Title: zenith of stars
Rating: T
Summary: "It's not the Six Eyes," they said. So then, the question is –what is it? [OC, Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!OC, AU]
Warnings: N/A.
AN at bottom.
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zenith of stars
"79: missing"
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For all that Okkotsu Yuta is, technically, not one of Shiki's fellow classmates, somehow she ends up seeing quite a lot of the boy over the following days. In a way, this only makes sense; the cursed spirit attached to the boy is one that is Special Grade, so in the case of any accidents, of all personnel in the Tokyo school Shiki is the one who definitely needs to be present.
A little less pragmatically, Kinji and Kirara are both getting along well with Okkotsu-san. It's not uncommon for them to seek out the boy on their own during their free time. Which, in turn, means that when Shiki is with her classmates in the Tokyo school, she also ends up spending time with Okkotsu-san when her classmates decide to check in on the boy.
Satoru-niichan's movie marathon training method actually ends up being quite effective. Unconventional as it is, Okkotsu-san swiftly manages to learn how to control his cursed energy –clumsily, perhaps, but that's something that will eventually improve with practice, if he continues to work hard at it.
Shiki had been in a similar situation as Okkotsu-san in the beginning, too. According to Satoru-niichan, this was a problem that those with higher reserves of cursed energy tended to run into when they first started learning how to manipulate their cursed energy… unless they had the Six Eyes, of course.
Shiki is a lot better at being efficient with her cursed energy nowadays. She might not possess a pair of cursed eyes that allow her to refine pinpoint precision over her usage of cursed energy, but she has a cousin with said cursed eyes who's only all too happy to point out all her dozens of mistakes regarding her cursed energy manipulation when she asks him for help on this front. It's not the same as having the Six Eyes herself, of course, but Shiki can confidently say that she's made great strides on this front since receiving Satoru-niichan's gleeful assistance.
Precision in controlling one's cursed energy is not something that Okkotsu-san is going to have to worry about anytime soon, though, judging by his current rate of progress.
Which wasn't to say that the boy was slow. If anything, Okkotsu-san seemed to have a natural talent for sorcery, in perfect compliment to his abundant stores of cursed energy. But this did not change the fact that the boy had lived a fully civilian life prior to being brought to Tokyo, and he was only just starting to learn everything starting from the very beginning with zero background and zero foundation aside from natural talent and innate aptitude.
Truth be told, Takagi-sensei would probably be a very good teacher for Okkotsu-san right now. The man was someone who was experienced with teaching students who were unfamiliar with the jujutsu world at large, starting from basic sorcery skills and essential background information that those who hailed from sorcery clans might overlook or take for granted. But after the conversation that Shiki had witnessed between Takagi-sensei and Satoru-niichan when Okkotsu-san had initially been brought to the Tokyo school…
It was uncertain if Takagi-sensei would take on this role in the future. It had been evident that the man felt he was ill-equipped to teach a student with Special Grade potential, which… might be Shiki's fault, a little bit, even though hers and Okkotsu-san's situations are very different from each other.
From the looks of things, it might take a little longer for Takagi-sensei to finally finish mentally sorting himself out and decide whether or not he would actually be teaching Okkotsu-san –despite the boy currently not being an official student of the Tokyo school. Yet. Moreover, going by what Satoru-niichan had implied at the time, it was also entirely likely that he would be the one to become the Tokyo school's first year teacher in the upcoming school year.
… But that was still a ways off for now. Satoru-niichan had told her to keep an eye on Okkotsu-san, and Shiki would do as her cousin asked of her. Which included things like integrating Okkotsu-san into his new environment, supervising his movie-watching training and the like.
If Takagi-sensei proved to be willing to help, then that would be for the best. If not, then it simply meant that Shiki needed to make alternate arrangements.
Currently, Okkotsu-san had already successfully wrangled a slight measure of control over his cursed energy, which meant that the first step of Satoru-niichan's training plan had worked. However, the problem that Shiki faced right now was–
What was the second step?
Satoru-niichan hadn't left much instruction for her beyond watching Okkotsu-san's movie training and making sure that the higher ups didn't attempt something inadvisable again during his absence. There were only so many movies that Shiki could sit through before she started losing her mind, and she was pretty sure that Okkotsu-san would lose his mind if she forced him to do nothing but his movie marathon training until Satoru-niichan came back from his trip.
Luckily, texting her cousin had yielded new insights on this matter.
Satoru-niichan: Awww you're already tired of your vacation? So soon?
Satoru-niichan: Well if movies are too boring, then my cute little cousin can switch up Yuta's training however she likes!
Satoru-niichan: Have fun!
Satoru-niichan: [Smiley [ [ ]
Shiki's eyes linger on the last little image in her cousin's message, and she makes her decision.
She straightens up from where she's leaned against the wall, turns around, and opens the nearby door. Inside the room, there is still a movie that's playing on the television screen, although only two out of the three occupants on the couch are watching it; Kirara is currently fast asleep on Kinji's shoulder, dead to the world even through the loud background noise of the movie.
"You're back?" Kinji twists his head around towards Shiki, although he doesn't quite manage the movement with his classmate using him as a pillow. Halfway through his words, Kinji ends up yawning as well. "Managed to get in touch with your cousin?"
"I did," Shiki nods. On one hand, it was good that she'd received a response so swiftly, but on the other hand, it wasn't exactly something that she was happy about. Satoru-niichan had responded a little too swiftly after Shiki had texted him. To the point where she highly suspected that he was foregoing sleep and abusing his reverse cursed technique to keep himself active. Her suspicions weren't helped by the fact that Satoru-niichan instantly, conspicuously fell silent after receiving her last text message: Why aren't you sleeping?
She is going to have words with him once he's back in the country!
… But none of her worries about her cousin are anything that her classmates need to be bothered by, and so Shiki does not speak of any of these thoughts to her peers.
"Cool," Kinji gives her a small thumbs-up. "So are we getting a change of pace here?"
"Yes." Shiki turns towards Okkotsu-san, who no longer watches her quite as nervously as he did in the beginning –but there is a thin undercurrent of it that remains in him nonetheless, still. "You're going to learn how to use a sword."
Satoru-niichan had agreed to switch up Okkotsu-san's training, and told Shiki to act as she saw fit. And he'd also sent her that little image of a knife, too, so what else could he mean?
"A sword, huh?" Kinji makes a considering sound, and glances at Okkotsu-san. "Have you ever used a sword before?"
"Never," the other boy shakes his head. "I never joined the kendo club at school."
"… Well, no time like the present to learn!" Kinji says cheerily in response to that. "Shiki is really good with a sword, so you're in luck if you're learning from her… Hey, wait a minute. How come you never offered to teach me or Kirara how to use a sword?"
Because Kinji was very obviously a brawler who preferred to fight with his fists; brass knuckles would suit him better than a sword. And while Kirara wasn't exactly a brawler the way Kinji was, Shiki was familiar enough with Kirara's fighting style by this point to know that he didn't enjoy getting up close and personal with his opponents. Kirara's cursed technique also made it so that he could flexibly control the range of his opponents, too, so something like a close-range sword wasn't needed to complement his abilities.
Okkotsu-san's cursed technique was currently unknown, and he'd only started learning how to properly control his cursed energy. It would be better to arm him with a cursed tool in the meantime, which meant learning how to use a weapon, and most sorcerers who could not actively make use of their cursed techniques were either sword users or shikigami users.
Being a shikigami user required the sorcerer to have better control over their cursed energy than Okkotsu-san currently did, so that wasn't a valid option right now.
Then, a sword would be suitable.
Learning to imbue a weapon with cursed energy was also one of the basics of properly using a cursed tool, so it would also double as a good exercise for helping Okkotsu-san control his cursed energy, and lay good groundwork for eventually sorting out the massive web of tangled knots tying him and a Special Grade cursed spirit together.
But in response to Kinji's question at hand–
"Neither of you asked." If either of her classmates had legitimately expressed genuine interest in learning how to use Shiki's weapon of choice, Shiki would've helped. But as it was, the most interest that they'd shown thus far was poking fun at Shiki's preference for knives and related bladed weaponry.
"Okkotsu didn't ask, either!"
Shiki ignores her classmate, who should know perfectly well why she's elected to ignore him, and turns towards Okkotsu-san instead.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a sword, but it would be best for you to learn how to use a weapon," she explains. "You have a lot of cursed energy, but as long as you can't properly use it, there's not much that you'd be able to do in a proper fight on your own. Learning to wield a cursed tool, even as a stopgap measure, would be to your benefit."
"I understand," Okkotsu-san nods, and hesitates. "But I've, um. I've really never held a sword before, or, uh. Fought with anyone, either…"
"I am aware." That much had been apparent from the initial background check that had been performed on Okkotsu-san upon his discovery.
"He means that he doesn't have any experience at all with fighting, so he's a little nervous about it," Kinji cuts in helpfully, then turns towards the other boy. "Look, sorcerers are supposed to fight curses, but no one's tossing you off the deep end when you're not prepared to deal with any of it. The entire point of the school is to train up sorcerers, not toss them into the meat grinder."
… Shiki does not see how the two points brought up in Kinji's last sentence are contradictory to each other. Somehow, though, she gets the feeling that it would be wisest not to comment on that in this moment.
Kinji pats Okkotsu-san on the shoulder. "Just try your best, it'll be fine. Shiki won't judge you. Much."
Shiki refrains from rolling her eyes.
"Are you quite done?" she asks dryly. "If so, then I'll be taking Okkotsu-san with me."
"Yeah, just about," Kinji flashes her a quick little grin. "Think Kirara and I are gonna have to pass on it this time, though."
That's understandable, seeing as Kirara is still fast asleep on Kinji's shoulder, and Kinji evidently doesn't want to wake him or leave him here in the room on his own.
Even though Shiki's classmates have been spending a lot of time with Okkotsu-san recently, it's not as if they've entirely set aside their own training and studies. Kirara is likely just tired, and the dim lighting of the movie room probably didn't help his efforts to stay awake.
It's a good thing that Kinji doesn't seem to mind being used as a pillow by his classmate.
"Don't turn Okkotsu into sashimi, and try to bring him back in one piece, won't you?" Kinji continues, a light note of mischief in his voice. "I believe in you, Shiki."
Shiki raises an eyebrow. It seems as if there might be a slight misunderstanding here. "… I'm not teaching Okkotsu-san personally. I'm going to be bringing him to Kusakabe-sensei."
"Didn't you say that you were going to teach Okkotsu how to use a sword?"
"I said that it would be for the best that Okkotsu-san learns how to use a sword, not that I would be the one teaching him how to use it," Shiki clarifies.
"Huh," Kinji makes a thoughtful sound. For a moment, it seems as if he is about to shrug, too, but the boy glances at Kirara's head lolled on his shoulder and seems to think better of it. "Well… that might be good, too. Kusakabe-sensei has a lot of experience teaching, doesn't he?"
He does. And aside from being an experienced teacher, there is also the fact that there are skills and techniques that Kusakabe-sensei can teach Okkotsu-san that Shiki can't. The sword style that Shiki practices is a derivative of Kiyohira-sensei's Kageryu, and it falls under the same clause as the Kageryu in the Gojo Clan. It's considered a Gojo sword style, and Shiki is not permitted to intentionally teach secret clan techniques to outsiders.
Kusakabe-sensei, on the other hand, is a practitioner of Shin Kageryu, and the vast majority of sword-wielding sorcerers are all practitioners of Shin Kageryu. The Yagyu Clan has worked hard to make it widespread over the years, and this is the fruit of their efforts. Even though higher-level techniques are considered to be clan secrets, there are a good number of basic techniques that all interested sorcerers are permitted to learn.
Which means that even though Shiki has no doubt that Kusakabe-sensei is also under binding vows of his own, it's likely that he'll have more to teach Okkotsu-san than Shiki does. She also has no problem admitting that she's never actually taught anyone before, whereas Kusakabe-sensei has likely had many students by this point.
So, bringing Okkotsu-san to Kusakabe-sensei would be a good choice to make.
Shiki mentally nods to herself.
If it turns out that Kusakabe-sensei is hesitant, similar to Takagi-sensei, then Shiki will start things off by telling Okkotsu-san to practice basic stances and sword swings. That much wouldn't be a violation of her binding vow with the Gojo Clan, but it wouldn't be a viable long term solution.
Well, she'll find a way, somehow. But first–
Finding Kusakabe-sensei, and introducing Okkotsu-san to him. It's been awhile since Shiki has seen the man, and she wonders if she'd be able to convince him to spar with her again sometime.
.
.
As it turns out, Kusakabe-sensei is missing.
Which is… rather unexpected, because Shiki remembers that Kusakabe-sensei shouldn't have been scheduled for any missions today. Teachers of the jujutsu schools who are charged with teaching the next generation aren't completely taken off the mission roster, but they do take a lot less missions than other sorcerers who are not school faculty.
But, Kusakabe-sensei is missing. Why? … A last-minute mission?
Shiki ponders the quandary of a missing teacher for a moment, then decides to contact Choki to ask if he might look into the recent mission logs to see if Kusakabe-sensei had been called away for an urgent assignment on short notice. But it doesn't take long before Choki confirms to her that this is not the case. From the records alone, Kusakabe-sensei had not been called anywhere. For all intents and purposes, he should still be at the school teaching his students.
And yet, his whereabouts were currently unknown.
Strange.
"Could you look into it, Choki?"
"Of course, ojou-sama," her assistant immediately responds from the other end of the phone.
Okkotsu-san frowns slightly in worry. "Is… is everything alright?"
"That remains to be seen." Hopefully, everything was perfectly fine and there was nothing that Shiki needed to worry about. Knowing her luck, though…
"Ojou-sama," Choki's voice sounds again through her cell phone. "I've received confirmation from two different assistant managers that Kusakabe Atsuya was seen departing from the Tokyo school roughly half an hour ago. Apparently, he left with great haste –even though I can confirm that he was not assigned a time-sensitive mission."
"I see." Half an hour wasn't too long, so Shiki and Okkotsu had only just missed the teacher that they'd been looking for.
If Kusakabe-sensei had departed in a rush… perhaps he'd left on a personal errand? … It didn't exactly qualify as abandoning his duties. Strictly speaking, Kusakabe-sensei was only the teacher for second year students. The sole Tokyo second year, Aikawa, was currently out tagging along with one of third year student Ichinose's missions.
Shiki is just about to thank Choki for performing a brief investigation on such short notice and end the call–
"Ah, one of the school's assistant managers just responded." There is a slight pause from the other end of the phone from Choki. "Ijichi-san says that Kusakabe-san went straight for one of the local elementary schools."
… One of the local elementary schools? Why? As far as Shiki was aware, Kusakabe-sensei wasn't married, nor did he have any children that he was taking care of. What kind of personal emergency would see him immediately leaving his teaching post without a word to run off to an elementary school in the city? … Perhaps there was the child of a relative attending this elementary school? Or, alternatively–
"Kusakabe-sensei really wasn't suddenly assigned to some last-minute mission, was he?" Shiki asks. It sounded like something that the higher ups would do.
"No," Choki responds immediately. "There are no records of any recent assignments to the area…. Unless it's one that's off the record instead, in which case there's nothing that can be ascertained from my end. Kusakabe-san currently is not answering any calls to his phone, so I cannot receive direct confirmation from him. Would you like me to continue looking into this matter?"
"It's fine." Not being able to get in contact with Kusakabe-sensei simply meant that the man was currently busy. Whether or not it was due to an undisclosed mission from the higher ups or because Kusakabe-sensei needed to deal with a personal matter was not something that Shiki needed to get herself involved in.
Kusakabe-sensei was a competent, established Grade One sorcerer. He could take care of himself.
"Do you wish to head to the elementary school as well, ojou-sama?"
"No, it's unnecessary." Shiki was not looking for Kusakabe-sensei because of an urgent matter on her hands; she could always look for the man some other time after he returned to the school to inquire about whether he'd be willing to take Okkotsu-san as a new Shin Kageryu student.
In the meantime, then… it meant that Shiki should probably be starting Okkotsu-san on the basics. There were plenty of wooden practice swords in the school dojo that Okkotsu-san could–
Her thoughts are interrupted by a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line. That's a little… foreboding.
"Is something the matter, Choki?"
"Pardon me, ojou-sama," Choki apologizes for his brief loss of composure. "Ijichi-san just sent me a new update. A barrier was just registered over the elementary school, and Grade One sorcerer Kusakabe Atsuya has requested that reinforcements be sent to his location."
"…" Shiki sighs. Somehow, she finds herself… unsurprised.
If a Grade One sorcerer sent out a call for reinforcements, then other Grade One sorcerers in the nearby area were expected to answer. Which included Shiki, conveniently enough, given that she'd been staying in the jujutsu school the past few days. Satoru-niichan had specifically cleared her schedule so that she would be able to remain in the school to keep an eye on Okkotsu-san for him during his absence, which meant that she hadn't been taking missions–
"Is there something wrong?" Okkotsu-san asks tentatively from the side, faintly hesitant.
"Kusakabe-sensei has just requested reinforcements," Shiki responds, glancing at the wide-eyed boy.
… It occurs to her that the entire situation right now is… quite convenient. Kusakabe-sensei's call for reinforcements was one that Shiki technically should respond to, but once she did, then there would be no one else to watch Okkotsu-san. And if she didn't answer Kusakabe-sensei's fall, then her inaction would be a mark against her that could be used as an argument that she was unfit for certain important responsibilities –such as properly watching over a Special Grade threat.
Shiki doesn't immediately have any proof of it, but if she takes a step back to take in the situation and consider who might benefit the most from it… then it was quite clear all signs pointed towards the higher ups refusing to give up on dragging Okkotsu-san under their control.
If the emergency that Kusakabe-sensei stumbled headfirst into here was something that had been deliberately planned by the higher ups, then what would be their next move once they succeeded in moving Shiki aside? Was there already a second plan that they'd prepared within the Tokyo school, to be set into motion the instant that Shiki left school grounds?
No matter what they had meticulously planned out, she refused to play into their hands.
… Shiki is less than pleased that the higher ups have clearly disregarded her words after she'd already told them to stop meddling. Hadn't she made her stance obvious enough when they'd detained Kinji during the Goodwill Event in Kyoto?
"Um… Shiki-san?" Okkotsu-san fidgets slightly, evidently starting to feel a little uneasy. Had she been silent for too long?
Shiki blinks.
"Ojou-sama, what are your orders?" Choki's voice sounds from the cell phone that she's still holding up to her ear.
Her orders…
"Please make arrangements for transportation, Choki. I will assist Kusakabe-sensei," Shiki decides. And, "I will be bringing Okkotsu-san along with me."
If this was a plot from the higher ups to divert Shiki's attention so they could take advantage of Okkotsu-san being left on his own, then Shiki would simply resolve this by keeping Okkotsu-san by her side. Should the higher ups decide to contact Okkotsu-san regardless, then they would be doing so while Shiki was with him. Okkotsu-san might be unfamiliar with the convoluted political landscape of the jujutsu world, but Shiki was not, and the higher ups would not be able to take advantage of him while she was present.
She'd promised Satoru-niichan as much, after all.
Shiki hangs up her call with Choki, and begins striding down the hallway. Since they'd be departing from the school, Choki would be waiting for them at the front gates–
Okkotsu-san stumbles after her. "W-wait, what's going on right now? Are we… are we looking for Kusakabe-sensei?"
"Yes." Although that was most certainly an oversimplification of the situation. Okkotsu-san had only overheard bits and pieces of her conversation with Choki just now, though, so he couldn't be blamed for misunderstanding. "Kusakabe-sensei encountered an unexpected situation when he went out earlier, and he sent in a call for reinforcements."
"Okay, I see," Okkotsu-san nods in understanding –and then freezes. "… Wait, reinforcements?"
"Mhm." Shiki turns and raises an eyebrow at the boy who'd stopped moving. "Is there a problem, Okkotsu-san?"
The boy swallows roughly, "If he's a teacher and he's in trouble, then… wouldn't it be better if we found another teacher for help?"
Ah, so he was concerned. "I'm stronger than Kusakabe-sensei."
Okkotsu-san makes a slight choking sound. "U-uh, I don't mean–"
"It's best not to waste time, Okkotsu-san." Shiki turns back around and continues striding forward. A moment later, hasty footsteps indicate that Okkotsu-san is continuing to follow behind her. "Let's go."
"I-I–" Okkotsu-san stutters, "Are you sure about this, Shiki-san?"
"About bringing you along?" Shiki clarifies the boy's question, to which Okkotsu-san hurriedly nods. "Yes. Although admittedly, it's mostly because of politics."
"… Politics?" Her answer only seems to deepen the boy's confusion.
"Unfortunately." Things would be a lot simpler if politics and power plays didn't underpin so much of how everything worked in the jujutsu world, but regrettably that was not something that looked like it would be changing anytime soon.
Okkotsu-san shifts uneasily. "E-even if it's because of politics like you say, I… I really don't know about this. Shiki-san, I don't… want to get in the way, especially if it's a dangerous situation. Especially not if I might make things even worse."
Shiki looks at the boy for a long moment.
"I'm not expecting you to fight." Come to think of it, that might be a very real concern for Okkotsu-san. The way that the boy seems to relax ever so slightly at those words supports her thought. "There's no need to be overly concerned, Okkotsu-san. You can just think of it as… gaining experience."
The boy blinks. "Gaining experience?"
"Gaining experience. You haven't seen many cursed spirits aside from the one attached to you, have you?" The cloying pressure of cursed energy from a Special Grade was a deterrent all on its own towards weaker cursed spirits –especially those who did not possess much intelligence and relied entirely on primal instinct to survive. Their survival instinct would not be worth much if they didn't know to run upon sensing a Special Grade threat that could easily crush them on an afterthought.
"I… no?"
"Then it'll be a new experience." A sorcerer would inevitably encounter many different kinds of cursed spirits over the course of the missions that they took, after all.
Admittedly, bringing someone as inexperienced as Okkotsu-san to a situation that a Grade One sorcerer was having trouble with was… not something that Shiki would consider to be fitting, exactly, but she did not exactly have very many options at the moment. But the situation itself was still something that was well within her abilities to deal with. In the case that it became necessary for Shiki to protect Okkotsu-san, White was a powerful defensive technique that would see the boy unharmed. And that was to say nothing of the fact that Okkotsu-san himself had a Special Grade cursed spirit attached to him. Even if Okkotsu-san was a complete beginner when it came to jujutsu, it did not mean that he was entirely helpless and defenseless.
It would be a little inconvenient if the Special Grade cursed spirit tethered to him, Rika, suddenly decided to cause trouble and add chaos to the situation. Currently, it was still unknown what were the exact conditions that triggered the cursed spirit's manifestation. Which meant that Shiki still needed to keep a close eye on the boy, in case the higher ups had something planned in case Shiki brought Okkotsu-san with her to assist Kusakabe-sensei as well.
Even in the worst case scenario that Rika did manifest and begin rampaging, Shiki would be able to suppress it. It was the higher ups that wouldn't be so easily suppressed after that, but… there would be ways of dealing with that as well.
Choki, efficient as always, already has a car ready and waiting for them by the time that Shiki and Okkotsu-san reach the school gates together. As this is an unexpected, impromptu emergency that just arose without any prior warning, there is not much information that is available regarding the situation. Grade One sorcerer 'Kusakabe Atsuya encountered something dangerous during a visit to a local elementary school, and requested reinforcements.' That's more or less all that's currently known at the moment.
"Are there any other sorcerers who will be joining us?" Okkotsu-san asks.
"So far, only the ojou-sama has answered Kusakabe-san's call," Choki answers calmly.
"O-oh."
Choki turns the steering wheel at a smooth bend in the road, and speaks again. "It's an urgent situation, and it will take time for others to respond to a call of distress from a Grade One sorcerer. Of the only two Grade One sorcerers who are capable of responding immediately, one is Yaga Masamichi, who is not to be deployed from the Tokyo school unless there is an exceptional situation that warrants his abilities. The other is the ojou-sama."
Okkotsu-san reflexively glances towards Shiki.
"… Ojou-sama?"
It's just a title, nothing more. Unimportant. But on what Choki had just said… the fact that Shiki is the only sorcerer to be capable of responding immediately to Kusakabe-sensei's situation is just another mark that this entire 'emergency' might very well be one that had been deliberately engineered by the higher ups' hands.
Shiki feels a sudden urge to reach for her sword.
…
Overall, the trip is fairly short. It doesn't take long before they reach the elementary school that Choki had spoken of, although they don't actually see the building itself. There is a Curtain obscuring everything from sight, a solid barrier of darkness stretched into the shape of a wide dome.
Okkotsu-san is surprised by the sight, and Choki provides a brief explanation for him. Shiki surveys their surroundings –it does not appear that the sudden incident has incited any undue alarm just yet, but given that this is a school, it's only a matter of time before this begins drawing attention.
"Choki, please find the Window stationed here and clarify the situation. If possible, I'd also like you to perform your own investigation into any potentially responsible parties." Her reliable assistant nods upon receiving the order, clearly understanding that Shiki also intended for him to pay heed to whether or not the higher ups had left any traces for them to follow. "Okkotsu-san, you're with me."
Shiki reaches out and grabs Okkotsu-san's hand, then starts walking towards the barrier. Okkotsu-san stumbles, making a startled sound as he's effortlessly pulled along.
"S-Shiki-san, wait–"
"I have a defensive technique that activates on skin contact," she informs him simply. "Don't stray too far from me once we're inside."
"Uh," Okkotsu-san ceases his ineffectual struggles against her. "I-I see, then. Um, thanks–"
Shiki steps through the barrier. There's a single disorienting moment when the world seems to blur around her, and everything is cast under a veil of nighttime lighting as her surroundings become clear once more.
She's standing on an oval-shaped patch of grass, surrounded by long rings marking a red rubber track field. The school building itself stands high in front of her, except all the windows are tightly closed and curtains are drawn together even though it's the afternoon. There are also long red streaks dripping down from the glass that she can observe, which… does not bode well for the fate of the students inside, unfortunately.
A little more concerningly, though–
Shiki glances down at her hand. Her empty hand that's no longer closed over Okkotsu-san's wrist, fingers holding nothing but thin air.
In fact, Shiki is currently standing completely alone here… with no one else around her at all.
.
.
…
.
Author's Notes:
Anyone remember Kusakabe's dead nephew from the manga? Just taking a moment to mention that here for absolutely no reason at all. (Nods)
More on the developing situation in the next chapter!
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