inally, Eriri had po meet Ryuji st night.

  But uedly, she'd fallen asleep, exhausted from using up her cursed energy. When she woke up in the m, she barely had time to rush to school.

  Finally, during lunch break, she had her ce.

  Excitedly, she wao show off her newfound abilities to Ryuji and the others.

  Yukino and the rest, who had beeing ready to practice, paused and looked over curiously.

  "What kind of teique did you awaken?" Yukino asked.

  "Hehe!"

  Eriri grinned, but didn't answer directly. Instead, she took out her drawing board and shot a smug, provocative g Utaha.

  See, I'm ahead this time!

  "…"

  Utaha didn't say anything, but she raised an eyebrow. This silly girl... does she really think she's won just because she awakened a teique?

  Under everyone's curious and slightly puzzled gaze, Eriri started drawing on her board. Thanks to her artistic skills, it didn't take long for a creature to take shape on the paper.

  "e forth!" she anded, waving her drawing board dramatically. The creature she'd drawn suddenly sprang to life, flying out from the page.

  The ued se left everyounned, including Ryuji, whose eyes widened in surprise.

  "So, what do you think?" Eriri looked at Ryuji eagerly, clearly hoping for his praise.

  "Very impressive!" Ryuji didn't hesitate to pliment her.

  Just based on this performa was clear that Eriri's awakened ability had a lot of potential.

  "With enough spiritual energy, you might even be able to draw some powerful creatures," Ryuji mused. pared to Utaha's curse-based teique, Eriri's ability was actually quite versatile—and potentially even more powerful.

  "Hehe!"

  Eriri didn't care what anyone else thought. Hearing Ryuji's praise made her beam with happiness.

  She couldn't resist throwing another smug look at Utaha. "Jealous?"

  She was clearly thinking, Look at me, I've awakened a teique, and you haven't!

  Her thoughts were practically written all over her face, whily made Utaha roll her eyes.

  In the past, she might've felt a little envious. But now...

  "It's undeniable, this is a pretty powerful ability," Utaha said, nodding. She wasn't going to deny Eriri's talent, especially after Ryuji had aowledged it.

  But then she added, "It's just a shame it's in your hands."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Eriri snapped, clearly offended. "Are you saying I 't draw? If anything, this teique suits me perfectly!"

  Utaha shrugged. "Oh, I'm not questioning your drawing skills."

  She poi the creature Eriri had summoned. "But don't you see anything... off about what you just drew?"

  "What's wrong with it?"

  Eriri looked down at her creature, ready tue, but then froze. In her excitement, she hadn't paid much attention to what she was drawing. Now, staring at it, she realized it was... a mass of tentacles.

  Why did I draw so maacles?

  Without looking up, she could already feel the others' amused and slightly puzzled gazes.

  "So," Utaha said with a smirk, "I guess you just revealed your... tastes."

  "Bang!"

  The summoned creature vanished, as if bursting like a bubble. Partly because Eriri didn't have enough cursed energy to maintain it, but also because she was beyond embarrassed.

  "What's the big deal? At least Ryuji said my teique is strong!" Eriri huffed, trying to brush it off, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

  She looked like a petunt child, whily made teasing her more fun for Utaha.

  Smiling with barely cealed amusement, Utaha pulled out a tablet and looked at Eriri. "Well then, would you like to see my teique?"

  "???"

  The irls, except for Ryuji and the Kaba sisters, who already knew, looked over curiously.

  They'd thought Eriri was the only one who'd awakened a teique. But now it seemed that Utaha had as well.

  "You... you have a teique too?" Eriri's eyes widened in disbelief.

  Is this woman my nemesis or something? Eriri thought. She'd only just awakened her own ability, and now Utaha had one as well.

  If Utaha could read Eriri's thoughts, she would've ughed. I 't help when my teique awakens, I?

  "Hmph! Well, I doubt your teique is as useful as mine," Eriri said, still fident. "I just o build up my cursed energy a bit more."

  "Oh, really?" Utaha smirked. "Let's put that to the test."

  Without another word, she began typing oablet.

  "What are you doing?" Eriri asked, fused.

  "Just wait thirty seds," Utaha replied casually. "In a moment, a breeze will blow your drawing board right out the window."

  "???"

  Eriri looked skeptical. "Utaha, are you crazy? I'm holding the board. How could it just blow away on its own?"

  But before she could finish, a sudden gust of wind swept through the , catg her off guard.

  "Hey! My drawing board!" Eriri yelped, trying to grab it, but it slipped out of her grasp a sailing out the open window.

  "Cough…"

  Utaha started coughing, her hand trembling slightly as she put dowablet.

  Seeing this, Ryuji sighed. He reached over, pg a hand on her shoulder, and activated his RCT, quickly healing her.

  Utaha's disfort faded, and she looked up at Ryuji with a grateful, but mischievous, smile.

  "My drawing board!" Eriri cried, running over to the window.

  "Don't worry," Utaha said with a smirk. "I'll buy you a new one."

  "I don't want you to pay for it!" Eriri huffed. Although losing the drawing board was annoying, she could always buy a rept. She shot a look of indignation at Ryuji, as if hoping he'd scold Utaha on her behalf.

  "..."

  Seeing her pitiful expression, Ryuji couldn't help but smile. If you keep looking like that, people will want to bully you even more.

  But for Sayuri's sake, he decided to show her a little sympathy. He gestured for her to e closer.

  "e here."

  Eriri's eyes lit up with joy, and she instantly fot about her lost drawing board, rushing over to him.

  "Hehe!"

  Leaning close to Ryuji, Eriri looked happier than ever. She even threw a triumphant look in Utaha's dire, as if to say, See? Even if you threw my board away, I still have him.

  "Tsk."

  This girl has really grown up, Utaha thought, amused. But she wasn't jealous. Just a little annoyed by Eriri's smugness.

  After all, who do you think was with Ryuji st night?

  "Both Eriri and Utaha have some impressive teiques," Yukino noted, breaking the silehey're unique and hard to ter."

  Yumiko, who had retly awakened her own fire teique, nodded in agreement. While her and Yukino's teiques were straightforward attacks, Eriri and Utaha's abilities were much more versatile. If you weren't careful, it'd be easy to fall into their traps.

  "Everyone has their own strengths," Ryuji said, nodding thoughtfully. "Eriri's teique uses a lot of cursed energy, while Utaha's es with a bit of backsh. It's hard to say which is better. They each have their pros and s."

  "And both have side effects," he added.

  "Side effects?" Eriri looked up in surprise. She hadn't thought about any drawbacks to her teique.

  "See?" Utaha snorted. "This is why you'll always be a step behind. Do you even think about important things?"

  Eriri gred at her. "What side effects? Ryuji didn't say anything about that!"

  Utaha just smirked. "That's because he told me yesterday evening."

  The implication in her words was clear, and Eriri's face flushed with irritation.

  "Yesterday… evening?"

  Eriri was ner to certain implications, thanks to her knowledge from the manga and light novel world.

  "Damn it, you…!"

  "Hmmph!" Utaha crossed her arms, clearly enjoying Eriri's frustration.

  "Anyway, shouldn't we be discussing the side effects instead of squabbling?" Miko interjected, bringing them back to the topic.

  Utaha nodded, her face turning serious. "Because my teique involves writing, I 't write light novels anymore."

  "Wait, what?" Eriri looked shocked. She khat Utaha's dream had always been to bee a famous light . Was she really giving that up?

  Though they bickered stantly, Eriri did care about Utaha. Both of them had few friends, and over time, they'd grown closer in their own way.

  Notig Eriri's , Utaha gave her a soft smile. "Don't worry. I've already found a new dream that's even more important."

  "A new dream?"

  Eriri noticed the way Utaha was looking at Ryuji as she said it, not even blinking.

  ***

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