The night had grown deep. Kamo Tetsuya called out into the empty air.
"Bring Riona here."
Miwa Riona had been remarkably diligent lately, often practicing jujutsu alone. In the past, however, she had preferred painting and flower arranging-pursuits befitting a young lady rather than a jujutsu sorcerer.
She had probably suffered a setback at Miwa Chisei's hands.
Unfortunately, talent could sometimes be a curse. Hard work alone could not make up for its absence.
When it came to "that matter," for instance, Miwa Chisei would always be Kamo Tetsuya's best choice.
Miwa Riona arrived quickly. With all her long pink hair pinned up, she knelt on the tatami and bowed, exposing the graceful line of her pale nape to the young man's gaze.
Unfortunately, his eyes held no emotion, only a hint of indifference.
Only when Miwa Riona lifted her head did tenderness materialize in his eyes.
"You've been working hard lately, Riona. Is it because of that young lady?"
A trace of dejection appeared in Miwa Riona's cherry-pink eyes.
"Lord Tetsuya, I seem to have underestimated my opponent."
It was good that she had realized that, but it was not enough.
Kamo Tetsuya beckoned her to sit beside him and spoke gently.
"You're very talented too, Riona. You're simply too kind."
"If there's a position you want, you need to be strategic enough to secure it. Confronting her directly is the wrong approach. Perhaps you should try another way."
Miwa Riona lowered her eyes. Indeed, every time she saw Miwa Chisei, they ended up arguing.
"All you need to do is lie low, then stab her a few times when it counts."
Curiosity flickered in Miwa Riona's eyes at Kamo Tetsuya's words.
"Lord Tetsuya, do you hate Miwa Chisei?"
Kamo Tetsuya shook his head, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair beside her cheek behind her ear.
"I don't even know her. I only dislike her because you do, Riona. My reasons for wanting to capture her are all for your sake and the Miwa Branch Family's."
"After all, I wouldn't want to see such a sweet girl looking sad."
A hint of bashfulness appeared in Miwa Riona's eyes, along with a certain resolve. Lord Kamo Tetsuya truly was a gentle man, so supportive of her wishes and ambitions.
"Lord Tetsuya, you're so good to me."
In the moonlight, the girl's pink cheeks complemented her beautiful long pink hair. She was as lovely and graceful as a cherry blossom fairy.
Kamo Tetsuya touched his forehead protector, darkness settling into his smiling eyes.
Playing at romance with a young girl really was utterly boring.
The jujutsu grading results came out soon afterward.
Miwa Chisei was classified as Semi-Grade 1.
Kento Nanami and Miwa Riona were classified as Grade 2.
Yu Haibara was classified as Grade 3.
The usually energetic Yu Haibara looked a little crestfallen at the "3" on his student ID, but Kento Nanami patted his shoulder.
"You'll improve quickly, Haibara."
"Really, Nanami? You're not just trying to make me feel better?"
If he had ears and a tail, they would have been drooping.
"Of course not. Geto is the upperclassman you look up to, after all."
Although Kento Nanami was not particularly warmhearted, he was still willing to offer a little encouragement when a classmate felt down.
"Exactly. You seem very dependable, Haibara."
Miwa Riona gave him a sweet smile as well, encouraging Yu Haibara.
By comparison, Miwa Chisei seemed rather aloof. She met Yu Haibara's gaze, then gave him a completely expressionless thumbs-up.
That counted as encouragement.
Yu Haibara was deeply moved nonetheless. His fellow first-years were all such wonderful people.
Miwa Riona had been unusually quiet lately. After all, she could never beat Miwa Chisei in an argument. She might as well spend that time practicing instead.
Semi-Grade 1 was only half a grade above her. She would surpass her soon enough.
Miwa Chisei thought these peaceful days were wonderful. There was more good news, too: Miss Mei Mei had successfully sold the information to someone from the Zenin Clan.
When she saw Mei Mei take a stack of ten-thousand-yen bills out of her purse, Miwa Chisei's normally impassive eyes finally filled with stars.
It was three million Japanese yen. Miwa Chisei had never seen so much cash.
Resting her cheek on her hand, Mei Mei watched the girl count the money at lightning speed and could not help laughing.
"You should open an account, little Qianxing. The amounts might get even bigger in the future. Wouldn't carrying it all in cash be inconvenient?"
It was the gentle voice of an angel, the murmured blessing of a goddess.
At that moment, in Miwa Chisei's eyes, Mei Mei was a deity draped in rainbow-colored silk, radiating a halo of salvation for all living beings.
"Mei Mei, meeting you is the good fortune of three lifetimes."
Mei Mei found it amusing to hear such worldly words coming from someone with such a young face.
Miwa Chisei obediently found time on a weekday afternoon to visit a bank downtown. After depositing the money, she held her bankbook, unable to get enough of looking at it.
Wearing sunglasses and something resembling a school uniform, the girl walked down the street looking very much like a delinquent skipping class.
Her silver hair was particularly eye-catching, so someone who happened to be passing called out to her through the crowd.
"Little Miwa, what a coincidence."
Honestly, it was not a voice Miwa Chisei wanted to hear.
The black-haired man before her was powerfully built. The scar on his chin, combined with his sinister yet handsome face, gave him something of a gangster's air.
She could do without this sort of coincidence. Nothing good ever came of the two of them meeting.
So Miwa Chisei nodded and prepared to walk past.
Toji Fushiguro's voice, however, carried a teasing note. "I haven't thanked you for helping me find that cursed tool, little Miwa. Honestly, I had to take quite a detour, but I found it in the end."
Miwa Chisei stopped and turned her head to study him.
Was he implying that he knew she had pointed him in the wrong direction, and had come to make trouble?
"Sometimes I'm pretty useless."
She spoke without expression, without so much as a blush or a flutter of her heartbeat.
Toji Fushiguro did not care whether she was useless. Finding what he wanted was enough.
After all, the moment the kid had said west, he had ruled that direction out without hesitation. It seemed this little girl had not believed him when he said, "The Gojo Clan posted the bounty," either.
He had no interest in the struggles among the Three Great Families. Someone had paid him to tell the Miwa family's little girl that if he got the chance, so he had.
He did not care whether she believed him or what consequences it might have. He had been paid to do a job, nothing more.
Miwa Chisei was already preparing to leave, but Toji Fushiguro spoke again, indulging his mischievous streak.
"Since we've run into each other, come help me buy something. I don't know what little girls like."
Miwa Chisei eyed him suspiciously.
"You've met Tsumiki, haven't you? I think her birthday's coming up. She's my stepdaughter, after all, right?"
His words were thoroughly unreliable, and he looked as though the idea had just struck him on a whim.
Miwa Chisei was about to politely decline, but he spoke again in that teasing tone.
"In return, how about I tell you the weakness of the Gojo Clan's 'Six Eyes'?"
Bad intentions were written all over his face. Who would believe that?
In the end, however, the two of them made a decidedly mismatched pair inside a boutique toy shop in the Central District.
Sorry, but Miwa Chisei was still a little curious.
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