dauntless

"C'mon, Megumi, be a little adventurous!"

Megumi is dauntless, in any attempt to intimidate her, her courage rises to the occasion. But in this, she values pragmaticism, it appears her companions disagree.

"Let me live vicariously through you!" Her sister cajoles.

Tsumiki's high school has a strict dress code; they strive for uniformity, and nail polish and jewelry, unfortunately, clash against their sense of discipline and order.

Himatsu-oba-san is her usual canvas, but Megumi has recently joined her portfolio, and Satoru-san volunteers and proudly displays her work.

Tsumiki has grown, and her artistry is reflected in each set she creates. Megumi is content to let her create whatever she likes; with her recent school attendance, she had to shed all adornment, and now she's due for a session under Tsumiki's tender mercy. 

Any color, design, or ornament, it doesn't matter. However, Megumi draws the like at extensions.

"It's impractical," she argues, she reasons, dubious and unconvinced.

"I do it," Satoru-san adds, further stirring the pot. "Try it!"

Unlike most shikigami users, Megumi fights hand-to-hand. She's not a brawler, but she's scrappy and plays well to her strengths. She utilizes long, middle, and short-distance attacks. She wields weapons, fights alongside her shikigami, and is beginning to use her shadows as an extension of herself. She's injured regularly, superficial marks, but injuries nonetheless.

Breaking a nail is a poignant kind of pain, brief, fleeting, a momentary searing hurt she doesn't want to experience.

"You have Infinity, I don't," Megumi says flatly.

Satoru-san maturely sticks out her tongue. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Tsimiki works on a scene from one of the alpha's favorite manga; her ridiculous goggles slide down her nose, and she scrunches it to keep them from falling. She needs a new pair. "I just think you should try something new."

Megumi frowns.

"Think of it as a challenge," Satoru-san posits, "Like having long hair. Some people see it as a weakness to exploit, others see it as strength. Your enemy will see it as an opportunity to incapacitate you, but long hair means you're untouchable; you can enter battle and leave unscathed. It means you've never been defeated."

Tsumiki pushes up her goggles and innocently asks, "Is that why your hair was short?"

Megumi smothers the urge to cover her nee-san's mouth. 

Satoru-san blinks and momentarily sheds her human guise. Sometimes, Satoru-san is gripped by a remote eeriness that renders her features inhuman. Megumi doesn't think Tsumiki registers it, and she wonders if it's more apparent to those sensitive to malign energy. 

She has unknowingly stumbled across a landmine. Here lies Satoru-san's Achilles heel, a time of glory, a period of discontent, a watershed.

Megumi has never told Tsumiki the truth of Satoru-san and Fushiguro Toji. That was an agreement between Megumi and Satoru-san; Tsumiki knew enough; there were certain things they weren't willing to expose her, and as Megumi began to venture outside Satoru-san's shadow and navigate their society, she came to understand some things were better left unsaid. 

"I was," the alpha says mildly, "but I ultimately won."

"That's great!" Tsumiki cheers, then her eyes widen and she shares, "I can't imagine anyone besting you."

"It was one time, and one too many," Satoru-san says brightly. "Trust that it will never happen again."

Megumi clears her throat. "I'll try it."

"Really!?" Tsimiki burbles. "I know exactly what to draw!"

It's a common training tactic.

A chamber, a pocket dimension situated within one of the many warehouses protected by Tengen-sama's barriers. Anchored by a talisman, sealed by a hymn.

Satoru-san supplies many of the curses, but it is a joint effort between her and the other shaman.

The creatures that lurk in the dark recesses are second grade and below. Megumi utilizes these grounds to experiment, to push herself beyond the bounds of her predecessors, to explore the unknown facets of Ten Shadows.

Satoru-san says the technique has mutated. It's not unheard of, but it's very singular. Six Eyes mutated once, and that created a doujutsu and technique even rarer than its progenitor.

Megumi's curse energy grows with each year she ages and every shikigami she gains. She defies the known precedence, so she makes the standards for the new Ten Shadows.

Megumi is being watched.

Rabbit Escape's replication is the foundation of many of Megumi's ventures. Now, she uses it as a measuring stick to see how much curse energy she has amassed. 

Megumi feeds what exists and pushes herself to the limits, creating copy after copy of shikigami. An army that sprouts from writhing shadow, taking form as bone, tissue, muscle, skin, then fur or epidermis. They are true doublegangers; through trial and error, Megumi's managed to duplicate the anatomy of his shikigami, but does not quite capture the essence of the animal kami constructs.

Megumi is being watched.

Multiple limbs, pulsating pustules that pop and reveal their deadly acidic liquid, sharp, needle-like teeth, many-eyed, guttural roars, sinister whispers. The hoard approaches, and Megumi directs his army forward. 

Megumi is being watched.

Satoru-san has built a small, but elite force. Megumi is demonstrating a training exercise for two new potential recruits.

Since Satoru-san is watching, she decides to put on a show.

She unviels what was once a theory, potential, a step on the way to greatness. It becomes reality once Megumi became curious about the protean quality of her shadows.

"Doman Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden."

She will likely kill all of the accumulated curses and incite the ire of others, but Satoru-san will be thrilled and she won't break a nail.