the worker. "Apparently, there was some guy, banging my best friend's boyfriend."

"So, he's fruity?"

"Well, yeah, sucks for the girl."

Mai continued mindlessly shifting through the clothing rack. She wondered where at some point of time will she be able to have a mundane life like that. Gossipping about boyfriends or girlfriends. Maintaining a retail job. Not forcing yourself to wake up for training. Not killing people or curses.

At some point, she thought that maybe Nanami had these exact thoughts as her. The curiosity to talk to him at all ran carelessly through her mind. Over and over again, like a broken record. Yanking out a long sleeve shirt, it was too much for Mai hearing these 'proper humans,' that she beelined into one of the store's changing rooms, locking herself in, discarding the shirt to the side, and sat in the corner, all alone.

"The number you're trying to reach is not available. Please call again later."

Mai had Momo's call ID on her phone, and she wasn't answering. Out for a mission, probably

'Talk this out," Utahime-sensei would say when Mai's thoughts were overwhelming to her that it could snowball into something bigger.

Two and just a few rings later, someone finally picked up Mai's calls.

"Hey, Utahime-sensei, it's me."

"Mai, how are you feeling?" Her voice brought a slight familiar relief to Mai. "How's Hokkaido?"

Mai unhesitantly spield about the weather and food while Utahime caught her up with the Kyoto Tech's activities. "And also I found out that Nanami quit being sorcerer before, and I've been thinking if I…should do it too, you know?"

"Mai…"

"You know me, Sensei. I hate this. I mean it's bearable for now," out of nowhere, the face of the annoyed Nobara flashed in Mai's mind, "but I just…can't if this continues on."

"I get where you're coming from, but yes, you can do it preferably after graduation. But there's things you need to consider."

"It's just that I want to know." Mai sighed. "I want to know Nanami-san's side of the story.."

A harsh knock came pounding on the changing room.

"Excuse me, miss." Mai recognized it was the voice from one of the gossipping workers. "There was some customer complaining that you are taking way too long there."

"Shit, I gotta go, sensei. I'll call you again."

"Hang on, Mai-"

She ended the call. Mai could have the option of just flipping off the worker but that would be too much when her thoughts were already screwing with her. She left with the shirt in her bag. The exit doors didn't ring any bell as she silently stepped out the store

—

"Fucking Mai." Nobara tapped into her phone hard, redialing her partner's number. She heard the phone the other line ringing then the same results from Mai's voicemail.

"You think she ditched you?" Asked her mom.

"Probably."

"Gojo said I can't really start with the mission without you two here. It's a joint mission so there's that."

Nobara groaned. Aside from seeing her mom for the next few days, she also had to deal with another headache that is called Mai Zenin.

She shuffled through her backpack for a shampoo specifically for her dyed hair, but when she brought it out, her mom, of course, had something to say like she always does.

"Those stuff make your hair really dry, this one's better." Her mom suggested bringing out a shampoo from her cabinet.

"Why should I even trust you when you've been gone for years?"

Her mom took a deep breath, putting away the shampoo bottle on the nearest table. "I hated that town."

"And you should have taken me with you!" Nobara raised her voice. "'Cause I ended up hating it too!"

"But-"

"No excuses! Why would grandma even easily let you out of the town when she chewed me out just wanting to go to Tokyo Tech?"

"That exactly why I hated that town, and you're doing it! That town forces you to think you're the only person in the world when actually you yourself aren't aware that there's other people with actual thoughts."

Nobara shut her mouth, completely speechless. Her mind threw her back at the words Mai said to her back at the cave. It echoed into her brain chambers then amplified when her own mom dropped similar words to her.

She harshly spun her heel, going after the front door and shutting it close. On her way out, Nobara saw Mai at the gate.

"C'mon, let's get this mission started," growled Nobara, which slightly startled Mai. She'd expected she'll get lectured for suddenly dipping out to nowhere.

There was some sort of fire in Nobara's voice, anger fueling it out. Mai followed her.

When they got their ride to the supposed area where the black market was, they still needed to walk to the old subdivision of the shopping district.

"Wait, slow down, Nobara!" said Mai, her hand tried latching onto her wrist. "We don't even have the plan yet for this. You're going too fast."

"No, we're going in," she pushed, "no plan or not. I'll take care of all the work."

"Are you crazy?! I'm sure as hell don't want to die if that's what you're planning to do."

"Just shut up, and let me do all the work!"

Mai stepped back, throwing a hard slap on Nobara's face. "You're not thinking straight, Nobara!"

Nobara almost fell to the ground, but quickly recovered as she stood tall. Her cheek blared red, and she never dared to nurse it. "And now you wanna pick a fight?!" Nobara barked.

"That's a reminder to you how you're not the only goddamn person in this joint mission!"

No further words exchanged as only the sound of zooming cars and catching breaths went by. It needed to sink in for a second. Everything that her mom and Mai had told Nobara that sometimes just flew past her head.

"Then let's just go, and get this shit done." Nobara tried to push the thoughts off her head.

"With a plan," firmly added Mai.

Nobara nodded.

Before descending to the black market, they agreed on getting familiar with its grounds so they can at least map it out in their heads. The market provided all sorts of products that were even things fitted for Nobara and Mai's techniques. They were voodoo dolls, pins, and specialized guns that are technically cursed tools. After finally scouting the whole area, the young sorcerers exchanged information.

"Found any clues that led to those cursed human corpses?" asked Nobara.

"Not really but I found this cool silencer where it can amplify curse energy to your bullets then there's also this fancy clothes that-"

"Stop tangenting, Mai. We came here for one thing."

"It's more like YOUR thing. I just happen to get dragged into it."

Nobara scoffed. "It looks like a normal market at first glance, but they might use a curtain to cover them from normal people."

"It's supposed to be hidden since it's a black market afterall."

"But there's just one thing that's bothering….."

Nobara closed in the space between them, making Mai's eyes fly wide open. Her heart jerked in her chest, beating hard.

"A kid has been following us," she whispered. The tiny hairs rose up in Mai's ear.

"Jeez, y-you don't have to do-"

"Don't move," ordered Nobara as she held down Mai's tense shoulders. "You'll make it obvious."

That feeling in her chest skyrocketed, and her palms turned clammy. Meanwhile, Nobara had been focusing her eyes on the boy in the corner alley across from them

"Let's go!" suddenly blurted Nobara and let go of Mai. She ran for that alley when that boy decided to disappear.

As they sprinted for the boy, they came to a dead end where a cross fire boomed and bounced on the brickwalls. Grey smoke enveloped them everywhere.

They can't see shit.

Mai felt someone throw a punch at her sides, but when another one came, she dodged it and took the time to pull out her Bo Shuriken. "Nobara!" She tried to call the other sorcerer.

Nobara's eyes were shifting everywhere. This is what she wanted. All her focus zoomed in to finding out the enemy. Her nails and hammer out. She heard punches and grunt from Mai, and hurled herself to that direction, thrashing around her hammer through the smoke.

"What the fuck?!" exclaimed Mai, groaning. "You fucking hit me!"

"Woops," only Nobara responded. She positioned herself back to back against Mai. But their stance only made them an easy target as punches and kicks got thrown on their gut and shins as if there were guys surrounding them and simultaneouly throw their attack. They both toppled to the ground, and immediately, Nobara shielded her stomach.

Curses ran through Nobara's head and blood tasted coming up into her mouth when she coughed. No, no, no, no! She couldn't afford to lose right now!

Their opponent continued to kick them down, their heads slightly bouncing off the ground.

The smoke had started to clear up when a set of footsteps came rushing in. Those shoe clicks sounded familiar to Nobara.

"Resonance!" An older voice screamed. Their opponents kicking them stopped. The smoke became slightly transparent.

Mai noticed Miss Kugisaki standing a few feet away from them with her own hammer but no straw doll out. Nobara looked up to see their three buff male opponents pierced with nails in their foreheads.

Miss Kugisaki's eyes turned white, and she began to shiver like she was being possessed out of a horror film.

These three buff men started punching each other to the death, completely ignoring the existence of the sorcerers. Their eyes were completely white, too.

—

Miss Kugisaki both pulled them by the collar as they got pulled out of the districts.

"You brats!" she fumed. "You're acting up on your own. Do you have any idea how I had to investigate all of it , and almost got ruined the second you mindlessly started a fight?!"

"If you could have just told us everything then we would have gone on our own!"

"I wanted to!"

Nobara watched her mom as she took a breath and massaged her forehead.

"But you just keep on screaming on my face when I try to…" Her mom added. "I knew this was a worse idea in the first place, but fine, if you want the whole truth," she proceeded to look at her daughter right at the eye, "there's more to the Resonance technique than you know of."

Nobara's eye widened, and she felt her jaw loosened.

"I know you've seen it a while ago." Her mom squinted her eyes. The same eyes turned white as her curse energy moved the enemies like a puppet.

"Is that…another reason why Gojo sent me here?"

"Yes."

A black car pulled up in the curb, and as expected, the bespectacled auxiliary manager scampered out of the front seat.

"Ijichi," said Nobara's mom. "Take them back to Tokyo."

"There's no way in hell you'll just kick me out of here!" screamed Nobara. "How come Grandma never told me anything about that technique?!"

"You know the answer to that, Nobara." Her own daughter screeching was growing annoying to her ears by every second.

All those fights, all those goddamn fights for just going to Tokyo. It even held her back to applying at the right time for high school.

"You live here all your life, Nobara. Cursed spirits are different in the city!" Her grandma had argued.

It was complete utter bullshit to Nobara for an excuse.

"Just leave Nobara." Miss Kugisaki pushed.

But before Nobara could utter a word, a familiar man came into the scene, tugging into his signature yellow tie.

"That's enough," he said.

"Nanami!" Mai said, her eyes blown wide. He was right here! Like from out of nowhere! The person she badly wanted to talk to!

Both Nobara and her mom were shocked, interrupting their raging argument for a second.

"Miss Kugisaki, it's quite unfair how you outright refused an opportunity to Nobara."

She squinted her eyes. "And what makes you say that? You just came here."

"I'm not entirely sure what happened between you and your daughter in the past, but she's just a kid who is still having trouble with these emotions, and is prone to…blow up."

"Hey-!" Nobara took it almost as an insult, but Mai quickly held her back.

"Those are pretty big words coming out of your mouth, kento, when you absolutely know nothing."

"But I know how teens can be complicated at times."

Everyone stiffened like the ice cold truth dropped right on their back. Mai looked at Nanami, and she was ready to listen to whatever he wanted to say.

"My point is," continued Nanami, "having the patience as the adult of the situation, and being the responsible one to still keep on nurturing them despite everything."

"So tell me, Kento, you don't think I'm not fit for that position?"

"All I'm asking is for you to keep on guiding Nobara."

Nobara eyed Nanami. A lot of words have exchanged these past minutes, and at some point, Nobara had pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, that this was happening, that these words were coming from someone else's mouth. From someone who cared.

Her mom took a deep breath, releasing a big sigh. She just felt like multiple slaps went on her face just by those words of someone even younger than her. "Practice tomorrow 5am sharp," she eyed Nobora, "or else I'll change my mind." Then she disappeared, running away to the dark woods.

This time, it was Nanami who drove them home as he insisted to Ijichi. Nobara and Mai didn't protest at all, and they obediently got into the backseat.

Everyone was quiet going back home with Nobara looking at the window the whole time. Meanwhile Mai fidgeted, debating whether this was the right time she should talk to Nanami right now. She heard Nobara sniffle at some point and rubbed her eyes with her sleeves.

"Why'd you come from, Nanami-sensei?" finally asked Nobara.

Mai side eyed her. That was a first. Nobara actually called someone -sensei unlike Gojo.

"Utahime-san's request," he answered.

Mai swiftly looked at the rear view mirror. Nanami's eyes were still focused on the road. In her peripheral vision, Mai felt Nobara eyeing at her.

"And it didn't bother you and your missions at all?" It was Mai who asked this time.

"She's a person I respect and trust."

"Oh." Being a student of Mai, she was still in awe. The whole of Kyoto Tech could agree with how much they love Utahime.

Nobara merely hummed.

The rest of the ride went quiet until the car started pulling up at a drive thru. Its blaringly red and yellow signs caught the eyes of Mai

"I know this isn't the healthiest right now, but the situation calls for it," said Nanami. "So what do you two wanna order?"

Tears were building up in Mai's eyes like a dam. It reminded her so much of her that one time with Utahime-sensei where she took her out in Mai's first ever McDonald experience. Something completely foreign from the Zenin's veggie meals. It was a heartwarming moment for her like a chain broke from being in that damned house for too long.

Nobara took in a sharp breath. "I'll take a teriyaki burger with a pineapple pie."

"A big Mac with chocolate fries," Mai said without any hesitation.

They proceed to wait for their orders. Nanami lightly tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

The girls in the backseat tried hard not to have their feelings spilling out at any second.

"Here you go." Nanami handed out their individual orders.

Immediately, their fingers went on to grab the burgers and took a big bite at the same time. They would have choked them if they didn't chew it properly. Savoring every bite, they know for now that this is a way to cope when tears almost spilled all over their cheeks.

Their trip back home wasn't over yet since they had to pump some gas at a nearby gas station.

Mai deliberately watched as Nanami took off from the driver seat. This whole ride she'd been itxhing so hard to ask him questions which she managed to reduce into one simple one for now.

She readied herself, grabbing the backseat door, but was interrupted when she almost clicked it open.

"Hey, Mai," blurted out Nobara.

Mai slightly flinched.

"Weird question but you know…that thing you said back in the cave." Nobara tried hard not to stumble over her words, but Mai noticed as she turned her head to look at her.

Mai had her eyebrow arched. "Which one?"

"The one you said about my town."

"Like what?" The other girl was growing slightly annoyed. Mai needed to talk to Nanami, and this is how she sacrificed it!

"About me being the same people as them."

Mai swore that she heard Nobara say that so fast she sounded like there's a gun being pointed to her head as she say it. "Ohhhh, that part. Just spill it out already." Mai impatiently jittered in her seat. Nanami was so close to finishing filling out the tank.

"I just wanna know why exactly you'd say that."

The impatient Mai was suddenly all ears to her, throwing her Nanami agenda out of the window. She well knew how Nobara sometimes acted like her head was up her ass. It was the way her headstrong self shut down anyone who wanted to tell something to her. Mai wasn't a complete saint either, so she decided to stay as blunt as possible to Nobara. "You're very much stubborn, Nobara. Like to the point you'll tell everyone to shut up, and think you are the oh-so-right-one."

Nobara didn't open her mouth to respond. Meanwhile, Nanami had finished pumping the gas and sat back in the driver seat.

"I never knew you'd be this honest," she decided to finally say something, "If only you were like this to Maki-san.."

Mai squinted her eyes. "Is this conversation just a way to slander me?"

The other girl chuckled, trying to put back her walls. "Maybe…"

"At the end of the day, both of us have some communication skills we need to work on."

Truth be told, Mai actually did spend ruminating over her "annoyance" over Maki the rest of the ride. Well, yeah, she wasn't really honest to her sister and never really said that she actually hated being a sorcerer. Then there's how Mai harshly compared herself to her twin. In Maki's perspective, she only heard her sister ranting about why she didn't stay at home ("and fell") along with Mai.

—

They arrived back at home of Nobara's mom. Nobara had quickly ran to her room and was ready to knock out onto her bed(and ready for that 5am training). Mai stayed over with Nanami who got out of the car, pulling out a flask from his white blazer.

"Uh, Nanami-san," spilled Mai.

"Mai?" He spun on his heel, pausing midway on drinking from his flask. " I thought you went inside already."

"I heard you quit being a sorcerer before, and I was wondering about that…if it's ok with you."

"What do you want to know?" said Nanami as he chugged down on his flask.

"I'm not really sure yet, but maybe I'm thinking of doing it too after highschool."

"Well, Utahime did tell me about your situation, and It's one of the reasons why I came up here."

"I figured." Mai sighed looking up at the sky. "Utahime-sensei..she's always looking out for us."

"She's great," agreed Nanami. He remembered his earliest memories of Utahime who was there with Shoko after the fallout of Geto. The older girl barged into the dorm, making food for her underclassmen. "Mai, you can definitely do it, but your life after that, I wouldn't assure you it would be completely bad or good."

Mai recognized some of the details when Nanami spoke about his life and why he had gone back to being a sorcerer. She closely listened to everything and only dropped questions after Nanami finished.

"So, it was a bakery that made you realize everything?" Hearing about it, Mai would totally visit that bakery.

"It was more like I have been thinking about it a lot but that place gave me 'the kick.'" Nanami polished off his flask, putting it back in his pockets. "My only advice is when you go out into that world, I hope you find something you're truly worth living for."

A bright streak sprinted across the sky, luckily witnessed by Mai.

'Perfect timing,' she thought.

Mai turned to look at Nanami for one last time. Before she could open her mouth fot her final words, the house's front door banged, loud enough to scare chirping gecko's around.

"Nanami-san!" yelled Nobara, holding a toothbrush. A towel was draped around her neck, and some toothpaste foam was still smeared around her lips.

"I'm still here," cooly said Nanami.

"You can stay over for the night," Nobara said, tuning down her voice this time. "As a thanks for really helping me out back there."

"I wanted to say thank you, too." Mai bowed her head. She was pretty sure Mai at least has some idea now with her life after high school. "It really means a lot."