After that, for a while, my father didn't come home at all.
Apparently, there was a massive outbreak of monsters, and he was so busy that he could use all the help he could get.
I thought that maybe, with things being so hectic, I might get called to help with the "work" too...! But as expected, because I'm still just five years old, I wasn't dragged into the job. Instead, I focused on my training at home.
What I was doing was training with the wooden dolls, essentially beating myself up in a way that, from the outside, probably looked pretty crazy, but the results were nothing short of extraordinary.
What was so amazing about it, you ask? Well, first off, I learned how to move my feet in a way that confuses my opponent.
And if you know how to do that, you can use it to your advantage in your own footwork.
After all, if I can trick myself by moving in a way that I think would fool an opponent, then it stands to reason that an opponent who's seeing it for the first time would be even more deceived, right? I can't wait to try it out on my father and see if I can catch him off guard.
Another thing I learned was how to attack in a way that really annoys the enemy. It's like what they say in competitive games: winning is about pushing what the opponent doesn't want. Whether it was a streamer or a pro gamer who said that, I can't remember, but the same principle applies to combat.
However, figuring out what an opponent doesn't want isn't easy if you're just attacking randomly. But through this self-training, I've been able to engrain in my body what kind of attacks I hate the most when they're done to me. Understanding this on a instinctive level has made me more aware of how to exploit these moments against an actual opponent.
Compared to just a few weeks ago, I now have so many more techniques at my disposal for close combat.
I'm getting stronger and stronger, and I can't wait to surprise my father when he gets back. It's like a little surprise, but thinking about it makes me even more motivated in my training. Just imagining the look on his face when he sees how much I've improved fuels my determination to push even harder.
And it's not just my close combat skills that are improving.
"Itsuki, how about we try some 'healing magic' now?"
"Yeah! Let's do it!"
The training I've been doing with my mom, studying anatomy through picture books, is finally paying off. So now, it's time to move from just studying to actually practicing "healing magic." This was something I had been looking forward to for a long time.
Man, I've studied a lot. I might even be the most knowledgeable five-year-old in the whole country when it comes to human anatomy.
"But it's dangerous to try this on your body at first, so let's start with something that doesn't matter if you fail."
"Something that doesn't matter if I fail?"
Is there really such a place on the body? I tilted my head in confusion, and my mom kindly explained.
"Yeah, like your nails or your hair."
"Oh!"
Now that she mentions it, that makes sense.
If I mess up the healing magic on my nails or hair, I can just cut it off. Thinking about it that way, those parts of the body are safe to practice on. Of course, starting with internal organs or regenerating a cut finger would be too scary.
"First, let's try regenerating a nail. Wrap the 'Silveit Thread' around your fingertip."
"Okay."
My mom demonstrated by wrapping the 'Silveit Thread' around her fingernail. But now that I think about it, other exorcists who don't have 'True Sight' can't see this thread, right? It must be tough for them to practice...
Feeling grateful for my good fortune, I wrapped the 'Silveit Thread' around my index finger, just like my mom did.
"Did you wrap it?"
"Yeah, I did it."
It was almost certain that she would start practicing magic once she was adopted into the Kisaragi family. After I made her a dress using 'Morphological Change,' she wanted to learn magic herself, so she began practicing.
However, things weren't going well for her. She managed to grasp the feeling of magic after I taught her how to sense it by touching it with her own magic, but she was having trouble moving it.
That said, neither my mom nor I were in any hurry to push her. For exorcists, it's normal to master 'Kaijutsu' between the ages of three and five. Since Hina is only three, there's no problem if she can't use it yet.
I tried teaching her a few tips, but nothing seemed to work.
I thought telling her to "mix it like miso paste when making miso soup" was a perfect analogy, but unfortunately, Hina had never made miso soup, so it didn't get through to her. In hindsight, that was a pretty obvious outcome.
Just as I was wondering how to cheer up the still-frustrated Hina, my mom's phone vibrated.
"Yes, hello. This is Kaede."
Huh, a phone call. That's rare.
Even here in this version of Japan, most things are handled via LINE rather than actual phone calls.
It must be something important for her to get a call.
"Yes, yes. Huh? Oh, I'm fine with that. I don't think Soichiro would object either. Yes. Okay."
...Who's she talking to?
I'm not very familiar with my mom's circle of friends, so I found myself curious. But since she was on the phone, I knew better than to ask who it was. Instead, I waited quietly for her to finish.
"Yes. Yes. Huh? For Itsuki?"
Then, she handed me the phone.
"Who is it?"
"You'll find out when you answer."
I looked at the screen and saw the name 'Momoka-san' displayed.
Seriously, who is this?
But since I was told I'd understand if I answered, I took the phone.
"Hello? This is Itsuki."
"Oh! Itsuki-kun! It's Aya!!"
"Aya-chan?"
Wait, is Aya-chan's real name Momoka?
No, that can't be right... Oh! I get it! This must be Aya-chan's mom's name!
In other words, this is Renji's wife's name. I didn't know that until now...
"What's up, Aya-chan?"
"Well, um..."
For some reason, her response was hesitant, so I waited patiently until she seemed to gather her courage and spoke.
"Do you want to have a Christmas party on December 24th?"