Hearing his words, Utahime Iori looked up and blinked at him in surprise before saying with some irritation.
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Of course not.
I really do think you’re strong.”
Seeing that she was getting angry, Tōru Azuma hurried to explain.
“First of all, you said your ability isn’t useful because it can only strengthen other people.
I don’t agree.”
“Back at the subway station, when that monster attacked me, I might not even have been able to pull off that Black Flash without your boost.
You know that too, right?”
Looking into his sincere eyes, the irritated girl paused.
Even the resentment in her voice faded into uncertainty.
“Is…
is that so…?”
He nodded.
“In a fight, sometimes that little extra boost might be exactly what makes the difference.
So your ability isn’t useless at all.
In fact, it can be crucial when it matters most.”
After a brief pause, he moved on to his second point.
“And besides, even though you know your ability can only strengthen other people, you still step forward when things get dangerous.
Isn’t that kind of courage a form of strength in itself?”
Tōru Azuma had delivered the encouragement as smoothly as he could, but Utahime wasn’t buying it.
She only sighed.
“Maybe…
but what good is courage?
Courage doesn’t turn into actual strength…”
Tōru Azuma actually had a few different ideas about how she might improve her strength.
But considering that everyone currently saw him as a complete novice who knew nothing, he had to be careful with his wording.
That was also why he had previously referred to Cursed Spirits and Cursed Energy as “monsters” and “that power” instead of using their actual names.
“About that, senpai, besides the ability that strengthens other people, is there anything else you’re good at?”
“Maybe we could look for another way to approach it.”
The dejected girl paused at his suggestion.
After thinking carefully for a moment, she answered with some uncertainty.
“As for other things…
I studied Barrier Techniques for a while.
That’s probably the only other thing I’m fairly good at.”
Right.
Barrier Techniques. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
That was it!
Tōru Azuma’s eyes lit up, but he deliberately phrased his next question vaguely.
“I don’t really know what Barrier Techniques are, but from the name, are they some kind of technique that lets you define a certain area of space and impose rules within it?”
Utahime Iori nodded.
“Yes.
It’s something you’ll have to learn later anyway, so there’s no harm in giving you a basic explanation now.”
The moment the conversation turned to something academic, she immediately adopted a professional air.
“Barrier Techniques are the collective term for techniques that use the power you mentioned, what we usually call Cursed Energy, to establish boundaries within a space and set rules inside the area enclosed by those boundaries.”
Seeing that Utahime had taken the bait and was genuinely explaining Barrier Techniques to him, Tōru Azuma brought up an idea he had thought about for a long time in his previous life.
“Then in that case, hypothetically, could you design certain rules into a Barrier and use them to indirectly create some kind of offensive ability?”
Utahime froze for a moment.
Then she began thinking seriously about it.
His next words made a faint spark of anticipation rise in her heart.
“If that worked, wouldn’t you have a way to fight enemies head-on, senpai?”
Presented with a completely new possibility, Utahime’s first instinct was to reject the idea.
But after thinking about it more carefully, she realized it might actually be possible.
She gave Tōru Azuma a strange look.
“You…
think pretty fast, don’t you?
You haven’t even started learning any of this yet, but you’re already coming up with ideas like that?”
Tōru Azuma modestly shook his head.
“I’m just really interested in these things.
I told Yaga-sensei earlier that I wanted to become stronger.”
“Things like this should count as part of that strength too.
So if you ever decide to study something along those lines, make sure you teach me too, senpai.”
Seeing the anticipation on his face, Utahime felt her mood brighten slightly.
Even her voice became lighter than before.
“Barrier Techniques aren’t nearly as easy to learn as you seem to think.
If you start complaining that it’s too difficult when the time comes, I’m not teaching you.”
“I won’t.
Don’t worry, senpai.”
Seeing that her mood had improved, Tōru Azuma’s expression turned serious again.
“So you see, senpai, you’re not as weak or useless as you think.
You still have plenty of possibilities ahead of you.
You just need a little more room to grow.
“You should have more confidence in yourself.”
“So be proud.
You’re actually really strong.”
Hearing such direct affirmation and support, Utahime Iori felt something tremble inside her.
Over the past few years, she had gone on missions with senpai and juniors from other grades.
None of them had ever said it outright, but whenever they brought her along, it often felt as though they thought they were carrying extra baggage.
Some people certainly found her Cursed Technique useful, but even that recognition was only directed at her value as support.
No one had ever truly believed that she could stand on her own.
So being recognized and affirmed like this made her feel strangely embarrassed.
She quickly looked away, forcing herself to break eye contact with him before muttering in an awkward tone.
“What are you talking about…?
You make it sound like you know me really well, even though we’ve only just met.”
At her slightly tsundere response, Tōru Azuma simply smiled.
“Maybe we met in a dream before?”
In reality, they hadn’t met in a dream.
He had known her from another world.
That was why he really did understand her quite well.
Unfortunately, there was no way he could say that aloud.
No one would believe him, and it would only make people think there was something wrong with him.
Utahime promptly rolled her eyes at him.
“I think that Cursed Spirit hit you in the head during the fight and it never healed properly.
Maybe the first thing we should do tomorrow is take you back to the infirmary.”
Tōru Azuma didn’t argue.
He simply gave her a look that said, Whatever you say.
Seeing his expression, Utahime Iori couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
Only after laughing did she seem to realize what she had done and quickly turn her head away.
Her voice, however, was noticeably brighter than before.
“Training ground, 7:30 tomorrow morning.
Don’t be late.”
“Got it, senpai.”
After leaving him with that reminder, she turned and headed toward the girls’ dormitory.
Her steps were noticeably lighter than before, and even the sound of her boots against the floor seemed brighter.
Tōru Azuma leaned against the side of the corridor and watched her figure gradually recede into the distance.
The next moment, his expression suddenly froze.
Surprise appeared in his eyes.
It wasn’t because the girl in the distance had suddenly turned around and waved at him.
It was because he saw what looked like a faint blue glow surrounding her body…