Chapter 176: Jujutsu High Evening Festival
Over the next few days, Tokyo Jujutsu High fell into a strange, almost unreal calm.
No alarms pierced the air.
No stacks of mission briefings appeared overnight.
Even the endless questioning from the higher ups had temporarily stopped.
It was as though every scheme and trace of malice had chosen to retreat after the incident in the village.
But Yami understood the truth.
This was only the suffocating silence before the storm.
Suguru Geto had finally made his decision, while Kenjaku continued moving through the shadows. Both sides were preparing for the performance that would soon begin.
"The gears of fate are about to start turning again."
Yami stood alone on the training ground, gazing up at the nearly full moon.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Before that happens, everyone deserves at least one memory without regret."
To ease the tension that had settled over the students and staff, Yami submitted an unprecedented proposal to Masamichi Yaga.
He wanted to hold a summer evening festival exclusively for Tokyo Jujutsu High.
To everyone's surprise, the stern principal did not reject the ridiculous idea outright.
Yaga remained silent for a long time after reading the application.
Then he stamped his approval.
He even contributed a large portion of the expenses from his own pocket.
And so, during a summer that should have been filled with curses and bloodshed, warm yellow lanterns lit the training ground and tree lined paths of Tokyo Jujutsu High for the first time.
"Wow! This is incredible!"
Riko Amanai hurried excitedly between the stalls, dressed in a cherry blossom pink yukata and wooden sandals.
According to their original plan, she and Misato Kuroi should have been living overseas under false identities.
But before the next turning point in fate, Yami wanted to remove the last of Geto's doubts and give their youth a proper conclusion.
Using the secret routes Yami had established through the black market, along with Satoru Gojo's extraordinary mobility, Riko and Kuroi had been brought back to Jujutsu High without alerting anyone.
It was only for one night.
Before sunrise, they would have to leave Japan once again and return to their peaceful life in hiding.
But tonight, Riko was no longer the Star Plasma Vessel.
She was simply an ordinary girl enjoying a summer festival in her homeland without fear.
"Kuroi, look at this candy apple! It's huge!"
Riko held up a bright red candy apple and laughed until her eyes curved into crescents.
"Young Miss, please slow down. You'll trip in those sandals."
Misato Kuroi followed her through the crowd in a yukata of her own, relief softening her expression.
For tonight, the two of them were at the center of the celebration.
At a nearby rest area, Shoko Ieiri lounged against a bench.
She wore a loose dark green yukata. The shadows under her eyes remained, but her face carried a rare sense of peace.
"Shoko! Stop sitting there drinking soda and help me deal with that idiot Gojo!"
Utahime Iori, dressed in a red and white yukata that resembled shrine maiden clothing, pointed furiously across the festival grounds.
She held a tray of takoyaki in one hand and had clearly suffered another round of Gojo's relentless teasing.
"Leave me out of it, Senior Utahime."
Shoko took another slow sip of iced cola and sighed in satisfaction.
"Getting involved with those two idiots will shorten my lifespan."
Behind them, Mei Mei elegantly waved an expensive folding fan.
She had chosen not to wear a yukata. Instead, she wore her usual elegant purple dress, her long silver hair reflecting the lantern light.
"Watching young people waste their youth is occasionally entertaining."
Her gaze moved across the busy stalls.
"Though I would enjoy it much more if Principal Yaga paid me for providing security."
Not far away, chaos had broken out at the goldfish scooping stall.
"Gojo, you cheated!"
Yami stood there in a black yukata, holding the remains of a torn paper scoop.
He pointed accusingly at Satoru Gojo.
"You definitely used Limitless to support the paper. There's no other way you could have caught that many."
"Huh?"
Gojo wore an unnecessarily flashy white yukata and his usual small round sunglasses.
A plastic bowl filled with goldfish rested in his hands.
"Which of your eyes saw me cheating?"
He grinned arrogantly.
"You're just clumsy. The mighty sword saint without Cursed Energy is apparently hopeless at anything requiring delicate hands."
"You white haired peacock. Are you asking for a beating?"
"Go ahead. You think I'm afraid of you?"
Gojo lifted his bowl proudly.
"I'll show you why I'm the strongest goldfish scooper alive."
Watching the two strongest men at the festival argue like small children, Suguru Geto could not stop himself from laughing.
He wore a deep blue yukata, his long hair tied loosely behind his head.
Two bottles of iced Ramune rested in his hands as he watched their ridiculous exchange.
Then his gaze shifted toward the nearby barbecue stall.
"Ten more beef tongue skewers, please! No spice!"
Yu Haibara wore a short yukata and held an enormous pile of grilled food.
Oil covered the corners of his mouth, but his carefree smile seemed capable of dispelling every shadow around him.
"You idiot."
Kento Nanami stood beside him in an impeccably arranged gray yukata. Even his sash had been tied with perfect precision.
He held a plate of grilled vegetables.
"You'll regret eating that much meat when your stomach starts hurting."
Haibara ignored him and pushed a skewer toward his face.
Nanami frowned but still took a bite.
Watching these simple scenes filled with warmth and life, Geto felt a calm he had never experienced before.
There were no schemes from the higher ups.
No stench of Cursed Spirits.
No cultists celebrating the death of an innocent girl.
Only genuine smiles and the bonds between people who had survived together.
"Is this what Yami's third path is meant to protect?"
Geto spoke quietly.
His grip tightened around the Ramune bottles.
There had been a time when his confusion and despair had nearly driven him to destroy all of this with his own hands.
He had almost turned these living, breathing people into sacrifices for a distorted idea of righteousness.
"Thank goodness…"
Geto raised his head toward the bright full moon.
"Thank goodness you were there."
The warmth of this evening, and the laughter filling the school grounds, became the final cornerstone in Geto's heart.
Something firm enough to support the path he had chosen.
He was no longer lost.
Suguru Geto had finally made the decision that would change the history of the Jujutsu World.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Several loud explosions shook the night sky.
Brilliant fireworks bloomed overhead, spreading across the darkness like enormous flowers.
For a brief moment, the entire school grounds shone as brightly as day.
"Look! Fireworks!"
Riko pointed toward the sky and cheered.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
They lifted their heads and watched the beautiful colors spread across the night.
"I hope everyone can always be this happy!"
Haibara closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and loudly announced his wish.
Nanami adjusted his glasses.
I hope this terrible world becomes at least a little more reasonable.
Fireworks were beautiful.
But they never lasted.
While everyone's attention remained fixed on the sky, three figures dressed in yukatas quietly slipped away from the festival.
No one noticed them leave.
They walked side by side along the dark stone path leading toward the back mountain of Jujutsu High.
The sounds of celebration gradually faded behind them, replaced by the endless chirping of summer cicadas.
Yami.
Satoru Gojo.
Suguru Geto.
Three of the most dangerous figures in the Jujutsu World.
And three madmen preparing to overturn its corrupt order with their own hands.
....
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