LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Transitions
Chapter of 100 Stones
---
Maki stood in front of the imposing entrance of the Tokyo School of Sorcery, finally about to cross the threshold into her new life. She had left the Zenin clan behind; that place had turned into chaos since her aunt Kaori's death. Makima, her cousin, was rarely there lately, which was one of the few good things that had happened in the clan. She only saw her occasionally, on brief visits that occurred just a few times a month, and during those moments, she didn't even look at her. Maki wondered if her cousin was deliberately ignoring her or if she simply found her so insignificant that she didn't even deserve her attention.
In contrast, her sister Mai always made sure to look at her on those rare visits. But that was it: just looking, with no further interaction. Maki sighed as she remembered those glances, regretting not having convinced Mai to come with her to the school of sorcery. Sure, Mai said she was content with what she had in the clan, but it was easy to talk when at least you weren't treated worse than an old rag.
Shaking off her thoughts, Maki took a deep breath and adjusted her glasses, determined to focus on the present. She finally took her first steps into the first-year classroom. But what she found as she crossed the door was very different from what she had imagined: standing in front of her was a gray-haired boy with his mouth covered by fabric, looking at her with apparent disinterest. And next to him, surprisingly, was a panda... a panda who, to top it off, looked at her as naturally as anyone else would.
"Hi! I'm Panda!" said the panda, greeting her with a jovial voice.
Maki was stunned, her mind trying to process what she had just seen and heard. "A... talking panda?" she thought, not knowing if what she was seeing was some kind of illusion or a joke. However, the gray-haired boy seemed so indifferent that it made Maki doubt the situation even more.
"Seaweed," commented the boy without moving his lips much, in a vague, careless tone. His expressionless gaze matched his voice, and Maki felt a small pang of frustration. She had just arrived and already didn't understand anything at all.
Before she could ask a question or shake off her confusion, the door opened again, revealing a tall man with white hair, dressed entirely in black, with his eyes covered by a dark blindfold. His expression was animated, and he had such a wide smile that it lit up the entire room.
"Welcome, my dear new students! I'll be your teacher; my name is Gojo Satoru," he announced cheerfully, raising his arms as if he were about to give them a show instead of a class.
Maki couldn't take her eyes off the man, trying to understand who he was. She immediately remembered seeing him in the past, the image of his white hair and imposing figure seemed all too familiar. "Is this the guy who always picks up and drops off Makima?" she thought, feeling a wave of discomfort in her stomach. "Don't tell me she's here…" The idea of her psychopathic cousin being in the same school made her blood run cold. Although she was actually still too young to attend the institute, she couldn't help but worry about whether she might be lurking in the halls, observing her with her cold, domineering gaze.
"Well, let's start with the basics: introductions!" Gojo exclaimed, his energy almost overflowing as he looked at his new students with enthusiasm.
Maki adjusted her glasses again, sighing to try to calm the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that assailed her. In just a few minutes at the school, she had already experienced more surprises than in the past months in the Zenin clan. She looked at her classmates, feeling a mix of curiosity and intrigue about what was to come. She had a feeling this place would bring very different experiences from the clan, and although she still found it hard to relax, she decided to embrace this new life.
Shoko was in the treatment room, attending to a sorcerer who had arrived with an arm wound, pale from blood loss. Beside him, Rika, her apprentice, was focused on trying to activate her reverse technique. The girl took deep breaths, desperately trying to get her energy to flow correctly, but the sorcerer noticed her frustration, and his face began to show increasing discomfort at the situation. Shoko watched from a corner, smiling with a mix of tenderness and resignation; Rika had brought fresh, passionate energy into her daily life, and despite her failures, Shoko appreciated that inexperienced spark the young woman brought.
"I'm going to take a break," Shoko said calmly, taking her pack of cigarettes as she walked toward an adjacent room. Rika barely nodded, completely absorbed in her efforts to concentrate and release her cursed energy in reverse, determined to prove she could heal another. Shoko let out a small laugh and closed the door, leaving her apprentice in the middle of the scene.
Upon reaching the balcony, Shoko lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, enjoying the nicotine as it spread through her lungs. She looked at the clear sky, letting the gentle breeze brush her face as she exhaled the smoke calmly. "It's a good day," she thought, allowing herself a few moments of peace amid the routine. "Do I really have to do this?" But her moment of tranquility was interrupted when she heard an exasperated voice coming from below.
Shoko, from the balcony, looked down and spotted a scene that drew a mix of surprise and amusement from her. In the institute's courtyard, Makima was sitting with a carefree expression on a pile of car tires, tied with a rope attached to the back of a student. It was Kirara Hoshi, if Shoko remembered correctly, a second-year student who, visibly exhausted, was making her best effort to advance, dragging the heavy load. Kirara's expression was a mix of suffering and resignation, and her breathing was heavy as she tried to keep up.
"Whenever you accompany me, you're so slow," declared Makima from her improvised throne of tires, her tone dry and authoritative, yet maintaining that natural coldness. "You need to improve faster, or you'll hold me back."
Shoko watched as Kirara, on the verge of tears, continued without responding. The girl's eyes reflected exhaustion, but also a submission to the peculiar dynamic that Makima imposed. Kirara could only keep going, knowing that stopping wasn't an option if she wanted to avoid more criticism.
"I'm not sure if that's good or bad," murmured Shoko to herself with an ironic smile as she extinguished the cigarette, taking one last look at the scene before returning to the treatment room.
Upon entering, she saw the sorcerer looking at her with a mixture of hope and pleading, wishing that Shoko would help him once and for all and save him from Rika's frustrated attempts. "Excuse me, Ieiri-san… I think it would be better if you did it directly," he murmured with a trembling voice, on the verge of despair.
"Shut up! You're distracting me!" Rika snapped impatiently, and in a fit of frustration, she hit him on his injured arm. The sorcerer let out a scream of pain, closing his eyes from the impact. Shoko, from the doorway, tried to stifle a laugh at the situation, knowing Rika didn't do it on purpose, but her impatient expression gave her a funny look.
Finally, Shoko approached and took a seat beside the stretcher, flashing a calm smile. "Come on, Rika. I'll show you how it works… if you can manage to calm down a bit." Rika, still with her lips pursed, nodded and watched closely as Shoko extended her own reverse energy technique, healing the wound in seconds.