Chapter 6
2011
Experience is the best teacher.
Stood beneath the heavens, Satoru holds Megumi under one arm.
She grins wide and manic.
"Ready?"
Determined, tenacious, and resilient. Megumi nods sharply.
"Go!"
She lets go of the omega.
Megumi falls, tucks her hands to her sides, and closes her eyes. As she plummets to the ground, her shadow appears as a dot; it rapidly expands, becoming the safety net that catches her.
On the ground, Shoko paces, stops, and takes a long drag on her cigarette. She can't bear to watch; the antics of Satoru and Suguru should have desensitized her, but Megumi-chan is a pup. She should remain a child for as long as she can, but that is not the way of the wind.
Satoru appears at her side, helter-skelter and irreverent as ever.
She can't help but ask, "Are you sure she'll be okay?"
"Of course, Megumi is a visual and kinesthetic learner."
Shoko rephrases her question. "Is she strong enough to handle grade-three curses?"
Despite her unorthodox methods, she doesn't doubt Satoru's protege, nor does she doubt her friend's tutelage of the omega. From her understanding, Megumi receives an education equal to the curriculum major shaman clans provide their members gifted with malign energy.
"She is," Satoru says simply.
"Are you sure?" Shoko presses.
"Megumi is strong. The curse energy people are born with never increases or decreases. Megumi is different; it grows. With every year, with each shikigami she gains, her curse energy grows to accomadate it. Ten Shadows has likely mutated.
"This is a test to see how many shadows she can summon and maintain at once. You're here as a precaution; if I had any doubts, we wouldn't be here."
Shoko sighs. She's not sure if she's relieved or resigned.
Satoru's guardianship is a point of contention. There's no sense in arguing over it; what's done is done. It's the alpha's reasoning and intentions. Satoru might be forthright, but it often clashes with people's morals and sensibilities. She is a product of her environment, she is an example of jujutsu society's values and morals, she represents a world Shoko still struggles to come to terms with. Though endowed with a rare technique and given a seat at the table, she is a guest, whereas Satoru sits at the head, her chair ornate, her head uncrowned.
"Isn't it time you learned to heal others?"
It's strange that she never learned or perhaps that she never put in the effort.
Satoru places a finger on her lips and taps them twice. "That's a thought. Maybe you're right. It's fwish swoosh, right?"
Shoko nods.
"When I use it on myself, it's whoosh whish," Satoru ponders aloud.
"That sounds about right."
Satoru gazes at her over her shades, those luminous eyes contemplative, as always, it's unnerving to become the subject of them. She should be inured. "Can you still pull your arm out of its socket?"
Shoko winces, though negligible, considering how she abuses her technique. The echoes of the first time her arm was ripped out of its socket haunt her. Self inflicted wounds to demonstrate her technique barely make her flinch, but that pain remains a vivid memory.
"Yeah, wanna try healing that?"
"Only if it doesn't hurt-"
Suddenly, there's a crash and Megumi is sent careening through the air, a red raptor flying after her. Satoru disappears from her side and reappears mid-air. The alpha catches the pup, and Shoko hears Megumi shout, "I'm okay, let me go!"
"I think we should call it a day."
"No! It's just getting good!"
Shoko sighs, pulls out a cigarette and lights it up.