It was exam day at Kyoto.
"Do your best, even if you don't know the answers," Utahime's voice echoed throughout the classroom as she handed out the last paper to Kamo, who took it without looking, obviously confident. Once, she too questioned the need of a written exam in such a physically-centered career... but she learned fast that without the basic understanding of the core of the power they all uniquely possess, then they'd fail to properly utilize it to it's fullest potential.
To put it short: the brain is an important muscle too.
With no further interruption, Utahime took her timer off of her desk and pressed start. "You all have an hour."
Immediately, her students tucked into their tests without another word, heads down and pencils idly twirling in some hands as they digested the first question. Sitting down at her desk in front of the class, she monitored them with her golden gaze.
Utahime knew none of them would cheat. Other than taking their phones away for the duration of the exam, jujutsu sorcerers grow up to be prideful, self-assured individuals, and her students would turn out to be no different. And if whoever did cheat, she didn't need to worry about giving out punishment: no doubt, the rest of the students would catch wind and do it themselves.
Because they knew, no matter how they felt about one another, it was every man for themselves in the end. If they could not act trustworthy in the class, they could not be trusted on the field.
Still, children were children, and they were all prone to mischievousness.
Time ticked away. Todo finished first, slapping his pencil on the desk with enough force to earn a side-eye from Mai next to him as she put down her pencil as well, with much more restraint. Her two brightest students, as expected, finished with a good chunk of time remaining.
Then came Mechamaru, who straighten his body and rested his wooden arms on top of his completed test. Arata nodded to himself, looking pleased with all of his answers, and Momo slumped back and turned over her paper, relieved that she wouldn't be forced to hurt her head anymore. Kamo finished later than he normally did with a touch of irritation on his face.
Stifling a smile, Utahime sat up in her seat. It was nearing the end.
"One minute," she warned, and under her fine lashes she peered in Miwa's direction for the umpteenth time, shoulders still tense as she continued to blazed through the last written portion of the test. Behind her blue bangs, Utahime could see her worried but determined countenance.
It was she who struggled the most in her academics.
Every student had finished theirs and were waiting. Utahime looked at the timer on resting on her clipboard, hidden from the view. She watched the remaining seconds go by, the glare of the afternoon sunlight landing on top of her right shoulder. Miwa sat in the front where she couldn't see the rest of the students staring at her from all sides.
Every man for themselves.
But as her teacher, she knew, while Miwa did not have prominent connections like some did, nor a kind of academic ruthlessness the rest had... it all did nothing to dim her hardworking spirit.
"You need a break," Utahime had told her one summer day during track and field practice. Her tone was calm but firm as she spoke over some argument Todo and Momo were in the middle of, expecting Miwa to listen as she always did.
Seeing the girl struggling to even walk, Utahime had quickly ran up to her and wrapped her hand on her elbow and pulled her just outside the track. Miwa's skin was burning and clammy under her hand, and she gratefully took a swing of water from the bottle Utahime offered to her. Even wearing a light shirt and pants instead of her usual kimono, the sun felt unyielding, and she remained close to the child, wary that she might fall over. "Let's go underneath the shade to cool off," she advised, squinting against the heat.
Miwa greatly surprised her, ripping away from her reach with newfound aggression. "No! I can finish this lap," she protested, a hand on her chest, looking deeply offended.
In the classroom, the exam timer in her hand ticked down to zero. But Utahime discretely paused it with her thumb.
"I want to do my best. I have to do my best!—"
She remembered Miwa's hard gaze meeting her own, the sun burning against her shoulders then as it did now.
"— so please, encourage me sensei. Allow me to show you and everyone what I can do."
With just over an additional minute going by, Miwa slapped her pencil down too. They were all officially finished. Utahime resumed the timer, and it beeped loudly throughout the room, waking up everyone from their bored daze.
"Times up," she sang half-heartedly, standing up and stretching, and the room became alive once again with belated sighs and exhausted chatter. She went around to stand in front of her desk. "Great job everyone. Hand your test over, then you can leave."
One by one, she silently collected their papers as they took their respective phones off of her desk. Miwa handed hers in last, and she glanced at it. It is covered in blocks of her beautiful, diligent handwriting.
"Have a good day sensei!" Miwa chirped, obviously elated.
"You have a good day as well," she smiled and nodded back to her, looking on as she met Mai and Momo who waited for her by the entrance. Her hair, an innocent shade of blue, flowed behind her.
Alone, Utahime held the pile of paper longer than was necessary. Knowing she could not protect them on the field, it was the least she can do to protect their happiness where she could, just a bit longer.