A Few Words of Guidance

At seven thirty the next morning, Yang Jian ran into Suguru Geto in the cafeteria.

Suguru Geto sat down across from him with a tray of miso soup, looking unwell.

It wasn't the weariness of someone who hadn't slept enough. It was something else.

"I went on a mission last night." Suguru Geto rested his chopsticks on the rim of his bowl. "A Grade 2."

"Did you deal with it?"

"I did." Suguru Geto took a sip of soup. "There was an elementary school at the site. The cursed spirit had knocked down half the perimeter wall, and the security guard on duty had run away. When I arrived, the cursed spirit was circling the playground."

Yang Jian chewed his rice ball without answering.

"There were two kids on the playground." Suguru Geto spoke in an even voice. "They'd stayed after school to practice baseball. One was hiding in the equipment room. The other had been knocked unconscious by the cursed spirit's shock waves and was lying beside home plate."

"Were they still alive?"

"Yes. Shoko already treated them. Their lives aren't in danger."

Suguru Geto poked the tofu in his miso soup twice with his chopsticks but didn't eat it.

"After I dealt with the cursed spirit, someone from the school came over. The dean of students." Suguru Geto paused. "He asked if I could keep the wall incident quiet and not call the police. He said the school had an evaluation coming up, and something like this would look bad."

Yang Jian stuffed the last bite of his rice ball into his mouth.

"Two kids almost died on his school's playground, and the first thing he thought about was the evaluation."

After saying that, Suguru Geto fell silent for a few seconds.

Yang Jian took a sip of water, washing down the grains of rice in his mouth. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. I left."

"Then you did the right thing." Yang Jian pushed his tray forward. "Someone like that isn't worth wasting your breath on."

Suguru Geto didn't smile.

He set down his chopsticks and looked at Yang Jian.

"Tell me, what exactly are we protecting?"

That question.

That was the kind of question that had worn away the Suguru Geto Yang Jian knew, little by little.

It hadn't been a single fatal stab. It had been a dull blade slicing flesh, one piece every day, until the bones showed. He was still standing, but he was already hollow inside.

"You're protecting yourself," Yang Jian said. "You choose who to protect and who not to protect. You set the standard. You decide whether someone is worth protecting. The dean isn't. Those two kids are. All you need to do is know the difference."

Suguru Geto didn't answer right away.

The cafeteria's fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Breakfast was almost over, and only two or three people remained, clearing away their dishes.

"You make it sound easy," Suguru Geto finally said.

"Because it isn't complicated to begin with." Yang Jian stood up with his tray. "You're the one insisting on making it complicated."

He put his tray in the return slot without looking back.

When he stepped out of the cafeteria, a light rain was falling.

It was faint, fine as mist, barely noticeable against his skin, though it would leave his clothes damp if he stayed out long enough.

Yang Jian stood under the eaves for two seconds, then walked straight out without an umbrella.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

Suguru Geto caught up, also without an umbrella.

A fine layer of droplets soon settled over his long hair, making it look darker in the gray daylight.

They walked along the covered walkway for a while without speaking.

"Yang Jian," Suguru Geto called.

Yang Jian stopped.

"Have you ever thought about it?" Suguru Geto stood beside him, looking toward the playground through the gray haze. "What would the world become if we stopped doing this?"

"More people would die," Yang Jian answered immediately.

"And then?"

"There is no 'then.' More people dying is already the worst outcome. It doesn't need anything after it."

Suguru Geto turned to look at him. There was something faint in his eyes, neither anger nor disappointment. It was more like someone standing at a fork in the road, seeing both paths perfectly clearly but not yet taking a step.

"You're different from Satoru," Suguru Geto said.

"Of course I am." Yang Jian slipped his hands into his pockets. "Satoru Gojo is a genius. He doesn't need a reason. He can protect everyone simply because he has the ability."

"Then what's your reason for protecting others?"

Yang Jian was silent for a while.

The rain grew a little heavier, pattering against the walkway's sheet-metal roof like fingertips tapping a tabletop.

"There's no reason. You did it, and that's that. If you insist on finding a reason, whatever you find is bound to stop being enough one day.

"When that day comes, you'll feel like nothing has any meaning. And then you're done."

Something shifted slightly in Suguru Geto's eyes.

Yang Jian realized he'd said too much.

He wasn't the sort of person who liked lecturing others.

But this Suguru Geto standing before him was seventeen. His hair wasn't as long as it would later become, and his eyes weren't as heavy. He stood in the rain asking, "What exactly are we protecting?" Yang Jian found it hard to pretend he hadn't heard.

Because he knew how this road ended.

Not because of hatred, but because Suguru Geto had finally found a "reason"-

A reason big enough, complete enough, to free him from his suffering.

And all those reasons began with this morning's unfinished bowl of miso soup.

"Stop thinking about it." Yang Jian's tone was lighter than before, though hardly gentle. "Go to class."

Suguru Geto looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly gave a faint smile.

It wasn't a happy smile. It was the kind that said, I know you're dodging my question, but I'm not going to press you.

"All right," Suguru Geto said.

He turned toward the classroom, then stopped after a few steps.

"Yang Jian."

"Yeah."

"Thanks for not giving me some grand lecture."

Yang Jian didn't answer.

He stood beneath the covered walkway, watching Suguru Geto's back disappear into the rain, and suddenly felt a chill in his hands inside his pockets.

Changing someone's fate was harder than killing a special grade cursed spirit.

But since he'd already sat across from him at that breakfast table, he had no excuse to pretend he didn't know.

At ten that morning, Yang Jian crouched on his dormitory windowsill, looking at his phone.

Shiu Kong had sent additional intelligence on Sagamihara.

He had sent a civilian drone over from the mountaintop to film the area. The image quality was mediocre, but the terrain was clear enough.

A clearing had been leveled in the middle of the cedar woods, roughly forty meters by sixty.

Two prefab houses stood in the clearing, one large and one small.

Three industrial air-conditioning units were installed on the roof of the larger one.

Underground facilities needed constant temperature and humidity.

Three industrial air conditioners meant the area below was fairly large.

An SUV was parked outside the smaller building.

There were no markings on its body, but its wheel rims were the model purchased in bulk by the Jujutsu Headquarters Logistics Department. Shiu Kong's people had sharp eyes to recognize even that.

The drone had also captured a concrete ramp entrance at the edge of the clearing, wide enough for a small truck.

The entrance had a rolling shutter, with two yellow paper talismans stuck to it.

Talismans again.

Kusumoto had an obsession with talismans. He had to stick two on everything.

Yang Jian saved a few screenshots and replied to Shiu Kong: "I'll go there tonight. Keep an eye on the Ichikawa site for me. Notify me immediately if anything unusual happens."

Shiu Kong replied, "Understood."

Ten seconds later, he added another message: "You're planning to go alone?"

"Yeah."

"...I won't bother telling you to stay safe. You wouldn't listen anyway.

"So let me put it another way-don't tear the place apart too thoroughly. Leave something for me to gather follow-up intelligence from."

Yang Jian didn't reply.

He closed his phone, pulled the Chopping Knife from inside the mattress, wrapped it in black cloth, and tucked it inside his coat.