"Sempai... Kali- Sempai!"

The voice seemed both near and far, as if in a dream. Still stunned by the new pause in her seals, the young woman felt herself lifted from the ground and then gently slammed against a warm surface, able to hear in the hollow of her ear a thud hammering away at an insane rhythm.

"Kali-sempai? Say something! Are you hurt? You're covered in blood!"

Yuji? Was that Yuji? What was he doing there? She had to reconnect her neurons... She'd been fighting just a few minutes ago. She had destroyed then ingested the two Level 1s she'd come across, then put two of her seals back in place. Ah... That was it... The seals. The shock of locking in her occult energy had knocked her unconscious for a few moments. But, usually, this never lasted very long. Unless the teenager had run belly-up as soon as his occult imprint had disappeared because of the seals? What a knight, really...

"Not... mine... Just... tired ..." she managed to articulate as she could perceive kyu flapping violently at the high-schooler's back, as if he were a threat, squealing angrily.

Yuji, on his knees, held the hybrid firmly against him, pinning her against his chest with one arm, vainly trying to protect himself from the flying flail assaults with the other.

"But... But stop! I don't want to hurt her, I'm here to protect her!" cried the demon receptacle, finally managing to grab the bat by the neck, planting his hazel eyes in the ruby beads of the bug jiggling in his hand. "Calm down!"

"It's... it's all right, Kyu... Be nice, will you... "Kali murmured, turning her golden gaze on the interested party who immediately stopped struggling, letting her wings fall back against the high-schooler's implacable phalanges.

"kuuuuy..." the creature let out in an anguished breath, making the half-demon feel slightly guilty. He was so worried about her...

She gently scratched his head, giving him a slight smile. The shock of confinement was passing, clearing her head and her awareness of the current situation.

So there she was, snuggled up against the incredibly powerful and muscular torso of Sukuna's host, her face pressed against his heart drumming in the hollow of his ear. She could smell the mentholated scent of her deodorant on the fabric of her exorcist's uniform, alas, hiding the true scent of her skin... On the other hand, the young woman could perceive more than ever the terribly complex aura of the high-school student, mingling her own with the muffled aura of the thousand-year-old king... It was... fascinating... Enveloping... Heady...

Without realizing it, Kali slipped her hitherto inert arm around Itadori's waist, making him tremble, raising her face to him to capture his tenderly nuanced eyes. She was slightly disturbed to discover her opposite number's slightly blushing face only a few centimetres from her own, courageously inking her distraught gaze in his feline one.

"K... Kali... sempai..." he murmured with the tip of his lips as she came to place her hand on his cheek, tasting the softness of his skin beneath her fingers. There was always this kind of... electricity between them, this energy born of their every touch... It was exhilarating...

What if she kissed him? His lips were so tempting right now... so... appetizing... She was dying to taste them... more than ever before in her short existence... As if she were magnetized to him... All she had to do was rise a little higher and...

"Itadori! Did you find her?" Megumi shouted as she burst into the room, startling the two entwined youngsters who abruptly pulled away from each other, fire blazing in their faces.

"KYU!" snarled the flying scourge as the teenager had unwittingly tightened his grip on him in surprise, coming to sink his tiny fangs into his hand.

"AIE!" let out the victim, releasing the animal, which flew off again, circling the room furiously, glaring at Itadori.

"My God, Yuji, are you all right?" Kali inquired, coming to seize the crimson teenager's hand. Small drops of blood were forming where Kyu's teeth had sunk in, beading like rubies on the surface of the high-schooler's tanned skin.

The hybrid swallowed unconsciously, as if hypnotized. Despite her two seals, the smell was terribly pleasant, making her want to pick up the droplets with the tip of her tongue... God, his taste must have been so... incredible... unique... like him... like the two of them...

What was happening to her? She'd just eaten a few minutes before! She shouldn't be in such a state for so little...

"Se... Se is nothing, Kali-sempai... Everything's fine!"

The future shaman's voice snapped her out of her incongruous thoughts, bringing her back to the present moment. She turned her face towards the young man, obviously still a little embarrassed after what had just happened between them...

"Par... sorry, Yuji... Kyu can be a bit wild at times..." she murmured as she let go of the injured man's hand, dropping hers onto his lap.

"He's very protective..." commented Megumi, who had approached them, casting a cobalt glance at the bug still flying furiously over their heads, causing the other two to report their attention back to him.

"Glad to see you two are all right," the dark-haired man dropped in a neutral voice, his eyes nonetheless scanning them intently. "Itadori rushed headlong through the curtain just as one of your foxes disappeared in front of the building... Without thinking, for a change..."

"Ah... Yes, when I put my seals back in place, it stops the invocation dead in its tracks... Sorry to have worried you..." apologized Kali, placing a hand on one of the spells adorning her arms. She was so used to fighting alone that she had forgotten to take into consideration what her 'confinement' might suggest to the outside world about her condition...

"Oh, we thought you'd be fine." Megumi added, referring to her classmate, her teacher, as well as herself, sighing. "We could still feel some of your occult energy since you hadn't put all your seals back on. But there's another one who likes to go for it without thinking..."

"Eh oh, ça va! Kali sempai could have been hurt, we didn't know that!" he defended himself, crossing his arms, a little sulky at being treated like a moron.

"But in the end, that's not the case, is it? Kali-san?" questioned the shadow-user, scrutinizing with his perceptive gaze the abundance of fleautic blood covering the body of the young woman, who was obviously very well.

"I'm fine, thank you, Fushiguro. That blood's not mine..." confirmed the hybrid as she stood up, dusting herself off a little.

"glutton..." dropped Sukuna in a snide voice, materializing on his host's cheek.

"I don't have much time to get fancy, shall we say..." evaded Kali, almost beginning to get used to the impromptu interventions of the overpowered curse, turning to her wearer. "And, until now, apart from Kyu or my invocations, no one ever accompanied me on my hunts... So it didn't matter to me what I looked like in the end... I'm going to have to change that habit, apparently..." She concluded with a gentle smile, extending her arm towards Yuji to help him to his feet.

He held her gaze, returning her smile with his usual bewildering honesty, before taking hold of her outstretched hand, squeezing it gently in his own. He rose to his feet in a supple movement, reluctantly releasing his grip on the young woman's frightfully soft skin, dusting off his uniform to regain his composure. Megumi, on the other hand, was observing their maneuver with a pragmatic, piercing eye, telling himself inwardly that what he was seeing here was likely to create a heap of complications in short order...

"Well, it's not all that, but Gojo-sensei and Nobara are waiting for us outside... Are you coming?" he blurted, turning around and walking away without waiting for their reply.

There was nothing left to do here anyway, all the plagues had been eliminated in a handful of minutes by Kali and her flame demons from her blood. He should really take more interest in her and the orb she carried... Her power... Perhaps her power had something to do with her family manipulating the shadows. As far as he knew, black flames were part of a distant folklore lost centuries ago... Yet here the young hybrid was, manipulating them directly with the half-demonic relic inked on her back. She said she still didn't have much control over her spells... But perhaps she knew more about flames and shadows than she realized... She was going to have to find out more...

The dark-haired man soon left the building, followed by Yuji and his companion, who were chatting quietly behind him, earning him a furtive smile. Well... digging... if Itadori would let him get close to the young European of course...

"YO you three! So, everyone in one piece? No boo-boo?" exclaimed Gojo as he saw them approach, going to meet them as he cancelled the now useless curtain around the old clinic.

"Yep, Sensei!" affirmed Sukuna's host cheerfully, clearly in a very good mood.

"Mission accomplished, Gojo! Three minutes on the clock! Who can beat that?" the trial hybrid planted herself between the two teenagers, giving him a victorious V with one hand.

Kali then went to retrieve her military jacket, extracting a small bottle of water from a pocket. Kyu caught up with her, landing on the bench and scanning her, clearly impatient, playing with his claws on the painted wood.

"Couldn't you have done that more... cleanly, seriously?" commented Nobara as the half-demon poured the water over her bare arms, washing them succinctly. The rest, anyway, would be hidden by her jacket...

"Planting your hands in a flail to retrieve your orb, it's always messy, girl..." settled Kali, blowing the high-schooler's nose. With a sweeping movement, she slipped on the large garment that camouflaged the remnants of blood still soiling her. She couldn't wait to get back into a hot bath to wash away the unpleasant sensation!

Immediately, the little flying scourge leapt towards the hybrid, clinging to the military fabric before hoisting itself up to her shoulder, finally dropping into her hood. It straightened up a little and came to rest its snout on the hollow of the young woman's neck, planting one of the claws of its wings in the strap of her bodysuit, possessive, challenging Yuji with its little bloodshot eyes, who had watched him do it, stung to the quick. Was this bug taunting him?

Even Sukuna, who was observing the scene from his inner space, noticed the bat's mocking behavior, causing him to raise an eyebrow. Who did the flying rat think he was?

"Well, did I pass the test, Gojo?" resumed Kali as she partly zipped up her jacket, moving closer to the snow-haired exorcist.

"Hummmm..." he began to spare his effect, playing with a finger on his lips, staring through his blindfold at the young woman. "Nah, just kidding, it's all good!" All he got was a slightly jaded look from his interlocutor, who was obviously not very receptive to his humor. He continued. "Shadow flames, now that's something!"

"Shadow flames, yes... Do you know anything about that?" questioned Kali, crossing her arms under her chest.

A tense silence stretched out between the two interlocutors, staring at each other with intensity. There was something he needed to know... Satoru would certainly be much easier to win over than the King of Scourges, as the young half-demon knew only too well. And the risk of immediate death in the event of a faux pas was much lower with the exorcist, powerful though he was. He was still a shaman, normally motivated by the unspoken rule of protecting human existence. And she was one herself, at least half of one...

"Hummmmmm... Right now, not really no." finally dropped the young man, giving the hybrid a cold shower.

"You... Wait... what?" chattered Kali, bewildered. "Aren't you supposed to be mega big as an exorcist? "

"But I'm even the best, my pretty!" he defended himself, thrusting his hands into his trouser pockets, coming to lean towards her, playful. "On the other hand, a power normally extinct for centuries and centuries... Sorry, but I haven't really looked into it!"

She came to plant her fists on her hips, losing all her good humor, glaring with her golden eyes at her opposite number.

"Like... I'm old and not interesting, is that what you mean? Dark cad..."

Gojo burst out laughing, catching the young woman off guard.

"The half orb you're wearing isn't new, that's for sure!" the exorcist resumed after stopping laughing. "You on the other hand, given your childish behavior, are clearly young! As for your power... I'll see what I can find out, and for that, I know exactly who I'm going to turn to!"

Putting his money where his mouth was, the black-clad man came to stare at Megumi, who lifted her head from her phone, having followed the conversation with one ear.

"Megumi-chaaaaan! Shadows are your family's domain! You must have figured out that your family power and Kali's have common origins, right?"

"Hmm." the dark-haired man merely replied, coming to scrutinize the golden-eyed hybrid for a moment before returning his attention to his laptop, deceptively detached. Of course, he'd understood... And of course, it intrigued him greatly too... But he preferred to remain discreet for the time being. Not showing his cards was the best way to keep his hand in...

"What spirit, I love it!" Ironically, the teacher gave a thumbs-up in his pupil's direction. "Anyway, Kali, we've already got some clues to find out more about you... If you stay wise, and respect the rules, we might just be able to give you a hand!"

"Sage, that's my middle name, Go-jo-sen-sei..." the interested party simpered a little as she gave him a falsely innocent smile, drawing another burst of laughter from Class S and an amused smile from Yuji as well as his host, even if the latter would never recognize it. She was entertaining, the shrimp...

"So that... my little finger tells me it's a big, but then a very big fib, miss hybrid..." concluded Satoru as he leaned towards her, a knowing smile stretching across his lips... "But come on, I'll pretend to believe it..."

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A word from the author:

M: And hello everyone, a very happy Monday! Here's another little chapter, a little shorter, I hope you enjoyed it all the same!

You believed the kiss, didn't you? I'll admit it, so did I!

Yuji, scarlet: SO WHAT ABOUT ME! It's not nice to play with people's feelings like that... And no thanks to you, Fushiguro!

Megumi: Hey, I'm not to blame... I just came to make sure you were all right, the way you left like a cannonball!

Gojo: Wait, a kiss? What did I miss?

Megumi, exasperated: If you were doing your job as a teacher properly and had gone yourself, you'd know that!

Gojo, dropping to the floor like a drama queen, a spotlight shining on her: How can you be so cruel to me, Megumi-chan? How can you deprive me of such crucial information?

Megumi, insensitive: DO YOUR BUSINESS!

GOJO: MOOOONSTRE!

Nobara, blasé: At the same time, you don't have to have invented the butter-cutting thread to guess which people with their hormones visibly boiling HERE would want to roll a skate...

Yuji, crimson, mechanically tugging at the sleeves of his uniform: Jenondutoutjevoispasdequoituparlesfranchementcestcompletelyfalsekalisempaiisjustuneamieandjenaiunepenseedeplaceeasonegard...

Sukuna : Virgin... Don't put me in the same basket as him, you brats, I'd know what to do, I guarantee it...

Kyu, swooping down on Yuji like a bird of prey: KYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUU (the equivalent of 'flap your legs'...)

Yuji, running off to hide behind M: PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE! And why don't you attack Sukuna too, he wants to do a lot worse to Kali than I do!

Sukuna, crossing his arms with a carnacier smile: If you only knew...

M: All right, that's enough, you leave Yuji alone! With all that's going on, the poor guy's not out of the woods yet!

Yuji, choking: WHAT?

M: Well, see you soon, folks, for the next part! Thanks for voting for us and don't hesitate to leave us comments! See you soon!