Ten kilometers away.
After completing his orbital strike, Mirai casually stepped out of the shadows to reunite with the group.
Gojo Satoru had arrived a few moments earlier, granting him a slight advantage. The white-haired boy was standing with his arms crossed, his expression radiating absolute, smug arrogance.
"Hehehe~ Wow, you took your sweet time, Onii-chan~" Satoru teased, practically vibrating with victory.
"Fair enough. You win this time," Mirai admitted easily. He reached out and affectionately ruffled Satoru's spiky white hair. "Hahaha, keep up the good work and keep training hard."
Mirai gladly accepted his loss. After all, indulging your younger sibling was a core duty of an older brother.
"YOSHI! I WON!"
Satoru pumped his fists in the air, a massive, victorious grin stretching across his face.
Seeing Mirai return safely, Mieko Takayanagi immediately rushed forward, her face blooming into a relieved smile. She knelt down and gently wiped a speck of non-existent dust from his cheek. Mafuyu followed closely behind, meticulously straightening the collars and adjusting the sleeves of both her sons to ensure they looked perfectly presentable.
On the walk back, Mirai glanced at his victorious twin.
"So, have you thought about what you want to demand from me?"
"Hmm..." Satoru tapped his chin, his Six Eyes rolling mischievously. He leaned in close to Mirai's ear and whispered his demand.
Mirai blinked. His expression instantly shifted from mild amusement to absolute incredulity. "...Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure~ What, you can't afford to play along?" Satoru taunted, poking Mirai in the ribs. "No way? No way? The great Clan Head is going back on his word?"
Satoru was convinced he had finally found his cheap Onii-chan's absolute weak spot. He poked Mirai again, eagerly trying to corner him.
"Heh." Mirai swatted Satoru's mischievous finger away. He crossed his arms and offered a disdainful, arrogant smirk. "Who do you think I am? Your wish is my command."
"Then it's settled!" Satoru cheered.
Walking with triumphant strides, Satoru hurried over to Mafuyu and whispered urgently into her ear, making sure no one else could hear.
During the secret conversation, Mafuyu's beautiful blue eyes widened. A sudden, terrifying excitement sparked within them, and she practically shivered with anticipation. She was visibly thrilled by Satoru's ridiculous plan!
"Ugh..." Mirai let out a heavy sigh.
It's over, he thought. My mother is completely unhinged. There's no escaping this prank now.
Fine. Since you want to play games, Satoru, I'll play them to the absolute end.
The battle between the jujutsu world's "Twin Stars" and the black market's veteran Curse Users concluded without leaving so much as a ripple.
To the two boys involved, it was merely a minor inconvenience—like stepping on two mildly annoying ants that were blocking the sidewalk.
But when the results of the ambush trickled back to the Curse User underworld, it triggered an apocalyptic storm.
Fundamentally, there is no difference between a Jujutsu Sorcerer and a Curse User. Cursed energy is inherently neutral; power itself is neither good nor evil. The morality lies entirely in the wielder.
One thought leads to Buddhahood. One thought leads to demonic ruin.
Sorcerers fight to protect peaceful daily life and shield the non-sorcerers of the world. Curse Users, however, possess zero taboos. They act entirely on their own twisted desires. Power, money, women, men—if a Curse User wants it, they simply take it from ordinary people through force.
To them, this plundering was their "freedom." This absolute lack of consequence was their "justice."
You can rob, kill, and take at will... What kind of sick freedom is that?!
But now, the emergence of the Twin Stars was like the mythological Five Finger Mountain crashing down upon the hearts of every Curse User alive.
Under the absolute perception of the Six Eyes, no evil thought or cursed spirit could hide! And Mahoraga represented the absolute, uncompromising pinnacle of violence!
The era of casually plundering the weak was over. Even standing boldly in broad daylight was now an unimaginable luxury for the wicked.
Mystery will always succumb to a higher mystery. It is the eternal law of the jujutsu world.
With the Twin Stars hanging high in the sky, the heavy shackles of "fear" were locked tightly around the necks of every stray dog in the underworld. Until the innate evil of human nature inevitably birthed the four natural disaster curses, the era of the Curse User was effectively dead.
Two and a half days later. Inside the Gojo Estate.
Within a pink-tinted room thick with the scent of expensive perfume, the hostess of the estate was applying the final touches of makeup to a shockingly cute "girl" with short brown hair.
A black-and-white lace maid outfit. Translucent black stockings. Round-toed high heels. A cat-ear headband, and a fluffy cat tail pinned to the skirt.
This outfit was merely the icing on the cake. The "girl" was naturally stunning—blessed with fair, porcelain skin, bright eyes, and flawless features. "She" didn't even need makeup to be beautiful. But to mask a certain boyish immaturity and add a touch of feminine charm, light makeup was necessary.
"All done~"
The mature, beautiful woman removed her hands from the "girl's" eyes, allowing her to finally see her reflection in the full-length mirror.
"How does it look? How is it?" Mafuyu giggled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Mommy is pretty good at makeup, right? But the most important thing is that Kanata-chan is just so cute!"
Mafuyu couldn't help but gently stroke the "girl's" cheek.
The true identity of this mysterious "Kanata" was, of course, Zenin Mirai.
Unlike the bold, wild arrogance he usually radiated with his natural white hair and Six Eyes, Mirai was currently wearing a high-quality brown wig and cosmetic contact lenses. The disguise, combined with the makeup, completely inverted his aura. He looked reserved, fragile, incredibly sweet, and devastatingly lovely.
A few moments later, Satoru's impatient voice echoed from the hallway outside.
"Hey~ Mom! How long does it take to put makeup on my brother?! I'm dying out here! I want to take the photos!"
"Just a second~" Mafuyu called out playfully.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept through the room! It was the sound of a physical body moving at blinding speeds to create a localized vacuum.
In a flash, the cute cat-maid "Zenin Kanata" made her dazzling debut in the hallway!
Mirai had deliberately rumpled his clothing. The stockings were slightly torn, the lace was messy, and he slumped his shoulders to project an aura of absolute, fragile helplessness. This slightly "damaged" aesthetic only amplified the devastating, magnetic charm of the disguise.
When Gojo Satoru laid eyes on "Kanata" for the first time, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
An uncontrollable sensation of myocardial infarction violently seized his entire body!
Thump! Thump!! THUMP!!!
According to the absolute, infallible data provided by the Six Eyes, the "girl" standing in front of him was undeniably his cheap older brother. The cursed energy signature was identical.
But Satoru's soul violently rejected the horrifying, undeniable truth!
Why is she a guy?! How can my brother be this cute?!
Clatter!
The brand-new camera Satoru had explicitly purchased to record his brother's darkest, most humiliating history slipped from his numb fingers and crashed to the floor.
Satoru clamped a hand over his nose to stem the sudden, violent flow of fresh blood. He pointed a trembling finger at Mirai, his expression a chaotic mix of absolute infatuation and furious terror.
"SEAL IT!" Satoru screamed.
"IT MUST BE SEALED! FOR THE SAKE OF MY LIFELONG HAPPINESS, THIS HERESY MUST BE SEALED AWAY FOREVER!"
Seeing the sheer, existential panic on his brother's face, Mirai realized Satoru didn't understand the gravity of the situation.
A mischievous, playful light entered Mirai's eyes.
He curled his hands into little cat paws. He turned his feet inward in a shy, demure stance. He looked up at Satoru through his eyelashes and let out the softest, most devastatingly cute cat-noise imaginable.
"Meow~"
PFFFT!
The critical hit landed. Satoru's nosebleed erupted with volcanic force! A fountain of blood shot directly into the air, reaching a staggering height of eighty feet before raining down upon the hallway!
The entire Gojo estate was thrown into absolute chaos!
Aftermath Report:
Due to severe blood loss and profound psychological trauma, Gojo Satoru locked himself in his room and refused to leave the estate for two and a half months.
As for the "female" protagonist, Zenin Kanata? The outfit and the persona were permanently sealed away within Mirai's shadow, designated as an Absolute Anti-Satoru weapon, never to be seen by the public.
And so, Gojo Satoru's very first, shallow crush was brutally murdered before it could even begin.
He also learned the second most important lesson of his life from his older brother:
Beware of cute girls! Beware of cute boys! BEWARE OF TRAPS!
A/N: For this week, every 100 Powerstones will get ya'll an extra chapter! Thank you! Please drop reviews guys ^^