31 Understanding

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.

-Story Start-

Satoru's admission came as a completely unexpected thing as Nanahoshi's eyes widened from the dual revelations he presented her.

"O-Only eight months ago? Why?" She addressed the first one with a perplexed expression.

Satoru folded his arms as he nodded, his eyes narrowed at her, "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Figured you'd have also arrived eight months ago but somehow transported into another part of the world. But now, there's not only a difference in location in our transportation but also a difference in time. You've been in this world for five years, got any idea about that?"

Nanahoshi frowned at Satoru's observation as she juggled with the questions.

She eventually shook her head, "I have no clue. I've never really asked that question. The only other person from our world that I've met wasn't one of those transported. He's a reincarnated person. He's about 15 years old."

'That answers that. The pack of Mochi hasn't been found yet as well... However...' Satoru confirmed.

"A reincarnation?" Satoru presented his curiosity, only for Nanahoshi's hand to stop that line of thought.

"He's also in this school and an assistant of mine. You'll meet him eventually, he's just out on some trip, and you'll get to question him later. More importantly, could you elaborate on that energy you see that is wrapped around me? It could explain our circumstance or maybe even be a clue to getting back home." Her last sentence had a more hopeful tone in it.

Nanahoshi's eyes narrowed in suspicion, 'Orsted and Perugius failed to detect anything like mana wrapped around me.'

Her mind raced as she considered the possibilities - Testing her knowledge of mana and the phenomenon of this world, arriving at a viable option, 'Is it a curse? A type of curse that is invisible to even the likes of them?'

She continued that line of thought, glancing upon the ethereal eyes of Satoru once more, 'But those eyes can see it clearly.'

Satoru nodded as his eyes narrowed and he silently analyzed Nanahoshi.

The gaze was so piercing and felt so invasive that she physically convulsed, yet she kept silent along with Satoru as he worked.

His face was the picture of concentration not moving a single muscle, as his eyes never blinked for a couple of minutes.

As Nanahoshi was approaching the limits of uncomfortableness, she felt the invasive gaze die down as Satoru blinked and commented on his observations with a serious tone, "Hmm... Looks like I was right."

Nanahoshi tilted her head, "So this is stopping me from aging?"

He nodded, "Mhm. Though I wouldn't be sure that's the Mana's whole purpose. The anti-aging could be a side effect so keep that in mind."

Holding his chin he continued his diagnosis, he approached Nanahoshi lifting her hand, "It's too intelligent, too purposeful."

'Too intelligent? What does he-' Nanahoshi considered his words, only to pause at the unprompted physical touch.

"What are you doing?" She glared at him as he held her hand.

"Testing something."

"Ouch!" She yelped and took a step back, as she noticed Satoru had given her a miniature cut on the finger, blood slowly dripping from it.

"Quit being a baby, it's a small cut," Satoru commented nonchalantly, still concentrated as his eyes once again locked onto the visage of Nanahoshi much to her discomfort.

His eyes glared at the finger and the odd mana seeing them both not interacting, he once more relented his invasive gaze, his tone confirming, "The Mana surrounding you has taken the steering wheel on how your body functions, so to speak."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Nanahoshi questioned.

"The Mana seems to act according to instructions and accordingly compensate and adjust your body to fit those criteria." Satoru explained.

Without letting her digest the information he continued, "I don't know the actual condition under which the Mana operates, but essentially in your case it could be - "Nanahoshi Shizuka must look like she did prior to her arrival in this world." Therefore, Nanahoshi Shizuka doesn't age." He emphasized.

Then he pointed at her finger, "That's why your wounds don't heal, yet your internal organs, brain, and so on don't age. Your body keeps producing the same quality cells, never downgrading."

As Nanahoshi was digesting the clearcut observations and hypothesis of Satoru, a question of his broke her out of her thoughts, "Say, have you ever cut your nails and or hair?"

Blinking, she nodded, her tone understanding, "I see what you mean... They always return to the same length I had when I was transported here."

Satoru clicked his fingers, a satisfied smirk on his expression, "Looks like the condition set for the Mana I assumed wasn't too far off. As expected of me~!"

She shook her head, "Wrong, assuming the Mana works on a condition as you hypothesize, if I "Must" look like I did prior, the wound on my finger should have healed already, no?"

Shrugging, Satoru replied nonchalantly, "This is simply conjecture. The condition is likely something else, or, as I assume, the Mana is as smart as I think it is."

'The opposite could also be true, the Mana could be incredibly dumb as well.' Satoru mentally added.

He continued, "Just because you got lightly injured, doesn't mean you don't look like you did prior to the transportation. That depends on how rigid or loose the term "Look" is in the condition."

'Mana, as opposed to Cursed Energy, is much more effective and fills in the blanks for the User without much trouble. Except Cursed Techniques which are notorious for filling in the blanks for the User.' This is a conclusion Satoru had formed from his months in this world and his observation of Mana.

A smirk appeared on his face, "Who knows? Maybe if I remove a leg off you, then the condition will be filled and you'll be healed? What if you are about to die?"

At that, Nanahoshi paled slightly at the insinuation.

Satoru chuckled, his tone joking, "Hehe, Though, I doubt you'd be a big fan of that experiment."

Sighing, Nanahoshi deadpanned at Satoru, "Obviously, I wouldn't be a big fan of that. Did you really have to injure my finger? You could have just straightforwardly asked me... Maybe I got gravely injured in the past?"

Satoru shrugged, a mischievous smile on his face as he ignored her question.

In favor of concluding his observation, "To fulfill the set condition or maybe conditions we can't really know~ Mana is likely the payment, specifically the one surrounding you."

He approached her once again, as she backed away, "Calm down, I'm trying to grab that."

She stopped as he attempted to grab at the mana, his palm closed onto it.

To no avail...

"Hmm, was worth a try... Anyway, the mana wrapped around you is slowly but surely depleting. Now whether that is because it is doing its job and that is the cost, or whether it doesn't cost anything and it is simply the passage of time that causes it to deplete is something I can't confirm right now. The whole thing is quite similar to Binding Vows. That's about it. Got any ideas?" He tilted his head.

"Binding Vow-" Nanahoshi started

"I'll explain later but it's basically a contract with yourself or another person with Mana."

Nanahoshi's eyes narrowed, "I haven't agreed to anyth-"

Satoru cut her off, "Not that you remember anyway."

Her eyes widened, her voice trembling "Are you saying I agreed to all this and was forced to forget about it?"

Stepping back and taking a leisurely seat on a chair he found in the room, Satoru replied, "It's a possibility. Then again, this is Mana. Now back to my question, got any ideas?" His eyes narrowed at her as he pointed his finger at her.

Nanahoshi digested the information, wracking her brain as she absentmindedly went to make some tea, "Would you like a cup?"

"Extra sugar!" He added as he leaned into his chair.

"I don't have sugar. Tea is expensive enough as it is here." She answered simply as if she wasn't a rich entrepreneur.

Taking out herbs from a drawer and placing them in the large cup, she heated it up with a miniature magic crystal activated below a small magic circle.

"Cool! Teach me how to do that later!" Satoru gave a thumbs-up as he observed her brew tea in a rather unorthodox manner.

A few minutes pass by silently, as Satoru relaxes on the table, his face smushed on its surface.

A steaming cup of tea is set on the table in front of Satoru as he slowly rises up.

Nanahoshi sits down in front of Satoru, a cup in her hand as she presents her conclusion, "It's a curse."

"A curse?" Satoru questioned.

'The closest thing I have seen or heard of regarding curses is Sensei's swords.' Satoru threw a glance at the sheathed form of Phantom Edge.

'Cursed Swords are simply masterfully crafted with special materials. The Mana imbued in the Sword or even the Magic Circle drawn into them don't have a unique property like the mana wrapped around Nanahoshi.' Satoru compared swiftly.

Nanahoshi supplied her answer, "Curses are abnormalities in Mana. These abnormalities have side effects, whether powers or otherwise. Those "Cursed" are classified by how beneficial the affected by the curse is. You get either Blessed Children or Cursed Children - Called Miko and Noroi-ko respectively."

Taking a sip of his tea, "Hmm... And how does one get "Cursed"?" Satoru questioned.

'Mana Curses and Cursed Energy Curses seem fundamentally different. Is there a connection though? Or is it just a difference in naming and effect?' Satoru mused internally.

Nanahoshi shook her head, her tone tired as she held her cup with both hands, "It's largely unknown - Either you're born with it, or you gain it through unknown means, which are mostly varied. I haven't studied about curses much, never considered it..."

"So, it's extremely rare?"

She nodded, "Mhm, according to that man, there are around ten Miko alive in the world right now. Noroi-ko is around ten times that. With a lot more of them belonging to the Superd Tribe. If they are still around that is." She explained.

Nanahoshi continued after sipping her tea, "An almost invisible curse most accurately fits whatever is affecting me. Even my teacher and that man failed to sense this, yet your eyes managed to do so. I had suspected this when you first told me, but now I'm certain. I'll have to look into this more deeply, but this seems to be the only logical option."

Gazing at her reflection from her cup of tea, Nanahoshi questioned, "Did that Mana try to attach itself on you as well perchance?"

Satoru nodded immediately, "Yes, though it failed. As if I had not filled it's conditions. As I had said before, I wasn't meant to join you on the ride to this world. That's probably why the "Curse" hadn't grabbed me. Probably." Satoru shrugged.

Nanahoshi frowned as one of her old theories resurfaced, this time almost confirmed to be true, "What are you insinuating?"

He rolled his eyes, he pointed at her as he took a sip of his tea, his tone disappointed, "You don't look that stupid... It's obvious. You, your boyfriend, and that pack of Mochi were brought here by someone or something." 

Nanahoshi lowered her head, "I suspected as much... Why? I am just trying to get back home, barely interacting with anyone... What purpose do I fulfill?" She bit her lip and gripped her cup of tea harder.

Satoru shrugged as he blocked his eyes with his shades once more, "Hell if I know, you're beyond weak for this world BAHAHAHAHAHA!..." He broke out into laughter.

Causing her to strengthen her grip on the cup.

To which he paused to point at her, "Also, be careful, we wouldn't want you to betray your weakling strength and accidentally break that cup and spill boiling tea all over you, now would we~?"

She glared at Satoru, "I'm considering spilling it on you." Her tone was chilling.

Tilting his head and ignoring her empty threat, Satoru added, "Well, if we're thinking of the purpose you're meant to fulfill, assuming the Mana that constructs the Curse depletes through time and not through effect then eventually you'll be done!" He cheered.

Nanahoshi questioned, "At the current rate of depletion, how long will this curse last?"

Satoru hummed, answering her question in an easygoing manner, "Hmm... Give or take a hundred years."

At that, a loud crack echoed through the research room, as a boiling cup dropped on the floor. Breaking as well as spilling its contents on the floor, lightly scalding Nanahoshi's foot.

Adding physical agony to her current mental agony.

At that final embarrassment, Nanahoshi had enough.

"You've enrolled already, correct?" She asked mechanically.

"Yup!"

"You're a special student, correct?"

"Uh-huh!"

"You've checked your timetable?"

"Nope!"

"There's a lunch break, so let's talk after that. I'm drained... In all aspects." She said mechanically, with a hint of suffering.

He gave her a thumbs-up, "Skipping class sounds good to me!"

Her tone was emotionless as she shooed Satoru away like he was a stray cat, "Quit the dumb act...You can go now. You've left me a lot of things to think about now, and I'm not ready to hear any more mindboggling things right now."

He huffed in good humor and got up, heading out the door he never entered through, waving his hand as a goodbye.

Prompting Nanahoshi to release her last agonized sigh for the day.

Hopefully last.

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Phew, this is the last part of Satoru's discussion with Nanahoshi or part 2 of the previous chapter which I ended at a decent spot.

Satoru and Nanahoshi truly have a lot to discuss about, but I think it's better to do so in bits and pieces as opposed to a giant 6k-9k words worth of their information exchange etc...

So, next chapter's different content, but Nanahoshi and Satoru will be a critical part of this Academy Arc - Their goals are aligned and they are working together in essence.

So there'll be a lot of Research Room debacles - But of course, that won't be the main focus.

Hope this chapter was to your enjoyment and was logical and maybe answered some lingering questions you had! (Well, the answers aren't quite clear, they are only theories :P)

Do notice, they haven't covered why they were transported with differing Time and Location. That's for later, Nanahoshi (And I) are tired :P

Anyways! Most importantly! Did I portray Teen Gojo well in this chapter? I'd appreciate feedback on this on each chapter! As this is the most critical part of the fic! Woohoo! Feedback! Yes!