Akesato's body stiffened. Like he had rusted over, he slowly turned his head inch by inch.
A woman stood outside the open bedroom door.
She was around forty, somewhat similar to Akesato, yet not quite.
They both had black hair and black eyes, strikingly attractive features, and the same gentle curve at the corners of their eyes and brows.
What differed were their facial features, as well as the temperament hidden beneath them.
Akesato's gentleness was often habitual camouflage, making him seem more harmless. Like a sharp sword, it was usually kept sheathed.
The woman's gentleness, on the other hand, was genuine inside and out. She radiated grace and tenderness, like the legendary Yamato Nadeshiko, that elegance ingrained into her very bones.
Yet this very woman made Akesato react like a mouse seeing a cat. He called out stiffly, "Y-you, why are you here?"
"Can't a mother worry when her son goes wandering at night?" She was Akesato's mother, Akemi.
"Of course. Of course you can."
Akesato nodded hurriedly, then secretly glanced at Gardevoir beside him.
At some point, she had gone from standing opposite him to sitting off to the side, kneeling properly, the picture of obedience.
With Gardevoir's abilities, she had long noticed someone outside the door. But that was Akesato's mother, the second person she knew best, someone who could never harm Akesato. Why would she be on guard?
Akesato had clearly thought of that as well, secretly deciding that next time, he would ask Gardevoir where his mother was first, lest he be caught off guard again.
Akesato had plenty of secrets, and even more things he could not let others know. Even his mother, who had depended on him for survival, was someone he did not want to tell.
He cautiously probed, "Mom, you already knew?"
"I knew. I always knew. I knew that you went out at night every so often, that there were Cursed Spirits in the village, and that you deliberately did not fully exorcise them, leaving behind a little 'spark.'"
Akemi closed the bedroom door, then knelt on the tatami and motioned for Akesato to sit as well.
Since she had chosen to ambush her son at this moment, naturally she would not keep hiding things any longer.
"Don't forget, I was able to marry into the Kamo family, so my qualities as a Jujutsu Sorcerer are hardly poor. When that person sent us here, he also intended for me to keep this place clean and prevent Cursed Spirits from causing trouble."
Akesato gave a humorless chuckle. "As expected of the Family Head of one of the Three Great Families. He leaves no loose ends."
Akemi's eyelid twitched slightly. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but instead asked, "You said just now that you wanted to lay your cards on the table with me. What cards?"
"Moving. This place is remote and isolated, with no future and no prospects. All the young people have left, while the elderly have either moved away or passed on. Before long, this place will completely fade into the past. Without people, no more Cursed Spirits will be born. Now that the Cursed Spirits have been completely eliminated, there's no need for us to stay here any longer. The weather has been nice lately. It's perfect for..."
At that point, Akesato suddenly could not continue, because Akemi's expression had gradually become serious as the conversation progressed.
She said, "This was your father's decision—the Family Head of the Kamo family. Have you considered the consequences of defying it?"
"I have. The most likely possibility is that he does not know. The agreed five years have already passed, and another three years have gone by. The people watching us have not come again either.
"Even if he does know, there is still a good chance he will turn a blind eye. After all, eight years have passed. Whatever needed deciding has long been decided, and whatever needed burying has long been buried."
"What if the Kamo family takes action?"
That was the Kamo family, one of Japan's oldest Jujutsu Sorcerer families, with deep foundations and immense influence.
"It doesn't matter. I'm no longer who I was back then. Even if that cheap old man comes personally, it's no big deal. With Gardevoir here, as long as we don't encounter a Special Grade, there won't be a problem."
At that moment, the gentleness on Akesato's face completely vanished, replaced by a sharp edge Akemi had never seen before. The sword hidden for eight years—no, sixteen years—had finally revealed its blade.
Even if it was only a trace, it was still enough to make one's heart tremble.
Sensing the change in her master's state of mind, Gardevoir let out a cry unlike before.
It was "Garde," yet it also sounded like "Kill"!
Beautiful emotions were Gardevoir's preference, but loyalty was her creed. With a single command from her master, she could become the sharpest sword and the strongest shield.
After eight years of mutual understanding, Akesato did not need to say much. Gardevoir naturally knew what to do.
Her kneeling posture did not change, but invisible force swept outward. It was Gardevoir's signature move, and the hallmark of Psychic-type Pokémon—Psychic.
It interfered with the world through mental power and controlled objects.
The tables, chairs, computer, bed, bookshelf—every object in the room fell under Gardevoir's control and floated into the air.
"This is—?"
Akemi's pupils contracted as Akesato said,
"Mom, excuse me for a moment."
The instant his words fell, Akemi too was caught by Psychic and lifted from the ground.
Akemi was startled at first, then exerted herself in an attempt to break free from Psychic's interference. But no matter how hard she tried, whether using physical strength or cursed energy, she could not offset Gardevoir's Psychic.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg. If you want to see more, we can fly outside and let Gardevoir attack at full strength."
"That won't be necessary. The earth and plants have done nothing wrong. There is no need to destroy them."
Although Akemi was not an especially powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer, she had fought on the front lines in her youth and seen grand scenes. It was no exaggeration to say that among the powerful enemies she had seen, including Quasi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirits and Grade 1 Cursed Spirits, not one possessed power as great as Gardevoir's.
With such strength, it was no wonder Akesato was so confident.
Seeing Akemi shake her head, Akesato did not press the matter. He gave Gardevoir a look, and she immediately returned everything to its original place and released Psychic.
"Mom, please believe me. I can protect you."
"I believe you."
Hearing Akesato say that, Akemi felt both comforted and somewhat sorrowful and uneasy.
"Ari, tell Mom honestly. Have you ever thought about returning to the Kamo family, taking back everything you lost, and becoming Kamo Noritsuna again?"
"No." Akesato shook his head decisively, without the slightest hesitation. "From the day we left the Kamo family, we had nothing to do with that surname anymore."
"Then do you still hate the Kamo family? Do you want revenge against them?"
Akemi looked deeply into her child's eyes, seeing straight through that window into his heart.
"To say I don't hate them at all would be a lie, but revenge is unnecessary. The child you care about most is still there, and sooner or later, he will succeed as Family Head. My biological parents are there too, and before that incident, they had always treated me well. Cutting ties with Kamo was my own choice. As long as the Kamo family does not provoke me, I will not go looking for trouble with them."
"You are also Mom's most important child."
"I know."
Just as Akemi believed that Akesato was not lying to her, Akesato believed Akemi as well. Their eight years together were real, and so was Gardevoir's sensitivity to human hearts.
"But Mom, if that happens, you'll suffer someday in the future."
"Why do you say that?" Akemi did not understand.
"Do you remember what Noriki said when you left home? That one day, he would come and take you back."
A trace of daze flashed through the woman's eyes. A scene buried in the deepest part of her memories surfaced from that sea of recollection, vivid as if it had happened yesterday.
It was the season of falling leaves, on a long sloping road. A boy around Akesato's age stood there, his eyes red from crying. One hand clutched at her hem, while the other constantly wiped away tears. Suppressing his sobs, he asked:
"Why? Why does Mother have to leave?"
Tears streamed down the woman's face as she bent down and held her biological son tightly, with all her strength, for the last time.
"If I stay here, I will become an obstacle in Noriki's path."
At the moment she left her son, she heard the child's hoarse yet firm voice.
"I'll grow stronger. One day, I'll bring Mother back. Please wait for me."
Perhaps to put him at ease, the woman nodded. But she did not look back again. Dragging her suitcase, she walked along the long path and out through the ancient mountain gate.
Outside the mountain gate stood another child, neither sad nor happy, like a wooden puppet at the mercy of others.
The woman looked at this child, unable to hide the complexity on her face. There was anger, resentment, and pity born of shared suffering. In the end, she remembered something, and her expression softened.
The woman took the boy's hand and said gently, "From now on, we'll live together."
The boy gave a soft acknowledgment and left with the woman, departing that ancient family with a history and inheritance spanning a thousand years.
That boy was Akesato. He had lived with Akemi for eight years, even changing his surname from Kamo to Akemi.
The two who had been cast out of the family were no longer permitted to use the Kamo surname. Even all traces of their existence had been erased.
The turbulent sea of memories returned to calm. Akemi sighed. "That was a long time ago. Noriki was only a child."
"Mom, children have very good memories. Once they remember some things, they can never forget them for the rest of their lives." Akesato disagreed. "Don't underestimate children."
"Mom has never underestimated either of you, whether Noriki or you."
There was one thing Akemi had never forgotten, even after eight years.
Her removal from the Kamo family had been inevitable, but Akesato, formerly known as Kamo Noritsuna, did not have to leave. He simply could no longer retain his status as the legitimate son.
Akesato's departure had been something he himself requested of his father, the Family Head, and his mother, the Family Head's principal wife.
"Since my existence would bring shame upon Father and Mother, leaving this place forever is the best choice."
"Even if you announce publicly that I am not the legitimate son, there are so many people in this house. Who can guarantee they will not spread it outside? When that happens, the ones who suffer will still be the two of you."
"Auntie Hayashi Mi lost a son. She should be given a son in return. I rather like Auntie Hayashi Mi."
"Since I did not inherit a Cursed Technique, I cannot gain anything in this family. So please let me go."
Akemi had happened to be outside the door at the time and heard every word clearly.
In that instant, she felt that he was not an eight-year-old child, but an adult more thoughtful and colder than she herself was.
Akemi did not know that her feeling had been correct.
Though Akesato's body was small, his mind differed from ordinary people's, because an adult soul lived within him.
That was right. The ultimate profession hidden by the former Kamo Noritsuna, now Akesato, was—a transmigrator.
He understood this world better than anyone, even better than every native inhabitant of this world—a world known in his previous life as "Jujutsu Kaisen"!
Before you continue