Jujutsu High, Auxiliary Supervisor's Office. Morning light streamed through the windows as Miyamoto Toa stood holding a single document. The silver-haired senpai wore an expression stiffer than usual, his ice-blue eyes fixed on the two of them. [serious] "A summons from the higher-ups. Zenin Maki, a disciplinary hearing is being convened on suspicion of mission protocol violation." The air around Kazuki and Maki froze in an instant. Kazuki couldn't stop himself from raising his voice. [surprised] "You serious!? What the hell does that mean, mission protocol violation?" Toa dropped his gaze to the document. [cold] "It states that during the Okutama mission that day, Maki unilaterally left you, Auxiliary Supervisor Todo, alone in a dangerous situation, resulting in severe injury. As evidence, they've submitted medical records exaggerating the depth of your wounds, along with an anonymous eyewitness testimony claiming Maki knew about the cursed spirit's approach in advance but failed to report it." [angry] "There's no way that's true!!" Kazuki shouted. Maki, standing beside him, said nothing. Only her amber eyes glinted coldly. The distance that had surely closed between them under the starry sky of Okutama now seemed to tear apart again with an audible rip. [whispers] "…I… did that to Kazuki?" Her voice was thin and trembling. The hearing took place in a small conference room on the third floor of Jujutsu High. Three committee members sat on the far side of a long table. The old sorcerer in the center fixed Maki with a cold stare. Submitted as evidence were falsified medical records and a fake eyewitness account claiming Maki had "intentionally lured" the cursed spirit. [cold] "Zenin Maki. You exposed an auxiliary supervisor to danger during a mission. Look at these medical records. The wound is twice as deep as initially reported. This is not an exaggeration — it is fact." [serious] "That is not a fact. I followed protocol and instructed Kazuki to defend himself with a barrier during combat." "Then how do you explain this eyewitness testimony? It states you lured the cursed spirit and isolated the auxiliary supervisor." Maki bit her lip. There were no witnesses, no evidence. Nothing but skillfully fabricated documents. She knew that the more she spoke, the more her voice trembled, and the worse the committee's impression of her became. At that moment, Kazuki, stiff with tension, was about to sit down in the seat directly next to the committee chairman. [whispers] "…Uh, is this seat…" "…Not next to him." Toa silently grabbed Kazuki by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to his proper seat. The chairman watched with a dumbfounded expression. From the hallway, Rinka, who had been eavesdropping, could be sensed stifling her laughter with all her might. But this was no laughing matter. [cold] "It is decided. Zenin Maki: mission suspension, prohibition on solo operations, restricted campus access. That is all." Maki rose without a word. Her expression was a mask, all emotion crushed down, as she left the conference room. In the hallway, Rinka was waiting. [sad] "Maki-chan… I… I…" [cold] "…Don't follow me." Cutting off Rinka's words, Maki walked away alone. The girl with emerald-green hair stood there, tears welling in her odd-colored eyes, fists clenched tight. Late night. Maki's room, where she sat alone after receiving her punishment. The spear-type cursed tool leaning against the wall shimmered faintly in the moonlight. Maki sat on her bed, simply staring into the void. Then, the air changed. A cloyingly sweet perfume. Though no one was there yet, a presence that made her skin crawl. [whispers] "Such a lonely room as always. Fitting for a failure." The voice came from all directions in the room. A disembodied phantom voice. Iris's illusion technique. [angry] "Show yourself, Iris!!" Maki readied her spear. But there was no sign of her enemy. Instead, the scenery before her eyes began to warp. —The gate of the Zenin household. The large, double black doors stood before her. [cold] "You are no longer a member of the Zenin family." The voice echoed. The gate opened, and Maki's body was pushed outside. She put her hands on the cobblestones, and the moment she lifted her face, a heavy metallic sound rang out behind her. —Clang. The sound of a lock. [angry] "Stop it… please stop…!" The real Maki screamed. But the illusion didn't stop. If anything, it grew more precise, searing deeper into her oldest wounds. "A woman lacking in bloodline and power alike." Iris's voice whispered. "Sooner or later, Kazuki will abandon you too. And the organization as well." [crying] "No… that's not true…!" Maki's breathing grew shallow. Her hands trembled as she gripped the spear, and unable to stand any longer, she fell to her knees. The last pillar supporting her bravado splintered with a groan. Tears she had held back for so long spilled from her amber eyes. Unable to stay in her room, Maki wandered aimlessly through the school corridors. The emergency exit landing — an empty space with only white walls. After confirming no one was there, her body slowly crumbled, leaning against the wall. The spear clattered to the floor. She made no sound. But her shoulders shook. She bit her lip, desperately stifling her sobs. At that moment, Kazuki, passing by by chance, spotted her. On his way back from the night medical ward for wound treatment, he stopped in his tracks for a second. [surprised] "Ah—…" A stupid sound escaped him. But the next instant, Kazuki silently plopped down next to Maki, right against the wall. The movement was so clumsy, so utterly natural. [angry] "…Don't look." [gentle] "I'm not looking." Kazuki turned his face in a completely random direction and just kept sitting there in silence. His way of being there was so incredibly awkward that Maki's tears nearly stopped for a moment. But soon, the sobs welled up again. [sad] "Why… why did you come? I'm suspected of… putting you in danger…" [serious] "I don't think for one second that you lured that cursed spirit." [sad] "Even without any proof…" "I'll find proof. Definitely." Saying that, Kazuki quietly pulled Maki's shoulder toward him. At the sudden zero distance, Maki's heartbeat thumped hard. Her body stiffened, and her arm moved to push him away — but stopped halfway. With her face buried against Kazuki's chest, Maki murmured in a trembling voice. [whispers] "…Why do you believe me?" "There are things you can know, even without proof." Kazuki's arm tightened around her. Maki no longer resisted. The next morning. In the Auxiliary Supervisor's Office, Kazuki stared intently at the copy of the documents Toa had given him. Duplicates of the evidence submitted at the hearing. [serious] "…What the hell is this." The wound depth in the medical records clearly contradicted his own memory. The numbers were exaggerated to nearly double. Furthermore, the time listed in the eyewitness testimony — it was off from the actual cursed spirit appearance timestamp by over thirty minutes. "Someone intentionally altered the data." [serious] "Yes, the traces of tampering are obvious. However, the original evidence documents are stored in the higher-ups' hearing records room. We auxiliary supervisors don't have access privileges." "What if we apply to the higher-ups?" [cold] "It would take a week. By then, Maki's punishment will be finalized and enforced." At that moment, the door burst open. [excited] "I'll sneak in and take a look!! I'm good at sneaking around!!" [angry] "Hey, wait, you idiot, stop right there, you absolute moron!!" Toa frantically grabbed Rinka by the scruff of her neck. The feather-shaped earring on her right ear swayed dramatically. [crying] "Gyaa! Why!? I'm serious about this!?" [angry] "You'll end up with a criminal record!!" Watching their comedy routine out of the corner of his eye, Kazuki bit his lip. Legal means wouldn't make it in time. But there had to be another way. (Hang in there, Maki. I'll settle this, no matter what.) That night. As Kazuki sat alone in the Auxiliary Supervisor's Office, glaring at the documents, he sensed a presence outside the window. He looked up. On the other side of a single pane of glass — a silver-haired woman in a black dress stood there. Todo Iris. Her crimson eyes held a complex mix of ecstasy and anger. [whispers] "I've crushed Maki. Now you'll look only at me again, won't you?" As Kazuki moved to open the window, the lock was first released by cursed energy, and Iris slipped inside. Her slender fingers lifted Kazuki's chin. [whispers] "Now then, it's been so long since we were alone together." Her crimson lips drew closer. Kazuki grabbed her wrist and held her back. [angry] "Stop it." But Iris instead took Kazuki's hand and pressed it against her own chest. Beneath the feel of black lace, soft fullness and hot body heat transmitted through. [whispers] "You haven't forgotten this feeling, have you?" Close enough to feel her breath. Iris's chest definitely rose and fell beneath Kazuki's palm. Her hand entwined with his fingers one by one, pressing them even more firmly against her chest. [whispers] "Your hand is trembling. Are you happy? Or… scared?" Kazuki clenched his back teeth and spoke quietly. [cold] "You fabricated the evidence, didn't you." Iris narrowed her eyes for just a moment, then smiled bewitchingly. [sarcastic] "Can you prove it?" With that, she released Kazuki's hand and vanished into the darkness outside the window. Only the lingering scent of cloyingly sweet perfume drifted in the room. Kazuki stared at his clenched fist. The sensation of her chest still remained in his palm, and he felt pathetic. (Next time, for sure.) Something solidified clearly within him.