Saikyō || 最強

15 - 𝙰 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙸𝚝

"Wha-"

"Focus." The reminder prompted Nanami to back away and regroup into a solid stance. "If you want me to teach you, land a hit on me."

I must admit he was dodging well. As the most level-headed student around, Nanami possessed so much potential to be a grade 1 sorcerer in the future. I'd even bet my name on it.

His only problem was his tendency to overthink during battle. With his ratio technique, he had to think about his tactics thoroughly. However, that slowed him down most of the time.

I stumbled backwards as the blunt side of his knife almost caught my chest. "That was..." I retreated a few steps to get out of the knife's reach, chuckling. "...close."

"And, dead." I smirked, cornering him with my weapon pressed against his throat.

"One more match, please!"

"Back on your feet, Nanami." I walked past him and picked up Yaga sensei's doll. "You can borrow cursed corpses from Yaga sensei and train with them, but it's better to have matches against other students. We'll train again after this mission."

"It's better to have a match with other students, senpai?" Nanami got back on his feet. "Aren't cursed corpses more similar to curses in terms of movement?"

I gave him a tight smile. It was obvious that he didn't get the chance to ask a reliable senior to train him before. "Who says you'll only be fighting curses? Humans are the scariest threat you'll encounter."

──❍──

"We're gonna go kayaking, Kotone senpai!"

"Maybe you can snatch a handsome guy in there or something," said Kotone's voice from the other line. Our upperclassmen were on a mission in Tokyo. She called Geto to check on us. "Bring me one home, Shoko-chan!"

Shoko's expression could not be drawn. "How do I even do that?"

"You're going kayaking, right?" Kotone giggled before she cleared her throat. "Reverse weaponize incompetence, ladies. Pretend you don't know what you're doing and they'll flock to you like geese!"

"And there goes Kotone-san's secret," Geto teased. "No more victims from now on. You hear that, Nanami?"

We all burst into laughter when Kotone began scolding Geto and defending her image to Nanami. It was fortunate Yaga assigned the first years to come over and join us. At this point, this mission was just an excuse to rest and bond with our juniors.

And while everyone was enjoying the banter, my eyes subconsciously searched for one person. Since I've returned, I've been wanting to check on him, even more so now that jokes were getting told.

My line of sight steadied, stopped when I found that person. His elbows rested on Geto's shoulder, snickering as the long-haired guy continued to tease our senior. It was rather rare, seeing him without his sunglasses, but I thought there was no better way to see his laugh than this way.

He's beautiful.

But then, before I could will myself to look away, Gojo's eyes met mine. It was right after he told a joke and almost everyone laughed, except for me who wasn't able to process what he had said.

A lump weighted on my throat when a question formed in my mind. What was with me searching for him and watching how he reacts? And what was with him looking back?

I quickly excused myself from the group. My jaw tightened in confusion and discomfort as I walked with heavy steps. Unfortunately, just a few steps away from them, the white-haired mop had already catched up to me. "Let's board one kayak together?"