Mai stared down at her cup of tea that had gone cold long ago, and it was still completely full. In contrast to her own emotions, the tea was completely still and tranquil, mocking Mai with how simple things could be.
'I could have been left alone, kept my head down, and only had to concern myself with separating the whites and colors,' Mai stared off into the distance as her hands on the tabletop balled into fists, 'But because of her, I had to be dragged into this life, turned into a puppet just for the sake of face!'
Behind Mai's distant gaze was a burning inferno of pain and anguish that wanted nothing more than to tear everything around her to the ground. But Mai knew that the power to do so was so far from her reach that it might as well have been the sun, 'And as if it wasn't enough to force me to fight curses, now they want me to spread my legs and fulfill my duty.'
A knot formed in Mai's stomach as she remembered the callous look in the eyes of her supposed family as they instructed her to foster a relationship with Kiniro using any means necessary. While not stated explicitly, Mai knew what their ultimate goal was, and even thinking about it made her sick.
So instead of fighting alongside the only people that mattered to her, Mai was ordered to stay behind and avoid any involvement in the attempt on Kiniro's life, which, to the best of her knowledge, was ordered by the Headquarters.
'That's why I'm begging you,' Mai thought as she sent her prayers to whatever deity was listening, 'Please let him die, I don't want to end up pregnant with his bastard children.'
Just as Mai finished her prayer, the sliding door to the common room opened, and she quickly stood up as Kasumi and Momo entered, "You're back!"
For a moment, a flare of hope ignited in Mai's soul, "Did you kill him?! Is he dead?!"
Kasumi and Momo blinked, but instead of answering, they only glanced at each other, instantly smothering Mai's only hope, "You didn't-"
"We couldn't," Momo interrupted with a frustrated look in her eyes, "There's not a world that exists where we manage to kill that guy."
"What do you mean?" Mai muttered, still in shock as all her hopes were drowned, "I-I know he's special grade, but that was only because the headquarters-"
"I don't know what the higher-ups were intending," Momo interrupted again, her grip tightening around her broom, "But that doesn't negate the fact that he's the strongest sorcerer I've ever seen. He even fought against Todo and managed to win without so much as a scratch on him."
"No," Mai shook her head as despair turned into anger that directed itself at her friends, "No, that can't be true. You all just didn't try hard enough. Special grade or not, there were five of you there's no way he could have gotten out of that without a single injury!"
"W-well, I managed to c-cut off his arm at one point," Kasumi stammered, "B-but he just used it like a comedy prop before reattaching it…I don't think he even bled now that I think of it."
Mai's jaw clenched as her stress reached an all-time high, "So just what exactly happened? Did you even try? It doesn't look like you fought hard at all."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Momo asked in an offended tone as she glared at Mai, "You think you can judge us when you didn't even take part in it?!"
"I couldn't, you know I couldn't," Mai stressed, "If I could have, I would have stuck the barrel of my gun in the back of his head and pulled the trigger, but if I did that, I might as well be killing myself."
"H-hey, there's no need to fight," Kasumi spoke up, stepping between Mai and Momo, who were glaring at each other, "This whole situation is wrong to begin with. None of us should have gone along with it."
Mai's eyes turned on Kasumi, her mouth partially open ready to berate her classmate, only to pause as her gaze landed on the sword on Kasumi's back, "Where did you get that?"
"W-what?"
"Where did you get that sword?" Mai muttered as she stared at the blade and the unique aura pouring off of it, "And why does it feel like that?"
Kasumi hesitated, glancing away, which only confirmed Mai's suspicions, "Did he give it to you? Did he give you that sword, Kasumi?! Is that why you're defending him?!"
"No!" Kasumi roared back, tears threatening to spill down her face, "He didn't give it to me! I made it myself! I had to! Otherwise, he was going to kill me! He made a binding vow like it was nothing!"
Kasumi sniffed as her voice cracked, "I was so scared I-I thought I was going to die…but then I didn't. I fought back, and I got stronger, stronger than I ever thought I could be!"
A light hardened in Kasumi's eyes as she stared Mai down, "That's what happens when you don't roll over just because someone tells you to."
Mai's blood went cold as the defiance in Kasumi's eyes reminded her all too vividly of another curse tool user, "Is that what you think you've done? You think you're strong enough to look down on me!?"
"Mai," Momo said warningly but Mai ignored her completely as she glared at Kasumi, "You think just because you managed to accomplish one thing of note, that you're suddenly capable of anything?"
"It may just be one thing, but it's something," Kasumi declared, her gaze refusing to waver, "I can feel it, that something changed me, and I've decided that change is enough for me to stand tall. Besides, who are you to judge?"
"I can judge because I know the truth," Mai shouted as her hands balled into fists, "And that truth is this world is unfair. Only those with power can determine their fates, and the three of us were cursed with weakness. No matter what we do, nothing will change that!"
"Maybe for you," Kasumi refuted, "But I can't accept that."
Mai stared into Kasumi's eyes, but when all she found was unwavering conviction, Mai realized that the debate was over, "So if you didn't kill him and he didn't kill you, he must have fled and left the school grounds."
"You would think so," Momo muttered under her breath.
Mai's heart dropped, "Don't tell me he's still at the school!"
"He said he was very tired and wanted to take a nap," Kasumi answered, which only served to draw Mai's ire, "And you just let him?! After you ambushed and tried to kill him!"
"He took a binding vow that he wouldn't harm anyone, and besides, what choice did we have? We weren't exactly in a position to force him out!" Momo scoffed, nearly throwing her hands up into the air.
"And the principal said nothing about this?" Mai asked only for Kasumi and Momo to share a look, "What?"
"The principal got called into a meeting with the higher-ups," Kasumi replied with a small frown of concern, "We don't know when he'll be back."
For a moment, Mai was at a loss before everything dawned upon her, "This whole thing …they never expected us to kill Kiniro."
"What are you talking about?" Kasumi asked, staring at Mai and the expression on her face.
"The headquarters must have known about Kiniro's real strength, which means they would know we stood no chance, yet they encouraged us anyway," Mai explained,
"Meaning they had another reason for us fighting him."
"So you're saying they used us," Momo asked, her voice going cold, "They knowingly set us up against that monster. They sent us to die."
"Do you see it now?" Mai asked mockingly, "Our lives don't belong to us, they never belonged to us. That is the society we live in. The strong will do what they want with the weak."
Mai's words rang in the air for a long moment before Momo wordlessly turned and walked back out the door.
"Momo," Kasumi called out, only for Mai to speak up, "Leave her it's about time she realized, and you should as well. The faster you learn, the less it will hurt when you finally accept it."