As he got dressed again, Kaede asked a question.
"So I get that now, but if I came into contact with reverse cursed technique, I wouldn't be dispelled the way a curse would, right?
Which means, in theory, I should also be able to use reverse cursed technique myself?"
The soft rustle of fabric echoed clearly through the open underground infirmary.
He slipped the deep blue uniform coat back on, the metal buttons giving off faint clicks as they fastened shut.
The hem settled naturally as he stood, wrapping that body, built from highly refined cursed energy, back inside the shape of ordinary human clothing.
Shoko Ieiri leaned against the control station. At the question, she pulled the cigarette from behind her ear and turned it idly between her fingers.
"Not a bad instinct.
Your body may be built from cursed energy, but you're fundamentally different from curses, which are formed from accumulated human negativity."
Under the lights, her heavy dark circles only sharpened the professional edge in her gaze as she looked at the now fully dressed Kaede.
"The instruments showed that your cursed energy is extremely pure.
So if I pumped the positive energy produced by reverse cursed technique into your body, it wouldn't trigger the violent cancellation and dispersal you'd see with a curse.
It would probably just pass through your 'water body' like a draft moving through an open hallway, then dissipate. But that doesn't mean it would actually do anything useful."
Gojo, who had been spinning lazily in the rolling chair, pressed one shoe lightly against the floor and brought himself to a stop.
He propped his chin on one hand, sunglasses slipping slightly down his nose.
"As for whether you can use reverse cursed technique... in theory, as long as you can figure out how to multiply two sources of negative cursed energy together, you can produce positive energy."
He dragged out the words, clearly already running through different possibilities for this unusual physiology in his head.
Then he rose from the chair and walked over, his tall frame carrying that effortless pressure only he seemed able to wear casually.
"But the problem is that reverse cursed technique produces positive energy meant to stimulate cell division in carbon-based life and restore flesh and blood.
Your body, on the other hand, is pure 'water.'
So even if you somehow managed to produce positive energy, it still wouldn't magically turn into natural water and fill the gaps in your body."
Gojo raised a finger and lightly poked at the air, as if bursting an invisible bubble.
"So even if you really are enough of a prodigy to learn reverse cursed technique, it still wouldn't do anything meaningful for your own survival. Of course..."
A faint smile returned to his lips, and behind the lenses his Six Eyes gleamed sharply.
"If you used that positive energy on other people to heal them, or if your innate technique, Rainfall, could evolve some kind of destructive 'technique reversal,' then that would be a very interesting path to explore.
But for you right now, that's still getting way ahead of yourself.
A freshman who still can't perfectly control the surface tension on his own little water balloon doesn't get to aim that high yet."
Without the slightest hesitation, Gojo turned and headed for the metal door of the infirmary.
"Come on. Midnight physical is over.
Now that we've confirmed you're a walking medical disaster nobody can really fix, your teacher has to follow the principal's orders and stuff you into your own private barrier-equipped room.
If we wait too long and you melt into a puddle on the floor, Yaga's going to be annoyed."
"So that makes my technique more of a support type..." Kaede thought to himself as he followed after Gojo.
"But if Rainfall itself is a defensive mechanism, then maybe its technique reversal would become a mechanism of pure offense.
That would make it similar to how Gojo's Blue is attraction and Red is repulsion.
As for whether my technique actually has the potential for reversal...
Either possibility could be true. That alone is the answer for now."
The heavy metal doors of the underground infirmary slid shut behind them, sealing away the smell of disinfectant and the hard white glow of fluorescent lights.
Night wind moved through the old wooden corridors of Jujutsu High, carrying a faint chill from the deep spring night.
Kaede walked half a step behind Gojo, his shoes making a steady, quiet rhythm on the worn floorboards.
His black hair stirred slightly in the wind, and the hem of the deep blue uniform coat shifted in small arcs with every step.
Jujutsu High spread wide across the mountain. The traditional buildings, set at varied heights and distances, cast broad pools of darkness under the moonlight.
"The school's barriers don't just stop at the outer layer of Tengen's main barrier. There are a lot of internal zones too."
Gojo kept both hands in his pockets. Even behind his sunglasses, the Six Eyes could see through the dark as clearly as daylight.
He led Kaede past a silent dry landscape garden, his steps casual and unhurried.
"For a freshman like you, with cursed energy reserves way over the normal limit and zero real mastery over how to seal it down, if you lost control in the regular dorm area, half the campus would probably get blasted into scrap by high-pressure water.
And if the old geezers upstairs got a look at the repair bill, they'd whine in my ear about it for a solid month."
The two of them came to a stop in front of a more isolated row of buildings.
The humidity here was noticeably different from the rest of the grounds. With every breath, Kaede could feel moisture condensing faintly inside his nose.
In front of him stood what looked like an ordinary Japanese-style room, but the air at his side rippled faintly, like a pebble dropped into still water.
An invisible barrier.
Along the wooden frame of the sliding door, delicate seals painted in red cinnabar pulsed faintly in the moonlight.
Gojo stopped and turned, one long finger pointing toward the closed door.
"Here we are. This used to be a sealed storage room for volatile Grade 1 cursed objects. Yaga had people convert it in a hurry just now.
The humidity inside has been locked to the maximum safe threshold, and all four walls are covered with top-grade water-retention barriers."
A mischievous smile curved his mouth. He bent slightly at the waist until he was eye level with the black-haired boy with red eyes.
"So in other words, even if you fall apart in your sleep tonight and liquefy into a puddle that starts sloshing all over the place, the barrier will make sure not a single drop seeps into the ground.
Tomorrow morning, all I'll need is a really big bucket and I can scoop you right back up."
"That sounds like a slime..." Kaede had absolutely no idea how Gojo's brain worked.
Sure, he could turn into water. That did not mean he was basically a puddle every second of the day.
Then again, from a certain angle, maybe it really did.
He straightened up and slid the door open.
A thick wash of damp air rolled out to meet him. Inside, the room was simple, with fresh bedding spread over the tatami.
In one corner sat several absurdly large wooden tubs filled with clean water, obviously prepared as "emergency rations" for Kaede's special condition.
Come on, man, I'm not a water buffalo... and even a water buffalo doesn't drink like this, Kaede grumbled inwardly.
"There are spare uniforms and toiletries inside, and the bathroom's running water stays on constantly. Even if you're made of water, basic human social norms still say you should shower, right?"
Gojo leaned against the doorframe, blocking half the moonlight.
"Get some rest, dangerous little Rainfall. Try to keep your human shape together for one night. Tomorrow morning I'll send someone to pick you up, and you can officially meet your future classmates.
Good night."
Without waiting for an answer, he gave a quick wave and turned away into the deep night.
His white hair disappeared around the bend in the corridor almost at once, leaving behind only the faint hum of the barrier in operation.
"Man..."
Kaede let out a sigh, then turned to look at the room that would apparently be his living space from now on.
"From what I can tell so far, my main advantage is that I don't fear purely physical attacks. That gives me a real edge when it comes to staying alive.
This body..."
Thinking, he lowered one hand into one of the water tubs.
Instantly, a lightness spread through him. His whole body seemed to loosen and relax in response.
"So I can restore cursed energy through naturally existing water sources?
But the weakness is obvious too. I don't have enough offensive options. Even if I can turn water carrying my own cursed energy into weapons for counterattacks, the raw power still isn't that great.
And if I run into someone who can resist my domain, that weakness only gets worse.
Still, I don't suffer from technique burnout, which means as long as my cursed energy hasn't run dry, I can keep deploying my domain without limit."
He looked at the water in silence for a moment.
"Then from now on, I'll call this technique Rainfall."