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After a while of training, Nobara got the luxury to rest and the others, such as Noriko herself, stayed seated in the staircases leading to the field. Maki was seated under a tree with her staff. Inumaki sat where Megumi and Noriko were seated and Panda sat near Maki. "Maki-senpai, how do you carry a cursed tool?", asked Megumi. All of the attention was drawn to him. "I agree to using special weapons to enhance close-range combats. But I would like to keep myself hands-free to use techniques. It also uses up time to sheathe a knife", Megumi explained. He turns to Maki awaiting her answer. "I let Panda carry all of my cursed tools", Megumi seemed disappointed with the answer. After all, they didn't have a Panda to carry anything. Then, he was in deep thought. Noriko looked at him and looked at the sky, remembering a conversation she had once with Yuji.
"The sky's beautiful", Yuji approached the girl who had been sitting under a tree for quite some time. "I guess so", Noriko replied as she looked at the skies above. "You seem troubled", Yuji showed some concern. There wasn't anything bothering Noriko, she was just thinking about life and the things she wants to accomplish. Her number one goal was to fight alongside her father, so she said to herself to be strong. "And why is that your business", Noriko had asked the boy who sat beside her with a smirk plastered on her face. "Am I being too nosy?", he asked, his tone changed into a concerned and embarrassed one. "NO! I was... just kidding", she said basically saying sorry for making Yuji feel like that. Yuji burst out laughing. "You should see your face", he said to her pointing at her expression and impersonating it. She gets annoyed and punches him on the face, him landing on the ground and shouted in pain. Noriko smiled at the amusement of being able to punch someone on the face. "A smile has formed, my mission has been accomplished", Yuji said and grinned so widely, a mix of pleasure and happiness. "Baka", she said to him and rolled her eyes – her smile still visible.
Megumi was deep in thought. Panda was talking about another way where Megumi could use cursed tools, without having the trouble of carrying them. Noriko looked at Megumi as he put his hand on the ground, focusing and trying to do something. Noriko gasped as she saw with her own eyes, Megumi's hand straight through the ground. Megumi gasped as well and looked at Noriko smiling as some sort of new discovery. "Tuna Tuna", Inumaki pointed at Megumi upon his discovery and Maki and Panda, looked in his direction. "Senpai, I think I might be able to do something about the weapons", he was amused, his smile unlike Noriko has ever seen. Well, she does occasionally see Megumi smiling, but that was just if she caught him. She smiled at him, he seemed so proud of his new profound power. And therefore, she might be able to let him bring her weapons, sometimes it pains her back – not literally, she just wants someone to bring them for her.
When night came, Megumi had visited Noriko in her room. "What are you doing here?", the girl asked as Megumi entered her room with a knock on the door. "Just visiting. I may not be sympathetic, but I know what you're feeling", Noriko was what you would call 'a soft- hearted' person. Even if she hides it, when she's deeply hurt – like what has happened with Yuji – she will never hesitate or even stop in showing her emotions. Though she was a snob and sometimes unbothered, she was an overthinker at most. "Even so, what can I do? I don't have the power to bring back time nor control my own", she was talking about her technique, which could have saved everyone if she wasn't such a wimp to use it. "You know why you can't", he replied to her comment. "Then why give me such power if not to use it", she had a point. She was given that power, therefore it must have value, but what of it? Why can't she use it? "Every technique is unique for every sorcerer. You were given that to nurture it, because it is a powerful technique", Megumi was good with private talks, not everyone knows it. She sighed deeply and didn't reply anything, instead she smiled at Megumi and put her hand in his shoulder as they looked at the outside of her balcony – yup, she has a balcony.
