In the morning, when Mishima Utako woke up, she found herself lying on the sofa at Soujun's place.
She had blacked out again last night.
Holding her head, she tried to ease the throbbing of a hangover. Most of the previous night was a blur.
She sat there blankly, brain not fully booted, eyes fixed ahead without focus.
Soujun walked over, leaned down, and waved a hand in front of her face.
Mishima met his gaze.
One, two, three, four, five… huh? Why are there five pupils?
"You're awake?"
The low voice startled her fully awake.
"Did you forget what happened yesterday?"
She jolted and stammered, "I… I didn't cause you any trouble, did I?"
"Not at all."
Seeing she was clear-headed, Soujun brought the rest of breakfast to the table.
"You just kept saying things like 'no one understands me,' 'geniuses can all go die,' and 'Mom, I miss you,' then crying and laughing, then standing on the seat to sing. Everyone applauded."
Flashes of memory flickered through her mind. Her pupils shook. She covered her face with both hands and let out a mortified whimper, unable to accept reality.
Your turn to want the floor to swallow you, huh?
Watching her reaction, Soujun thought it was a very good look and nodded, satisfied.
"Go wash up and get some food in you. I need to head out. Make yourself at home."
He left after that.
As the door closed, Mishima clearly heard a faint chuckle.
Kukuku.
She felt even more embarrassed.
—
Soujun went to Field No. 5. Study, martial practice, technique development. No slacking.
He was in a period of rapid growth and did not want to waste a minute.
His daily schedule had been adjusted.
4:00 get up on time and refine cursed energy for two hours.
6:00 to 10:00 train the body, practice martial arts, and study theory.
10:00 to 12:00 the mind is active and clear. He tackles high difficulty or challenge tasks to boost efficiency, usually technique development.
He rests for half an hour in the middle, avoids long sitting and eye strain, eats some fruit for vitamins, and reduces lunch intake. Small meals, more often.
12:00 to 13:00 lunch. Balanced nutrition to refuel. Stop at about 70 percent full to keep the body in optimal state.
Digest a bit, then a 30 minute nap. Good for the heart and energizes the afternoon.
14:00 to 16:00 thinking is most divergent. He does creative work such as experiments and bionic optimizations.
Then a 30 minute tea break to take in some sugar and give the brain a short rest.
16:30 to 18:00 the body is more fatigued, so it is best for mechanical, repetitive work such as building compound eyes and tweaking eagle eyes.
One hour for dinner. Keep it light and easy to digest, mainly protein and vegetables.
19:00 to 21:00 refine cursed energy again.
21:00 to 22:30 reset mood, review and summarize, and record the day's key takeaways.
23:00 sleep on time. Eleven at night to one in the morning is prime recovery time.
Four hours to fully restore energy, one hour to empty the mind while lying in bed doing nothing, waiting for the first light of dawn.
Then the next cycle begins. The routine is very regular.
Many human habits and motions harm the body.
Hunching when walking, slouching, long sitting, leg crossing, propping the chin, licking the lips.
Like looks. People often seem to get more handsome or beautiful as they grow up. That is just potential being realized.
They could have looked even better, but they unknowingly squandered some of that potential. Some even overdraw it and end up looking off.
If you are unhappy with yourself, maybe consider your own reasons.
Too many bad habits?
Too many all-nighters?
Meals irregular and routine in chaos?
Becoming perfectly evolved is not simple.
Even in the Minamoto family, or in groups with similar techniques, there are degrees of perfection.
Perfection leans idealist. If your aesthetics differ, your perfection will differ.
The Innate Technique tells Soujun what to do when, what to do and what to avoid. Like smoking and drinking. He never touches them. Even if he had cravings in his previous life, quitting was easy.
His body rejects them instinctively.
He just follows that instinct.
This schedule looks complicated and restrictive, but it is easy for Soujun.
When interest aligns with discipline and effort, that is the best luck.
Soujun feels a bit of progress every day and would save even sleep time if he could.
—
After dinner out, he returned home. Mishima had not left and was practicing in his yard.
Her forms were broad and forceful. Yesterday's life and death fight had not been for nothing.
Soujun's mouth twitched.
My flowers and plants.
He mainly used Field No. 5 because his training tends to damage the ground and surroundings.
Thankfully the big tree was intact.
Mishima looked fully recovered. None of last night's gloom, frustration, resentment, or jealousy remained.
She was full of energy and training hard. No sign of being crushed.
Soujun had thought to comfort her, but it was not needed. She was tougher than he expected.
She greeted him when he returned, then turned and left.
Soujun did not think much of it.
—
After a few days of rest, Soujun planned to take a Grade 1 curse group mission.
Another bump in difficulty.
He logged into the sorcerer forum and opened the job board.
He shared the selected mission with Mishima, who quickly replied, "Works."
Soujun accepted the job.
He sent the same meet time and place. She quickly replied, "Received."
From 14:00 to 18:00 was his mission time block.
He would not run experiments every day. Progress in strength needs validation, and what better validator than curses.
The bounty also mattered. He had to eat.
After refining cursed energy and writing the day's summary, it was already 23:00. His day's plan was complete.
Neither rushed nor sluggish.
Soujun lay down and shut his eyes. In about five minutes he would be asleep.
Three minutes later, his phone buzzed.
A message from Mishima:
"Thanks for yesterday and today."
Is that a thank you moment? Shouldn't it be "I'm sorry"?
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