Two months had passed since the ridiculous battle at Aoki Second Psychiatric Hospital.
The cicadas of late summer had long fallen silent after a certain rainy night, and the air in Tokyo had begun to carry the dry, chilled air of autumn.
The ginkgo trees on the Jujutsu High campus were starting to turn; their leaves were edged with pale gold, rustling loudly whenever the wind blew.
Kama's days passed in a tranquility that bordered on boredom.
That is, if one ignored the trouble certain people caused from time to time.
For instance, right now.
"Ka—ma—chan—!"
The voice dragged out from the far end of the corridor, the final note so cloyingly sweet it could have stuck to a fly's feet.
Then came the pitter-patter of approaching footsteps.
Kama was sitting on the guardrail at the edge of the school building's rooftop, her calves dangling in midair and swinging lazily back and forth.
The wind lifted her short silver hair slightly.
In her hand was a ginkgo leaf she had just plucked. Looking down, she crushed the veins one by one between her fingertips.
When she heard the voice, her movements paused for the briefest moment.
Then she continued as if she hadn't heard anything at all.
"Kama-chan, Kama-chan, Kama-chan—"
The footsteps stopped behind her.
A certain 190-centimeter-tall adult male unceremoniously squeezed in beside her, flipping himself up onto the guardrail as well.
His movements were practiced. He even adjusted his posture so his overly long legs could hang more comfortably.
The guardrail let out a strained creak.
Without looking up, Kama released the crushed fragments of the leaf, letting the golden pieces scatter into the wind.
"Gojo-sensei," she said flatly, her voice devoid of emotion, "if you move even three centimeters closer to me, I wouldn't mind helping you test the structural integrity of this building's outer wall."
"Eh—how cruel!"
Gojo Satoru leaned back dramatically, one hand clutching his chest while the other waved wildly in the air as if trying to grab some nonexistent lifeline.
"I, your teacher, only wanted to enjoy the beautiful sunset with my lovely student! Can there really be anything wrong with that? Does a teacher not even have this tiny bit of right anymore? Wuu wuu, Kama-chan is so cold, my heart is going to break—"
Kama's rose-colored eyes finally turned toward him.
Her gaze was the same as if she were looking at something completely inconsequential.
"Your heart," she said slowly, "if it really broke that easily, it would have turned to powder long ago."
Gojo Satoru's fake sobbing stopped instantly.
He kept his hand over his chest and tilted his head.
"My, my," he laughed, his tone returning to its usual light, airy lilt. "So Kama-chan still remembers what happened two months ago? I thought you'd have forgotten about it by now."
"How could I forget?"
Kama withdrew her gaze and looked back toward the distant sun as it sank slowly toward the horizon.
"I told you—don't try to analyze my inner self."
Her voice remained calm.
"You'd best behave."
Gojo didn't reply.
He simply kept his head tilted, as though thinking about something.
For a while, the rooftop was filled only with the sound of the wind.
About half a minute later, he spoke again. The flamboyance had faded from his voice, though it wasn't particularly serious either.
"So? Did you find it? That… thing Kama-chan's been looking for?"
Kama's fingertips stopped mid-crush.
She turned her head, her gaze settling on the place where Gojo Satoru's eyes were hidden beneath his blindfold. She watched him for two seconds, then her eyes curved slightly, revealing a smile so sweet it practically dripped with honey.
"Is Gojo-sensei very concerned about that?"
"Of course I am~"
Gojo Satoru braced his hands on the guardrail behind him and leaned back slightly, adopting a casual "just asking" posture.
"I'm Kama-chan's teacher, after all! When a student has troubles, the teacher naturally has to help share the burden!"
"Oh?"
Kama stretched the word out lazily.
Then she looked away, her tone airy.
"In that case, I suggest you stop concerning yourself with it."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because that thing…" She paused, as if weighing her words—or perhaps simply enjoying keeping someone in suspense. "…won't do you any good."
Gojo Satoru let out a pfft of laughter.
"Won't do me any good?"
He repeated the phrase, then lifted a hand and pointed his thumb at himself. His chin tipped up slightly, and the arrogant curve of his smile was the sort that made people want to punch him.
"Is Kama-chan worried about me? No need! I'm the Strongest, you know! It won't be a problem—"
"It will."
Kama cut him off.
Gojo froze mid-gesture.
Kama simply continued staring at the distance.
The light of the setting sun struck her face from the side, somehow making her rose-colored eyes appear even colder.
"One look, and your brain might go 'bang'—"
She raised a hand, spreading her fingers in a small exploding motion.
"And burst."
For a moment, the air seemed to still.
Gojo Satoru didn't speak.
He remained there with his thumb pointing at himself, the smile still on his lips—though there was something slightly different about it now.
Then he laughed.
"Ha!"
The sound rang out across the empty rooftop.
"Well, that really is scary!"
He slapped his thigh and doubled over, laughing loudly. "A brain explosion! I hate pain more than anything!"
Kama watched him in silence.
After he had laughed himself breathless and wiped away nonexistent tears, she added leisurely,
"So stop asking."
"Alright, alright~ I won't ask, I won't ask~"
Gojo Satoru raised both hands in surrender, his tone as carefree as if the previous conversation had never happened.
"I'm a very obedient guy, you know!"
Kama glanced at him but didn't respond.
I'll believe that when pigs fly, she sneered inwardly.
Gojo didn't push further.
He simply sat beside her, his long legs swinging idly while he hummed an unfamiliar little tune.
The two of them remained like that—side by side, silent, neither looking at the other—like two statues placed together by force.
Only after the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon, and the sky had faded from orange-red to deep blue, did Gojo Satoru stretch and hop down from the guardrail.
"Time to go, time to go!"
He brushed off nonexistent dust, turned toward the stairwell, and waved over his shoulder.
"Remember to lock your doors and windows tonight, Kama-chan!"
Kama didn't turn around, only giving a quiet "Mm."
The sound of his footsteps faded, eventually disappearing into the depths of the stairwell.
Silence returned to the rooftop.
Kama opened her hand, letting the final fragment of the ginkgo leaf slip from her fingers.
She looked up at the sky, now completely dark.
Sparse starlight reflected faintly in her rose-colored eyes, though a certain unspoken irritability lurked in their depths.
Two months.
For two whole months, she hadn't caught even a single trace of the Holy Grail's presence.
It was as though that thing had evaporated from the world entirely, leaving behind not even a shred of residue.
Kama narrowed her eyes.
Hiding, are we.
Frightened by her arrow, it had scurried away like a rat into the deepest part of the earth, sealing itself tightly away.
Truly…
"A pain."
The two words slipped from her lips, carried off by the night wind and gone in an instant.