Poison Blood and Sisters

Mai Zenin lay on the hospital bed and narrowed her eyes weakly.

She swept a glance toward the doorway; she clearly saw that someone was there, but her gaze fell hollowly to the other side.

"Cough, cough... How strange. Is it a draft? Why would the door open by itself?"

"..."

Maki Zenin let out a light sigh, putting one hand on her hip while adjusting her glasses with the other.

"I'm telling you, how can your mouth still be this poisonous after so long? Do you act like this when getting along with people at school?"

"Cough, cough... Mind your own business..."

The sisters of the Zenin Clan were meeting again, yet neither expected it to be in this manner.

Maki strolled forward, placed the cursed tool she carried on her shoulder down by her feet, and sat down quite naturally at the head of the bed.

She crossed her arms over her chest, crossed her legs, and spoke in a rather flippant tone.

"So, what's the deal with what happened? How did you get hurt this badly? Your head's wrapped up like a pig's head... It should take at least two months to recover from this."

Her tone was quite sarcastic, carrying a somewhat biting edge.

Yet Mai Zenin did not seem surprised, and was able to "take it all in stride" by now.

The interaction between the two of them was inherently very unpleasant.

On ordinary days, they even held a mutual feeling of "never interacting until the day we die."

Yet, what kind of emotions actually remained between them... perhaps only the people involved could describe it clearly.

Mai Zenin pursed her lips and turned her head toward the other side. She seemed disinclined to have excessive eye contact with her older sister.

"Didn't it already get written in the report? Do at least a little homework before coming to visit someone... Don't make me recite it out loud myself."

"It's precisely because I read it that I found it strange."

Maki tilted her head slightly, her single ponytail sweeping down from her shoulder, bringing a hint of doubt into her tone.

"What is this about an unknown curse user suddenly appearing who is capable of using Crimson Blood Manipulation? Mai, do you even know what you're saying?"

As if to emphasize her point, Maki half-turned her body, facing her younger sister directly while her tone also turned serious.

"Crimson Blood Manipulation is the secret ancestral technique of the Kamo Lineage. Even with inbreeding, it's not guaranteed that one can fully inherit the technique... How could someone with that kind of talent end up wandering outside?"

The facts were indeed true.

Just like Kamo Noritoshi, who was himself a member of a branch family, but because he inherited the ancestral technique, he could logically become a candidate for family head...

To Jujutsu Society, talent equaled resources, and was everything a sorcerer possessed.

At the same time, through the original story, it wasn't hard to make a judgment about the internal situation of the Kamo Lineage... They were certainly lacking people capable of inheriting the ancestral technique afterward.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been in such a rush to "officially promote" Kamo Noritoshi.

To sum it all up.

Why would a talented and young successor of Crimson Blood Manipulation break away from the Kamo Lineage to act on their own, and even violently attack Mai Zenin?

This matter exuded an eerie and subtle vibe from the inside out...

"To be frank, that white-haired bastard teacher at my school went silent for a long time after hearing about it before he finally said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' How much impact do you think this thing had on everyone else?"

Mai Zenin tilted her head like that and couldn't help clicking her tongue.

"Do you think I don't know?"

Coming from a great clan, the education Mai received in this regard wasn't poor to begin with.

"But it happened! How do you want me to explain it so you'll believe me?!"

"...Anyway, calm down first."

As the older sister, she had to act a little more magnanimous at a time like this, and be as tolerant of her younger sister as possible...

"So annoying! Hurry up and get lost, I don't want to see you!"

"..."

Maki sighed helplessly, roughly realizing that there seemed to be no room to continue chatting about this matter.

Anyway, Jujutsu High was also contacting people to start taking action, and barring any accidents, someone would be assigned to handle it subsequently.

Thinking of this, Maki took the opportunity to adjust her sitting posture.

"I heard your coughs from far away. Have the injuries you suffered previously still not healed?"

With other matters brought up, Mai's attention was also smoothly diverted. She clenched her hands together through gritted teeth, her throat rolling for a moment before she just choked out a violent cough.

"Cough, cough, cough... I don't know either, but my physical condition just keeps getting worse... It's like there's some kind of poison that won't go away! Damn it, it hurts..."

Maki frowned.

Before coming, she had already obtained relevant information through Kyoto Jujutsu High.

Mai Zenin's injuries were mainly concentrated in two areas.

One side was a large-scale contusion in the head region... Having suffered the invasion of a tremendous force, her cheekbone was sunken, accompanied by very obvious damage to other parts as well.

The only thing to be said as the greatest misfortune among misfortunes was probably that the injuries didn't affect her eyeballs.

Of course, the main point wasn't here.

The problem lay in the wound that had pierced through her shoulder.

The flesh and blood were pierced completely through from front to back, and even her shoulder bone was struck right through in its entirety.

Ordinary-grade firearms couldn't achieve that degree, and some reference tests were conducted afterward... Through Kamo Noritoshi's testimony, it could be confirmed that this itself was indeed a usage method for Crimson Blood Manipulation.

"It didn't reach the level of Piercing Blood, but it should be an approach that reduced the power to increase the efficiency of use... The way of thinking is very peculiar; it shouldn't be some curse user who just awakened."

The penetrating wound was still relatively easy to deal with, but the problem was the "poison" that had melted into Mai's body.

Those blood vessels controlled by Crimson Blood Manipulation weren't very "clean" to begin with...

Various treatments had been carried out using modern medical means, but nowadays there still didn't seem to be any trace of improvement.

Things were getting trickier.

Zen'in Maki subconsciously adjusted her sitting posture once more.

"Haven't you had other treatments done?"

"They've all been used. They said if it goes on like this, the only option left is a blood wash... What a pain..."

"I'll pay for the money. I still have some savings from completing missions. You don't have to worry about this aspect."

Mai was silent for a moment, wriggled about, but didn't turn her body around.

"...I'm not going to say thank you."

"Then I'll just take it that you said it."

The relationship between these two people was originally very special, and perhaps this awkwardness was also their most unique way of getting along?

This subtle atmosphere didn't last long, because soon, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door again. Only this movement was halting and powerful, sounding extremely regular.

The next moment, the heavy door was pushed open.

A mechanical puppet wearing the Jujutsu High uniform walked in from outside.

"Mai, I have a way to solve the poison blood."