The pianist under the moonlight!

Night.

The moment school let out, Itadori fled the grounds as fast as he could.

With flowers in his hands, Itadori went to the hospital to visit his grandfather.

"Do your best to save more people."

"Die surrounded by others."

After a conversation like any other, his grandfather passed away.

Holding back his grief, Itadori had just finished filling out his grandfather's paperwork at the front desk when he turned and saw the spiky-haired Fushiguro, panting for breath.

Breathing hard, Fushiguro quickly sized up the pink-haired Itadori before him. Was this guy really a normal human?

A hundred meters in about five seconds. Without cursed energy boosting him, he would have lost Itadori.

"You're Yuji Itadori, right? I'm Fushiguro, from Jujutsu High."

Avoiding the nurse at the front desk, Fushiguro led a confused Itadori aside to explain.

One long spiel later.

"Humanity's negative emotions are the source of curses."

"Curses cause over ten thousand deaths in Japan every year."

"Anyway, the Special Grade Cursed Object you have is extremely dangerous. Hand it over before someone gets killed."

"A Special Grade Cursed Object?"

Itadori scratched his head. "That finger thing you mentioned is with my upperclassmen."

Meanwhile.

Sendai, a certain hair salon.

"The moonlight's pretty white tonight... let's go with moonlight white."

"Make it quick. I've got a swagger showdown waiting for me later."

After six visits in a week, stylist Tony was already used to Jiahao's antics. He calmly nodded and pulled a bottle of hair dye from a box labeled "Jiahao."

He was only halfway through when the phone in Jiahao's pocket vibrated.

"Hey, boss!"

"You're a prophet! Itadori's grandpa really did die!"

Tony's hands paused, and the other customers in the salon pricked up their ears.

"Itadori just ran out of the hospital with that spiky-haired guy. They're too fast for me to keep up... over!"

Jiahao hung up and stood, studying the half-black, half-white Taiji hairstyle in the mirror. "This'll do. Time waits for no one."

He turned and strode out with flair. "The swagger showdown is about to begin!"

The customers: "..."

[Valor Points +2]

[Valor Points +3]

After a brief daze, Tony hurried out of the salon, scissors still in hand, and called to Jiahao as he climbed onto his flashy scooter. "Bro Jiahao! Bro Jiahao!"

"You haven't paid yet!"

"What are you yelling for?!"

The bald lackey waiting outside looked displeased as he pulled out some cash and stuffed it into Tony's trouser pocket.

Tony, whose eyesight was perfectly fine, glanced down. "Why is this only half the money?"

The bald man snorted. "Didn't you see that Bro Jiahao only got half his hair dyed?!"

Tony: "...Fair point."

The full moon hung like a platter, big and round.

Late that night, the school rooftop lay in shambles.

On the cracked paving slabs, a massive compound-eyed monster held Itadori's body in a crushing two-handed grip, slowly stuffing him into its foul-smelling maw.

His head covered in blood, Fushiguro knelt on one knee, his face full of desperation, like a helpless husband.

His life hanging by a thread, Itadori bent his legs and braced them against the monster's two huge front teeth. With a crimson finger clenched between his teeth, he growled, "If I can't destroy curses without cursed energy, then all I need is cursed energy!"

"Itadori! Stop right now!!"

Fushiguro roared, "Ryomen Sukuna's finger is a lethally poisonous Special Grade Cursed Object! You'll die if you eat it!"

"Yamero!!!"

At that critical moment, familiar, pounding music swept over them.

"NA, NA, NA, OH!"

"OH, HEY, YEAH!"

"Whatever I do, everything feels like~"

"The whole city's playing love's theme song~"

The scooter's multicolored lights shone as brilliantly as a rainbow in the night.

Under the gazes of the two boys and the curse, a figure emerged from the depths of that rainbow, hands in his pockets as he stepped to the beat.

A black leather biker jacket, with two rows of gleaming studs set into the shoulders.

Black leather pants, with a thin silver chain hanging from the side of each boot.

[Valor Points +88]

[Valor Points +133]

[Valor Points +99]

"Huh?"

Jiahao paused mid-stride on the drumbeat, lifting his head to scan the rooftop as surprise flashed in his eyes.

It wasn't just Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro. Even that disgusting mountain of flesh had coughed up nearly a hundred Valor Points.

"Heh. Interesting."

The trash-tier curses he had encountered in smaller cities before entering the school had never shown emotional shifts like that.

"Tsk, tsk. That's a big city for you."

"Hey, run!!"

Fushiguro remembered this freak all too well. He had only just seen him acting crazy in the rain that afternoon.

"It's dangerous! Get out of here!!"

The instant the words left his mouth, Fushiguro whipped his head toward Itadori.

Seeing that the finger between Itadori's teeth had vanished, Fushiguro's pupils contracted sharply.

We're screwed!!!

BOOM!!!

A powerful surge of cursed energy erupted from Itadori's body, shattering every window in the school building.

The enormous cursed spirit that had nearly swallowed Itadori as a snack was torn into a drifting mist of blood by a single clawing swipe from him, his entire presence now transformed.

Fushiguro's expression turned utterly grim.

The worst-case scenario had happened. The Special Grade Cursed Object had possessed Itadori, taking him as its host.

Watching the tattooed, bare-chested Itadori laugh wildly, Fushiguro clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, preparing for the worst.

If Sukuna only had one finger's worth of power, taking him down at the cost of his own life should be possible.

"Hahahaha! Moonlight really is best when you feel it in person!"

"Cursed spirit flesh tastes awful! Where are this era's women? Its children?!"

Standing on the iron railing, Sukuna flung his arms wide and laughed without restraint. "Wonderful!"

"I can slaughter to my heart's content in this era again!"

"Haha! Hahahaha!!"

"Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, diarrhea~"

Just as Sukuna kept laughing and Fushiguro formed a hand sign to prepare for battle, an inexplicable piano tune drifted from a corner of the rooftop.

Fushiguro looked toward the sound, his eyes blazing.

Didn't I tell this lunatic to run? Did he run to the music room to haul a piano up here?!

If you can't play, don't play! Wearing biker gear to play do-re-mi...

Where the hell did this absolute specimen come from?!

[Fushiguro shocked: Valor Points +99]

[Fushiguro angry: Valor Points +123]

Huh? Why is it only Fushiguro? Does Sukuna not think I have any swagger at all?

The pianist under the moonlight frowned, then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

The scooter-riding lackey holding binoculars at the school gate received the signal. The rainbow lights that had gone dark shone on Jiahao beneath the moon once more.

"Do, re, mi, do, re, mi."

Damn it, is Sukuna going to cough up any points or not?!

After playing do-re-mi for ages, Jiahao stood up helplessly.

There was no helping it. That was the only tune he knew on the piano.

Looking toward Itadori, whose presence had completely changed, Jiahao was just about to say something.

In the blink of an eye, however, Itadori suddenly appeared beside Jiahao from over ten meters away.

Stroking his chin, Sukuna completely ignored Jiahao's existence and studied the piano with interest. "An instrument from this era? Interesting."

"When I slaughter people and wipe out villages, I'll use this thing for musical accompaniment."

Fushiguro: "Hey, hurry-"

"Run, Fushiguro."

Fushiguro froze halfway through his shout, staring in disbelief at the absolute specimen who had stolen his line.

What on earth was this guy saying?

Ignoring Sukuna beside him just as thoroughly, Jiahao turned toward Fushiguro and repeated, "Run, Fushiguro."

"You're not qualified to take part in the swagger showdown that's coming."

Fushiguro: "..."

"Heh, heh."

Apparently, when someone was speechless enough, they really did laugh.

Was this guy even freaking human?!