Reasons

In the mountain woods eleven kilometers outside Kyoto.

A campfire flickered in the dark woods, its orange-red flames lighting a small patch of ground and pushing back the clawing shadows of the surrounding trees.

Kashimo tossed another stick into the fire, sending sparks crackling into the air. He gestured to one side with his chin, where a bear lay stone dead. He had casually killed it a little earlier.

"It's fine," he said. "No wild animals will come."

Hisashige Rinko sat on the other side of the fire, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around her shins. Firelight danced across her face, making her expression impossible to read.

"I..." She paused, her voice soft. "That's not what I was worried about."

Kashimo glanced at her and said nothing more.

The firewood crackled.

"Why?"

Kashimo raised his head.

"What?"

"Why did my father ask you to take care of me?"

Rinko looked at him. Flames danced in her eyes, making them shine. There were no tears, no resentment. She simply watched him quietly.

Kashimo's eyelid twitched.

Great. That expression again.

He turned away and added another stick to the fire. He watched the rising sparks for two seconds before speaking.

"Maybe he'd already considered this possibility," he said evenly, as though discussing something that had nothing to do with him. "You're not a sorcerer or a martial artist, and you're still young. You wouldn't survive alone in a world like this."

"So finding someone strong for you to rely on was the last thing your father could do. He just happened to meet me. If it had been some other sorcerer..."

Kashimo stopped there and said no more.

Rinko said nothing. She only watched him.

Her gaze made Kashimo a little uncomfortable, so he fixed his eyes on the fire instead.

"Have you killed a lot of people, then?"

Rinko asked.

"Yeah."

"How many?"

Kashimo tore off a piece of bear meat, skewered it on a branch, and slowly turned it over the fire. Fat dripped onto the coals with a sizzle.

"A lot. A whole lot."

Rinko stayed where she was, her knees still drawn up and her chin resting on her arms. Firelight danced across her face, obscuring her expression.

"Why did you kill them?"

Kashimo's hands paused.

"The reasons... I guess there were two."

He turned the bear meat over, staring at its browned surface as fat sizzled out, as though considering how to begin.

"I left home when I was thirteen," he said. "I wandered from place to place, fighting wherever I went. I wanted to become really, really strong. So strong that no one could kill me or defeat me."

He fell silent afterward, as though waiting for Rinko's reaction.

But Rinko said nothing. She only watched him.

Kashimo waited two seconds. When no response came, he went back to turning his bear meat.

"What was the other one?" Rinko asked.

"...Searching."

"Searching?"

"Searching for someone who could stand beside me." Kashimo raised his head, his gaze crossing the campfire to settle on the face that brightened and dimmed in its light. "Finding someone who wouldn't leave me feeling lonely."

The fire crackled.

Rinko offered no reply.

Kashimo said nothing more either, lowering his head to continue roasting his bear meat. Only after a long while did he add something, almost to himself.

"The meat's almost done."

"Father used to say my strength was different from other people's." Rinko's muffled voice came from between her knees. "That I'd be able to do things others couldn't, and save the people who needed saving."

She paused and buried her face a little deeper.

"But I thought that was strange. I haven't had any cursed energy at all since I was born," she said. "What strength could I possibly have?"

The bear meat stopped turning in Kashimo's hand.

No cursed energy?

He froze there, staring at the fire as something suddenly clicked in his mind.

So that was it. No wonder I hadn't sensed any cursed energy leaking from Rinko when we first met.

Even ordinary people leaked cursed energy, after all. That was common knowledge. Cursed energy was born from negative emotions. Every human felt fear, anger, and resentment. Those emotions accumulated over time, gathering into cursed energy that gradually leaked from the body, creating fertile ground for cursed spirits to be born.

Then what about someone like Rinko, who had no cursed energy?

Kashimo's thoughts raced, and two figures surfaced in his mind.

Toji Zenin.

Maki Zenin.

They shared one thing in common: neither had even a trace of cursed energy.

They had-

Heavenly restriction.

Kashimo said nothing.

He held out the cooked bear meat, the branch skewer stretching between them as its aroma mingled with smoke in the night air.

"Here."

Rinko lifted her head, the firelight illuminating her slightly reddened eyes. She looked at the meat, then at Kashimo, as though she hadn't quite processed it.

Kashimo kept his hand extended.

"...Thank you."

Rinko took it and lowered her head to eat in small bites. Grease smeared the corners of her mouth, but she didn't bother wiping it away.

Kashimo tore off another piece of raw meat, skewered it, and set it over the fire to roast. The flickering flames made his shadow stretch and shrink.

He didn't tell her.

He didn't mention heavenly restriction, or what having no cursed energy meant. Not a single word.

It wasn't the right time.

Maybe it never would be.

Kashimo turned the meat in his hand, his eyes resting on the fire. There was no telling what he was thinking.

Early the next morning.

The mist in the mountain woods had yet to fully disperse, but birds were already chattering noisily in the branches. Kashimo kicked dirt over last night's campfire, covering it thoroughly. Only after making sure no embers remained did he straighten up.

He glanced back.

Rinko was still huddled on the grass bedding he had thrown together the day before, curled into a tiny ball. Her tousled hair covered half her face, and her breathing was perfectly even.

Kashimo walked over, crouched down, and watched her for two seconds.

"...So, did you always sleep in like this?"

Rinko didn't move.

He waited another two seconds, then reached out and poked her shoulder.

"Time to get up."

Rinko gave a muffled murmur and buried her face deeper in the grass bedding.

Looking at that tousled head, Kashimo suddenly had no idea what to do.

Hit her? Not appropriate. Scold her? No need to go that far. Leave her behind? That didn't seem right either.

He stood and sighed.

"...Another fifteen minutes," he said. "After that, I'm not waiting."

Then he walked aside and sat with his back against a tree, cradling the Ruyi Staff as he closed his eyes to rest.

The Tombs of the Star Corridor.

It was a boundless world of pure white, like standing in the heart of a cloud. There were no walls or vaulted ceilings, only soft light flowing in from every direction, falling on the ground and on the visitor alike.

Gojo Arashi stood in that light, his white hair rendered almost translucent. He looked ahead, where a human silhouette stood. She had the appearance of a young girl, yet carried an indescribable air of antiquity.

Tengen, in the form of the Star Plasma Vessel.

"It's been a long time, Six Eyes."

Tengen spoke, her voice like the light itself, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.

Gojo Arashi studied her for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"Good. You haven't evolved into a monster yet."

Tengen's expression didn't change. She simply looked at him calmly.

"Once the Star Plasma Vessel assimilates with me, I naturally take on her appearance," she said. "But as for you, Gojo Arashi..."

She paused.

"Do not let your conflict with the Ten Shadows of the Zenin Clan escalate any further."

Gojo Arashi's smile faded a little, but he said nothing.

"Even if the Three Great Families are weakened now," Tengen continued, her voice still calm but carrying a faint weight, "I do not wish to see you slaughter one another while Kenjaku remains active."

"You know Kashimo has been active near Kyoto, don't you?"

Tengen's voice remained calm, as though she were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

Gojo Arashi didn't question it.

Tengen's barrier covered all of Kyoto, and even farther beyond. It was perfectly natural for her to sense Kashimo's presence.

"I also know what you're thinking," Tengen continued. "Do not try to recruit Kashimo to oppose the Zenin Clan. There is a very good chance he has already allied himself with Kenjaku."

Gojo Arashi's brow twitched.

"And Kenjaku's plan-"

"Lady Tengen."

Gojo Arashi spoke, cutting her off.

He raised his head, his azure eyes resting on the figure standing in the light before him. His gaze was calm, yet carried a weariness that was difficult to put into words.

"I know all of this."

He said.

"I can swallow my anger and let the Zenin Clan walk all over me. But the Gojo Clan cannot."

He paused.

"War between Zenin Sawa and me is inevitable. Under these circumstances, all I can do is put everything I have into stopping Kashimo and Kenjaku."

He lowered his eyes, as though he had finally spoken the words weighing on his heart.

"...I have no other choice."