History has colors: Lifestyle, culture, climate and other facets of nature …
The town had been around a long time, so the colors had built up. Compared to Tokyo, where the new noticeably replaced the old, the old capital of Kyoto was rich in color.
Alongside the grouping of buildings referred to as “the city,” remains of the old town had taken root in language, historic landmarks, and even nature. People referred to that as tradition. The older a land is, the more the colors mix, resulting in richer hues. That’s why Kyoto’s scenery was so beautiful.
However, Mai Zen’in knew it wasn’t all beautiful. The long history of human activity had mixed good and evil, staining the land in complicated ways. Pretty colors mixed with ugly colors. Tradition and obsession, lineage and discord, sorcerers and curses—someone capable of seeing those negative aspects could never say this town was only beautiful. Thus, Mai found the colors of Kyoto, the shades that tradition created, to be annoying. That’s why she was grumpy after returning from Tokyo.
“The Goodwill Event went so fast. Couldn’t we have stayed in Tokyo longer?” she asked.
The girls were inside the commercial building next to the Hachi-jo exit of Kyoto Station. In the summer, they usually went to a crepe shop that sold ice cream, but now the autumn breeze was chilly, so they were sitting in the corner of a café.
Miwa used her smartphone to snap a pic of the heart drawn in the foam on top of her latte. Then she said, “It couldn’t be helped. It was because of the invasion by curse users and cursed spirits.”
Mai pursed her lips and ran her finger around the edge of her cup. Miwa took photos of everything, but where did she post them?
“It was too fast anyway. I wanted to have a chance to at least go shopping!” Mai said.
“Yeah, I wanted to see Marché,” Nishimiya said, stirring honey into her café latte. The amber liquid adorned the foamed milk, making it look even sweeter.
Mai and Miwa were close friends, but Nishimiya was close with them too, even though she was in a different grade. In contrast to the Tokyo school, where students in the same grade hung out together, it was more common in Kyoto to see scenes like this one, with a trio of second-years spending time with a third-year.
At a normal school, the barrier between grades was fairly high. The Jujutsu Highs, however, had fewer students, and female sorcerers were rare. At the Kyoto school, where the atmosphere was more conservative, it was necessary for the girls to group up together. That was another reason these three were so close.
“Where is Marché again?” Miwa asked.
“It’s in Harajuku, near Takeshita Street,” Nishimiya said.
“Momo, I can see why you like Harajuku. I’m jealous of how the cute things there suit you,” Mai said.
“Mai, I’m jealous of you and Kasumi. I’m older, but more sophisticated outfits look better on you two,” Nishimiya said.
“Well, you can’t have everything. When you’re tall, you have fewer options,” Mai said.
“Yeah, I hear that a lot,” Nishimiya responded. “I guess you have it easiest when it comes to looking stylish, Kasumi. You get to wear suits all the time, and they look great. It’s so unfair.”
“I just wear them because I can’t draw a sword in a skirt. And even with more options, prices in Tokyo are a bit high for me,” Miwa said.
“Aw, it’s not so bad, Kasumi,” Nishimiya said.
“Yeah, Tokyo has cheap stuff too!” Mai said. She took a sip of her coffee, savored the bitter taste as she swallowed, and let out a quiet sigh. The black surface of her drink rippled. Then, more softly, she said, “I totally sucked at the Goodwill Event, huh?”
Nishimiya and Miwa looked startled.
“Aw, let it go, Mai,” Nishimiya said. “Nobody here was that great anyway.”
“At least you did more than I did, as sleeping beauty,” Miwa said. “I even lost my katana.”
“Yes, but still …” Mai trailed off. Resting her face in her hands, she frowned with intense displeasure. “It goes without saying that Maki fought well at the Goodwill Event. She bought time against a special grade opponent and wielded a cursed tool. Rumor has it she’ll get a promotion. We’ll probably get official news of it soon.”
Miwa looked at Nishimiya uncomfortably, and Nishimiya looked back with a troubled expression.
Still looking down, Mai laughed self-deprecatingly. “Unlike Maki, I used my cursed technique to fight head-on and I lost. What will people say?”
“Mai …” Miwa said.
The longstanding sorcerer houses expected results. In the old houses, the patriarchal system had deep roots. It was even worse in the Big Three Families. They were hard on female sorcerers. The pressure on Mai must have been immense.
Nishimiya and Miwa often hung out with Mai, so they had a sense of what things were like for her, but no one could really know. That’s why she couldn’t stop her fingers from shaking, couldn’t keep herself from reliving her disappointment. She was aware, however, that this had cast a cloud over their conversation.
Mai shook her head and her features brightened. “Whatever. What’s past is past. Even if I had beaten Maki, it wouldn’t have meant much. She’s worthless.”
“Nuh-uh! She should be a higher grade!” Miwa objected without thinking, but when Mai glared at her, she shut her mouth.
Urging them to cool it, Nishimiya threw her a lifeline. “Oh, well. Unlike Mai and me, you defeated someone. That first-year who’s definitely not cute.”
“Oh, the kid with brown hair who went down after a single headshot?” Mai asked.
“Yeah! She called herself Tohoku’s Masahiro Tanaka,” Nishimiya said.
“Even her teammates teased her,” Miwa said.
“What was her name again? Obama … Kugisaka … ?” Nishimiya tried.
“I don’t remember. She was just a tough-talking small fry with short legs,” Mai said.
“She was mouthy, not cute at all, and she plays with hammers,” Nishimiya said.
“Don’t be mean,” Miwa said, reluctant to contribute to this kind of gossip.
The conversation broke off. Their sighs filled the air. Despite their bluster, they had all lost, and reliving it was dispiriting. The excitement of the baseball game on the second day had dispelled the gloomy atmosphere, but their frustration had remained. It was a natural byproduct of defeat.
There had been an unexpected challenge from Itadori, but interleague clashes between students weren’t usually matters of life and death. Unlike the fight against the cursed spirits, the Goodwill Event fights resulted in feedback they could use to prepare for the next time. The regret in the hearts of the defeated would motivate them to grow as fighters, so frustration was an asset.
Todo would have liked that line of thought, but it felt like what was dominating their emotions at that moment was mere resentment. Just when their confused feelings were about to spill over in another round of grumbling, someone showed up who was clueless as to the gloomy atmosphere.
“Mai!” a voice shouted.
“Hm?” Hearing her name, Mai turned around.
A girl was waving at her. Her hair was dyed light red, and she was wearing a beige blazer. She had the air of a normal student stopping by on her way home from school—not at all like a student of Jujutsu High.
Looking at her face, Mai’s frown eased. “Are you on your way home from school, Yuu?”
“Yeah,” the girl replied. “We didn’t have club today.”
“Oh, right. Because it’s autumn, and there’s a break after all the sports competitions,” Mai said. She seemed to be at ease with this girl named Yuu.
As she watched the two talk, Nishimiya cocked her head in confusion and tossed a comment Miwa’s way. “Is that Mai’s friend?”
“Yeah, she’s—” Miwa began, but the other girl interjected.
“Sorry for not introducing myself. You’re all students at Jujutsu High, right? I’m Yuu Makimura. I provide information to sorcerers around Higashiyama Ward.”
“You provide … Oh! You’re one of those outside helpers we call windows?” asked Nishimiya.
“Yep! That’s me!” Yuu replied.
“Oh. Well, I’m Momo Nishimiya. Nice to meet you. Seems like you already know Mai and Kasumi.”
“Well, she’s more Mai’s acquaintance than mine,” Miwa said. She looked over to see Yuu puff out her chest with an air of pride.
“Yep! Mai’s like my big sister!” Yuu said.
“Bwa ha!” Nishimiya barely managed to divert her face from her café latte before she guffawed. “So, Mai, did you straighten out her tie or something?”
“Gimme a break. I told her to stop calling me that, but she won’t listen.” Mai shrugged.
Miwa, who knew about this, jumped in to explain. “She’s naturally able to see curses, and Mai helped her when cursed spirits started hanging around her. After that, she offered her assistance to Jujutsu High.”
“Yep! I owe Mai my life!” Yuu said.
“So it seems,” Nishimiya said. “Impressive, Mai.”
Mai frowned at Nishimiya’s compliment. “I just exorcised a fly head. That compliment sounds more like an insult.”
“But Mai really did help me out!” Yuu said. “And I became a window so I can help her out too. If there’s anything I can do, just let me know!”
“Then go get me one of those scones in the case by the cash register,” Mai said.
“Okay!” Yuu replied. She bounced over toward the register.
Miwa and Nishimiya gave Mai matching incredulous looks.
“Mai, you shouldn’t use her like that,” Nishimiya said.
“But look! She enjoys it!” Mai said.
“You are so girly sometimes,” Nishimiya said.
“What do you mean by that?!” Mai demanded.
The conversation brightened again in their corner of the café. After a little while, Mai bought everyone churros. The trio welcomed Yuu into their discussion, telling her about all sorts of things, including Jujutsu High and the Goodwill Event. Then the topic of a cursed spirit that had lately been appearing in Kyoto came up.
“And now you’re tracking that wandering cursed spirit?” Mai asked, her voice low, as she sipped her lukewarm coffee.
“Yes,” Yuu said. “The problem started around June, but there’s no apparent connection between the locations and the people harmed. Sorcerers were unable to follow any evidence, but it seems they’ve learned that it’s a single cursed spirit wandering around and attacking people.”
“You know a lot for a window,” Nishimiya said.