Story:

Seira appeared delighted by it. “Come here after school each day,” the Grand Miko continued.

“We can begin teaching you how to reconnect with your magic. Once you have established a reliable—”

“I already have.”

Seira paused. Shiki opened her eyes.

Peach touched the bracelet on her left wrist. “I tried last night. I can reach all of it.”

Violet’s attention dropped to the gold beads.

Seira slowly sat upright. “Show me.”

Peach rose.

The bracelet lay warm against her skin. She closed her fingers loosely around her wrist, then let them fall away.

One breath.

The familiar presence answered before she finished drawing it.

Gold shone between the beads.

Shiki took an involuntary step forward. “Peach-san—”

The mana broke outward with a deep, rushing whump.

Light poured up around Peach, lifting her hair and snapping the loose edges of her uniform into motion. The air pressed against Seira’s sleeves.

Paper stirred at the writing desk; a brush rolled, stopped, and trembled against its rest.

Peach held the power close.

Even contained, it filled the chamber.

Golden radiance folded over her clothes. Fabric lengthened and settled into the ceremonial lines of her miko attire, luminous layers taking shape beneath the streaming light.

Her sleeves descended around her hands. The last ribbons of mana drew inward, tracing the edges of her garments before sinking beneath them.

She opened her eyes. The light remained.

It rested along her shoulders and gleamed in the strands of her hair, turning her stillness into something more formidable than the blast had been.