April 15th, Saturday. Tokyo Jujutsu High Medical Office.
Getou Suguru sat upright and composed outside the door, waiting for Ieiri Shoko to emerge carrying an urn of ashes.
"Getou, how did you sleep last night?" Ieiri Shoko was truly ruthless. Even while holding an urn in her hands, she chatted as though discussing everyday matters, showing no particular concern for Kuroi Misato's funeral arrangements.
"Pretty well," Getou Suguru replied, looking refreshed and full of energy. "Thanks for the sleeping pills, Shoko."
Ieiri Shoko handed the white porcelain urn over to him. Getou Suguru accepted it before hesitating for a moment.
"This urn..." he began cautiously. "It's sturdy, right?"
"What are you worried about?" Ieiri Shoko asked.
"As long as you don't drop it onto the ground, I can guarantee it won't crack for the next hundred years."
Getou Suguru visibly relaxed.
"That's good. I don't want to accidentally scatter someone else's ashes again."
It was the kind of unintentional joke that made Ieiri Shoko suppress a laugh.
People outside their circle would definitely never understand why that was funny, she thought.
They had met through a rare twist of fate as classmates, and little by little, a sense of camaraderie and cohesion had formed among them.
Holding the urn carefully in his arms, Getou Suguru unconsciously revealed a trace of compassion in his eyes.
"Is this all of her ashes?"
Ieiri Shoko removed her gloves.
"Yes. As you requested, I had the crematorium cremate this body separately. There was plenty of time for the process, and no bone fragments were left behind. After being placed in the urn, the ashes of an adult woman weigh a little over seven jin."
Getou Suguru: "..."
A beat later, Ieiri Shoko added, "I know my wording was a bit harsh, but that's simply the reality of it."
Getou Suguru let out a slow breath.
"I understand."
Ieiri Shoko lit a cigarette and walked out alongside Getou Suguru, incidentally making him inhale a couple of lungfuls of secondhand smoke as they went.
Getou Suguru couldn't help but complain, "Didn't Akiya ever tell you to quit smoking?"
With a cigarette hanging from her lips, Ieiri Shoko replied, "Nope. Akiya knows I can use the Reversed Cursed Technique. Sometimes he even lights my cigarettes for me."
Getou Suguru frowned in disapproval and tried to persuade her otherwise.
"But your brain can become addicted to it, can't it?"
Ieiri Shoko exhaled a cloud of smoke before answering, "Life has to have some source of enjoyment. Some people find pleasure in fighting, while others find it in cigarettes and alcohol. At their core, there's not that much difference between them."
Asou Akiya had never once tried to convince Ieiri Shoko to quit smoking. Instead, he would simply smile and say:
[You can leave that problem to your future boyfriend.]
Ieiri Shoko had no desire whatsoever to fall in love. In her opinion, there was an eighty-percent chance that she was destined to remain single for the rest of her life.
Fortunately, she still had a fellow scumbag DK to keep her company.
Ieiri Shoko glanced sideways at Getou Suguru, who had been especially busy lately. As they walked, he used his phone to contact Amanai Riko, his expression full of worry and concern. Honestly, the sight of him made one wonder whether this guy had secretly started supporting a middle school girl off-campus.
Out of a sense of obligation as his classmate, she cleared her throat and said, "I'd recommend burying her in the jujutsu sorcerers' cemetery."
Getou Suguru looked at her in surprise.
"There's precedent for that?"
Ieiri Shoko pointed upward, indicating the higher authorities.
"It barely qualifies as dying in the line of duty. If that doesn't work, you could ask Yaga-sensei to make an exception."
Getou Suguru frowned.
"I can't have Yaga-sensei put in an awkward position because of this. Besides, Akiya told me that the people buried in that cemetery are sorcerers who lost their lives while exorcising curses. Quite a few of Tokyo Jujutsu High's graduates are buried there, and Akiya often goes to pay his respects and clean their graves..."
Ieiri Shoko gave Getou Suguru a puzzled look. Hadn't Akiya said that Getou was short on money? If there was a public cemetery available, why wasn't he planning to use it?
Getou Suguru denied that Kuroi Misato had died in the line of duty.
"I'm going to contact the Kuroi family and see if Miss Kuroi can be buried in her family's grave plot. I don't want to disturb the peace of our departed senpais over a matter of personal sentiment."
In Getou Suguru's eyes, Kuroi Misato, who had spent her entire life serving as a maid, had never truly been a qualified jujutsu sorcerer.
Since it had been a responsibility borne by her family, then her family should be the one to take care of the arrangements after her death.
Outside the school, Getou Suguru and Amanai Riko rode together in the same car, heading toward the ancient city of Kyoto. Although most people knew nothing of the jujutsu world, many of Japan's old and distinguished families had established their roots in Kyoto generations ago. Through an unspoken understanding, they safeguarded its secrets and rarely chose to leave what they considered the safest place in the country. Kyoto itself was also known for its strong sense of exclusivity and its wariness toward outsiders.
During the drive, Getou Suguru asked, "Riko, we're going to visit the Kuroi family in Kyoto. Did Miss Kuroi have a good relationship with her family?"
Amanai Riko stared out at the scenery passing beyond the car window.
"I don't know..." she replied quietly. "Misato never talked about them."
"She never mentioned them? Not even once?" Getou Suguru asked.
Amanai Riko turned back to look at him.
"Mm."
Once again, Getou Suguru was reminded of Miss Kuroi's professionalism. She had always kept work and personal life separate, never allowing the two to become entangled.
At the Kuroi residence, after they explained the purpose of their visit, they were received by a servant dressed in traditional Japanese attire. The servant knelt formally on the tatami, raised both hands above his head in respect, and accepted the urn of ashes that Getou Suguru had brought all the way from Tokyo.
"May the young lady's soul find peace."
A powerful sense of absurdity instantly swept through Getou Suguru.
Unable to hold back her straightforward nature, Amanai Riko blurted out, "Young lady? Was Misato an only child?"
"Yes," the servant replied respectfully.
Amanai Riko lowered her head, guilt written plainly across her face.
"May I meet Misato's parents? Misato died because of me..."
The servant's expression visibly cooled. Without hesitation, he answered, "The master and mistress do not wish to receive visitors. We ask for your understanding. After the failure of the Star Plasma Vessel mission, the family regarded this matter as a disgrace. Miss Kuroi wasted ten years of her life and accomplished nothing. Not only did she fail to be of service to Master Tengen, but she also destroyed the reputation that the Kuroi family had spent centuries building."
Ignoring the embarrassment and hurt on Amanai Riko's face, the servant treated Getou Suguru with noticeably greater respect. Bowing deeply, he said, "Please convey the Kuroi family's greetings to the esteemed Master Tengen, Mr. Sorcerer. The Kuroi family has failed to live up to the trust that Master Tengen placed in us."
"I will," Getou Suguru promised.
Only after stepping into the world of Kyoto's ancient lineages and hereditary households did Getou Suguru truly understand Master Tengen's standing within the jujutsu world.
Master Tengen had maintained the barrier foundations protecting the jujutsu world for a thousand years.
The sheer weight of that grace and protection compelled Getou Suguru to reflect inwardly.
Perhaps... I should reconsider my attitude toward Master Tengen.
Even so, he still believed that sacrificing the Star Plasma Vessel was the wrong thing to do.
The two of them walked out of the Kuroi residence. Despite never getting the chance to meet Kuroi Misato's parents face-to-face, they had at least resolved the issue of her burial arrangements. Every few steps, Amanai Riko would glance back, her thoughts lingering on Kuroi Misato's ashes.
"Will I be able to visit her grave in the future?" she asked.
Getou Suguru answered with some uncertainty, "I think so?"
Amanai Riko's spirits sank.
"They don't welcome me... Is it because I brought shame upon the Kuroi family?"
Getou Suguru regarded the Kuroi family with a clear-headed sense of reason.
"This has nothing to do with you. It's the result of a distorted family system."
Kuroi Misato had been the Kuroi family's only daughter. She possessed cursed energy, knew of the existence of the jujutsu world, and carried within her a heart that yearned for freedom. Yet the obligations imposed by her family had forced her to bow before the Higher-Ups, sending her out into the world to serve as the Star Plasma Vessel's personal attendant for ten long years.
"Riko, this is where we'll part ways," Getou Suguru said as he escorted Amanai Riko to the school gates, encouraging her to begin learning how to stand on her own. "Is there anything else you'd like to say to me?"
"...From now on, am I really going to be all alone?" Amanai Riko asked in a subdued voice.
Within those large azure eyes, Getou Suguru could still see the innocence that he had struggled so desperately to protect.
"No," he replied. "You still have me as a friend. I'll visit whenever I have time. It's just that summer in the jujutsu world is almost here. Once summer begins, things become much busier. Autumn and winter are the only times of the year when I'm relatively free."
Getou Suguru offered Amanai Riko a sense of reassurance.
"That guy..." Amanai Riko gathered her courage, planted her hands on her hips, and declared, "When is that guy coming to visit me?"
Getou Suguru failed to understand immediately.
"That guy? Who are you talking about?"
Lowering her voice, Amanai Riko muttered, "The guy who got hurt at the school gates. That idiot."
Realization dawned on Getou Suguru.
"Satoru."
Getou Suguru smiled gently.
"Do you want him to come visit you? He should be free on the weekends. I can get in touch with him for you."
During the three-day mission, Amanai Riko and Gojo Satoru had spent a genuinely enjoyable time playing together by the seaside.
Ignoring Gojo Satoru's tendency to suddenly turn cold and sharp while in that detached, almost divine state of mind, Getou Suguru smiled and said, "He's actually someone who enjoys going out and having fun. Leave it to me. We can even go cherry blossom viewing while we're at it."
Amanai Riko waited expectantly.
A short while later, however, Getou Suguru was promptly slapped in the face by the rejection coming through the phone.
"No time."
Gojo Satoru had time.
He just didn't have time to go out and have fun.
"I'm doing skincare."
Standing in front of the sink and facing the mirror, the white-haired teenager peeled apart the scar tissue on his face. Two women's hair clips held his bangs out of the way, exposing his blood-soaked forehead. Blood streamed down both sides of his nose and pooled across the floor beneath him. He wore a radiant smile throughout the process, as though he felt no pain at all.
He continuously experimented with the Reversed Cursed Technique, trying to restore his skin to its healthy state.
The tiled floor around him resembled the scene of a gruesome murder.
Getou Suguru: "???"
Gojo Satoru said, "Wasn't the mission already over? What are you doing, Suguru? Don't tell me you're planning to drag her into the jujutsu world."
"No..." Getou Suguru replied. "Riko doesn't intend to become a jujutsu sorcerer."
"She doesn't have an innate technique. Becoming a sorcerer would just be asking to die," Gojo Satoru said bluntly. "She'd be better off living as an ordinary person."
Getou Suguru offered Amanai Riko an apologetic smile before stepping aside to continue the conversation privately.
"Can Riko really be considered an ordinary person?" he asked.
Gojo Satoru cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"Anyone who hasn't mastered power is ordinary."
"But she can see curses..." Getou Suguru argued.
"So what?" Gojo Satoru replied. "Wasn't Kuroi Misato the same?"
Getou Suguru found himself rendered speechless.
Kuroi Misato had also possessed cursed energy, yet she had never protected ordinary people.
The ones who protected ordinary people were professional jujutsu sorcerers.
The ones who did not protect ordinary people were... independent sorcerers or curse users.
"Making the weak protect the weak—isn't that just throwing lambs into a tiger's den?" Gojo Satoru continued experimenting on himself. Accidentally tearing through an important cluster of nerves, he sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. "Or are you planning to apply that whole theory of yours to Riko too, Suguru?"
A sense of melancholy welled up within Getou Suguru.
"I don't think it suits her either," he admitted.
Society itself was structured around the survival of the weak.
Jujutsu sorcerers were meant to protect the weak, but... what should be done about people who possessed cursed energy yet had no intention of using it?
Did they belong among ordinary people, or among jujutsu sorcerers?
Getou Suguru felt that they should be considered sorcerers.
Gojo Satoru, however, regarded them as ordinary people.
As Getou Suguru wrestled with this dilemma, Gojo Satoru casually pointed out the obvious.
"Instead of asking Akiya about a problem like this, why are you consulting me? You never listen to what I say anyway. Figure it out yourself. Bleh!"
Gojo Satoru hung up the phone.
Feeling guilty and not daring to call, Getou Suguru chose to harass Asou Akiya through text messages instead.
—+—
[Tokyo Jujutsu High's Diligent Duo]
[Getou Suguru: Akiya, I have a question I'd like to ask you.]
[Getou Suguru: How are people who can see curses generally categorized within the jujutsu world?]
—+—
Getou Suguru waited anxiously for a reply.
—+—
[Asou Akiya: People with cursed energy who can see curses, right?]
[Asou Akiya: People like that are usually referred to within the jujutsu world as "sorcerers-in-training", "wild sorcerers", or "the people curse users most want to lure away." In ordinary society, they're called "people with the ability to see ghosts", "those with spiritual sight", or "people with psychic constitutions"...]
[Asou Akiya: Haibara-kun's younger sister fits those criteria as well. Yaga-sensei intends to try recruiting her into the school, but Haibara-kun said that if it's too dangerous, then as her older brother, he has no intention of letting his little sister enroll.]
—+—
Getou Suguru's expression brightened immediately.
Just as I thought. Satoru got it wrong after all. Riko can be classified as one of them!
By that logic, Riko was more or less no different from Haibara Yuu's younger sister.
Once Getou Suguru's spirits lifted, his courage returned, and he dared to ask the question that had been on his mind.
—+—
[Tokyo Jujutsu High's Diligent Duo]
[Getou Suguru: Akiya, I want to help Riko learn to control her cursed energy and avoid curses so that she can survive in ordinary society without worrying about being attacked by them. Would doing something like that violate school regulations?]
[Asou Akiya: You're a genuinely good person, a rarity in this world. Go ahead and help her. You haven't done anything wrong.]
[Getou Suguru: Akiya, do you support me?]
[Asou Akiya: Yes, I support you. As long as I'm here, you don't have to worry about Yaga-sensei's opinion.]
[Getou Suguru: Class Representative! Having your support is wonderful!]
[Asou Akiya: You're welcome.]
[Getou Suguru: Do you have any good suggestions regarding Riko's situation?]
[Asou Akiya: You're asking for my advice? Even if I gave it, you wouldn't listen—withdraw her from school immediately, place her in a children's welfare institution, change her name, and cut her off from her previous social circles.]
[Getou Suguru: That's far too cold and impersonal. By the way, does Satoru's bank card happen to be with you? Could I borrow a little...]
[Asou Akiya: Sorry, the signal's bad.]
—+—
Asou Akiya exited the chat group, turned off his phone, and decisively cut off the conversation. He could type out basketfuls of encouraging words and supportive advice, but there was one thing he absolutely would not do:
He would not give Getou Suguru a single yen.
The jujutsu world's incorrigible good guy, stubborn to the very end, Getou Suguru resolutely took it upon himself to care for Amanai Riko.
He began making arrangements for her future.
"Riko," he said, "I'll support you until you're fifteen. In Japan, teenagers can take part-time jobs once they reach that age. Next year, I'll help you find suitable work so that you'll be able to live independently."
Amanai Riko's curiosity was immediately piqued.
"A part-time job? Like working at a convenience store or a bakery? That sounds great!"
"I don't know the specifics yet," Getou Suguru admitted. "On weekends, I'll teach you how to control your cursed energy. I'm not asking you to become a jujutsu sorcerer—I just want you to be able to protect yourself."
After witnessing curses with her own eyes, Amanai Riko did not show much resistance to the idea.
"...Okay."
Getou Suguru made a promise to Amanai Riko.
"For this next year, I'll do everything I can to take care of you and help you. You don't have to worry too much. If you run into any problems in your daily life, you can contact me."
"A year..." Amanai Riko murmured as she thought it over.
Without realizing it, she unconsciously projected the past onto the present, seeing Getou Suguru in the role that Kuroi Misato had once filled. She still had one year left before she would have to face the challenges of independent living on her own.
"Getou, the school notified us to get our measurements taken and have new uniforms made. I don't really want to buy them either, but..."
"The cost of the uniforms?" Getou Suguru asked.
"Mm." Amanai Riko nodded earnestly. "I'll pay you back after I start working! I can even write you an IOU!"
She clenched her fist as though making a solemn vow.
Getou Suguru found himself happy to see this change in her.
"You don't need to write an IOU. I trust that you'll work hard and repay the kindness in your own way. How much are the uniform expenses? I'll transfer the money directly to the school's account."
Amanai Riko recited the number of uniforms and the total price.
Thirty-six sets of spring uniforms.
In her mind, it was a debt she would definitely be able to repay.
Getou Suguru froze.
A chill born from the realities of social class slowly crawled up his spine.
["Withdraw her from school immediately, place her in a children's welfare institution, change her name, and cut her off from her previous social circles."]
The words Asou Akiya had sent through their chat resurfaced in his mind, transforming into a voice that stabbed painfully at his compassionate heart.
Only at this moment did Getou Suguru truly understand the standard of living Amanai Riko had enjoyed in the past.
Master Tengen had never mistreated her.
For ten years, Kuroi Misato had cared for her without fail, day after day, year after year, surrounding Amanai Riko with comfort and privilege in exchange for her willing acceptance of a future death.
—The jujutsu world's pampered young lady, raised and supported by its system.
The words of refusal caught in Getou Suguru's throat.
He could not bring himself to say them out loud.
["I want to go back to how things used to be—to stay with my classmates and continue living without a care in the world! I still want to taste all kinds of delicious food and visit all kinds of places!"]
["Let's go home, Riko-chan."]
Getou Suguru could not forget the promise he had made.
The smile on his face remained unchanged as he swallowed his broken teeth and blood, forcing himself to bear the burden in silence.
—I will never abandon Riko.
—It's only one year. I can endure it!
Miss Kuroi's duty had come to an end, but he would not use the end of her employment as an excuse to betray his own principles.
After paying the fees, Getou Suguru spent the journey back researching girls' schools. He couldn't find any information online about Renchoku Girls' Junior High, but he was able to make comparisons using University of the Sacred Heart, the top-ranked girls' school in Tokyo's Shibuya district.
["At the start of the new school term, the full annual tuition must be paid in advance. Tuition fees are non-refundable. Additional expenses include textbook fees, medical fees, hot water fees, excursion fees... facility and equipment fees..."]
After reading through the list, the light faded from Getou Suguru's eyes.
Once again, he recalled the astronomical cost of Riko's school uniforms.
One uniform set: 13,600 yen.
...To hell with it.
These schools attended by the rich should just be destroyed.