Companions

Xia Jie had not expected Iizuna Noriyuki to say something like that, and he could not help but look at him in a new light.

No wonder Okkotsu and Maki thought so highly of this guy. Even Xia Jie felt a little admiration for his courage.

Just as Xia Jie began to feel favorably toward Iizuna Noriyuki, he saw him grab Takano Shinichi and whisper some downright scandalous words about being exhausted in body and mind and needing to enjoy pleasures only adults could enjoy to ease the strain.

This guy...! Was he actually going to a place like that?!

Countless scantily clad young women immediately appeared in Xia Jie's imagination, and the favorable impression he had just formed of Iizuna Noriyuki vanished completely.

Damn it! At a time like this, he was actually leaving me behind!

Xia Jie gritted his teeth as he parted ways with Iizuna Noriyuki, but he ultimately could not resist asking Ijichi where they were going.

"Takano said that Iizuna has a habit of soaking in hot springs, so they should have gone to the hot spring inn at the mountaintop," Ijichi replied.

"So that was it!" Xia Jie said awkwardly. It turned out he had misunderstood Iizuna Noriyuki.

Of course, that was not all... Ijichi thought. That inn had mixed bathing areas for men and women, but as a minor, Xia Jie was better off not knowing that!

Maki sat on the bed in the inn, thinking about everything that had happened that day.

The Vengeful Spirit Collective, Shadow Maru, Xia Jie, Iizuna Noriyuki... She rose to her feet and looked at her reflection in the window.

"Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer..." Maki murmured to her reflection. "Am I going to become a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer?"

Unlike Xia Jie, who disliked being evaluated as a high-ranking sorcerer, Maki had always longed to become a Jujutsu Sorcerer who could stand on her own.

That was also the real reason she had never liked Xia Jie very much.

Because something she could not obtain had come to him effortlessly, only for him to... treat it like trash.

No one could avoid feeling angry in such a situation. That was why Maki had never gotten along with Xia Jie, always using training as an excuse to harshly teach that clueless guy a lesson.

But the incident with subduing the Cursed Child had shown her another side of Xia Jie: he cared for his companions.

And when he had asked Iizuna Noriyuki to recommend her as a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer, she realized something else—this perceptive guy had probably long guessed that she had been "targeting" him, and even understood exactly why.

Had she really made it that obvious? Maki silently wondered.

Of course she had, Maki answered herself. Aside from Xia Jie, companions like Okkotsu, Panda, and Inumaki probably understood how desperately she wanted to become a high-ranking Jujutsu Sorcerer as well. Only she had been deceiving herself and refusing to see it all clearly.

"I will definitely become an outstanding Curse User, then return to the Zenin Clan!"

That bold declaration she had once made to that old man now seemed more like a curse, clouding her eyes and making her view everyone around her through tinted lenses.

It should not have been this way!

Maki left her room, walked to Xia Jie's door, hesitated, then knocked.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Who is it?" Xia Jie opened the door with a puzzled expression. "Maki? What's wrong?"

"Aren't you going to let me in?" Maki asked slowly.

Xia Jie paused, then stepped aside. "Of course you can!"

Maki entered Xia Jie's room and saw a video playing on the computer, featuring a Taoist priest explaining swordsmanship.

Maki could not understand what was being said, but she knew it was Chinese. She looked at Xia Jie in surprise. "I never expected you to watch this kind of thing!"

Xia Jie explained, "You know I use an ancient Chinese sword. Lately, I've been putting together a set of sword techniques, so I'm studying related material for inspiration!"

Ever since obtaining the System Spirit, Xia Jie's memory and learning abilities had skyrocketed.

That was why Xia Jie wanted to learn more about swordsmanship.

Maki looked at the video on the computer, then at Xia Jie. "Just watching videos may not give you a very clear understanding. I know several masters who have trained in Chinese swordsmanship. Want me to introduce you to them?"

Now it was Xia Jie's turn to be surprised. "Maki, you know people like that?"

"In my spare time, I've visited a few dojos," Maki said.

Most of her skills had been learned in the Zenin Clan's Kukuru Unit. After leaving the Zenin Clan and joining Jujutsu High, she had also absorbed the essence of martial arts from other schools.

"Then... thanks, Maki!" Xia Jie said. "Could you recommend a few masters of hand-to-hand combat too?"

Maki snorted. "Wouldn't training with me be better than seeking them out? I know everything they do!"

"That's not it. I need to build my own foundation, and I can't keep wasting your time," Xia Jie said with a smile. "By the way, Maki, what did you come to see me about?"

Maki opened her mouth. She had originally wanted to apologize to Xia Jie, but after being interrupted like that, she found herself unable to say it.

"Maki?" Xia Jie called.

"It's nothing..." Maki said quietly. "I just wanted to thank you for having that Iizuna guy recommend me!"

"Oh, no need to thank me! I only mentioned it in passing. The one who will truly recommend you is Senior Iizuna!"

"I'll thank that pervert too, naturally!" Maki said impatiently. "But mainly, it was you..."

"Forget it! Tell me, did you already know that I wanted to become a high-ranking Jujutsu Sorcerer?" Maki asked directly.

"Uh... yeah!" Xia Jie said.

"Then what do you think of me?" Maki pressed.

"Hardworking, motivated..." Xia Jie answered.

"I don't want to hear that nonsense!" Maki snapped.

"Everyone has something they pursue. Isn't it normal to pursue something?" Xia Jie changed his answer. "As for what I think... I honestly don't have much of an opinion."

Maki fell silent. "Then why did you help me?"

"What are you struggling with, Maki?" Xia Jie asked. "We're companions. If I can help, then naturally I should! Haven't you always helped train me too?"

"That's different!" Maki looked at Xia Jie with complicated eyes.

"What's different?" Xia Jie asked.

"I... had selfish motives!" As if making up her mind, Maki spoke truthfully. "You should know that I... can't use Cursed Energy at all!"

"If I take off these glasses, I can't even see Cursed Spirits! If I don't rely on Cursed Tools, I can't exorcise Cursed Spirits!"

"But even so, I still want to prove to everyone that someone like me can become an outstanding Jujutsu Sorcerer!"

"Because I was born into the renowned Zenin Clan of Jujutsu Society!"

"Do you know what it feels like to be rejected by your own family?"

"No one cares about you, because in their eyes, you're a worthless burden who might as well not exist!"

"That's exactly why I swore to become an outstanding Jujutsu Sorcerer and make those hateful looks from the Zenin Clan disappear!"

"So I joined Jujutsu High, worked hard to train and exorcise Cursed Spirits, but... even now, I'm still only a Grade 4 Jujutsu Sorcerer!"

"Then you appeared!"

"You entered Jujutsu High as a Semi-Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer! Yet you never cared about being Semi-Grade 1!"

"You truly didn't care! You made me even angrier than Okkotsu did back then!"

"That's why I couldn't help teaching you a lesson! So everyone would know that I wasn't weaker than anyone else!"

"I know very well that doing this was unfair to you, but... I couldn't stop myself!"

"So..." Maki looked at Xia Jie with complicated emotions. "Do you still consider someone like me your companion?"