Masamichi looked at Sora for a few seconds.
Then he returned his attention to the doll in his hands.
The needle slipped through dark fabric with careful movements.
"Why would you need information about dolls?" he asked.
His voice remained calm.
"Your technique has nothing to do with souls. Or dolls."
Sora stayed standing in front of the desk.
"My technique is versatile."
Masamichi gave a short grunt for him to continue.
"But it lacks direct firepower."
The words came out plainly.
"Compared to others, my talent is lacking. So I need alternatives."
The room became quiet after that.
Only the sound of thread pulling through fabric remained.
In.
Out.
Pull.
A strange rhythm.
Sora kept his expression neutral, but his fingers curled slightly at his side.
Eventually, Masamichi placed the doll onto the desk.
The large man leaned back in his chair.
Now he was no longer half-listening while working.
Now he was fully looking at Sora.
"Why do you need more strength?"
Sora's eyes narrowed slightly.
Masamichi continued before he could answer.
"At your maximum, you are already around grade one."
The principal folded his arms.
"What you need now is stability."
"Not more weapons."
For a brief second, Sora felt something tighten in his chest.
Again another question.
Another test.
Gojo had tested him.
The cursed spirits had tested him.
Now even the principal was digging into his thoughts like a knife searching for cracks in armor.
Sora stayed silent for a moment.
He forced himself to relax.
Getting irritated would only make things worse.
After a few seconds, he answered quietly.
"I want to become a shield."
Masamichi's expression shifted.
Just slightly.
But Sora caught it.
A small frown.
Like he had heard the wrong answer.
"A shield?" Masamichi repeated.
Sora nodded.
"I want to protect people."
The room fell silent again.
Outside, the distant sound of wind moving through trees could barely be heard through the old building.
Masamichi stared at him.
Then he spoke.
"Why do you need to become a shield?"
Sora did not answer immediately.
Masamichi's eyes remained fixed on him.
"To become a proper sorcerer, selfishness is important."
His deep voice echoed quietly through the office.
"You cannot save everyone."
"You cannot carry everyone."
"And if you try to become a shield for every person you meet, then one day you will crack apart like old iron."
The words landed heavily.
Like hammer strikes against metal.
Masamichi leaned back in his chair again.
"The sorcerers who survive the longest are not the kind ones."
"They are the ones selfish enough to keep moving forward."
His gaze sharpened.
"So tell me, Hagane."
"Why do you insist on becoming a shield?"
Sora was silent.
Why did he want to become a shield?
The answer sat somewhere deep inside him.
Buried beneath years of scraped knees, empty pockets, and the sound of frightened children trying to sleep through storms they could not fight.
Even the injustice faced by common people was something he could hardly ignore before he had crossed over.
His fingers slowly loosened at his side.
"When I was younger," Sora said quietly, "there were people around me who could not protect themselves."
Masamichi remained silent.
"The orphanage."
Sora's eyes lowered slightly.
"The younger children were always scared."
"Scared of hunger. Scared of people. Scared of things they did not understand."
His voice stayed calm but a heavy edge surfaced.
"I hated that feeling."
The room stayed quiet.
Sora looked toward the window for a moment.
"There are too many things in this world that can hurt people."
"Curses."
"Sorcerers."
"Humans."
His eyes hardened slightly.
"And most people are too weak to do anything about it."
Masamichi listened without interrupting.
"I know I cannot save everyone."
"I know I am not strong enough for that."
Sora looked down at his own hand.
At the faint scars across his knuckles.
At the hand that could shape metal, but could not stop everything.
"But if there are people important to me..."
His voice lowered slightly.
"My family."
"My friends."
"Then I want to stand in front of them."
Masamichi's eyes remained fixed on him.
Sora continued.
"I know I am not someone like Gojo sensei."
The name alone was absurd.
A mountain wearing sunglasses.
A natural disaster disguised as a man.
Sora was not that.
He did not have overwhelming cursed energy.
He did not have some blessed technique that bent the world around him.
He was not born special.
His cursed energy was average.
His talent was average.
Even his technique, at its core, was more useful than powerful.
"But I do not think that means I have to stay weak."
His gaze sharpened.
"If I cannot become strong in the same way as him, then I will become strong in my own way."
"I will find more uses for my technique."
"I will learn."
"I will adapt."
"I will keep building myself up until nobody can ignore me."
The words came out one after another.
Steady.
Like iron being hammered into shape.
Sora met Masamichi's eyes directly.
"Gojo sensei may be the strongest sorcerer."
"But that does not mean he is the only one allowed to stand at the top."
For a few seconds, the room was completely silent.
Then the corner of Masamichi's mouth moved slightly.
Not quite a smile.
But close enough.
Like the first crack appearing in a stone.