"Ah! Give me my chocolate bar," Noriko grumbled, kicking the vending machine in front of her. The frail metal dented. It'd taken her money and then when she'd pressed the button for the snack she wanted, the chocolate had become caught between a shelf and the glass. Nobara gave her a quizzical glance, pulling the tab on her soda open.

"You should probably trying shaking it," she suggested, moving in front of the machine to grip it. She shook it and the bar dropped. "There."

"Ah, thank you, Nobara!" After an awkward week of getting over the guilt, she'd slowly come to be on first-name basis with her classmate. When Noriko wasn't studying scripture for inspiration, working out, honing her writing speed, or practicing casting her Domain in the seclusion of her room (which was almost all of her time), she and Nobara hung out. They talked about everything: swapping tips on energy control, boys, the latest fashion trends and manga. Megumi, of course, was included, however, he was more of a silent witness.

Noriko tore into her chocolate bar. Her mind was on other things as she scoffed the chocolate, throwing the wrapper into the bin.

That old man was going to show his face today at the school. Yoshinobu Gakuganji was head of the Kyoto sister school, and a man she'd met on very few occasions (being associated with the Kamo clan) and hated him every time. Gojo had given her a heads up, in case she didn't realise and launched into a fit rage. It was funny almost how little he thought of her ability to control her emotions. It wasn't like she'd just attack someone unprovoked - especially if they that important.

"Too hot," she groaned, slouching down on a bench. They'd ditched the uniforms today as they were 'training' (running errands for Maki), and even in a pair of black athletic shorts and an oversized t-shirt, she felt herself sweltering. "Oh, who are they meant to be?"

Noriko had moved onto her back as she lazed on the bench, fanning herself. Her dark eyes were locked on the two traditionally-dressed figures by the entranceway. Probably from Kyoto, she mused. The larger of the two was a tall, broad-set man she recognized as Aoi Todo - she was sure he kept the company of the Kamo heir - and the smaller one was a slim woman who bore striking resemblance to Maki Zenin - just with shorter hair. She instinctively hated her smug aura.

They stared the group of First Years down.

"What are you doing here, Zenin-senpai?" Megumi asked, raising an eyebrow at the duo across from them. Ah, so that's what it is, the dark-haired girl mused.

"Ah, she's one too? They do seem similar. Are they sisters?" Nobara queried, slinking back to sit alongside Noriko - who moved into a sitting position to accommodate her.

"They're twins."

"Don't call me that, Fushiguro-kun," the woman purred and Noriko supressed the urge to throw up. "You make me sound the same as Maki. Call me Mai."

"Oh? What's wrong with that?" Fushiguro shot her a stony stare. "What? I like Maki-senpai!"

Nobara sent her a questioning glance - she personally wasn't keen on any of the Second Years, but Noriko seemed to fit right in with them.

"So, these are the pinch hitters for Okkotsu and the third-years?" Aoi Todo's voice was cool and gravelly, and Noriko would've been intimidated if she'd perhaps cared a little bit more about their presence. Fushiguro, however, notably tensed up.

"We came here with the principal because we were worried about you. Your classmate died, right?" Mai purred, bringing her fingers to rest on her chin. "Was that hard? Or did you think nothing of it?"

Noriko was up on her feet almost instantaneously. The grief had hit her last. After so long of hoping Yuji wasn't dead, she'd given in. Surely, they would've been told after so long if he was? She was starting to brush her instincts about energy footprints and Sukuna off as petty delusions. Nobara rose to her feet as well and even Fushiguro twitched.

She took it all back - she was absolutely ready to attack someone unprovoked.

"What are you trying to say?"

"It's okay, some things are hard to say out loud. So, I'll say it for you," she continued, delighting in the tense looks on her face, "'Vessel' is a nice way to put it, but it just means he was a half-curse monster."

The echoed heartbeat in her chest began to pound. Whose rage was it? She wondered. Noriko's or Shikishi's?

"Ah..." Her hand twitched near her ink brush as she tilted her head up to stare down at her opponent. Fushiguro glanced back, eyeing the dark look in Noriko's eyes. They'd never talked about what happened that day, but he couldn't help but feel that while she'd insulted Yuji, she'd also insulted Noriko.

Even though he had his suspicions, he couldn't be afraid of whatever his classmate was, because she'd been so willing to save him - to the point of being ready to give up her own life - and when he'd watched her from his sprawled out position on the floor, he'd seen the relief in her eyes when she confirmed he was alive.

He too was mourning Yuji in his one way - but he'd seen the blood-stained hoodie saturated with Yuji's energy that hung up in her room. He hoped that was the last of what Mai had to say... but had a inkling it wasn't.

"Having such a tainted inhuman beast beside you brazenly calling himself a jujutsu sorcerer must have been revolting, right?" Mai had eyes trained on the black-haired girl at the back. Her reactions were too good - she could almost taste the anger rolling off her. "Aren't you feeling better now that he's dead?"

The air went cold. Shikishi was angry, Noriko was angry, her classmates were angry.

"Mai, don't bring up such pointless topics. I'm only here to see if these guys are fit to take Okkotsu's place." Aoi Todo stepped forward, a menacing look on his face as he swung his jacket off. "That's all I want to hear."

"Fushiguro, was it?" He asked, lowly, glowering down at the shorter boy. "What kind of woman is your type?"

"Eh?" Noriko couldn't focus; she couldn't move her eyes from the girl in front of her.

"Depending on your answer, I'll beat you half to death right here." He tore off his shirt. "And drag Okkotsu, or at least the third-years, out to the exchange event. By the way, my type is a tall woman with a big ass."

"Why do I have to talk about what kind of woman I like with a stranger?"

Their conversation fell on Noriko's deaf ears. Even Nobara was handling it better than her. But she couldn't help it. Ever since Shikishi had emerged and had become a conscious part of Noriko's mind, her emotions had been difficult to control. She couldn't help but think of Yuji's frail smile before he died and the stained (both with ink and blood) jacket that she still had - and wondered whether she'd end up the same fate?

Their conversation drifted from women to blood and Noriko really didn't care as she turned her gaze away from Mai and to the foliage behind her. She just needed to breathe; she worked on drawing her thoughts away from her classmate to the soft breeze.

However, in an instant, Noriko's attention snapped back to them as Todo launched himself at Fushiguro - she could've sworn she heard something crack - and threw him backwards into the pebbling. Todo went after him, and Nobara was about to follow when Mai grabbed her.

Noriko stayed quiet, dipping her brush in it's cannister as she observed the two. Aoi Todo was one thing... he was a higher grade than her (by half), but Mai... well, she was free game. She watched with sharp eyes as she noted the pistol pressed into Nobara's stomach. 'Ah, not Nobara too', came the ambiguous mix from in her head - it wasn't one she recognised as something distinctively hers or the priestesses' for that matter. It was murky.

"Ah~! A gun? Don't you think that's a bit high stakes?" Mai shrieked as the butt of a staff was driven into her hand, forcing her to drop her fire arm - which was then kicked away. Noriko grinned at her, clutching Nobara's wrist and pulling her from their rival classmate's grasp. "You know what I can't stand?"

Mai flinched back at the dark look in Noriko's squinted eyes. Nobara noted it as her signature childish grin, but couldn't help but also wince back herself. She stepped back from the two, feeling Noriko's energy flare.

"People who don't know their place." Nobara wasn't the target of Noriko's rage, but was terrified herself as her classmate leapt forward, slamming the staff down on Mai and twisting mid-air to land a kick into her stomach and she too flew back, landing on the pebbling outside.

The Zenin twin landed harshly in the dirt and was struggling to get back up when another kick was directed at her stomach and that time, as it connected, she felt the air leave her body. "Ah~! You're really no fun! All that talk... and look at this."

Mai tried to use her techniques but found herself completely incapacitated and knocked into a daze. The blows kept coming and the Zenin girl felt herself lose her grasp of gravity.

"How about I go shred you to pieces in front of your teammate?" Mai felt a sharp grip around her throat and her vision spotted with black beads. Noriko held her by her throat in the air; her free hand reached down to her leg - writing furiously. Mai struggled, but she could barely move her arms and her mind was hazed. Once the taller girl was satisfied she'd given herself enough time to write, Noriko dropped her - her leg erupting in a golden glow.

Two Koma Inu* dove out from the glow. The originally holy animals were snarling with their teeth bared and as Noriko waved a hand, one set upon Mai. Nobara blinked in amazement at the lion dogs she could see across from her. She'd only ever seen them at the entrances to shrines before. They had thick, red, curly manes and tails, and powerful, muscular bodies. Their pelt was a mossy green colour and the one set on Mai had a large horn growing out of it's head.

So, that's what Noriko's ability is, she gaped in amazement.

The lion threw the body of Mai around until it was lifeless, and the winning sorcerer began to follow the hole through the wooden struts that was created by Todo - the lions at her side, with one gripping Mai in it's jaws. Nobara rushed after her, calling for her to stop as she watched blood trail behind the lion with it's prey. The closer she tried to get, the heavier the energy got - until she felt like she was suffocating and had to stop. This wasn't the Noriko she knew, but did she really know her? A couple weeks wasn't exactly meaningful.

They emerged from under the wooden struts; the light glistening off the smooth backs of the green lions. Her heart didn't slow - or was it Shikishi's? She couldn't really focus - all she could think about was the pent up anger deep within her. All the rage she felt against the shrine, the Kamo clan, Shikishi, Sukuna, herself... even her own mother.

"We have to let go, "a voice murmured. It wasn't hers alone, but also wasn't the cool voice of the Priestess. It was that ambiguous mix again, and it cut through the mass of twisted thoughts in the back of the sorcerer's mind - silencing them. Noriko let her eyes flutter closed as she basked in the sunlight - her energy receding back into her.

"A-ah? Noriko?" Panda gaped, eyeing the two lions - one of which was carrying a blood Mai. He was standing across from Todo as Inumaki was checking a bleeding Fushiguro. She could sense the residue of his own energy flare - and Inumaki's, which indicated he'd used his techniques to stop whatever fight was about to break out. Nobara stumbled through the gap after her classmate, finally able to breathe as the heavy weight left her lungs. The green lion spat the girl out and she wheezed with her face in the dirt. "Is that... Zenin-senpai's twin?!"

"Ah, yeah, she ran her mouth about something," Noriko grunted lowly, kicking the limp girl out of her way as she moved closer to the group. Inumaki eyed her cautiously. The entire area was saturated with the residue of her energy - the angry, heavy energy. "I had to teach her a lesson."

"Ah, so there was something other than Fushiguro after all," Todo smirked, eying the slim figure behind his former opponent. He turned to her, the muscles under his tanned skin rippling. Her face was cold, even colder as she stepped over his classmate, and she moved to take stand closer to Fushiguro - noting his bloody head. "You are?"

"Noriko Kamo," her response was cold and abrupt. "I went too far; I apologise - ah, but next time... I really might kill her."

"Oh, is that Mai?" Maki Zenin emerged from under the wooden supports to, gesturing a hand to the body on the floor. There was blood splattered across the terrain, but even from that distance, she could tell her sister was the source. Her form was limp, but she took heavy breaths - her shoulders heaving shakily. The Tokyo student looked up, noting the two lion dogs flanking Noriko's sides - she fought to keep the smirk off her face. It was wrong to take joy in her sister in that state, but satisfying at the same time. Noriko wasn't that unreasonable, and in fact, Maki had never seen her angry before... so she could only imagined what her snake-tongued sister had said.

"Todo, you take her with you when you leave." Panda gestured to the body on the dusty ground. The tall Third Year sighed, but nodded nonetheless, throwing the body over his shoulder and disappearing back through the rubble. He gave Noriko a smirk as he passed her - which only resulted in a blank stare and a growl from both lions, who slinked around their creator silently. "And Noriko! You went way too far with Mai!"

She gave the group a blank stare and looked back at Nobara, who stood slightly shakily a little bit away from them, noting her tense shoulders. Running her brush over the two lion dogs, she cancelled them and they melted into pools of ink, black seeping into the dirt.

Damn it, Shikishi...

"I'm aware."

: Koma inu are a ubiquitous symbol at holy sites in Japan. Stone koma inu statues are almost always found at the entrance to Shinto shrines, often with more inside the shrine guarding the important buildings. The pairs are usually carved in two poses: one with mouth open in a roaring position, and one with mouth closed. Symbolically, these creatures represent yin and yang, or death and life. They are fierce and noble beasts. They act like watchdogs, guarding gates and doorways and preventing the wicked from entering. They live together in male-female pairs and are always found together. In their pairs, the female usually guards those living inside, while the male guards the structure itself