The finger

At nine thirty that evening, the streetlights along the road came on one by one.

Itadori and Mashiro, who should have left, appeared on the roof of Junpei's apartment building.

Itadori lowered his voice. "Mashiro, what exactly is going on? Isn't Junpei Mahito's target? How did we end up getting a free dinner?"

Mashiro sat on the railing beside him, her feet dangling over the edge and gently swinging.

Instead of answering his question, she asked, "What do you think of Junpei Yoshino?"

Itadori smiled and scratched his head. "He's pretty interesting. I think he'd be fun to have as a friend."

Mashiro nodded. "Since he has a cursed technique and Mahito has his eye on him, we need to take him to Jujutsu High to keep him safe."

Itadori froze. "That's why we came over for dinner? Then what are we waiting for now?"

"Mahito cares a lot about this target. He's bound to do something." Mashiro lay back on the roof, her crimson eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. "So we wait here."

Itadori abruptly sat up. "Then Junpei-"

Suddenly, a shudder of alarm ran through Itadori. He sensed Sukuna's Finger, and the signal was coming from inside Junpei's home!

Itadori jerked upright and grabbed Mashiro's wrist. "Mashiro, did you feel that? Sukuna's Finger is in Junpei's home!"

Mashiro was already on her feet, her crimson eyes startlingly bright in the darkness. "Yes. Looks like Mahito has made his move. He's using Sukuna's Finger to draw cursed spirits here to attack them!"

She glanced down over the edge of the roof. The window of the Yoshinos' fourth-floor apartment was open, and cursed energy was seeping out.

It carried the stench of a cursed spirit, mingled with the cold, sinister pulses of a special grade cursed object emanating from Sukuna's Finger.

"Mahito." Itadori's tone was flat as he spoke the name, but Mashiro could still hear the anger simmering beneath his voice.

The sound of shattering glass came from below, followed immediately by Nagi Yoshino's scream.

Mashiro jumped off the roof, with Itadori right behind her. They landed one after the other on the outdoor air-conditioning unit outside the fourth-floor window.

Mashiro kicked open the already shattered window frame, and Murasame appeared in her palm.

Inside the living room, Nagi Yoshino had collapsed beside the sofa.

A cursed spirit loomed before her. One of its tentacles was wrapped around Sukuna's Finger on the coffee table, radiating a cold, sinister aura, while another reached for Nagi Yoshino's face.

Mashiro moved first. Space Cutting struck silently, severing the tentacle at its base when it was less than ten centimeters from Nagi Yoshino.

The cursed spirit shrieked. Black pus sprayed from the stump, but Mashiro held it suspended with her water control, keeping it from harming Nagi Yoshino.

Itadori charged out from behind Mashiro and drove a punch into the center of the cursed spirit's torso.

Cursed energy exploded from his fist, blasting a hole clean through its body.

But it still did not die. Its split mouths all opened at once, letting out a piercing scream.

Too ordinary.

A sonic attack. That was the last thing she feared.

Mashiro extended her hand. High-frequency vibrations spread from her palm, colliding with the cursed spirit's scream in midair and canceling it out.

The cursed spirit's many gaping mouths snapped shut together as its own sound waves backfired on it.

Seizing the opening, Itadori punched through its body again. The cursed spirit began to disintegrate, black smoke escaping between his fingers.

"Mom!"

The living room lights suddenly came on.

Junpei stood in his bedroom doorway, still in his pajamas.

His pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the cursed spirit dissolving into black smoke in the living room, his mother collapsed beside the sofa, the black residue still dripping from Itadori's fist, and Mashiro standing on the windowsill with Murasame in hand.

Murasame's blade gleamed coldly silver-white beneath the light.

"Junpei." Nagi Yoshino braced herself and tried to stand, her legs still trembling. Itadori reached out to help her.

The last of the cursed spirit vanished into the black smoke.

Sukuna's Finger fell to the floor, still emitting pulses of cursed energy.

Mashiro walked over and tossed it to Itadori.

Itadori caught it, only for a mouth to open in his palm and swallow the finger.

"This guy..." Itadori's mouth twitched helplessly.

Nagi Yoshino looked at Mashiro, then at Itadori. Her lips moved. "Who... exactly are you?"

Mashiro withdrew Murasame into her palm, then walked over to stand before Nagi Yoshino.

"Jujutsu sorcerers," she said. "Your son is like us. Junpei, you could see that cursed spirit, couldn't you?"

Junpei did not deny it. He had seen it. Of course he had.

He had seen that cursed spirit trying to eat his mother, and they had saved her.

Itadori helped Nagi Yoshino sit on the sofa, then walked over to Junpei.

He gave Junpei's shoulder a gentle pat.

"Junpei, come to Jujutsu High," Itadori said.

Junpei raised his head to look at him.

"It's a school specifically for training jujutsu sorcerers," Mashiro said. "Itadori is a student there. If you want to come, you can enroll right away and be in the same year as him."

She paused. "Your mother will also be protected by Jujutsu High. These cursed spirits won't have another chance to get near her."

Nagi Yoshino sat on the sofa, her hand still pressed to her chest, but her breathing had steadied.

She looked at her son's back. That monster's tentacle had been less than ten centimeters from her face.

She had seen those sharp spikes clearly, and she had seen with her own eyes how Mashiro had severed it in an instant.

"Can I learn how to control this power?" Junpei asked, his voice low.

"Yes," Mashiro said. "And you have a pretty good senior who's learning that right now."

She tilted her head and glanced at Itadori.

Itadori paused, then broke into a grin and pointed his thumb at his chest. "Right! I've been learning cursed energy control lately. I can teach you!"

Junpei's lips twitched. He wanted to say something, but the words never came.

Nagi Yoshino slowly regained her composure. She rose from the sofa, walked over to Junpei, and placed both hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes.

"Do you want to go?"

Junpei was silent for a few seconds. "...Yes."

Nagi Yoshino nodded, then turned to Mashiro.

"Miss Kujou, I have two questions."

"Please, go ahead."

"Will Junpei be in danger after he goes to Jujutsu High?"

"Jujutsu High has a barrier that keeps cursed spirits out. He'll be much safer inside the school than outside. Jujutsu High will assign personnel from Window to protect you discreetly, so you won't get caught up in any fighting."

"Then I have nothing else to ask. Junpei, go pack your things."

"Now?" Junpei froze for a moment.

"Aren't you going with your friends?" Nagi Yoshino tipped her chin toward Itadori.

Itadori was crouching on the floor, trying to wipe up the holes that the dead cursed spirit's pus had eaten into it with tissues. Only after wiping did he realize they would not come off.

He scratched his head and muttered, "Looks like this won't wipe off."

Junpei looked at Itadori's back, then glanced at Mashiro.

"I'll go pack."

Mashiro made a call, asking Ijichi to drive over and pick them up.

Before dawn, the four of them left the apartment building and got into the car bound for Jujutsu High.

I was too busy today, so this came a little late, or2