Destined to Collide - Inumaki Toge

11. Ieiri-Sensei

"Oi Inumaki!" Panda called from the track fields. "Where are you going?"

"Okaka!" Inumaki called back, waving his phone in his hand at him from up the hill. Maguro stood beside him. He quickly texted to the Panda Group.

Inumaki - I'm going to bring Maguro to the Infirmary to meet up with Shoko. Her class starts soon. I will need to get my throat meds before that.

Maguro's phone gave out a quiet 'ting' after Inumaki sent the message. He quickly turned around and pointed to himself.

"That was me," he explained, showing her the message. Maguro nodded in understanding.

"Join us for dinner later, Maguro!" Maki called out as well, waving from down at the tracks area. "Fushiguro is cooking tonight!"

"Fushiguro?" Maguro repeated, looking at Inumaki for answers.

He smiled. "Fushiguro is the First-Year student. He joined last year's Year End Camp during the holidays. That camp was made for new students, a sort of preparation before they were to join the school. He's close to us, and very good at cooking."

Maguro smiled. Food. Anything with food makes her happy. "Then I'll look forward to tonight's dinner!"

They arrived at the Infirmary in no time with Inumaki's guidance. He took the time to show her the various landmarks that could help her to remember the routes from the tracks to the Infirmary for other days of her classes with Shoko. Maguro is grateful to him for helping her through the routes, else she would have to rely on the maps already.

"Konbu~" Inumaki called out soon after stepping into the Infirmary. A woman wearing a white doctor coat came out from behind one of the curtained beds. She has long hair as well as heavy bags under her tired eyes.

"Oh, Inumaki-kun. Here's your throat medicine. I've packed them up before your arrival," she said kindly to him, pointing towards the bag of medicine on the counter.

"Tuna, Tuna," Inumaki pointed towards Maguro, to which the woman switched her attention to the girl standing behind Inumaki. "Tuna."

Maguro's face flushes up. Her name does indeed mean Tuna.

The female doctor glanced at her and smiled. "Ahh, could you be Tsukigami Maguro-chan?"

"Y-yes I am," Maguro stuttered. She mentally chided herself for stuttering. That does no good for first impression. "Hello Ieiri-sensei. I'll be in your care from now on."

The doctor smiled at her and nodded. Then turn towards Inumaki.

"Inumaki-kun, are you free right now?" she asked the Cursed Speech User.

"Shake," Inumaki answered, nodding his head as a yes.

"Perfect," Ieiri-sensei said with glee. Walking towards Inumaki, she snatched the bag of medicine from his hands and stashed it behind her back. "Here's your first assignment; heal Inumaki Toge-kun's throat."

Inumaki and Maguro both looked at each other.

Maguro blinked. "But...I don't know how."

Ieiri sat herself on a nearby chair and crossed her legs. "You've learnt the basics from Gojo, didn't you?"

Maguro shakes her head. "He asked me to watch them spar and learn, and that's about it."

The female doctor closed her tired eyes and sighed.

"Gojo, you lazy bum," Ieiri muttered. "Well, nothing that cannot be rectified. Give me your hand."

Maguro obediently raised one hand towards Ieiri. The doctor bent one of her fingers backwards indifferently, causing a loud crack sound to be heard in the infirmary. Maguro was so shocked she only managed a squeak.

Inumaki didn't see what happened, but when he heard Maguro squeaked, he immediately went to her.

But Ieiri raised up one hand to stop him.

"You can just sit there, Inumaki-kun. This will be over soon," Ieiri said to him in a calm voice, completely ignoring Maguro's shaking form as she endured the pain on her finger.

"Are you okay, Maguro?" Inumaki asked her through thoughts. Maguro didn't answer him but nodded her head as acknowledgement. He couldn't help but to feel anxious when she continues to shake. Something must have happened, but Ieiri merely smiled at him and motioned for him to sit down and wait for his turn.

He couldn't help but to shiver a little from Ieiri's smile. Was what Gojo-sensei told Maguro earlier this? That she would not be merciful?

"Listen here, Maguro-chan," Ieiri said, calling her by her name, forcing Maguro to look up at her with tears in her eyes as she continues to bear the pain in her finger. "The best and fastest way for you to learn all these is through experience. I will heal you now and teach you how best to garner cursed energy enough positive cursed energy to heal yourself and others."

With that, Ieiri's hands glowed yellow light, healing her bended finger almost immediately.

It was over in a second.

The pain was gone. And her broken finger was back to normal.

Stunned, Maguro looked up at Ieiri. Her teacher was smiling down at her.

"A reverse cursed technique processes negative energy into positive energy by taking two sources of cursed energy and multiplying them by each other. As a result, the energy that destroys becomes energy that creates, and negative energy becomes positive. Do you understand now, Maguro-chan?"