Did I Steal Yuta Okkotsu's Spotlight?

After erecting a tombstone for the Cursed Spirit, Akesato turned away coolly without looking back.

A real man never looked back at a steamroller (X).

With experience skyrocketing, Gardevoir leveled up again (√).

This would not have happened if they had not killed the enemy.

Akesato was very pleased and high-fived Gardevoir in celebration.

"You really worked hard today, Little Sa."

First, she had cleared the field, then unleashed unprecedentedly high damage output.

Though Gardevoir had not said so herself, Akesato could still see her exhaustion.

Incidentally, Pokémon Skills were closer to the anime than the games.

In the games, you could only equip four Skills, but in reality, any Skill you learned could be used.

The games' PP system did not exist in reality either—or rather, the mechanics were different.

The real-world system was more like a Mana Bar. Different Skills consumed different amounts, and you could increase the consumption to extend a Skill's duration. Conversely, once the Mana Bar was empty, no Skills could be used at all.

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir cutely shook her head, indicating that she was not tired.

"There, there."

Their daily routine: time to interact.

Only after finishing all that did he lead Gardevoir toward the two people and one Panda who had likewise gathered together.

The girl named Maki was the first to approach. Bowing, she said, "Thank you for saving me. I'm Maki Zenin, a first-year student at Jujutsu High. I don't like being addressed by my family name, so just call me Maki."

"I'm Panda." The Panda was the second to speak. "He's Toge Inumaki. Like Maki, he's a first-year student at Jujutsu High. Because of his Cursed Speech, Toge usually only says rice ball fillings. Please excuse him."

Akesato nodded and did not ask further.

He knew all the details.

That Maki's position in the Zenin Family was even worse than Noritoshi Kamo's had once been in the Kamo family.

Toge's verbal habit.

As well as Panda's origins, and the fact that he was actually the trio's strategist and the one with the highest emotional intelligence.

"Akesato, a passing Jujutsu Sorcerer. Exorcising Cursed Spirits is a good thing, but please handle the accompanying procedures first. At the very least, put up a 'Curtain.'"

Although part of the trio's predicament was due to Toge Inumaki's Cursed Speech affecting Akesato and Gardevoir and suffering backlash, the root cause was that they had not followed the rules.

"It was an emergency. Our mission was to search for a mysterious Jujutsu Sorcerer active in this area. We happened to discover a Cursed Womb on the verge of forming, hidden inside this school. If we didn't exorcise it in time, it might have become even stronger."

Hearing Maki say that, Akesato remembered that Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 0 seemed to have had a large, powerful Cursed Spirit hidden in a school as well.

However, that Cursed Spirit had been equally unlucky, running into the prequel's protagonist—the even more broken Yuta Okkotsu.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

If he remembered correctly, Maki had been on that mission too.

Akesato looked at Maki, and Maki looked back at him. She pushed up the glasses on her nose, her interest clearly piqued.

Akesato had not intended to hide it anyway. Making contact with the Jujutsu world this way had always been part of his plan.

"If you mean the campaign to clear out Urban Legends, that was me."

"Why did you do that?"

"Do I need a reason to exorcise Cursed Spirits?"

"Don't you?"

The man and woman stared wide-eyed at each other.

A quick note here: the Kamo family had inherited squinty eyes for generations. Of course, that did nothing to diminish Akesato's handsomeness.

"Maki, Mr. Akesato is your lifesaver."

Panda, the emotionally intelligent one, stepped in to keep Maki Zenin, who tended to speak without thinking, from killing the conversation.

"I'm sorry. My companion means no harm; we're simply curious. Most Jujutsu Sorcerers are highly self-centered and act with clear motives—for fame, money, or some other reason. Jujutsu High needs to make the relevant assessment whenever an unregistered Jujutsu Sorcerer appears."

"I understand."

The words were still not especially pleasant, but Akesato knew Panda was telling the truth.

Jujutsu Sorcerers were also people who wielded cursed energy. Emotions stemmed from curses, and their work involved dancing on the edge of a blade. Without an exceptionally firm sense of self, it was easy to go astray—either cursing oneself or becoming a Curse User who cursed others.

Compared to lofty ideals, practical goals were clearly easier to see, grasp, and less likely to make one lose their way.

That was not to say it was absolute, only relatively speaking. Which was why those who strove for lofty goals their entire lives, even at the cost of their own lives, seemed all the more precious.

Unfortunately, most people could not do that. Akesato could not either; his actions were still grounded in reality.

"I also have a clear purpose: to train my partner and, incidentally, gather some materials."

Akesato held out his hand, and Gardevoir obediently placed a crystal in his palm. After using Leaf Magic and before Steamroller Tombstone, she had already taken out the Z-Crystal Shard.

That's right. A Z-Crystal Shard.

Not a Shard.

Did that mean the stronger the Cursed Spirit, the higher the drop rate?

That was hardly strange for a game system, but stronger enemies also meant greater risk.

Unfortunately, it still wasn't Psychic or Fairy type, but Dark type.

That confirmed it—the system really was a trashy gacha game.

Akesato was distracted by the Z-Crystal Shard, while Maki and the other two weren't looking at him at all. They were looking at Gardevoir, who had been the absolute main force in exorcising the Cursed Spirit.

Although she had taken a little time to prepare, the sight of her chaining three moves together to swiftly kill a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit still shocked these fledgling first-years.

Maki opened her mouth several times, only to swallow her words each time.

She was straightforward, but not stupid. She wouldn't actually try to provoke a pair of powerhouses capable of swiftly killing a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.

Akesato secretly found it amusing. "If you want to ask, then ask. It's fine."

"Then I'll ask directly. What exactly is this lady? She's not human, but she doesn't seem like a Cursed Spirit either."

"And she isn't a cursed corpse like me," Panda added.

"Salmon!" Inumaki's speech: Exactly.

"This is my greatest secret, so it wouldn't be convenient to reveal it for now."

Akesato played coy. Honestly, he didn't know how Pokémon should be classified in this world.

In any case, he didn't care about species, and neither did his mother, Akemi.

"That answer doesn't sound like a Jujutsu Sorcerer at all."

Maki was referring to "Cursed Spirit Revelation," which was also a type of Kikaku: revealing one's Cursed Technique in exchange for a stronger effect.

"I'm not a mainstream Jujutsu Sorcerer either." Akesato's response was flawless. "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first. We'll meet again if fate allows."

"Sha~" The "sha" of sayonara—another installment of Gardevoir speech.

Panda watched the two depart, raising a claw to scratch his nose. "He seems like a pretty good guy. What do you think?"

"Very strong, and very tactically intelligent." Maki's focus was different once again. She stared at the Steamroller Tombstone for quite a while. "Back at Yoshiwara Shrine, I wasn't convinced. I never imagined the gap was this huge."

"Mentaiko." Inumaki's speech: We should be a little careful.

"Sorry, Panda, Kato. I was the one who insisted on investigating him."

"No need to apologize. I agreed too." Panda waved a claw.

"Salmon Roe." Inumaki's speech: YES, YES, YES.

"Then let's head back. Even if that Idiot Teacher laughs at me, I'll accept it."

Maki was glad that she had met such wonderful companions.

At first, she had wondered what kind of weirdos they were, but after actually spending time with them, she found them truly wonderful. If possible, Maki wanted to be friends with them for the rest of her life, though she would never say so aloud.

By then, the sky had cleared, and daylight shone brightly.

Akesato pulled out the Wedge, and the Curtain was lifted.

Gardevoir glanced in the direction of the trio and gave two soft cries.

Akesato understood what she meant. "Do you like them a lot?"

"Sha~"

The expected affirmative answer. Her reason was simple: they were good people, positive and full of life like flowers turning toward the sun.

"Don't worry. We'll see them again soon. But before that, there are still some things I need to do."

The system interface before his eyes had remained open for a long time. Within it was a brand-new system message, identical in nature to the beginner's gift pack.

Its thumbnail icon was an egg with a distinctive black-and-white pattern.