After transferring all my stress to the cat, I decided to move on.
Now what should I do… Honestly, I was exhausted. I wanted to train, push myself, but after everything, I was just too drained.
I kept walking, passing groups of sorcerers going about their routines. Yuji had left recently… and I couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy. He'd been sent to Italy, traveling as a tourist, carefree and laughing. Meanwhile, I was still stuck in the thick of it all.
Some sorcerers were heading toward the colony to find Megumi, instructed to return once their mission was complete.
And then there was Angel—Hana Kurusu. A Megumi simp, plain and simple. She'd joined Tokyo No.1 just because Megumi was there. Chances were high that she had followed him. I had warned Megumi about her, so he knew what to expect.
Once Megumi brought her back and freed Gojo Satoru, I could finally relax.
Yup. After Gojo was free, I'd invest in Nvidia, ride the AI bubble, and live a ridiculously rich life.
Maybe I'd even attend Jujutsu High as a student. That could be fun.
For now, though, I let my mind wander. Thinking about the future was strangely satisfying—a distraction, a way to burn time.
After a while, I spotted a quiet tree and sank down beneath it, gazing at the activity around me. Sorcerers and civilians moved in tandem, fortifying the area. Talismans, barriers, wards—it all turned this place into a fortress.
Ah, right. They had tied Yuji up with talismans at the start of the series. It never made sense before. But if the higher-ups believed those talismans could contain Sukuna, they must have been powerful.
Tengen was making the barrier construction, her movements precise and elegant. Watching her work gave me a sense of calm.
Before long, exhaustion took over, and I drifted off under the tree.
Mai Zenin wandered nearby, her mind preoccupied with what I had told her.
She thought about her sister leaving the clan to protect her and how anxious her sister had been about her. None of it made sense to her yet, but she kept walking, pondering silently.
Eventually, she spotted a red-haired girl lying under a tree. As she approached, she realised it was me—sleeping soundly despite everything happening around me.
The November air was cold, biting at her skin. She walked back to the dorms, returning ten minutes later with a blanket. Gently, she laid it over me and sat nearby, watching me silently.
An hour later, I stirred.
The blanket felt soft, warm… familiar.
"Mother, you know I don't like th—" I started, then froze.
Memories of my past life flooded in. My mother had always tucked me in when it was cold. And now… she was gone. All of her warmth, all those moments… lost.
Loneliness pressed against me, sharp and unrelenting. I had been holding strong, but it only took a small trigger to break through.
Mai remained quiet, watching as tears threatened to spill. She understood. She didn't know much about my personal life, but seeing how I was barely holding on. I must have missed my mother.
I sobbed quietly for a while before finally turning and realising that she had seen all of what happened.
"I… I…"
Mai crawled closer and held my hands gently.
"It's alright," she said softly. "Everyone has a story… everyone has sadness."
She kept speaking, her voice steady and comforting:
"I don't know what you've experienced, how lonely or sad you might feel. But you're in the present now, not the past… not the future."
"After I learned how you saved my life and Maki's, I felt indebted to you. Maki only told me that you saved us both. I never knew how, but I trust my sister. You saved both my sister and me."
Her words cut deep.
"What kind of parents would call their children just to get them killed…? There must be kinder parents… like your own. Honestly, my parents wanted me gone. I had no one… tense relationships with my sister… strained ties with everyone else because of what I have done. But you decided to help, even just a little. That choice was yours. And I knew it. I knew you did it to make things better for me."
She squeezed my hands.
"If you ever need help… or someone to talk to, I'll be here."
I was stunned. The heaviness in my chest began to lift.
I sat next to her, both of us staring at the sky, letting the world around us fade.
"Mai-san… I'm glad you told me all of this. It… it calmed me down," I murmured.
She nodded. Sitting next to her felt like resting beside a kindred spirit.
"Mai-san… would you like to hang out?" I asked, a tentative hope in my voice.
"Hang out?" she replied, looking thoughtful. "What do you have in your mind?"
"The sun is setting… maybe we could go to the dorms, watch a movie, or play some games?" I asked with a hopeful face.
She smiled as she replied.
"Yeah. Let's go."
We stood and began walking toward the dorm rooms. We didn't have one of our own, so I "borrowed" Yuji's dorm for the occasion.
Even Yuji doesn't know what I did; I stole his keys after all.
We sneaked inside, collapsed onto his bed, and started a movie, popcorn in hand.
For the first time in a long while, I felt light. Relaxed. Content.
This… this was the beginning of a real friendship with Mai.
I turned and looked at Mai. Before I spoke to myself once again.
"I am glad I saved her."
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End of chapter
Also, do you think chapter length is short? Should I make it longer?