Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto had been childhood friends and were extremely close.
So close that Eiriri was insanely jealous.
So close that one day, Rika secretly took out her parents' wedding rings and gave one to Yuta, promising that they would get married when they grew up and stay together forever.
Then something dramatic happened.
The very next day, Rika was hit by a truck—the designated tool of transmigration. By the time Yuta rushed over after hearing the news, his childhood friend was already lying in a pool of blood, her head crushed beneath the wheels.
Trembling, Yuta walked over to Rika. To his surprise, the already-dead Rika suddenly reached out and grabbed his ankle, making a broken, intermittent sound:
"Yu... ta... Yu... ta..."
"W-hen-we-gro-w-up-we'll-get-mar-ried. It's-a-pro-mise."
"And then he was cursed by the Rika he loved most. That was more or less how it happened. So be careful in the future, or you might trigger Rika's curse."
Standing atop the ruins, Satoru Gojo wore a bright smile, utterly lacking the atmosphere of someone telling a ghost story.
The ruins had naturally been caused by Gardevoir and Rika Orimoto. Although Akesato had considered the situation and moved from indoors to outdoors, he had still underestimated the destructive power of the strongest Cursed Spirit. The school building, which had stood for nearly a century, could not withstand the aftershocks of their clash and was violently shaken apart.
"Uh, can you explain what that's about?" Panda asked.
"Tuna mayonnaise." Inumaki raised a hand at the same time and pointed toward the other side of the ruins.
Over there, Rika Orimoto, now shrunk down to the size of an ordinary person, sat on the ground and let Gardevoir pat her head.
"Sa~ sa~ sa~ sa~"
"Oh~ oh~ oh~ oh~"
Although neither of them was speaking human language, anyone could see that the two nonhumans were getting along wonderfully.
Weren't you two fighting to the death just a few minutes ago?
One of them had repeatedly been beaten until she was missing arms and legs.
The other had also been blasted away more than once, and her most beloved master still had one arm he could not lift.
Could it really be that the harder they fought, the better their relationship became?
"Don't ask me. I don't know either—I'm not a woman." Satoru Gojo spread his hands and looked at Maki.
Maki rolled her eyes. "I don't understand women either. Hey, stop grinning like an idiot over there and explain."
The idiot grinning was naturally Akesato. Although he had failed to remain completely uninjured, his mood was more than ten times better than before the fight. The upward curve of his lips had not stopped once. If this continued, his facial muscles might cramp from smiling.
"Explain what?"
"Why are Little Sa and Rika Orimoto getting along so well? Doesn't she hate Cursed Spirits the most?"
"Because Rika isn't an ordinary Cursed Spirit. She isn't driven by hatred, but love."
Maki let out an exaggerated "Huh?" "Love? Love can turn someone into that?"
"Overwhelming love is still love. I guess it counts as yandere?" Akesato accidentally revealed his true nature.
Fortunately, Jujutsu High had a great atmosphere. No one looked down on 2D stuff, and Satoru Gojo, the one at the top, had an even stronger 2D obsession.
"More or less. Now that you put it that way, I get it—there's no curse more twisted than love in this world. Oh, that line gets a high rating in Satoru Gojo's book."
Setting aside that bizarre teacher with his ever-changing vibe for the moment, the two of them were correct in their analysis of Rika Orimoto.
To ordinary people, that love was far too heavy, too much to bear. But for Gardevoir, it was not a problem at all.
Gardevoir was just as extreme at heart. The Pokémon Encyclopedia stated it clearly: when her Trainer faced danger, she would gamble her life and unleash her strongest Psychic Power to save them.
Gardevoir sincerely identified with everything Rika Orimoto had done for Yuta Okkotsu. Even more so with the feeling of caring for only one person with all one's heart and soul, of staying together through life and death.
Thus, at the end of the battle, when Akesato had planned to summon Satoru Gojo to control the situation and forcibly end the fight, Gardevoir unusually voiced an objection, saying she had a way to calm Rika Orimoto down.
After saying that, she floated over and held a round of encrypted "sa sa sa" conversation. Rika Orimoto quickly calmed down and said, "Rika likes you. Let's be friends."
After receiving Gardevoir's affirmative reply, the scene somehow turned into them cuddling and rubbing against each other.
Of course, this was also because Rika Orimoto had the temperament of a child and did not hold grudges.
Anyone with eyes could tell that neither side had killing intent during their previous clash. Rika Orimoto had treated the entire thing as a game from beginning to end.
It could not be helped. Rika Orimoto's scale of existence was simply too massive—so massive that even Satoru Gojo was not confident he could exorcise her completely.
Akesato could picture what a battle between them would look like without even thinking about it—invincible and untouchable versus absurdly powerful and unbelievably tanky. Rika could not touch Satoru Gojo, while Satoru Gojo would have a hard time draining Rika's enormous health bar.
That was why Akesato and Gardevoir's attacks had merely looked vicious. Compared to that massive health bar, they were actually quite limited. Being able to deal real damage and escape the realm of mere scratching was already incredibly impressive.
It had to be said that Special Grade was the level with the widest disparity. Some Special Grades had only just reached Special Grade, while others were Special Grade only because the evaluation ceiling stopped there.
That was true of Satoru Gojo among Jujutsu Sorcerers, and Rika Orimoto among Cursed Spirits.
Akesato and Gardevoir still had a long way to go.
So did Yuta Okkotsu.
"Do you know what you need to do now?"
"I do." Yuta Okkotsu was actually very smart.
Watching Gardevoir and Rika live together so harmoniously, he understood that he had fallen into a misunderstanding.
Because of the shock of seeing his childhood friend become a Cursed Spirit with his own eyes, as well as the frightening appearance she had taken after becoming one, Yuta had always resisted Rika's existence. He saw her as the source of his misfortune and his greatest burden, and had never truly accepted her.
Gardevoir had shown Yuta through her actions that no matter how much Rika's appearance changed, her essence was still Rika. She could be communicated with, and he did not even need to worry that she would hurt others.
"Classmate Akesato, please teach me what I should do."
"Don't worry, don't worry. Even if you didn't want to learn, I'd still teach you."
Akesato patted Yuta Okkotsu on the shoulder. It was not that he was addicted to teaching people and wanted to take everything on himself, but because—
"You are a Stand User of the same type as me."
"A Stand User?" Yuta Okkotsu's pupils contracted.
Because of Rika's existence, Yuta Okkotsu had spent most of his youth in a withdrawn state.
Afraid that Rika would hurt people, he had always deliberately kept his distance from others or acted harmless and inoffensive.
The former left him without friends, while the latter, combined with his frail build, made him the favorite target of certain bullies.
The serious incident where four people were stuffed into a locker had also happened because they tried to bully Yuta, angering Rika. It eventually alerted the Jujutsu world and led to Satoru Gojo discovering him.
Unable to connect with the real world, 2D became his best way of passing the time.
Naturally, he had not missed JOJO. What he especially admired was the unwavering will that ran throughout the story, regardless of whether one was good or evil. That was precisely what he lacked.
So it was not just their Stand types that were the same. Akesato smiled faintly, twisted his body, and struck a JOJO pose.
Yuta Okkotsu had a sudden realization and copied him.
The two exchanged a glance, then called out at the same time:
"Gardevoir—"
"Rika—"
The two appeared behind them in response, just like "Stands."
Satoru Gojo watched with blazing envy. Striking a JOJO pose himself, he shouted, "Damn it, I want a Stand too! Ari, do you have any other Pokémon? Lend me one."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't lend you one. I'm not letting you take advantage of me."
Akesato and Yuta Okkotsu were doing Joseph's pose, while Satoru Gojo was doing Jonathan's pose.
Damn!
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