Practice

It was already afternoon when Mashiro woke up.

She had spent too long curled up on the sofa, and her neck was a little stiff.

The ear feathers stirred as she lifted her head. They felt a little more sensitive than they had that morning, probably because she had just woken up.

She sat up and planted her bare feet on the wooden floor.

"Mmm~"

She stretched, then failed to find her slippers.

With a sigh, she went barefoot to the bathroom and washed her face.

The girl in the mirror looked much healthier than she had that morning. She checked the skin at the roots of the wings behind her ears; it was now no different from the surrounding skin.

She changed into a black, long-sleeved sweatshirt with fitted cuffs and a collar that could zip all the way up into a stand collar.

Before leaving, she pulled on a baseball cap and lowered the brim. The pair of wings covering her eyes poked out from beneath it.

She tried tucking the wings under the brim, but that proved impossible. They pushed the cap up, making them even more conspicuous.

Forget it. Time to go.

There weren't many people on the streets that afternoon. Mashiro walked toward Jujutsu High, passing two elementary school students who stared at the wings on her head for quite a while.

Mashiro sighed and picked up her pace, becoming a blur as she made her way to Jujutsu High.

At Jujutsu High's training grounds, the sunlight had baked the turf hot.

As Mashiro approached, she could already hear wooden swords clashing and the meaty thuds of hand-to-hand combat from a distance.

In the middle of the training grounds, Maki Zenin's short hair was plastered to her face with sweat, and her wooden sword was braced against Fushiguro's left arm.

She swept her foot through a half circle in the sand, shifting her stance to bleed off the force, then turned her wrist and slashed horizontally. Fushiguro jumped back to dodge and countered with the long staff in his hands.

Nearby, Panda and Nobara Kugisaki were also sparring hand to hand.

After several days of practice, Kugisaki's close-combat skills had improved considerably.

At least she could dodge Panda's attacks and attempt to counter now, which was no small feat for a ranged sorcerer like her.

When Mashiro entered the training grounds, the black Divine Dog noticed her first.

It came over to her feet and gently rubbed against her pant leg.

Mashiro crouched and patted the Divine Dog's head.

Sensing what his Divine Dog was doing, Megumi Fushiguro moved away from Maki and looked over.

His gaze settled on Mashiro's feather wings.

Megumi Fushiguro's mouth twitched. Had she learned something strange again?

"You're wide open!"

Maki grinned. Rather than treating that as a timeout, she rushed Megumi Fushiguro and struck him on the head.

Megumi Fushiguro retreated two steps and gave Maki a dead-eyed stare, but ultimately let it go.

"Mashiro." He came over and nodded to her.

Hearing him, Kugisaki turned and spotted Mashiro too. The cursed nails in her hands dissipated. "Mashiro! What's that on your head? Another new Cursed Technique?"

"Wings." Mashiro approached. "Just think of them as a side effect of my Cursed Technique."

Kugisaki circled her curiously, studying them. "Don't those block your vision?"

"They don't affect my vision."

"Oh, okay. That's pretty nice, then." Kugisaki nodded, stroking her chin. "I have to admit, you're the cuter one now."

Maki rested her wooden sword on her shoulder and looked toward Mashiro.

"So you're that special consultant?" She walked over, sizing Mashiro up from head to toe in just two steps.

Silver hair, wings covering her eyes, and a height that didn't even reach her shoulder. "I'm Maki Zenin. You're Kujo Mashiro, right?"

"Yes, Miss Maki."

Maki looked at Mashiro in mild surprise at her choice not to use her surname, and warmed to her.

She nodded, looking at Mashiro's feather wings, and said softly, "You really are cute."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"No problem, no problem." Maki lightly tapped her own shoulder with the back of the wooden blade. "Satoru Gojo said you're a good fighter. Grade 1?"

"More or less."

"What does 'more or less' mean?"

"Stronger than Grade 1, but a little short of Special Grade," Mashiro said evenly. "Somewhere in between."

Maki raised an eyebrow and turned toward Panda.

Panda had already come over. With his furry paws folded across his chest, he studied Mashiro from top to bottom, his eyes framed by round black patches.

"I'm Panda, a second-year," he said gently. "I heard you exorcised a Semi-Special Grade all by yourself."

"I got lucky."

"If it was skill, just say it was skill." Maki planted her wooden sword on the ground and leaned on its hilt. "You don't need to be modest here."

"Right. It was easy to exorcise."

Maki's mouth twitched. That had been a quick turnaround. "Okay, so what brings you here today?"

"I wanted to watch you train."

"You can watch." Maki turned and headed toward the center of the training grounds, adding over her shoulder, "But if you're going to give feedback, don't just say nice things. Especially to those two."

She tipped her chin toward Fushiguro and Kugisaki.

Mashiro sat on the stone steps at the edge of the grounds and watched them train.

Kugisaki returned to the center of the training grounds and picked up a wooden sword.

"Maki, another round."

Maki arched an eyebrow. "Your ribs don't hurt anymore?"

"I'll deal with it even if they do. The Goodwill Event's only a few days away."

"Heh. Good to see some motivation." Maki settled into her stance. "Come on."

The wooden swords clashed again. Kugisaki's movements were more forceful than before, every swing driving in with her full body weight. Maki had to retreat two steps before steadying herself.

At the sidelines, Panda bobbed his head and said, "Kugisaki's really fierce today." Inumaki nodded too. "Salmon."

The clacking of wooden swords rose and fell in the middle of the training grounds.

Fushiguro headed back toward the training grounds too. As he passed Panda, Panda patted his shoulder and said something, but they were too far away for Mashiro to hear.

Kugisaki and Maki continued sparring.

Inumaki suddenly stood and walked toward Mashiro. He stopped in front of her and pulled his collar down a little, revealing his mouth.

"Kelp." He pointed to the stone steps beside her, asking if he could sit.

Mashiro nodded.

Inumaki sat down, took a throat lozenge from his pocket, and offered it to Mashiro.

Mashiro accepted it, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth. It was honey-lemon flavored.

"Tuna mayo," Inumaki said, sounding as though he were making some important comment.

"Mm," Mashiro replied.

She hadn't understood him, but he probably meant something positive.

Before long, she got up and left the training grounds.

Her phone vibrated as she walked out through the school gates. It was a LINE message from Satoru Gojo.

"Satoru Gojo": I'll be in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon. The Goodwill Event starts the day after tomorrow. How's Yuji's preparation coming along?

"Mashiro": He said he'd practice for one more day today.

"Satoru Gojo": Okay, I'll check on him underground tomorrow.

"Satoru Gojo": By the way, I heard about your new look.

"Mashiro": Who told you?

"Satoru Gojo": Fushiguro. He said you had two extra pairs of wings on your head. Know how he described you?

"Mashiro": No.

"Satoru Gojo": Having wings growing out of your head is a little weird, but you still look pretty cute.

Mashiro stared at the screen for a moment, then tucked her phone into her pocket.

Megumi Fushiguro, you talk way too much. I'm putting you through some brutal drills next time.

I reorganized the outline today, so there are only two chapters. I'll make up for it with twelve thousand characters tomorrow.

Please leave lots of comments and positive reviews. Thank you, meow!