Interlude Chapter: A Lesson in Chirality and Handedness
Aiko stared at me like I'd just started speaking in another language.
"…So your cursed technique lets you flip things around?" she asked slowly.
"Not 'flip things around.' That makes it sound random."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Explaining this was harder than actually using it.
We were sitting beneath one of the estate's outer pavilions, wooden floorboards warm from the afternoon sun. Training was over for the day, and she'd cornered me the moment she saw me experimenting with a metal bolt earlier.
Apparently watching someone mutter at a piece of iron while their eyes glow different colors raises questions.
"I'm serious," Aiko said. "Every time you talk about your technique, it sounds like magic science nonsense."
"It isn't nonsense. It's actual science."
She crossed her arms. "Then explain it. From the beginning."
I sighed.
"Fine."
"First, you need to understand what chirality is."
I picked up a small pebble from the ground and held it out.
"Chirality just means handedness. Like your left and right hands. They look identical, but they aren't the same. You can't perfectly overlap them."
Aiko glanced at her own hands, turning them over experimentally.
"…Okay. That part makes sense."
"Molecules work the same way," I continued. "Certain atoms can be arranged in two mirrored forms. Same ingredients. Different orientation."
"And that matters?"
"More than you'd think."
R and S — The Language of Normal Matter
I pointed at the pebble.
"For non-living things—rocks, chemicals, metals, tools—science uses a system called R and S notation."
I drew two small diagrams in the dirt with my finger.
"R stands for Rectus. S stands for Sinister. They describe the exact three-dimensional arrangement of a molecule."
"So everything has an R or S label?" Aiko asked.
"Everything with a chiral center, yes."
I tapped my green eye.
"When I look at normal objects with this eye, that's what I see. Tiny little markers on every chiral molecule."
R.
S.
R.
S.
An invisible alphabet hidden inside matter.
"My cursed technique interacts with that directly," I said. "Chiral Reversal means exactly what it sounds like."
I flipped my hand over.
"R becomes S. S becomes R."
Aiko's eyes widened a little.
"So that's how you mess with materials?"
"Exactly. Change the chirality, and you change the chemical behavior. Strength, stability, reactions—everything shifts."
That was the simple part.
The clean part.
L and D — The Language of Life
"Now comes the tricky part," I said.
I poked her lightly in the shoulder.
"Living things don't use R and S."
"…What?"
"Biology uses a completely different system: L and D."
Aiko blinked. "Why?"
"Because life is weird."
I leaned back against one of the pillars.
"In the human body, almost all amino acids are L-form. Sugars are mostly D-form. Proteins, muscles, enzymes—everything depends on that orientation."
"If you actually inverted biological chirality completely—like turning L into D—you wouldn't get a stronger body."
"You'd just break it, I can't do that though, since every sorcerer has an innate resistance to the cursed energy of others, my cursed energy can't seep into their body like that"
Her expression shifted.
"So you can't just mess with other people internal systems with your technique"
"Right."
That was one of the first hard limits I'd realized.
L and R — The Language of Cursed Energy
"And then there's the last category," I said.
"Cursed energy."
Her posture straightened immediately.
"When I look at cursed techniques, barriers, shikigami—anything made from cursed energy—I don't see R/S or L/D."
I tapped the side of my blue eye.
"I see L and R."
"Cursed energy has its own form of chirality. Two alignments that can't perfectly overlap."
Aiko leaned forward.
"So you can mess with other people's techniques?"
"To an extent."
When I can perceive the handedness of a technique…
Then I can counter-align it and create a mirrored version.
Disrupt it.
Destabilize it.
Three Worlds, Three Systems
I drew three small circles in the dirt.
"Think of it like this."
I labeled them one by one.
Normal Matter → R / SBiology → L / DCursed Energy → L / R
"My technique works across all three. But each follows different rules."
Aiko stared at the little diagram.
"…So you're not just flipping stuff randomly."
"No."
I smiled faintly.
"I'm speaking three different scientific languages at once."
She sat back with a long exhale.
"That's… way more complicated than I thought."
"Most good techniques are, the 6Eyes+Limitless is"
There was a pause.
Then she pointed at my eyes.
"And those are what let you actually see all this?"
"Yeah, without them although I could mirror other people's techniques, that would probably be the limit"
Aiko stared at the little diagram in the dirt for a long moment.
"…I think I get it," she said at last. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" I asked.
"It's complicated," she admitted. "But not nonsense. R and S for objects, L and D for biology, L and R for cursed energy. And your eyes let you actually see all of it."
"Exactly."
She nodded, looking mildly impressed.
"So your technique isn't random. It's… precise."
"That's the idea."
Aiko stood up and stretched.
"Alright, Professor Futago. I won't call it magic science nonsense anymore."
"I appreciate that."
She paused, then shrugged.
"Still probably going to forget half of it by tomorrow though."
"…That part I don't appreciate."