He shifted positions again, propping his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his hands, and started talking about whether Japanese convenience store rice balls tasted better than bread from convenience stores back home.
He casually cursed the dead-tasting pork cutlet and dish-rag miso soup he had eaten, then slid from that topic into "whether curry bread counted as dessert or a staple," and finally, "Suguru Geto, did your bangs grow like that naturally, or did you cut them yourself?"
"I cut them myself."
Under that relentless barrage of nonsense, Suguru Geto finally found an opening to get a word in.
Whose hair naturally grew into one particular lock of bangs?
What kind of idiotic take was that?
"Oh."
Yan Si nodded, his tone carrying a solemn air of understanding. "Nice. Very distinctive. When you're walking down the street, people only have to see your bangs to know it's you."
"...People generally don't identify others by their bangs."
"That's why I said, 'People only have to see your bangs to know it's you,' not 'People recognize you by your bangs.' You weren't listening properly, Geto. I'm very disappointed in you, and I suspect you aren't a very bright boy."
Suguru Geto took a deep breath, stuffed the last bite of tempura into his mouth, and chewed a little harder than usual.
Seeing him eat without speaking, Yan Si changed topics again, starting a discussion with Suguru Geto about "whether cursed spirits would taste better deep-fried or charcoal-grilled, if they were edible."
The premise alone was absurd enough to make anyone roll their eyes, but Yan Si threw himself into the discussion, covering everything from texture to cooking time to the dipping sauce they should be served with.
He analyzed every point with convincing logic, then even nodded at the end, as though his own argument had persuaded him.
"I'm a genius."
Yan Si praised himself.
"Steaming them should be pretty good too," he added, looking utterly sincere.
Suguru Geto was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his polite smile.
The curve of his lips remained, but the corners of his eyes had begun to twitch, and a vein at his temple gave a faint throb.
What was this guy even talking about? At least it had started as a normal conversation, but then the topics began wandering all over the place. Every sentence sounded like a proper statement, yet put together, they became a pile of incomprehensible nonsense.
What the hell were you even saying?!
Suguru Geto finally cracked. He opened his mouth, ready to say something to stop this verbal disaster-or at least steer the conversation away from "the feasibility of cooking cursed spirits."
Because he actually knew what cursed spirits tasted like. Disgusting cursed spirit orbs, with the revolting taste of rotten rags soaked in vomit.
But before he could speak.
Yan Si stood up.
The movement was abrupt, as though he was about to pull another crazy stunt.
He brushed the dust off his coat, solemnly took the remaining bread out of his pocket and put it in Suguru Geto's, then turned to face the open sky beyond the rooftop and the deepening dusk.
"Buddy."
His voice was airy and amused, its Kansai dialect lilt sounding wonderful.
The evening breeze carried it into Suguru Geto's ears.
"Plants vs. Zombies is about to start. I hereby declare that you're Crazy Dave now~"
With that, he leaped straight forward.
He just jumped off.
The hem of his outdoor jacket fluttered in midair, his long hair fanning out. He flashed a peace sign ✌ as he vanished over the edge of the roof, swift and decisive, without a trace of hesitation.
Suguru Geto: ?
He shot to his feet and rushed to the edge of the rooftop, bracing one hand on the concrete ledge as he looked down.
At some point, four cursed spirits had gathered in the open space below.
Something had drawn them there. They prowled and howled beneath the building, their twisted bodies looking especially hideous in the dimming light.
Suguru Geto assessed their grades at a glance. Unlike that amateur Yan Si, he had been exposed to the world of jujutsu since he first began seeing cursed spirits in middle school, and could determine their grades.
One Grade 4, two Grade 3s, and one Grade 1 that was noticeably larger, with a more tainted aura.
Four cursed spirits.
For most jujutsu sorcerers, that lineup required a cautious approach.
He prepared to help.
Then he saw Yan Si land on the ground and wave at him without looking up.
Yan Si made no movement to cushion his landing, nor was there any sign of cursed energy being released. He simply dropped straight down, as lightly as a kitten hopping off a single step.
The next second, Yan Si twirled a boning knife that gleamed coldly in his hand.
The knife was black from end to end, its blade narrow and thin, forming a sharp contrast against Yan Si's excessively pale hand.
Up on the rooftop, Suguru Geto narrowed his eyes and studied the knife for two seconds.
It was no ordinary knife. It seemed to be a cursed tool.
Suguru Geto sat cross-legged at the edge of the roof, propped his chin on one hand, and decided to see just what this nonsense-spouting guy intended to do.
Then he saw it.
Carrying the knife, Yan Si strolled toward the four cursed spirits as lazily as if he were walking around his own backyard. He did not even adopt a fighting stance, form hand signs, chant, or release any cursed technique.
He simply walked up to the nearest Grade 4 and Grade 3 cursed spirits and raised his hand. His movements were absurdly fast, his swings broad and utterly merciless, killing both spirits in an instant.
Suguru Geto: ?
The two cursed spirits never even had a chance to react. They split from top to bottom, their filthy bodies torn open, falling into halves and disappearing.
The other Grade 3 cursed spirit and the Grade 1 lunged at him together. Yan Si sidestepped the Grade 1's swinging claw and casually slashed them, still laughing cheerfully.
There were no unnecessary flourishes to his movements, nor any sophisticated swordsmanship. He simply hacked, stabbed, chopped, and sliced-the most basic movements. Yet every strike was absurdly fast and precise, and every blade stroke hit a cursed spirit without fail.
And he did not defend himself.
Yes, he did not defend himself.
The Grade 1 cursed spirit's tentacle lashed his shoulder, knocking his whole body sideways. Blood burst from his shoulder, staining the collar of the white short-sleeved shirt beneath his jacket.
Suguru Geto instinctively moved to go down and help, already leaning forward, when he saw a layer of pale white light appear over the wound on Yan Si's shoulder. Yan Si did not even turn his head.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
The wound healed visibly, flesh growing back within seconds, as though that bone-deep injury had been an illusion. But the torn fabric proved it had really happened.
Yan Si did not even glance down at his wound. With a backhand slash, he chopped off the Grade 1 cursed spirit's last tentacle, then planted his foot on its face and drove the boning knife down.
Squelch-
The Grade 1 cursed spirit let out a low, mournful cry. Its body began to crumble, the fragments dissolving into nothing in the air.
In less than three minutes, all four cursed spirits had become black residue fading away on the ground.
Suguru Geto sat cross-legged on the rooftop, chin in hand, watching expressionlessly as the guy below flicked his knife.
I thought you were a mage, but you turned out to be a warrior?
A berserker who only attacked and never defended, at that.
Yan Si put the knife away, then suddenly seemed to notice something. He raised his head thoughtfully, looking past the open ground toward somewhere in the distance.
The sky had darkened the moment he began attacking the cursed spirits.
It was not merely nightfall.
The sun had indeed sunk below the horizon, and dusk was closing in.
But this darkness had come more abruptly, more completely, like an ink-black veil descending from overhead and cutting the area off from the outside world.
It was a "Curtain."
Someone was putting up a Curtain.
This was his first time seeing one. It was rather novel.
Yan Si stood there and considered for a moment, then spoke to the system in his mind.
"Give me a super flashlight~"
When he had slashed those cursed spirits, they had felt pain, and a small stream of points had poured into his account. His own injury had earned him another nine points.
He exchanged some of those points for an item.
The next second, a super flashlight appeared in his hand.
It was a little on the large side and looked perfectly normal, though holding it made it feel like a weapon. Its silvery metal casing gleamed coldly in the dim space.
Yan Si's eyes curved with his smile, their purple irises almost unnaturally bright in the darkness.
He aimed the flashlight toward the sounds he had heard.
There was movement over there. Three people were quietly crouching in a corner, one holding an unlit cigarette. Their breaths and footsteps mingled together, very faint, but Yan Si had heard them.
He pressed the switch.
A terrifying beam of white light ripped through the darkness inside the Curtain, landing squarely on the furtive figures in the corner and illuminating them with stark clarity.
The assistant supervisors had been observing from the shadows, checking the situation inside the Curtain, when a powerful light suddenly blasted them in the face. The glare made them instinctively squint and raise their arms to shield their eyes. One even staggered backward, nearly falling over.
This was no flashlight. It was an artificial sun.
It gave them quite a fright.
"Hello, everyone~"
A voice appeared beside their ears out of nowhere, its languid Kansai dialect drawing out soft syllables deliberately meant to annoy, with a hint of laughter-soaked raspiness.
"I'm Yan Si. Anything you'd like to talk to me about?"
The assistant supervisors whipped around.
It had only been an instant.
At some point, Yan Si had appeared behind them without making a sound.
Seeing that he had frightened them, Yan Si nodded in satisfaction.
Now that was more like it. All that running just now hadn't been wasted, nor had instantly buying two powerful lights, leaving one on a crumbling stone platform, and sprinting over with the other.
He dimmed the flashlight a little. Its beam was no longer blinding, instead becoming a gentle light that clearly outlined his features.
His long black hair was untied, falling loosely over his shoulders. A few stray locks hung on either side of his cheeks, catching a cold white halo from the flashlight shining sideways.
His purple eyes held a smile, their outer corners slightly raised, lending his gaze a natural, almost otherworldly allure.
The red mark between his brows stood out particularly clearly in the light.
The collar of his outdoor jacket still bore the blood that had splashed onto it, yet he looked utterly relaxed and composed.
At first glance, the same thought occurred to all three assistant supervisors.
Had a fox spirit walked straight out of a myth?
Only at a second glance did they dare confirm that he was a real person.
The white mist of his breath dispersed in the early spring night breeze. He had a shadow, body heat, and the tangible presence of someone who truly existed.
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard another voice.
Suguru Geto had come down from the roof using his own cursed spirit. A reasonably presentable flying cursed spirit carried him safely to the ground.
He hopped off, walked over to stand beside Yan Si, and nodded to the assistant supervisors, who still had not recovered.
"Hello. I'm Suguru Geto, a new student recruited by Jujutsu High. I haven't formally enrolled yet."
His tone was polite and steady, a stark contrast to the guy beside him, whose entire being practically proclaimed, "Scaring you makes me happy."
The assistant supervisors exchanged looks.
A mysterious boy covered in blood, holding an absurdly bright flashlight and looking like a reincarnated fox spirit, and a boy with strange bangs claiming to be a new Jujutsu High student had appeared together in this abandoned building complex shrouded by a Curtain.
What the heck were you two up to?
Actually, they had not been up to much. It was purely a chance encounter.
Before you continue