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A few days have passed by since Naoya decided to start Maki's and Mai's jujutsu training, and though initially the two of them showed enthusiasm, they soon realised that being a sorcerer was not fun and games at all.
Currently, it was still quite early in the morning, and Naoya had just finished his early morning training. There was some blood on his clothes thanks to a new trick that he was trying to master, but was failing spectacularly at it.
It was a new power move that, if mastered, would make him even more of an absurd opponent to deal with, but for now, it was a bit out of his reach.
Still, the Zenin family didn't raise a quitter.
Done with his own training, Naoya walked to his room, and just as he expected, Maki and Mai were not present there.
'These little rascals.'
"Maki! Mai! Where are you?! Time for training!" called Naoya, trying to get a reaction from them and see if the two were hiding in the room.
Seeing no reaction around him, he checked the possible hiding spaces before moving out of the room.
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Currently, in a different part of the Kyoto Zenin estate, two kids were sneaking around cautiously.
Needless to say, the kids were Maki and Mai trying to avoid Naoya until his school time and thus be free from training today.
Watching others use curse magic looked cool.
Learning it yourself, however, was not.
"What are you two doing?"
Maki and Mai jumped in fright. Thinking they had been caught, they turned around and saw Kagenori.
Seeing the old man, the twins sighed in relief.
"Grandpa scared me."
"Me too."
The two pouted in anger.
Seeing the two pout, Kagenori chuckled.
"My bad, my bad. So you two are hiding today, too?" asked Kagenori.
Maki and Mai nodded. Kagenori was a trustworthy individual who helped them hide from Naoya, though their older brother was quite smart, and he did find them eventually. Kagenori still helped them try.
"Go in that room. I will check if Naoya is nearby or not," said Kagenori.
The twins nodded and rushed inside the room to hide.
Once they were gone, Kagenori smiled and made a gesture.
One of his men appeared in front of him.
"Tell Naoya."
The man nodded and walked away to inform Naoya.
Unknown to the twins, Kagenori was a double agent.
He was a kind grandpa, but jujutsu training was important for people of the clan. He cannot compromise with that now, can he?
After he was done snitching, Kagenori promptly took his leave, and moments later, Naoya appeared near the room.
"Maki! Mai! Training time!" called Naoya, pretending not to know where the two were, and opened the room to 'check if they were there.'
And just like that, yet another time, Naoya 'surprisingly' found the twins.
"Let's go," said Naoya and picked up the twins, who tried their best to free themselves. Alas, they were not strong enough.
"Nii-Nii! Hate you!"
"Love you two, too. Now stop struggling," replied Naoya.
Maki and Mai pouted, but after a while resigned themselves to their fate.
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After the twins' training was over and they were bathed and dressed, Naoya started preparing to go.
Maki and Mai were now back to their normal behaviour, seemingly forgetting all about the struggles they faced recently.
'Kids really do get over things fast,' thought Naoya and finished making their hair.
As he talked with Geto, the girls were growing their hair out, and Naoya was in his practice phase of being a hair stylist. It still looked rough, but it was not much of a problem for the kids.
After finishing their breakfast, Naoya took his leave, though he made sure to give the kids their jujutsu homework for today, much to their displeasure.
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As Naoya reached his class and opened the door, he spotted a 'dead body' lying at the entrance.
"...You alive, Tetsuya?" asked Naoya and poked the unmoving body.
"...I am....but why?" asked Kuroko as he looked up at Naoya.
One look at Kuroko, and he could tell that the boy was tired. Too tired.
"Good work out there," muttered Naoya and patted the boy.
"These people are unreasonable. So unreasonable," complained Kuroko and lay back on the floor.
"Tell you what. You are about to throw up. Let's take you to the infirmary."
"Huh? What do you-"
"Take a rest there. Maybe if you sleep for a while, you won't feel like throwing up," added Naoya.
Kuroko took some time to register before a light bulb appeared above his head.
"Naoya....are you a genius?" asked Kuroko with mild reverence.
"I am. Now let's go," replied Naoya and picked up Kuroko in a princess carry and dashed out of the room.
"Get out of my way! My friend's sick!" yelled Naoya as he dashed through the hallway.
The teacher, who was about to enter the class, stepped aside as he saw the two boys and got a bit panicked. Naoya was yelling with worry while Kuroko was lying lifeless in Naoya's arms.
One was acting while the other was genuinely nearly dead.
Overall, their act was not caught, and Kuroko got the opportunity to take a well-needed rest.
.
.
.
Classes continued like normal, even though 50% of the class was absent. (Only 2 students).
Exams were approaching, and with all the jujutsu work going on, completing the study material was quite a daunting task for both the students and teachers.
After the regular classes were over, Naoya was on the school grounds for their Jujutsu classes and as usual, they were given time for self-study.
With Yuki rarely present, Naoya was really missing having an all-out brawl. He knew that there was almost no benefit for physical training since stats would not raise much, if at all, but physical brawls made sure that he was not out of shape.
Because of that, during the winter break, he would be going back home, more specifically, he would be seeking out Toji to have some ass-whooping lessons.
The assassin turned normal guy also craved viol- *cough**cough* action, which was almost absent from his new life. The only loophole that Toji could exploit was the sparring he had with Naoya in the guise of training.
Keeping that aside, currently, Naoya was doing some brainstorming for his technique and was surrounded by notes and books. Some were borrowed from the clan, while the others were from Jujutsu High. There were also many of his handwritten notes, as well.
Utahime, who was practising using her simple domain during a fight, was having a friendly bout against Maou and the demon army. The sheer quantity and the unpredictability of rabbits were perfect for her to get the technique of fighting with the simple domain in her body.
While she was resting after her bout, she turned towards Naoya and the sheer number of study materials around him.
She has been seeing him diving deep into the books for around a week, and the material around him has only kept increasing.
'What the hell is he researching so deeply?' thought Utahime and slowly started to tiptoe towards Naoya to get a peek at his notes.
As she got closer to him, Naoya looked back at her, making the priestess flinch at his gaze. It almost seemed like a child who was caught between performing mischief.
Without saying anything, a shadow arm came out of Naoya and shifted the books around Naoya to make some space, where Naoya gave a pat, gesturing for her to take a seat.
Utahime looked at the spot and sighed a bit. Naoya just sucked the fun out of the whole thing.
Still, her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly trotted towards Naoya and sat beside him to see what he was looking at. Honestly, she was quite shocked by the material around him.
There were books and notes on jujutsu that she was expecting. What she wasn't expecting were the science and mathematics books around them. They were quite advanced books, too, and she could also spot some research-grade materials.
She looked at Naoya and blinked.
'What the hell is he seriously doing?'
Still, she looked back at the books, the ones dealing with Jujutsu and checked what they were all about.
Binding vows, Chants, Hand Signs, Rituals, Talismans, Technique fields, and other topics.
"Are you trying to shorten a technique or make them more effective?" asked Utahime curiously.
"Bingo."
"Which one?"
"Both," replied Naoya nonchalantly.
Utahime blinked in confusion. How much stronger was this guy planning to be? Was he not satisfied with the variety of abilities he already had.
"One can never have too many attacks," replied Naoya, guessing her thoughts and smirking at her.
Utahime's eyes widened. Did she speak her thoughts or something?
"Want my help? I am quite proficient in chants and rituals for technique amplification. Shortening is not my forte, though."
"...I will ask you for guidance once I finally land on some safe results. Right now, the thing I am trying to learn is not safe for others to be nearby," said Naoya.
"...Alright. Do let me know when you need help," replied Utahime and placed the books back in the pile.
She then stretched her body and felt a gaze on her.
She turned around and saw Naoya looking intently at her.
"What?"
Naoya kept staring at her face, making Utahime feel a bit embarrassed by the gaze on her.
"O-Oi. You are acting like a per-"
"Senpai. I want a favour."
Utahime stopped mid-sentence and looked at Naoya, who was waiting for her response.
"What is the favour?" asked Utahime and coughed to hide her embarrassment.
Naoya held her hand and looked at her with a determined expression.
That was enough to make Utahime embarrassed even more.
"Let me practice hairstyling on you."
Utahime closed her eyes, but as she registered what Naoya asked of her, she opened her eyes and remained motionless for a moment.
"Huh?" muttered Utahime, rebooting soon.
"Maki and Mai have started growing their hair. Let me practice on you so that I can make their hair nicely."
"Eh? Why?! No! Absolutely not!! Why will I allow you to ruin my hair?!" exclaimed Utahime and tried to move away, but Naoya had already calculated that, and that's why he decided to hold her hands earlier.
"Let go of me!!!"
"Senpai, you told me to ask you for help when I need."
"You asked. I am not helping!!!!" yelled Utahime and tried to free herself.
"Is this how you treat me after I did all those things for you?"
"Yes. And what things did you do for me?!"
"I taught you [Simple Domain], I keep you entertained during these mundane days at school by annoy- I mean keeping you amused."
"You were just about to say annoy!"
"Must have been the wind. I said no such words. Look at me. Do I look like the kind of boy who will annoy others?"
"Yes, you do!!! You are the definition of the whole statement."
"...Even if I say pretty please?" asked Naoya and gave her the puppy eyes, learned directly from Master Maki and Master Mai.
"Agh! No! It won't work!!! Don't look at me like that," muttered Utahime and looked away.
She could practically feel the sparkling eyes hitting her.
Seeing that reaction, Naoya smirked. Her defences were slowly crumbling.
In the end, it was Naoya who came out victorious, and Utahime had to become the training dummy for Naoya's practice.
She complained a lot, but seemingly lost her energy to argue more.
In actuality, it felt nice to her. Not that she was gonna admit that.