— — — — — —
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the students headed back to the infirmary. Even the principal had gone.
In the ruins of the school, Kazuma was the only one left.
"The school's wrecked… guess I need to find a new place to stay."
He sighed, then waved a hand. "Shadow Soldiers, start sketching blueprints and rebuild the school as fast as you can."
From the darkness, his shadow soldiers emerged. He assigned tasks, then stopped caring about how exactly they'd accomplish them.
He stepped out of the demolished campus, planning to meet up with Tohru and the others still at Ittosai Kunieda's dojo. Worst case, he thought, he'd crash at a hotel tonight.
Kazuma reached the dojo quickly. The moment he stepped through the gate, he ran into Aoi Kunieda.
"Good afternoon, Kazuma-sensei," she said politely.
"Don't butter me up. Even if you call me 'sensei,' your grandpa still has to compensate the school. Full compensation. Every last cent."
"I know," Aoi nodded. "I'll do everything I can to help with the reconstruction."
"Also… Tohru told me you used to live at the school. Now that it's destroyed… you're basically homeless, right?"
She straightened up a little. "If you don't mind, you could stay at our shrine. It's pretty spacious."
Aoi had only learned about his housing situation during her earlier chat with Tohru and the others, and guilt had been gnawing at her. After all, her grandfather was at fault. She needed to at least show some sincerity.
"…Hmm. Sure," Kazuma agreed instantly. Free housing was free housing. And besides, this mess was entirely that old man's fault. He was already being merciful by not seizing the shrine as collateral. A few nights of free lodging was more than reasonable.
"Um, for dinner I'm making curry," Aoi continued. "Would you prefer sweet or spicy? Or if you want something else, I can make it."
Just earlier, she had been in a meeting discussing strategies on how to deal with Kazuma. Now the situation had flipped so fast she needed to figure out how to earn his forgiveness. At the moment, she felt like a debtor facing her creditor—one who could absolutely crush her if displeased.
"I'm fine with anything," Kazuma said. "But make a lot. Like… a lot. Otherwise I won't be full. And I'm not paying for meals. Consider it part of your compensation."
"... and your grandpa doesn't need to do physical labor to rebuild the school anymore. I'll handle it."
"Oh—one more thing. Since the school is destroyed, classes will be held at other campuses for now. You're assigned to Saint Ishiyama Academy. Classes start in about three days; they need prep time."
He remembered the old principal's instructions: the normal students were being distributed to various regular schools, while trouble magnets like Kanzaki and the rest were gathered into a single class for ease of management… by him.
"I understand, sensei. If there's nothing else, I'll start cooking. After dinner I'll show you to your rooms."
Aoi let out a subtle sigh of relief. Things weren't nearly as bad as she'd feared. Thank goodness.
"Make extra," Kazuma called after her. "We all eat a lot."
He ate a lot; Kanna ate even more; Tohru could put away frightening amounts. Hilda and Beel weren't huge eaters, but together that was still two people's worth. If Aoi made her usual portions, it'd never be enough.
"Okay! I'll… keep that in mind."
Aoi still didn't quite grasp the true threat she faced. She thought she only needed to make slightly more.
...
After parting ways with her, Kazuma found Hilda and the others watching TV and explained the situation.
"So that means," Hilda summarized, eyes lighting up, "we're basically seizing this shrine as our base and slowly starting our invasion of the human world. A demon living in a shrine… you really are an evil man."
Kanna gave a small "glug-glug" sound, then rubbed her stomach. "I'm hungry."
She tugged on Kazuma's sleeve. "Kazuma… Kazuma, is dinner ready yet?"
"Let's go check. It should be almost done."
...
They found Aoi working furiously in the kitchen.
"You're all hungry, right? Just wait a little longer—it'll be ready soon," she said with a strained smile.
"Okay."
They sat in the living room to wait. During that time, Ittosai Kunieda himself walked in.
"You brat, why are you in my house?!" He stared at Kazuma, baffled.
"What do you mean 'your' house? Starting today, it's mine."
Kazuma snorted. "You destroyed my school—don't you think you should pay? Nice try pretending you don't owe anything, old man."
"Grandpa," Aoi hurried over, "I invited them. Kazuma-sensei and the others lived at the school before. Now that it's gone… I offered them rooms here. The shrine has plenty of space."
"This also counts as part of our apology. Oh, and Grandpa… Sensei said he already handled the school reconstruction. You don't need to help build it."
Aoi stepped out of the kitchen carrying dishes and set them neatly on the table. The meal looked plentiful… but the moment it hit the table, it vanished. In under five minutes, every plate was spotless.
"So fast!"
Aoi stared at the empty dishes in shock. She glanced at the group already holding out their bowls for seconds. She honestly hadn't even blinked before everything was gone.
If it were only Kazuma, she might not have been that surprised; after all, anyone who beat her grandfather probably needed a lot of food. But Tohru, Hilda, and Kanna all ate at lightning speed. Only baby Beel was a bit slower.
She couldn't help it; she was stunned.
"Aoi, stop staring. Go make more. This amount isn't enough," Ittosai said. He'd only managed to snag two bites before everything disappeared.
The next hour turned into a gradual breakdown of Aoi's dignity as a cook. She started with dishes she cared about, then dishes that were at least decent, then finally whatever ingredients she had left. By the end, it was survival cooking.
"Um… everyone's full now, right?" she asked weakly.
Aoi had just burned through all the groceries she'd bought for the next seven days. She looked at the group nervously.
"It'll do. Make more tomorrow," Kazuma said, stretching a little. Her cooking was fine, though nowhere near as good as Mira's. But food he didn't have to make himself was still good food.
"Kanna's still a little hungry… but it's okay. Kanna can recharge later," the little dragon said, rubbing her belly.
"I'm full, Aoi. I'm going to rest," Ittosai added as he got up. He was old; he slept early and woke early.
Before long, everyone had left. Only Aoi remained in the empty room, hungry.
"Uuu… forget it. I'll call this dieting," she whispered to herself. Everyone else had eaten well, but she hadn't gotten a single bite. And now she had no ingredients left either. All she could do was drink water and pretend it was part of her weight-loss plan.
---
The next morning, Kazuma woke up early to train.
He didn't have to go to the new school today. They still needed time to prepare, and all the students were still hospitalized anyway. With no classes for a few days, he decided not to waste time and focus on training his body.
"I know plenty of techniques, but when it comes to actually strengthening my body… it's basically just Six Powers, Rokushiki."
He mentally reviewed his skills. He knew a lot, but only the Six Powers could really train the body itself. Armament Haki didn't count; it was about using energy through the body, not conditioning the muscles.
"Shave, Iron Body, Moonwalk, Finger Pistol, Tempest Kick, Paper Art… feels like too much."
After practicing a bit, he realized it was overkill. For pure physical conditioning, he didn't need the fancy stuff. Iron Body to tense the muscles and Paper Art to relax them were enough.
He stood still and cycled between the two, tightening and relaxing each muscle group, pushing for finer control. At the same time, he practiced Life Return (Seimei Kikan) to gain more precise control over every inch of his body.
While Kazuma trained, Ittosai stepped outside with his wooden sword for morning practice. He saw Kazuma's movements, watched silently for a moment, then understood the principle.
"Tensing and relaxing the whole body to train the muscles. And those two techniques let you control each muscle individually. Much more effective than push-ups or running. But you're doing it wrong."
The old man gestured with his sword. "Focus your strength. Concentrate more. Slow down. Slow movements help you keep the strength condensed."
He swung his wooden sword once. Just once. But after that single swing, sweat drenched his entire body as if he had been training for hours.
His movements were incredibly slow, taking nearly a full minute per swing, but that slowness revealed the technique's depth.
Kazuma watched him closely and realized the old man's swing used the same principle as Iron Body and Paper Art. Only it was even more refined. His entire body moved as a single, seamless system. Everything connected. Everything unified.
Kazuma watched twice, then adapted his training on the spot.
After just one repetition, sweat soaked his entire body, and his muscles burned painfully.
"Tch… so that's the point. Forcing myself to fight my own strength. One punch breaks through the limit set by the last punch. Every complete movement means surpassing who you were one second ago. That's all it is. A way to raise your physical foundation."
He grinned. "Such an amazing technique, but it's easy for me. Uh... you were showing off to me just now?"
His grin turned provocative. Your technique is impressive, old man, but I just learned it in seconds. How does that feel?
"You brat… then try this next one."
Ittosai spoke lightly, but inside he was stunned. The technique looked simple, but he had spent years developing it. Aoi had been training since childhood and still couldn't perform it. Her body simply wasn't capable of that level of precise control.
Kazuma could sense it. The old man might not be stronger than him physically, but he had decades of technique behind him.
Not that it mattered.
Give him a minute and he'd learn everything. Consider it part of the old man's compensation for the destroyed school.
.
.
.