Part II. Lessons and failures. Chapter 1

There was still an hour until sunrise.

I quietly slipped out of bed, got dressed without a sound, and went out into the corridor. Misaki and Haruka were still sleeping. It turned out the girls were not only my friends but also my roommates. Our friendship probably started that way. First, shared living quarters, and then they made the careless Aska their protégé, making sure she didn't get into trouble.

Washing my face with cold water from a barrel outside that collected rainwater, I took a deep breath of the fresh autumn air. It was still warm, but you could already feel it wasn't summer. It would last like this for a while, and then the yellow-red beast of autumn would creep up on silent paws. Raindrops would fall from its coat, and a train of scents—wet earth, decaying leaves, and rot… would follow.

Autumn always comes like this.

I wonder, did I love it before? And Aska?

My thoughts were quiet, not a single hint of my past life. Well... that must be a sign to only move forward. I see the goal—I see no obstacles. I'll figure the rest out as I go.

I headed to the training ground where Teacher Ayu led our warm-ups. The idea to train on my own before the main session came after Satu and I had taken care of the tsumi in the storehouse.

The Weaver showed me ryoku. She said I needed experience. Well... a sound mind in a sound body. I wouldn't achieve anything by sitting in my room. And I still remembered how the power had coursed through my arm when I plunged that piece of wood into the creature.

So I had to learn to control ryoku. No matter what.

I started jogging around the perimeter of the field. My legs were running—my head was thinking. Satu and I hadn't told anyone yesterday about our adventure in the storehouse. We were so tired that we didn't want to see anyone. We only had enough strength to crawl to our beds.

I knew that as soon as I saw Koji or the quartermaster, I would tell them immediately. Why Koji? It turned out he was the curator of my group. Need I say that my joy was boundless? I almost burst into tears of happiness. I mean... ugh, what a horrible person you are, Teacher.

Blood raced through my veins; my muscles began to warm up. It wasn't a given that Koji was a horrible guy. In essence, he hadn't done anything truly nasty. He sent me to the storehouse? Well, yes, that happened. He wasn't a fluffy little animal, but it was entirely possible that it was customary here to punish everyone involved in a fight. I still hadn't gotten my hands on a rulebook, so I was learning everything in pieces, and the picture in my head was like a mosaic with important fragments missing.

Koji wasn't teaching anything to our class yet. Starting next semester, he would be teaching demonology. Well... like teacher, like subject. I could only be glad that it wasn't mentalism or ryoku technique. That would be an endless headache.

I stopped and exhaled loudly. Two laps… good. Now, to the horizontal bar. I wouldn't show off any acrobatic miracles, but I could do a pull-up. And before that there will be a warm-up.

I involuntarily remembered the beautiful Teacher Tehiko, who taught us calligraphy. At first, I thought everything was relatively simple. A deep study of the language and practicing writing hieroglyphs. But then I found out that besides ordinary writing, Tehiko also showed us how to infuse the symbols not only with ink but with ryoku. And then a banal note could turn into a secret message, in which much more was hidden than an outsider should ever see.

And here I was again, facing a problem.

Damned ryoku. Who invented you?

I climbed the wooden ladder, almost missing the bar, but I managed to hang on, exhaling jerkily. Okay, get my thoughts together, focus my strength. One... Two... Three...

"Infusing the horizontal bar with ryoku. That's a new one," a voice said from below.

I almost fell and looked down at the ground. There, with her arms crossed over her chest, stood Teacher Ayu. Lean and short, she contained something that made me involuntarily tuck in my ears, like a naughty cat. Even though I didn't have cat ears, the feeling of being caught doing something mischievous didn't go away.

And then it hit me: infusing it with ryoku?

I jumped to the ground, raised my head, and froze with my mouth agape. The bar was glowing softly with a violet light. Ayu walked closer, looking at my handiwork with interest.

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"How?" I breathed out, trying to figure out how this had happened.

It was just physical exertion, nothing more. While I had felt something in the storehouse, I felt nothing here now. And that was strange. Very strange.

"That's what I should be asking you," Ayu said. "You know, it's extremely rare for ryoku to be absorbed into objects like this and hold. If it's glowing, you put a decent amount of resources into it." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you feel drained?"

I listened to my own body and shook my head.

"No, everything feels the same as always."

Ayu frowned. It seemed she didn't like something.

"Okay, after warm-ups, come see me," she said curtly, already turning to leave.

"Teacher Ayu, last night, a tsumi attacked Satu and me in the storehouse."

"What?!"

***

"What?" Koji's voice thundered.

I was focused on picking at the wall with my finger, pretending to trace the hieroglyphs on it, trying to remember how each line lay.

"A tsumi," Ayu repeated softly.

She stood before Koji, barely reaching his shoulder. Her emerald keikogi only emphasized her body's fragility; her black hair was held in place with wooden pins. Her clothes were as simple as could be, but Ayu carried herself like a true empress. Not of noisy balls and empty gossip, but rather of something natural and secluded.

I had been dragged here by the scruff of my neck, not given a chance to object. Koji wasn't particularly happy with our early visit; he hadn't even had time to get fully dressed—only black wide pants and a belt. His hair wasn't even tied back in a ponytail. I bet the girls would have been gawking, because, to be honest, there was something to look at.

But Ayu was clearly not interested. And Koji showed no trace of embarrassment. I wouldn't be surprised if nudity here was also treated as something natural, not something to hide from strangers.

"There were onmyoji tablets there," Ayu said. "I don't think I need to tell you what that could mean for the Gozen School."

Koji stood by the window with his hands clasped behind his back. I managed to make out a tattoo under his left shoulder blade—an intricate pattern interwoven with blades. How curious. A shame I couldn't get closer.

"Aska, repeat everything from the beginning," he said.

I stifled a loud sigh. What a jerk. He had heard everything!

I had to patiently repeat everything that had happened. I expected a reprimand or a scolding, but nothing of the sort followed.

Instead, I had to go with the teachers to the storehouse. Thank the gods of this world, Satu and I hadn't touched those stupid tablets again. Besides, after running around with the tsumi, we had no desire to clean up.

Koji stepped inside first and looked around. At one point, I even thought he was sniffing the air, like a wild beast.

"What?" Ayu breathed out barely audibly, but Koji's hand immediately shot up, signaling for silence.

After which he took a few steps forward and stopped. He made an imperceptible gesture. I blinked: did I imagine it or did his nails turn black and lengthen?

A wind suddenly blew from all four corners of the storehouse, chilling me to the bone. I clung to the nearest cabinet; Ayu grabbed a rack. Koji didn't stir. The tattoo under his shoulder blade flared with starlight.

The cracked tablets rose from the floor in a bizarre dance. The hieroglyphs on them glowed dimly.

I involuntarily shivered. The memories of yesterday's tsumi were not the best. Back then, it had seemed like nothing, but now it was as if I understood that the creature could have easily bitten off a part of my body.

Koji moved his fingers. The tablets trembled and swirled around each other. The lilac light enveloped all the clay fragments. In an instant, there was a flash, and I closed my eyes. I heard a hiss. I managed to see black, sparkling sand fall to the floor. The tablets were gone.

"What was that?" I asked quietly.

The room was lit by a bright, eerie light; someone shrieked piercingly. I turned cold, involuntarily pressing myself against the cabinet. Another shriek, and the entire storehouse was plunged into darkness.

I didn't immediately realize that Koji had swayed, and Ayu had flown to him like a flash of lightning, offering her shoulder.

"Strong?" she asked curtly.

"With a blood curse," Koji gritted out. "Clan work."

"Do you think someone could have gotten here, too?"

"What could have stopped them?"

The more the conversation went on, the less I understood. So I had to give a delicate cough. The darkness slowly receded, and I could see Koji leaning on Ayu's arm.

"Aska," he said grimly, "I think you understand that you need to keep your mouth shut? You saw and heard nothing. There was no tsumi either."

"None at all?" I clarified, not yet understanding if it was a good idea to keep silent or not.

"For those who stick their noses where they don't belong, there wasn't," Ayu said in an icy tone. "We'll check the whole school. But for now, it's better not to spread the word."

I nodded. Understood. I hadn't planned on blabbing anyway. Besides, my intuition told me to keep quiet not only about the tsumi but also about what Koji had just done. What was that, by the way? The idea of asking him myself was out of the question for now. He'd just send me away and that would be that. I had to act differently.

When we went outside, the sky was beginning to gray. I stopped for a few seconds, looking at the mountain peaks and the forest. It was beautiful here, but there was no time at all to admire the view.

Koji came out after me.

"Aska, next time, if you run into a tsumi, tell me immediately."

I turned my head and met his gaze. There wasn't a hint of mockery in it. I could only nod.

"Yes, Teacher Koji."

"I'll talk to Satu myself."

"Thank you, Teacher."

"You both handled yourselves well."

My eyes widened. What was that, a compliment?

But he was already heading down the path toward the school. Ayu lingered for a moment.

"Get ready for warm-ups, Aska," she said quietly. "Then come see me."

"Yes, of course. For what?" I blurted out.

Ayu chuckled:

"You're too curious, little squirrel. But something has changed in you since the temple. And I want to figure out what it is, because the rest of your training program depends on it."

That sounded reasonable. I nodded again. At this rate, I'd turn into a bobblehead with these teachers.

"And you never used ryoku like that before," she added.

And that was a reason to be truly alarmed.