Twenty-Third Spell: Tōmorokoshi no Obake

"I'm a failure," Nayu lamented. "How can I call myself a witch if I can't cast a single spell?"

"You're being too hard on yourself," Haru said, trying to be sympathetic. "When I first cast the Firelighting Charm, I almost set a matted floor on fire."

"Really?" Nayu was surprised. "I thought Osozaki were supposed to be better than regular witches and wizards."

"Well, as Higa told me, just because I have more power doesn't mean I know how to use it. Then again, I'm not sure I really am that great given what I've demonstrated so far."

"Maybe you'll get better the more you get used to magic."

Before Haru could reply, the next teacher stepped into the classroom. This person wore a lavish plum-purple kimono with pink outlining, had silky black hair bundled up with sequined hairpins and gold-studded combs, smooth skin, and delicate hands.

"Good afternoon, my lovely children!" said the teacher in an effeminate male voice. "Welcome to Remedial Herbology!"

"Good afternoon, Sabe-Sensei!" said everyone in the class except for Haru.

"And you must be Haru Ryuji," Sabe said, looking at Haru with interest. "They didn't tell me you would be so cute."

"Um, thanks," Haru said, not feeling comfortable.

"But you're not my type," added Sabe.

Sabe then tapped the Magic Circle backdrop with his wand, and the desks returned to their previous formation of being in rows of three with the cushioned seats.

"Now let us go to the garden outside the castle walls," Sabe said.

In a single file line, Haru and the other students followed Sabe out of the classroom and along the inner wall to the right of the storage room that was locked. From there, they went out a tunnel that was similar to the one Haru, Nayu, and Seita went through to get to the landing platform. Only through this tunnel, they emerged onto a sloped garden with strange-looking plants and trees.

"If you all recall, this part of the island gets the most sunlight—hence why the school garden is here," Sabe stated. "Now I hope you all remembered to bring your Dragon-Hide Gloves, because you're going to need them. We'll also stop by the garden shed for tools."

After everyone put on the gloves they stashed into their robes, they all went to the shed at the top of the sloped garden where Sabe instructed them to get small pots, hand shovels, a woven bag full of soil and another with dragon dung.

"What is this for?" Haru said, trying not to gag from the smell of the bag that had dragon dung inside.

"Glad you asked," Sabe smiled. "It's a good fertilizer for plants, and much cheaper than those chemicals that Manai fertilizers have."

Once they got what they needed, the students followed Sabe down the dirt path between rows of plants till they stopped at one row that had corn seedlings growing.

"For this semester, you will each be taking care of a tōmorokoshi no obake plant," Sabe said. "Now who can tell me what that is?"

Nayu raised her hand. "That's the corn with the weird faces, right?"

"Right you are, darling! Five points to the Byakko Clan!" declared Sabe. "More specifically, tōmorokoshi no obakes are corn plants possessed by spirits which causes strange deformities in the corn's ears. Some look like misshapen faces, some grow hair or fur, and a few even take on the shape of the deceased like the Shinagawa Chicken. Do any of you remember that story?"

"I do!" Gyoku said. "There was a farmer in Shinagawa who had a pet chicken that died, so he buried it and a corn plant grew on top causing the ear to turn into a tōmorokoshi no obake shaped like a chicken."

"Very good memory, Wataka-Kun," Sabe complemented.

Why didn't Gyoku get points for a Clan? Haru wondered. Maybe it has to do with him being a Primary Student and not a Secondary Student?

"So now I want you all to pick up a tōmorokoshi no obake, put it in your pot, fill the pot with a nice amount of dirt and dragon dung, and return to the classroom when you're done." Sabe then took out a paper fan and walked away fanning himself.

"Sabe-Sensei has more of a 'do-it-yourself' method to his teaching," Gyoku said to Haru. "That's why he left."

"But what if one of us decides to ditch class?" Haru asked. "How will he know?"

"Our kimonos will start to turn white if we try to lie to him, just like what happened to Seita."

Haru looked over at Seita, who was rubbing dirt on his kimono sleeves to hide the white lines.

"So why didn't you get points when you answered Sabe's question correctly?" Haru said to Gyoku, who was starting to unearth his tōmorokoshi no obake seedling.

"Primary Students don't earn points for Clans," Gyoku said. "They earn individual points that go toward their final grade."

"Sounds like a better system than being held accountable for an entire Clan's success or failure."

"But you and Nayu have already earned 15 points for Byakko on your first day, so what are you complaining about?"

"Yeah, but now I'm worried about losing it all because of some foolish act I might do in the near future like what Seita did."

"Then don't do it. Although speaking as someone who almost made a fool of himself in Charms, I'm glad you and Nayu stopped me from hurting Seita."

"Sure."

From there, the two boys put their tōmorokoshi no obake plants into their respective pots, filled them with soil and dragon dung, and walked back to the classroom. Nayu soon joined them, but she nearly tripped and almost dropped her pot. Luckily, Haru was able to catch her in time. Seita came in last with dirt all along his kimono sleeves.

"Looks like someone had fun gardening," Sabe joked. "Now place your plants by the window and be sure to water them every day."

Everyone did as Sabe asked and put the plants on the shelf that was directly next to one of the circular windows. They then passed around a watering can and poured water into the pots just as the crowing from Dōmeki's Yatagarasu Fushigi rang out.

"See you tomorrow!" Sabe blew a kiss to the class and walked out gracefully.

"Well, he was…interesting," Haru remarked.

"Hello, everyone!"

Recognizing that voice, Haru looked to the sliding door entrance of the classroom and saw Ryosei Maki standing there.

To be continued…