The sky was red as the sun was slowly rising, it was 5:30 in the morning, Rika was still snorring soundly by then, and then there was Etsuko, who was up, sitting on a chair, thinking about the events of the last day, and the self-guilt was starting to form.
She wasn't able to do anything that day, if Horie wasn't there, she and her whole team were dead by now, and there she was, not able to do anything about it. But then another thought appeared... Horie Kohaku, that guy... was something else, and after witnessing what he was able to do, she wanted to reach his strength, to protect his loved ones, especially Rika.
She turns to her, seeing her sleep, and a tear falls over Etsuko's face, determined to protect her the most no matter what, she gets on her knees close to Rika's sleeping form and gently caresses her cheek. The blonde leans calmly towards the girl and whispers: "I am sorry, Rika, I will need to leave you on your own at school for now..." and then gets up and goes to training.
When school starts, Unit 3 notices Etsuko's absence, and they all get either worried or confused.
Yano starts teaching her students about what is and how to use theirShenqi³ (Spiritual Energy is a type of energy that most people have in order to use elementary techniques against their enemies, it is energy that manifests out of the spirit and materializes itself out of the body in order to create a specified type of energy).
– Hey miss! Can I go to the bathroom? Chiyo asks as she raises her hand, while Yano nods and lets her go.
As she walks to the bathroom in the empty hall, she can hear some punching noises coming from the training room, she gets curious and walks in there, opens the door and sees Etsuko in sport bras and leggings, training with a dummy and then slowly stopping to look behind her, just to see Chiyo standing there bewildered.
– Chiyo, what are you doing here? Etsuko asks with a hint of confusion.
– I w-was curious about the noise... just to see you... You should come back, you know? You don't want to miss on the lessons and—
– I don't care, Etsuko cuts her off, would be pointless, my brain can't comprehend the logics of my spiritual energy, so I am not able to learn magic, meaning that I will need to get strong on my own... she says with a hint of determination and then continues punching and kicking the dummy.
– W-Well... I just warned you about it for your own good... if you say so... and then Chiyo shuts the door off, leaving Etsuko alone.
As Etsuko keeps on training, she realizes that she might get in trouble if she gets caught skipping classes just to train in the Varyashim's literal training room and not obeying, so she stops, takes her bags and walks away from the room, leaving the Varyashim orders.
Walking by herself, she arrives in front of the Death Mist Forest, she sighs to herself, finding the area a bit eerie, as her heart starts beating a bit faster due to nervousness, so she goes in, absorbed by the mist. As she keeps wandering through the forest, she found herself facing a low-tier demon, the creature looking at her with hunger, like a predator looking at it's prey. Etsuko gulps and tenses up, but decides to go along and fight it, she pulls out her club and swings it around and rushes towards it recklessly, and the demon jumps at her but Etsuko quickly rolls herself down in anxiety and adrenaline, gets up shortly and smacks him from behind with her club, her hit so brutal she rips the demon in 2 pieces, using her full force because of anxiety. As her adrenaline slowly fades away, her eyes widen when she sees the corpse of the demon severed in two pieces and then she looks at her own hands, surprised and amazed of what she was capable to achieve, that she was capable of taking down her first low-tier demon already.
But then, she quickly snaps out of it, noticing that there are more low-tier demons surrounding her, so she starts slaughtering them, using this opportunity as a training session, literally throwing them in the air.
As she finally gets out of the Death Mist woods, she looks up and sees it is already night, she claps her forehead and sighs, a bit amused.
– It is already night, huh? I guess today I have trained with so much intensity that time flied fast... Etsuko mutters to herself and walks back home.
As she arrives home, expecting Rika to be asleep, she was there by herself practicing rituals as usual but then stopping as she notices Etsuko's arrival.
– You are home. Rika affirms, almost ready to scold Etsuko. Where were you at?
– I went training by myself in the Death Mist Forest... the blonde girl replies, clearly weary.
– Are you stupid? Rika asks as she gets up off the ground and slowly walks towards Etsuko, clearly worried about her safety, and Etsuko takes gently a step back. Do you not know of the dangers that rely inside that forest? And besides of all that, you were also absent at the Varyashim orders, do you realize the shit you got yourself in?
– I-I can explai— but she gets cut off of Rika grabbing her and yelling at her, bursting out emotionally.
– ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME TO ANOTHER FUNERAL, YOU IDIOT?! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU T—
– THIS IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, OKAY?!Etsuko yells back, brushing off her concern and shutting her up, but as she sees Rika's shocked and sad expression, Etsuko gets affected and decides to add up in a gentle tone: I am sorry for yelling at you... she sits down and sighs, placing her hand over her forehead, look... I am weak, I can't use spiritual energy as you know... so I have decided that for the time being it is better if I train on my close combat skills... I want to protect you, Rika... I want to protect you all... I can't just watch you all die in front of me like it almost happened yesterday...
– So what... I'd rather die along with you than see you slowly killing yourself to grow stronger just for my sake... Rika mutters in a sad tone. Seeing that, Etsuko wraps a hand around her sister and pulls her close.
– Hey, dummy... no need to be so gloomy, I will be fine, I promise... you know I am strong enough to take care of myself...
– I-I know... but—
– No butts, idiot... I told you, I can take care of myself, and I will do whatever it takes to take care of you too... she says as she pulls Rika's head to hers, their foreheads touching... I am strong... I promise, I won't die...
The next days fly by fast, while Etsuko is along training by herself, back at the Varyashim orders, Rika tells their leader about the reason why Etsuko is not coming, and as they talk and change subjects, Yano looks over at Chiyo and decides to give her some bad news:
– Hey Chiyo... I got bad news for you...
A sweat rolls off Chiyo's face in anticipation.
– W-What happened?...
– I can't train you with your crystal ability... we took a better analyze at it but we haven't been able to find any clarifications of what's the cause of it and how to use it... but the good news are that you do possess Spiritual Energy so I guess I will be able to train you properly...
Chiyo sighs in relief at the assurance but still a bit disappointed that she cannot use her crystal abilities.
– I understand...
And afterwards, the classes begin and the day goes on as usual.
When the moon slowly rises up, Kowamaru was alone eating another human alive uncontrollably, he couldn't hold himself back but something couldn't help but stop him from eating, he senses a familiar scent and something tells him that things are going off so he should go hide, and he does exactly what he thought off, hiding. As the familiar figure slowly walks by, the lights finally glimmer over the person, it was Etsuko... she stops as she sees the remaining pieces of the corpse and the bloody mess left on the ground, and as soon as Kowamaru sees it was her, he runs far away. Etsuko was grossed out by the body and decides to go home, disturbed and shocked.