"Ladies and gentlemen, our aircraft will be taking off shortly. Please check once again that your seat backs are upright and your seat belts are fastened. Thank you for your cooperation."
"Cabin service will begin once the aircraft reaches cruising altitude."
On a flight from Narita International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, the cabin crew delivered their final preflight announcement in Chinese, Japanese, and English.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman, traveling under the alias Miyano Yuko, enthusiastically checked her seat before turning toward the window on her left, curiosity sparkling in her beautiful gray eyes. It was just as well she was wearing a mask; otherwise, the stitched corners of her mouth, which were practically curling up to the heavens, would have looked rather strange.
Shoichi Kano, seated to her right, kept nodding off. The airport was about forty kilometers from their home, so he had gotten up at the crack of dawn to squeeze onto the subway. By now, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Ultimately, every last bit of this was Kenjaku's fault. She was still playing the role of Kaori Itadori and had to raise the pint-sized Emperor Itadori-Yuji Itadori-so money was tight.
Naturally, she had rejected their request for two first-class tickets. She would not even let them book business class, reimbursing them only for two economy seats. Shoichi Kano certainly had his complaints-what was the point of a business trip if they still had to squeeze in with everyone else in economy?
The Slit-Mouthed Woman, however, did not seem to mind. Right now, she was simply curious about how this product of human technology could fly through the sky on propulsion alone, without using any supernatural power.
Although, as a cursed spirit born from an urban legend, she had an innate understanding of such things, "understanding" and "seeing firsthand" were two different matters. Only the latter, and the "experience" it brought, could leave a truly unforgettable impression.
The roar of the aircraft's engines filled everyone's ears. Then it slowly taxied out, lined up with the runway, and surged forward!
As the force of acceleration pressed them hard against their seats, the Airbus A340-600, a four-engine, long-haul, wide-body airliner, lifted its nose, climbed, and soared into the vast blue sky.
The economy seats on this aircraft were arranged in a 2-4-2 layout, with two aisles. The Slit-Mouthed Woman had the left-hand window seat, 21A, so Shoichi Kano naturally sat in 21B. The four middle seats, C through F, seemed to be occupied too, but that had nothing to do with them.
Throughout takeoff, the Slit-Mouthed Woman stared through the window without so much as blinking, watching until the buildings below became as tiny as ants, then disappeared entirely, leaving nothing but layer upon layer of cotton-candy clouds.
Shoichi Kano yawned again. The weather was lovely, and takeoff had been remarkably smooth. The faint bumps felt like a cradle rocking him, as sleep-inducing as could be.
"Ding!" After an indeterminate stretch of time, the aircraft adjusted its attitude, transitioning from its climb to level flight, and a chime sounded through the cabin.
Shoichi Kano looked up and saw that the overhead lavatory indicator had lit up, while the seat belt sign had automatically gone out, meaning they could now unfasten their belts.
Apparently finding the clouds rather uninteresting, the Slit-Mouthed Woman finally, reluctantly, withdrew her gaze.
"So we curses have never truly understood humans..." Staring at the seat back in front of her, she clenched her fists and murmured softly, perhaps to herself, perhaps to Shoichi Kano beside her. "Even though we only come into this world because humans exist."
"Humans have no power of flight, yet technology lets them soar through the sky. But if we aren't born with a flight-related cursed technique... the sky is forever beyond our reach."
"In the end, which of us is the bird truly trapped in a cage?"
Her words chased away all of Shoichi Kano's drowsiness. The boy turned to look at Miss Cursed Spirit beside him. "What's gotten into you? Have you reached enlightenment?"
The Slit-Mouthed Woman gave his head a light smack. "Just think of it as... an old lady who's wasted decades of her life reflecting a little on her own existence."
"Or you can just pretend you didn't hear it."
Shoichi Kano spread his hands, then quickly undid his seat belt and headed for the lavatory at the back. "I'm going to the bathroom!"
After using the lavatory, Shoichi Kano turned on the tap and gave his face a thorough wash with the icy water. He carefully wiped off the droplets while looking in the mirror above the sink, then returned leisurely to his seat.
He was afraid that her little philosophical speech had led the Slit-Mouthed Woman straight to enlightenment, awakening something else and dramatically boosting her strength. If so, his standing might have room to sink even lower.
By the logic of Jujutsu Kaisen, when characters like her delivered a long, bafflingly profound, badass speech, it generally meant they were about to awaken-wasn't Satoru Gojo's "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one" exactly that sort of thing?
Fortunately, she had merely been thinking things over and had not awakened any new powers.
"Would you two like something to drink?" A flight attendant came over pushing a small service cart, greeting them with a smile. "We have..."
"Orange juice." "Coffee." Shoichi Kano and the Slit-Mouthed Woman chose two entirely different drinks.
Incidentally, the Slit-Mouthed Woman also asked for a straw. That way, she could slip it beneath the edge of her mask and drink her coffee without taking the mask off.
"Sweetheart, do you think this plane might fall out of the sky?" the Slit-Mouthed Woman suddenly asked halfway through the flight, making Shoichi Kano shudder from head to toe.
He could practically hear the famous song "See You Again" playing in his ears, while Kobe Bryant, who had died in an aircraft crash, stood beside the Sanzu River, smiling and waving him over.
He shook his head hard before finally banishing those terrifying visions. "Don't say such unlucky things!"
The flight from Tokyo to Beijing took four hours in total.
The time flew by. In his previous life, Shoichi Kano had often traveled by plane for all sorts of reasons, from attending university away from home to taking business trips for work. But flying alone felt completely different from having a traveling companion. At least he had someone-though perhaps she did not count as a person-to exchange a few words with now and then, and that made the time pass quickly.
Shoichi Kano even got bored enough to start teaching her some simple Chinese, though there was not much she could learn in so little time. In the end, the Slit-Mouthed Woman only picked up four exceedingly simple expressions: "hello," "thank you," "soup dumplings," and "goodbye." She was still a long way from holding an everyday conversation.
At 2:44 p.m. Beijing time, the aircraft landed smoothly on the runway at Beijing Capital International Airport and began slowing as it taxied.
Since China had a visa-exemption policy for Japanese travelers in 2006, they breezed through customs. A staff member smiled, stamped their passports, and said, "Welcome to Beijing."
Little did that staff member know that, although those words might have been no more than a routine part of the job, they made Shoichi Kano's eyes grow damp, as though something was about to spill out. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, concealing it.
Although this place was completely different from the world he had once known, the China of another world was still China, still the spiritual homeland of a wanderer far from home.
By 3:00 p.m., Shoichi Kano and the Slit-Mouthed Woman had boarded an airport shuttle bus, ready to head to the terminal to collect their checked luggage.
Even after they had collected all their bags and climbed into a taxi bound for the hotel, Shoichi Kano still felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Their trip to Beijing, however, came with a small complication...
At around ten that night, Shoichi Kano and the Slit-Mouthed Woman were watching television in their hotel room to pass the time. He then used his phone to send his dad a message, letting him know they had arrived safely in Beijing and would be heading to Inner Mongolia in another two days.
Then they heard someone knocking on their door.
"Who is it?" Shoichi Kano asked in Chinese.
"Beijing Municipal National Security Bureau, Supernatural Phenomena Investigation Section. Please cooperate with a routine inspection!" the person outside replied in an unmistakable Beijing accent.