Click.
The sound of a key turning in the lock was jarring in the silence of the hallway.
Junpei Yoshino's hands were trembling.
Images of his mother lying in a pool of blood played uncontrollably in his mind, those terrifying cursed spirits feasting...
"No! Don't!"
Junpei let out a roar and slammed the door open.
"Mom—!"
He practically stumbled into the entryway, not even stopping to take off his shoes before charging toward the living room.
But when he saw the scene in the living room, he froze instantly.
The bloody scene he had anticipated wasn't there—no horrific cursed spirits, no severed limbs scattered across the floor.
Instead, it was a scene of warmth that felt almost eerie.
On the living room sofa, Nagi Yoshino—Junpei's mother—was holding a plate of sliced fruit with a beaming smile.
Sitting across from her on an armchair, Yoru was holding a cup of hot tea, calmly blowing on the leaves floating at the top.
He sat upright and poised, looking exactly like a well-behaved student visiting an elder.
However, Junpei keenly noticed that while Yoru's right hand held the tea, his left hand rested casually on the guitar case by his side.
The zipper of that case was slightly open, revealing a sliver of terrifying black and red.
It was a sword hilt.
"Oh, Junpei, you're back?"
Seeing her son's frantic state, Nagi teased him with a light scolding:
"Why are you in such a rush? Come look—this is your classmate, right? He's such a polite boy; he even waited at the door for me for quite a while."
"Eh?"
Junpei was completely bewildered.
He looked at his mother, then at Yoru.
"Yoru... Yoru-kun? When did you..."
He clearly remembered Yoru being right behind him just moments ago!
How could he be sitting in the living room drinking tea in the blink of an eye?
"Just arrived a moment ago."
Yoru set down his teacup and gave Junpei a reassuring smile.
Only Junpei failed to notice.
At Yoru's feet, on a small patch of the carpet, there remained a pile of black ash that had not yet fully dissipated.
The ash was still twitching slightly, emitting a sickening cursed energy, but it was being pinned to the floor by an invisible wave of heat, unable to spread even a millimeter.
It was the residual dregs left behind after a cursed spirit's death.
In that very instant.
The moment Junpei opened the door, Yoru had already unleashed "Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance."
Using speed that exceeded the limits of the naked eye, he had flashed into the house ahead of Junpei, instantly slaying the Grade 1 cursed spirit that was about to attack Nagi and cleaning up the scene in the process.
The entire process took less than 0.1 seconds.
It was so fast that Nagi herself hadn't even realized she had just been standing at death's door.
"Now, don't just stand there."
Nagi pulled Junpei down to sit, welcoming them warmly.
"Yoru-kun, right? You should stay for dinner tonight. I'll make my specialty, beef bourguignon."
"I'd be honored."
Yoru bowed slightly, his manners impeccable.
Seeing the smile beaming on his mother's face, Junpei could no longer hold back his tears.
He suddenly understood everything.
That pile of ash, and the faint, lingering heat radiating from Yoru.
He had saved his mother.
Before despair could descend, he had already cut it down.
If Yoru hadn't come, if he had been even a second late...
Junpei didn't dare imagine the consequences.
His heart pounded violently as a wave of lingering fear washed over him, followed by an unprecedented sense of relief.
"What's wrong, Junpei? Why are you crying?"
Seeing her son in tears, Nagi immediately panicked.
"It's... it's nothing."
Junpei wiped his eyes haphazardly, his voice choking up.
"I'm just... so happy."
He truly was happy; meeting Yoru was likely the greatest luck of his life.
Dinner concluded in a warm atmosphere.
Yoru didn't overstay his welcome, politely declining Nagi's offer to spend the night before standing up to leave.
Junpei insisted on walking him downstairs.
The streetlights below cast a dim yellow glow as the two walked side by side.
"Um... thank you."
Junpei kept his head down, his voice barely a whisper.
"That finger."
Yoru stopped abruptly and pulled an object wrapped in talismans from his pocket.
It was Ryomen Sukuna's finger.
This thing had been hidden in the clutter at Junpei's house, which is what attracted the Grade 1 cursed spirit.
"This thing is dangerous. I'll be taking it with me."
Yoru tucked the finger away and turned to look at Junpei.
"I told you, since you've decided to get stronger, I'll protect the people around you as well."
"It's not a charity; it's a promise."
Junpei looked up sharply.
Staring into Yoru's red eyes, which gleamed under the streetlights, he nodded vigorously.
"Yes! I will definitely get stronger! I won't let you down!"
In that moment, the boy's vow rang out with conviction.
Yoru gave a small smile and turned to leave.
Just as he walked out of the apartment complex gate and turned the corner.
A tall figure was leaning against a utility pole by the roadside, seemingly having waited for quite a while.
He wore a sharp beige suit, goggles, and held a short blade wrapped in spotted cloth.
Kento Nanami.
A Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer and the investigator assigned to the theater incident.
He adjusted the goggles on his nose, watching Yoru emerge from the shadows.
His gaze swept over the iconic guitar case on Yoru's back and the unique aura he exuded.
"Was it you who dealt with that cursed spirit just now?"
Nanami's voice was deep and resonant.
He had originally arrived by tracking the residual energy, only to find the spirit's presence had vanished the moment he reached the building.
It was gone completely, as if it had been vaporized.
"I was just taking out the trash."
Yoru stopped and spoke in a calm tone.
"A first-year student from Jujutsu High?"
Nanami glanced at the button on Yoru's uniform, his eyebrows raising slightly.
"Are students these days really this strong?"
Not only did he instakill a Grade 1 spirit, but...
As an experienced Grade 1 sorcerer, Nanami keenly sensed that the boy before him didn't have a single trace of cursed energy.
Yet, the faint sense of pressure radiating from him made even a grown man like Nanami feel a prickle of unease.
"Maybe."
Yoru shrugged, offering no further explanation.
"After all, sorting the trash is getting harder these days. If the cleaners aren't strong, people will start complaining."
With that, he waved a hand and walked right past Nanami, vanishing into the night.
Nanami Kento watched Yoru's departing figure in silence for a long time.
Finally, he let out a helpless sigh and pulled out his phone.
"Hello, Gojo-san?"
"I think I might have run into that interesting student you mentioned."
"...Yes, he's certainly a handful."
"But if it's him, maybe things really could change."
A night breeze brushed past.
This world full of curses seemed to have changed ever so slightly because of this boy's arrival.
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