Back in the safety of the cave, Yukari slumped against the wall, utterly drained. Hinote, as usual, looked annoyingly unbothered by everything that had happened. He was perched on a rock near the entrance, staring out at the landscape as the sun began its slow descent.
On the other hand, Yukari's stomach rumbled fiercely, loud enough to echo off the cave walls.
"Ugh... more fruit again?" Yukari groaned, staring at the small pile of oranges and berries in front of her with absolute disdain. "Why do we never eat anything else?"
Hinote didn't even turn around. "Because fruit doesn't scream when you pick it."
Yukari glared at the back of his head. "I'm sick of fruit! Can't we eat meat for once? You're a massive, flaming bird go roast a lizard or something!"
Hinote finally glanced over his shoulder, his fiery eyes glowing with amusement. "If you want meat so badly, go hunt it yourself."
Yukari opened her mouth to argue but stopped short. Her last encounter with the Lizardmen flashed in her mind. The exhaustion, the desperation, the nearly getting eaten part. Yeah, no thanks. She sighed dramatically and plopped down onto the ground, reluctantly grabbing an orange from the pile.
"You're the worst," she muttered, peeling the fruit with an exaggerated pout.
"I know," Hinote replied with a smirk, settling back down as if nothing in the world could possibly bother him.
Grumbling under her breath, Yukari ate her fruit in silence. It wasn't that the oranges were bad they were sweet and juicy, actually but that wasn't the point. She wanted something substantial. Something with a little more bite.
But she knew better than to argue further. The last time she had pushed Hinote about anything, it ended with her nearly being crushed by Lizardmen and him laughing at her misery. She wasn't ready to deal with that again anytime soon.
Once the fruit was devoured, Yukari found herself getting sleepy. The post-battle exhaustion was hitting her hard, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She lay down on the cool cave floor, curling up and using her arm as a makeshift pillow.
"Don't let me die in my sleep," she mumbled, already drifting off.
Hinote snorted. "Don't worry, kid. I'll make sure nothing eats you. Can't have my new apprentice kicking the bucket before the real training begins."
Yukari wanted to say something snarky, but sleep claimed her before she could muster up the energy.
When she woke up, the sun had shifted in the sky, and the afternoon light was filtering into the cave in soft rays. Yukari stretched, yawning as she sat up and blinked groggily. The first thing she noticed was Hinote sitting across from her, watching her with that same annoying smirk on his face.
"You're awake," he said, as if it wasn't already obvious.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Afternoon. You slept longer than I thought you would."
Yukari stretched again, feeling the stiffness in her limbs from the earlier battle. "Can you blame me? You let me nearly die back there."
Hinote shrugged. "You survived, didn't you?"
"Barely." Yukari pouted, but quickly shook it off. She was used to his teasing by now. "So, what now? More training?"
"Actually," Hinote said, his tone shifting slightly, "I've got a question for you."
Yukari raised an eyebrow. "A question? Okay, shoot."
Hinote looked at her with a curious expression, tilting his head slightly. "Can you read or write?"
Yukari blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change of topic. "Uh... no. No one ever taught me."
Hinote frowned. "Not even the people in your village?"
Yukari scoffed. "Yeah, right. They were all terrified of me. The last thing they wanted was to give me knowledge that I could use to—" she made air quotes with her fingers—"'burn them all to ash in their sleep.'"
Hinote chuckled at that, though there was a hint of something else in his eyes. "Sounds like they were real idiots."
"You're telling me," Yukari muttered, crossing her arms. "Anyway, no. I don't know how to read or write. Happy?"
Hinote didn't answer right away. He just stared at her for a moment, as if he were thinking something over. Then, with a sigh, he stood up, stretching his massive wings. "Alright, time to fix that."
"Wait, what?" Yukari blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'fix that'?"
Hinote grinned at her. "We're going to start with the basics. You're going to learn how to read, write, and maybe even count higher than five."
Yukari's face scrunched up. "Why would I need to know that? You're supposed to teach me magic, not make me sit through boring lessons."
"Magic isn't just about throwing fireballs around," Hinote said, his tone shifting to something a little more serious. "It takes concentration, strategy, and intelligence. You need to understand how the world works, and that starts with knowledge."
Yukari groaned loudly. "Ugh, you sound like a school teacher."
"I sound like someone who doesn't want their apprentice setting themselves on fire because they can't read a basic spell," Hinote shot back, flicking a glowing ember at her head.
Yukari flinched, batting the ember away. "Fine, fine! I'll do it. But don't expect me to be happy about it."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Hinote said with a smirk, pulling out a few pieces of parchment and a quill from... somewhere. Yukari had no idea where he'd been keeping those. Magic birds, man.
He spread the parchment out in front of her and dipped the quill into an inkwell. "Alright, first things first. Let's start with your name."
Yukari stared at the parchment, her nose wrinkling. "I don't even know how to hold that thing."
Hinote raised an eyebrow. "You've never even seen a quill before?"
"I lived in a tiny village, okay?!" Yukari shot back defensively. "We didn't exactly have a library."
Hinote sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll show you." He held out the quill, guiding her hand to grasp it properly. "There. Now try writing your name. It's just a few strokes."
Yukari frowned, staring at the parchment like it was some kind of alien artifact. She pressed the quill to the paper and slowly, painstakingly, tried to mimic the movements Hinote had shown her.
The result was... not great.
"Uh..." Yukari stared at the squiggly mess in front of her. "Is that supposed to be my name?"
Hinote snorted. "It's a start. Keep practicing."
"This is awful," Yukari muttered under her breath, trying again. Her next attempt wasn't much better, but at least it didn't look like a drunken chicken had walked across the page.
"Better," Hinote said, though the smirk on his face told her he was enjoying this way too much. "Now keep at it. We've got a lot to cover."
Yukari sighed, her shoulders slumping. "This is going to take forever."
"Well, we've got time," Hinote replied, settling back with a lazy grin. "And who knows? Maybe by the time we're done, you'll be able to write a real spell without blowing yourself up."
Yukari shot him a glare. "I'm not gonna blow myself up."
"Keep telling yourself that," Hinote teased, flicking another ember at her head.
With a groan, Yukari went back to her scribbles. This was not what she had signed up for, but... if learning to read and write meant getting stronger, she supposed it wasn't all bad. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything better to do.
And, as much as she hated to admit it, part of her was starting to enjoy having someone actually teach her something. Even if that someone was an insufferable, overpowered phoenix with a knack for insults.