Healing

Sugawara Satoru's eyes were the first-and only-pair of the exceptionally rare Six Eyes to appear in his clan in years.

What made the Six Eyes so special was their ability to see through an enemy's Cursed Technique and the flow of their cursed energy at a glance.

From the first time he met Alluka, he could see the unusual curse that child carried.

Unlike ordinary people, the child had no cursed energy and hardly any negative emotions, making her the polar opposite of the curse inside her body.

He did not know how the child and that curse had turned those people into rope people, and none of it had anything to do with him in the first place.

Only after the Fujiwara Clan revealed some of Alluka's abilities did Sugawara Satoru realize just how wrong he had been.

He was no fool. Connecting the various abnormalities in his father, his uncles, and his other relatives, he began to form a suspicion.

The direct culprit behind the Sugawara Clan's decline was clearly the Northern House of Fujiwara.

Conflict and warfare between clans were predatory relationships born of opposing allegiances, and the Sugawara Clan had become prey without even knowing it.

And this child was clearly the most crucial link in the chain. No wonder the Northern House of Fujiwara both loved and hated her, and had ordered that she be brought back first.

Under the scrutiny of Sugawara Satoru's Six Eyes, the boundary between Alluka's ordinary human body and that curse could not have been clearer.

He still could not fathom how the child had erased their humanity and turned his father and the others into the living dead.

Noticing that Sugawara Satoru kept looking at her, Alluka blinked and gave him a sweet, obedient smile.

"Did you need something, white-haired Brother? But I have to wait here for Brother to come back. I can't leave with you."

Her voice was as soft and unhurried as ever, with a hint of childish coaxing.

"Why waste so many words on him?"

Seeing how familiar Alluka seemed to be with Sugawara Satoru, Uraume gathered frost-white ice blades in their palm. A bone-chilling cold turned into a gale within that space, poised to surge forward and engulf him.

Sensing another unfamiliar fluctuation of cursed energy, Uraume forcibly stopped their hand.

"You're a little late."

Sugawara Satoru's expression improved considerably as he addressed the newcomer.

"I was held up."

The silver-haired woman slowly walked in through the shattered barrier.

Uraume had never seen the newcomer, but Alluka knew her well.

She was the woman Alluka had seen appear and then disappear at the market two days earlier.

"Hey, Tengen, can you give me the little finger on your right hand?"

As though following a set program, Alluka involuntarily smiled the instant Tengen appeared. She gently opened her hand, her soft palm facing upward, as though asking for something.

"So that's how it works?"

After Alluka spoke, Sugawara Satoru clearly saw the boundary between the cursed energy and the curse inside her begin to blur. Thick black cursed energy enveloped the child.

For a moment, an enormous, uncanny, shapeless monster seemed to emerge, but when he tried to look more closely, all he saw was the child gazing at Tengen with dewy eyes.

"Alluka, what are you doing?"

Uraume reached out to pull Alluka away, but Sugawara Satoru appeared and stopped them.

"I'm your opponent now, you know~"

His tone was flippant and arrogant, as though he did not consider Uraume a worthy opponent at all.

Contrary to his expression, however, he felt uneasy.

He had known Tengen for a long time, and they had argued only once, over their stance on this child.

He had no idea what connection Tengen had to Alluka. For someone with so little combat ability to insist on showing up at such a critical moment, something he knew nothing about seemed to have already happened.

"You really are despicable."

Seeing the silver-haired woman stop a meter in front of Alluka, Uraume's mind went blank. They instinctively tried to rush over, but Sugawara Satoru held out a hand to block them.

"Oh, come on. I said we were taking her away, and that's all. Why won't you believe me?"

Although Sugawara Satoru badly wanted to kill Alluka, he still wanted to try to save his father. Until then, he would not act.

Uraume did not believe him. Only when they looked over and saw the woman merely talking to Alluka did they begin to relax a little-then a barrier rose out of thin air ahead of them, and the two vanished outright.

Tengen walked up to Alluka.

When Alluka had spoken those words, the gale had scattered the dark clouds and gathered them again. Amid the shifting darkness, those words were all that remained in Tengen's world.

"If you want it, you can have it."

Tengen's expression shifted slightly. She reached over and snapped off her little finger. The instant it left her hand, the excruciating pain drained all color from her face.

Blood dripped from the edge of her hand, its winding trails like fallen red plum blossoms, leaving a vivid crimson stain on the hem of her kimono and hakama.

Pale-faced, Tengen tossed the finger over. Even that tiny movement twisted her expression with pain, and cold sweat had soaked her hair and lashes.

"Thank you."

Alluka caught the bloody little finger in both hands. As Tengen tossed it over, a few drops of thick blood streaked across her cheeks, leaving two ragged trails.

Without a change in expression, she tucked the finger into her sleeve as though it were an ordinary piece of straw.

"Tengen, can you give me the malleus in your left ear?"

Alluka flashed an innocent smile and made her second request, her upturned palm stained blood-red.

"...Take it yourself."

Tengen tried hard to keep her voice sounding normal, but her body, trembling with pain, still betrayed her.

Once the demands began, they could not be stopped.

Unless the two of them never met again.

Tengen lightly pressed her lips together.

The moment the words left her mouth, the middle of her left ear noticeably lost some of its support and went slack.

"Tengen, can you give me your eighth rib on the left?"

Just as Tengen was about to touch her ear with her intact left hand, Alluka made her third demand.

Hearing this request, Tengen felt somewhat relieved.

Those three body parts were not particularly important to a jujutsu sorcerer. Even if Reverse Cursed Technique could not restore the missing parts, it was still an acceptable loss for Tengen.

"Take it yourself."

No sooner had Tengen spoken than a sharp pain shot through her left ribs, as though something had simply disappeared.

She clutched her ribs and doubled over in agony.

At that very instant, the child before her took on a different appearance.

Amid the murky blackness, Nanika gazed at Tengen with pitch-black features and asked stiffly, "Do you have a wish?"

Before Tengen could speak, Kenjaku's voice interrupted her.

"Have her heal you."

He appeared behind Tengen, his somewhat indifferent gaze settling on Nanika's face.

With Tengen's tacit consent, Nanika slowly said, "Okay."

She moved stiffly up to Tengen and cradled her injured right hand in her own ice-cold hands.

Soft white light spilled between her fingers like flowing sand. It wrapped tightly around Tengen's hand, then spread to her entire body.

As though basking in warm sunlight, Tengen, bathed in that light, felt an incomparable comfort and tranquility.

The sensation was entirely different from that of Reverse Cursed Technique.

Nanika's treatment took a long time-so long that Tengen began to feel drowsy within that comfort.

"All done."

After an unknown stretch of time, Nanika slowly withdrew her hands.

She said nothing more, gently closing her eyes as her whole body returned to its original soft appearance.

Alluka was back.

She looked down in confusion at the rib in her hand. She wanted to lift it for a closer look, but the moment she moved, her unsteady body swayed several times.

She held on for only a few breaths before limply collapsing.