"Eh? W-wait... what is that?" Kugisaki Nobara breathed as she paused in shock, slightly nudging Fushiguro's shoulder as they entered the college library. It was just after their lessons had ended and they were busy searching for their classmate under the instruction of one of their teachers. "It's a... racoon?"

Fushiguro stared at the creature collecting books - his mind drawing blanks as he watched it navigate the shelves with a pile of books rested neatly in it's tiny hands - paws? Noriko had been missing from almost all their lessons the last week or so and they didn't even catch a glimpse of her at meal times in the cafeteria. Nobara hadn't built up the confidence to knock on her classmate's door for meals, and Fushiguro had been just as passive in that realm as he normally had been. She had piles of homework to complete and Gojo had suggested she could've been in the library when he saw they were struggling.

The creature was thick-furred and a tan colour with raccoon-like markings on it's face... yet it stood to barely five feet in height on it's two back legs. It donned black priest robes, a yellow embroidered apron and from it's lower back sprouted a fluffy tail.

"It... uh... could be one of Noriko's... things?" Fushiguro suggested, venturing further into the library. It was quiet and he could hear the soft rustle of the raccoon creature and the crinkle of pages. Nobara followed behind him cautiously as they approached the bipedal beast. "It looks like a tanuki - and it's in priest robes - so it has to be related to Noriko, right?"

Nobara shrugged as they came to stop a few yards away from the creature.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Tanuki?" She called, crouching down slightly to the creature's eye level as it turned it's attention away from the shelves. It's whiskers twitched in anticipation as it stared up at them expectantly. "We're looking for Noriko... Noriko Kamo."

The tanuki glanced down at the books in it's paws before turning it's gaze down one of the aisles.

"Shukaku," a voice called from towards the back of the library - one they recognised as their classmate's - and the tanuki made a movement down the aisles. He paused briefly, noticing that they weren't following him, and waited until they finally broke themselves out of shock. Following the creature through the tall bookshelves, they stepped out into a open corner of the room. The black-haired girl was sat hunched over a stack of documents. The table she was at was covered in piles of books and loose leaf - some completely blank; others with intricate drawings detailed the smooth paper. The tanuki bustled round the mess, standing on it's tiptoes to carefully rest the tower of books on the table. "Hmm... Is that all you found on Domain Amplification?"

"Yes, Noriko-ue," the tanuki answered diligently, stepping back to stand behind Noriko as she flipped the file she was glancing through shut and turned her attention to her classmates. Fushiguro moved first, striding up to the table and taking a look at some of the titles of the books she was looking at. "Would you like me to prepare some tea?"

"You're okay, Shukaku, thanks." The aforementioned nodded, turning to leave the immediate area around them as he disappeared into the almost completely empty library. Her dark-haired classmate picked up a couple of the books, flicking through them before placing them back and glancing over to the girl. "Can I help you two?"

"You've got too many absences... and a stack of homework to do," Nobara started gingerly, moving up to flank Fushiguro as she eyed the girl slouched in the chair. Her gaze was colder than before and her long, black hair was tied up into a single pony tail. She was still breaking the dress rules: purple hoodie, white sneakers, too much jewellery - which was a relief for Nobara, who reasoned that she couldn't have changed too much after all. "Some of the teachers sent us to check on you."

"Ah... yeah. That's too bad," the shrine maiden sighed, picking up a text from the pile Shukaku had just delivered and began to leaf through. Her nonchalant attitude made Nobara raise an eyebrow and she turned to Fushiguro for support, but he was too engrossed in some of the books to notice. "You can tell them I'm suffering from a crippling injury and won't be able to do any work for the next month or so... at least until the Kyoto Event is over."

There was a heavy silence - the only sound was the quiet turning of pages.

"Is... is this about what happened with Mai?" The shorter girl began quietly, looking up gently through her lashes to her classmate, who sighed, put down the book, and lazed back in her chair. She focused her dark eyes on the ceiling for bit; Fushiguro drew his attention away from his own book to stare at her. "You were different."

"Mmm... more or less," Noriko sighed, "it's complicated. You two are aware I had no formal training? Well, the way I've been using my energy is... bad for me - it has something to do with the heart problem I told you about, Fushiguro - and I really need to change it - ideally in the next few weeks."

"Is that for the Kyoto Event? It's because of your family, isn't it?"

"They're not my family, I'm adopted," the was a chilling silence, and Nobara winced at her mistake - but she couldn't recall Noriko ever mentioning that when the Kamo clan was brought up before. "I don't need to hide it anymore: I have a bigger ace up my sleeve."

"You do?" Fushiguro queried, dropping down into the chair across from her. "Care to tell us?"

"Mmm... then it wouldn't be an ace - besides it's my last real one. I'm going to use it to kick Noritoshi Kamo's ass," Noriko smirked, turning back to her books. Nobara moved to join Fushiguro, sitting down as well. "Do you two want some tea if you're making yourselves comfortable?"

"Tea? Uh, sure?" Nobara nodded, flicking through the papers in front of her. "It doesn't have anything to do with... 'territorial extension'?"

"No, that's just a little side project I'm looking at," Noriko smiled, shifting through a few sheets next to her that were filled with scrawl and intricate pen drawings. "Shukaku! The ace has nothing to do with any of this. It's not even particularly strong, I just want to see the heir's face when I show it."

The tanuki scampered back into their corner of the library, coming to a stop beside Noriko and smoothing down his apron.

"Tea, Noriko-ue?" He asked eagerly, clapping his hands together when his creator nodded. Moving his paws in a fluid motion, he produced an old-fashioned teapot and a tray with a set of cups out of thin air. The teapot was steaming, which baffled Nobara as Shukaku began to fill the cups before resting the tray on the table. Seeing his task was done, the tanuki returned to the aisle he'd come from. Noriko took a cup, blowing the hot liquid before taking a sip... and Fushiguro followed her actions.

"Did you create that?" He queried, sipping the tea as he flicked few a couple books. Seeing that the two were drinking without any issues, Nobara followed, taking a cup for herself.

"Mmm... I'm trying... something new Gojo suggested. At the moment, Shukaku is the strongest thing I can seem to conjure... and even then, he's not like the others. I have to maintain a constant concentration for him (it turns out it was Shikishi's conscience doing that with the beings created from her brush, Noriko mused internally)," the First Year groaned. "It should get easier, it'll just take a while."

Fushiguro nodded, reaching down to his school bag to begin some of his homework.

"Let us know if you need any help," he grunted awkwardly, glancing up to his classmate but quickly averting his eyes down to his work and he began to complete the sheets. Noriko suppressed her chuckle at his coy behaviour.

"Me too... I'll help," Nobara fought the anxious pit in her stomach back in silence as she shot Noriko a warm smile - which was received with wide eyes. "Of course, only if you need it."

"Ah, I will, thank you."

"Did you draw these?" Nobara changed the topic quickly, lifting up a sheet with a pen drawing on it. It had the image of hundreds of wolves leaping from the silhouette of a man. It was well drawn for a biro illustration and took on a more traditional style.

"Senbiki ōkami* - it's what I'm working on. It should help me master this technique since there are multiple entities to maintain," Noriko shrugged, glancing around at the papers around her. Gulping down her tea, she got to work again, taking up her biro and with immense speed, began to set about filling an entire sheet with writing. "Ah, actually, Nobara, I need to practice with my blade, do you think you'd be up for a spar tomorrow?"

"Ah, of course," Nobara's eyes widened and she gave her a furious nod - however, paused a second later. "Ah, but wouldn't Maki be a better fit for that?"

"Mmm... Maki's fighting style is very traditional, I can counteract that type of weapons style with my technique like I can with Mai's." She hummed, clicking the biro a couple times. "I feel like I'd learn more from sparring with you - you have a very unique technique. I'm not talking like all out, it's just to get a feel of the blade."

"Of course!"

Senbiki ōkami is a recurring phenomenon in folk tales dealing with large packs of wolves. It occurs at night when wolves are active and hunting. Most folktales involving senbiki no ōkami fit a specific pattern. Usually, a traveler is chased by wolves on the road at night, and the only escape available is to climb high up into a nearby tree. However, the wolves start to climb on to each other's backs, forming a living ladder. In this way, they are able to reach even the highest branches of the trees. However, the wolf ladder is one wolf too short to reach the traveler. The wolves call for their leader to complete the ladder and catch their prey. The leader of the wolves is a particularly large and canny bakemono, who climbs the ladder to face the traveler. However, the traveler is able to fend off the leader of the wolves with a sword. The following day, the wolves' leader is traced back to the house of a person who is now lying in bed with an injury received the previous night; it is revealed that the person was actually the bakemono in disguise, responsible for the senbiki no ōkami and the deaths of many people.

Shukaku was a tanuki who lived in disguise as a human priest. He worked at Morinji, a Buddhist temple in Gunma Prefecture for many decades. Shukaku is best known for his miraculous tea kettle, known as the bunbuku chagama, which he left to the Morinji as a gift.