Shiro felt as if she had just been hit by a train. Her cursed energy was running low and she could feel the strain today's training had took on her body. She couldn't help it. This week she had felt uneasy. She couldn't put this feeling into words but she felt like something bad was going to happen. To ease those thoughts and feelings, she pushed herself into training, in both with her classmates and on my own.

Aside from that, training has been going well for her. She has begun to understand her abilities a little more. An upside from this constant training, she was currently able to stop time for a couple seconds now, 15 seconds to be exact. The first time she was able to do it, she could barley hold time for 2 seconds before falling unconscious on the training field. She completely drained all her energy on the technique. Soon after, Maki and Yuuta found her and brought her to Ieiri to be treated. Shiro thought she'd never hear the end of Maki's lecturing that day. And of course, Maki tells Toge, which led to more scolding, as if she was still a child.

Shiro took a deep breath before taking pushing the thoughts out of her mind. She figured she had probably enough energy to try it one more time. Clearing her head, she focused her energy around her, trying to find a medium between her own energy and the energy around her. She was trying to expand the limitations to her own cursed energy. She was careful not to push it too far though. She did not want to hear another lecture from Maki or Toge.

Breathing in and out, she ignored the pain throbbing her body and continued to embrace the curse energy flowing in and out of her. Opening her eyes, she released her technique and time froze.

She saw the bird above her pause in the air, wings still stretched above, the leaves that were blown by the wind, suspended in the breeze, and the clouds all frozen, void of all movement.

12...13...14 She counted, each second going by painfully slow, 17...18...19!

She huffed and toppled over, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. She grinned at the prolonged time suspension while still gathering enough strength to stand back up. Not 20 seconds but 19 is decent. She proudly thought to herself. Not only was that a new record for her, this was her third time using this technique today. Where this completely exhausted and drained her the first time, this time she was successfully able to activate it three times, almost continuously, with only a 30 minute break for lunch.

She congratulated herself silently before successfully standing up to walk towards the showers. She knew she was filthy. It was probably nine or ten pm now, judging by how dark it has gotten.

Her childhood friend is currently off doing a solo mission, exorcising some curses within the far west of Tokyo. It is estimated that he'll be back tomorrow.

"Ah... my phone." She mumbled, noticing the forgotten device and turned back around to grab her forgotten cell phone. Opening up her phone, she sees two texts from Toge and a small smile appears on her face.

A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes flickered of the now closed phone and stared straight towards the empty hallways. Honestly speaking, she felt a little bit weird around Toge these days. Maybe I'm sick?

One time he accidentally brushed his hand against hers while they walked towards the dining room and she felt her heart pick up and then there was this one time where he grabbed her waist just in time before she fell face first and she can still vividly remember the heat in her face. She was sure she was as red as a cherry then, and only hoped he didn't noticed.

Shiro made a mental note to check with Ieiri later and ask her about it. Maybe she'll know what's wrong with her.

Stepping into the shower, Shiro could almost feel the pain and fatigue wash away, along with all the grime and dirt that clung to her skin. This must be what heaven feels like. She was content. This felt nice. This was her favorite thing to do after any mission or training. It made her feel relaxed, something that doesn't happen often aside from moments like this.

After finishing up, she slowly dried herself and put on her clothes. This was her time, why should she rush?

Stepping out of the shower room, she made her way to her room. The time was probably eleven pm now. Despite her shower, her muscles are still sore, which had quickly come back after her shower. Maybe some more training tomorrow, she thought to herself. Maki and Panda are going out for their own mission tomorrow, leaving herself and Yuuta. She liked Yuuta. She enjoyed his company, but honestly she felt like training with him wasn't a good use of time, for both him and her. She was a terrible teacher, lacking even more patience than Maki, and wasn't good at breaking things down, or showing those how to do things. She excelled in being able learn things on her own, and in her own time. That was why she choose to train alone some of the times. Other times, she joined in their group training, if it's something that their teacher was teaching, or for sparring. He's better off training and polishing his own techniques and skills and her doing her own thing.

Walking into her room, without even turning on the lights, she slid right under the covers of her bed. She closed her eyes and felt her consciousness fading away, letting sleep take over her body.

The next morning she awoke from a loud ringing stemming from her phone. Squinting at the bright light she groaned as she reached for her phone.

Why is she calling so early? Shiro felt her right eye twitch as she realized it was only six am in the morning. She was not an early riser and preferred to sleep-in to at least 10am minimum.

Picking up the phone, she almost growled at her younger sister on the other side. "Hello?"

Shiro waited. She waited for a response from Aya. A couple seconds had passed already, and she was still met with nothing but silence. "Hello?" She repeated again.

Instead of receiving a reply back, she heard a beep and she realized Aya had hung up. "What the hell" she groaned before laying back down on her bed.

She quickly texted Aya a message before closing her eyes once agian. Chalking it up as an accidental call from Aya, she eagerly let sleep retake her body for the next four hours.