"Satoru here wanted to meet you."
Puck stretched out one tiny paw and pointed at Gojo.
Betty's eyelids lifted a fraction. Those dreamlike eyes drifted toward him.
"Oh. The one who was with that idiot this morning."
"Honestly, when is Roswaal going to stop bringing home so many idiots?"
"Beautiful eyes you've got there, Betty."
Gojo smiled at the sour little face glaring up at him.
"It's Beatrice."
"Betty is reserved for people I'm close to!"
He shrugged. Prickly little thing.
No matter. His goal was the books, not a friendship.
"You've seen me now. If there's nothing else, leave. Don't waste the time Betty has with her brother."
Puck poked a tentative paw out from the cradle of her arms.
"Betty, Satoru was hoping he could visit the Forbidden Library and have a look around."
A frown creased her young brow. She shot Gojo a glance, then looked down at Puck smiling sheepishly in her arms. After a moment's thought, she nodded.
"Since Brother is asking, fine. Come in. But this is a one-time exception."
One-time exception?
Gojo shrugged again.
He'd already watched the door connect to the Forbidden Library, and the specific ripple of energy it produced was now burned into his memory. The next time he spotted that same signature on any door in the mansion, he'd be able to walk right in.
The library's interior matched the rest of Roswaal's estate: elegant and extravagant. Between two towering bookshelves sat a small round table beside a high-backed chair. Tea and pastries rested on its surface, an open book spread beside them.
Its owner had been reading here moments ago.
Once inside, Betty settled into the chair with Puck in her arms and busied herself fussing over him, completely absorbed. Like a child reunited with a favorite toy.
Gojo didn't spare her a second glance.
"Quite the collection."
"Mind if I browse?"
Betty, still clutching Puck, let out a huff.
"Normally one puts down the book already in their hand before asking permission."
"Someone as cute as you wouldn't mind, right?"
Her barbs rolled off him without a scratch. He pulled a volume titled Advanced Guide to Precise Mana Control from the shelf and began leafing through it.
The contents were handwritten. Less a book than a research manual.
He skimmed a few pages, closed it, and let his gaze travel along the shelves.
Practical technique guides weren't what he needed. With the Six Eyes, he could manipulate Cursed Energy or Mana with flawless precision. No wasted output, ever.
What he wanted were Yin Attribute spells.
But nothing on this shelf fit the bill.
"Betty, do you have any books on Yin Attribute magic?"
He slid the manual back into place and wandered over to the little girl, smiling down at her.
"I told you, it's Beatrice." She glared up at him.
"Got it, Betty."
Her cheeks puffed with irritation. "I have no obligation to help you."
"And your time in the Forbidden Library is up."
She thrust a small pale palm toward him. Behind Gojo, the library door swung open on its own.
"Betty..." Puck shifted in her lap, embarrassed, trying to interject.
But she was already moving. The air between her outstretched hand and Gojo shuddered, rippling with invisible force that hurtled toward him, aimed at launching him straight out the door.
It never reached him.
Wind tore through the sealed library, sudden and violent.
Pages fluttered wildly on the table, snapping and rustling in the gust.
"If you want your brother to like you, you should try being a little gentler."
Gojo stood exactly where he'd been, grinning, not a hair out of place.
Something flickered through Betty's eyes. Surprise. In her own domain, on her own ground, this shouldn't have been possible.
"Hmph."
"You don't get to lecture Betty."
"If you think having a bit of strength gives you the right to provoke me, you are gravely mistaken, human."
"Harsh. But that's not what I'm here for." He shook his head, the picture of innocence. "I'm nothing more than a passionate student."
One instant he was by the door. The next, he was gone.
Betty hadn't even registered the movement before she felt a hand settle on top of her head, warm fingers ruffling her hair.
She went still.
Then fire kindled behind those butterfly-patterned eyes.
"You are infuriating from the bottom of my heart!"
"Detestable!"
She raised her hand and near-black violet light blazed across her palm. Oppressive energy radiated outward, saturating every corner of the Forbidden Library.
Gojo didn't flinch.
Instead, he adopted the most pitiful expression he could manage.
"Don't be mad. I really did come here to find some books I'm interested in."
"Besides, you wouldn't want to hurt your brother, would you?"
Puck, who had been sitting on Betty's lap a moment ago, was now dangling from Gojo's outstretched hand, held up like a shield.
"Betty would never hurt me," Puck declared, arms folded, radiating confidence.
Betty's hand shifted to aim around him. Gojo moved Puck in tandem, keeping the little spirit perfectly aligned between himself and her palm, his body tucked behind Puck's at all times.
Watching him use her brother as a living shield, Betty's fury boiled over.
"Let go of my brother!"
"I want a book on Yin Attribute magic."
Gojo's counter was immediate and shameless.
"I want to learn Yin Attribute spells. Give me one book like that and I'll be so busy studying, I won't have any reason to bother cute little Betty during her quality time with her brother."
A vein twitched at her temple.
But she looked at Puck, and the anger ebbed, forced down by sheer willpower.
Without a word, she rose from the chair and stalked off toward the far shelves, vanishing between the rows.
"Satoru, I think you've genuinely made Betty angry."
Puck's voice carried a note of warning.
"Keep this up, and even I won't be able to get you in here next time."