Some troublesome business

Sure enough, the moment I returned to school, I faced a grand tribunal against Osamu Dazai.

Although my two classmates hadn't chosen to report me, their thoroughly unnatural expressions, coupled with my absence of several hours, had given me away.

Teacher Yaga, deeply worried about the problem child that was me, finally came toward me with his steady stride.

"Teacher Yaga, I think I can make some excuses."

Putting on my most obedient face, I wiped nonexistent sweat from my forehead and knelt properly before him.

"What exactly happened?"

Masamichi Yaga looked at the young man before him, seemingly obedient but actually brimming with mischief, and finally decided to hear me out.

Looking at Teacher Yaga, who was already on the verge of exploding, I wiped away more nonexistent sweat, pointed at the knife wound on my neck, and slowly recounted the script I'd prepared from the start.

"So, on your first mission, you encountered a Special Grade, then had a falling-out with your classmates, got invited to Headquarters by Sato, were threatened by them, and then an assassin arrived, hacked a lot of people to death, and injured you too?"

Masamichi Yaga repeated the events of my downright legendary day in disbelief.

"Mm-hmm!" I nodded repeatedly, my eyes obediently lowered.

I knew when to bow to circumstances. After all, I had absolutely no interest in Teacher Yaga's Iron Fist. I could do without that.

After hearing my explanation, however, Teacher Yaga had no intention of questioning me further.

To him, I was ultimately just an eighteen-year-old kid. I'd faced too much in a single day, fled in panic, and gotten lost because my phone had died. That was understandable enough.

So, although he still felt something was off, Teacher Yaga chose to trust his student. Unfortunately, as that student, I wasn't worthy of his trust.

But Teacher Yaga remained very concerned about my mental state. Along with Sato Ichima's disappearance-death-and the subsequent developments, he decided to give us a few days off. If they still couldn't find us a teacher, he would fill in himself.

I liked Masamichi Yaga quite a bit, so I didn't object to having him as my teacher. There was just one slightly troublesome thing: he was extremely perceptive and prone to overthinking.

For instance, after I'd pretended to have been bullied and was about to leave Teacher Yaga's office, he stopped me to ask a question.

"Did you deliberately pick a fight because you were afraid your classmates would get hurt?"

The question in Teacher Yaga's eyes was almost overflowing, but deep within them was a trace of certainty.

"...No. We just had a falling-out."

I silently shook my head, then stumbled a little as I left the office.

I had indeed intended to draw them away beforehand. As I'd said before, I might need a blade, but they weren't yet qualified to become mine.

If they couldn't become blades, there was no reason for them to remain by my side. They should go be students. Only once they became truly outstanding Jujutsu Sorcerers would they be qualified to approach me.

Don't come near me again... I don't need friendship. I don't need affection.

I regarded everyone as nothing more than bargaining chips. In my eyes, there were only pawns and discarded pieces. They qualified to be pawns, but not ones I couldn't abandon. If they didn't want misfortune to rub off on them, they should never come near me again.

Everything went just as I'd anticipated. They made no further attempts to approach me or get close to me.

Like sulking children, they waited for my apology.

Naturally, all they received was disappointment, again and again. I wouldn't apologize, and they had no intention of offering warmth only to be snubbed.

We were like people living along two parallel lines. We were classmates, but outside of lessons, we never approached one another.

More often, I read alone off to one side while they sat elsewhere, doing who knew what.

We rarely went on missions together. I could handle most missions alone, and because word of No Longer Human had reached the top, most of my assignments were extremely dangerous.

With Satoru Gojo's birth, the balance of Jujutsu Society had long since been shattered. Special Grade and Grade One cursed spirits kept appearing, and I spent most of my time moving between exorcisms.

I became a Special Grade Sorcerer very quickly, simply because Yuki Tsukumo was currently the only publicly acknowledged Special Grade Sorcerer. That beautiful lady, however, had no intention of staying in the country.

As a result, many Special Grade missions ended in heavy casualties. With help from someone whose identity I didn't know, I advanced rapidly.

From being assessed as Grade One after returning from that meeting, I became the second publicly acknowledged Special Grade Sorcerer in just a month.

No Longer Human really was useful, so much so that I spent most of my time traveling rather than exorcising cursed spirits.

After all, one light touch from me was enough to bring them an instant-death ending.

On the other hand, I was also exceptionally easy to kill. My Cursed Technique had practically no offensive power, after all. Fortunately, I was a decent shot, and aside from a few minor injuries, I hadn't run into any trouble.

After that month, Nozomu Sakai and Sōsuke Mizukawa seemed completely disillusioned with me. What we had was the blandest, most insincere sort of ordinary acquaintance, something a light poke could puncture.

But all of this was both expected and exactly what I'd wanted.

There was no need to form bonds, no need to meet. I didn't need friends either.

This was enough. This was fine.

So, the next time we crossed paths, I still greeted them with a faint, false smile, looking impossibly warm and gentle.

Nozomu Sakai could also muster a smile and greet me. Sōsuke Mizukawa was more direct: he didn't even look at me before turning away.

That was how we kept our relationship within the bounds of the most casual acquaintance. Aside from Teacher Yaga, there wasn't a single person at the school I was on good terms with.

After all, I hadn't tried to get close to anyone. Neither the students nor the teachers were fools. They could see that the smile on my face was fake, however warm it looked.

Especially since I had no intention of pleasing anyone, and couldn't be bothered to conceal what I really was. No, that wasn't quite right either. What was I really like? I'd long since forgotten.

Still, it wasn't a major problem. I was still me now, and even if I completely became someone else, I'd still be me afterward... probably.

This was my second mission with Nozomu Sakai and Sōsuke Mizukawa in a month. Honestly, I didn't understand why they had been placed on my team.

But a mission was a mission, regardless of who came along, so I didn't ask any questions.

I merely took my time returning the occasional barbs Sōsuke Mizukawa threw my way.

That continued until Nozomu Sakai, who had remained silent all along, asked me a question.

"Dazai, did you do it deliberately that day? I received the intelligence and footage. On the day you went to Headquarters, an assassin attacked it. Three senior officials died, seven were injured, and the ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers killed weren't counted. You were injured then too, weren't you?"

Nozomu Sakai desperately wanted an answer from me, his brown-gray eyes brimming with unrest.

"No. I was only observing humanity. That's all, Nozomu~"

My smile was faint, and the malice pouring from me seemed ready to overflow. Though my tone was frivolous, my words were icy.

"But! The worst possible outcome that day was that I'd die there, under that assassin's blade, while Sōsuke was badly injured, and so were you."

Nozomu Sakai still refused to believe me. Agitated, he grabbed my wrist and angrily demanded an answer.

"Wrong. Do I look like such a good person to you, Nozomu-?"

My smile remained faint. There were rumors that even Osamu Dazai's blood ran black. Of course, the current me wouldn't deny that either.

So, when I stopped concealing myself as Boss Dazai, that terrifying presence, that bloody scent that seemed to seep from my very body, and that air of absolute emptiness successfully froze the two people beside me and the assistant supervisor up front.

"Nozomu, you thought to give me a gun because you saw the gun calluses on my hands, didn't you? Then tell me, under what circumstances would an ordinary person develop calluses like those?"

I chuckled softly, my voice low. With no intention of reining in my presence, I lowered my head meekly as I asked.

And Nozomu Sakai and Sōsuke Mizukawa? Ultimately, they were only children. Even if they'd endured bloodshed and brushes with death, what did that prove?

Had they killed people? Had they seen true mountains of corpses and seas of blood? Mafia torture, glasses of liquor beneath shifting lights, and genuine despair?

No matter how many cursed spirits they killed, it didn't necessarily count.

After all, killing cursed spirits required no mental preparation. Undeniably, humans always harbored a certain belief.

Those not of our kind must have different hearts. Naturally, they thought that way too. Killing a person, killing a kitten or puppy, and killing a cursed spirit were completely different things.

And cursed spirits stood firmly at the very bottom.

Ultimately, they were just a bunch of children. Children who merely possessed unusual abilities and were still sheltered firmly behind their teachers.

And who, then, was Boss Dazai, who had already experienced it all?

The Port Mafia's youngest executive, the Port Mafia's new boss, one half of Double Black, who had made their name in the Dragon Head Conflict, and once Ōgai Mori's true right-hand man-was that still not enough to prove something?

Ultimately, we were incompatible people who should never have stood together. What right did they have to make me give everything I had to save them?

What a joke.

I glanced at them with the ghost of a smile, then turned my head aside as though something amusing had occurred to me, quietly reining in the presence I'd just unleashed.

Only then did my two classmates seem to finally understand what sort of person I was and choose to distance themselves.

Of course, the driver up front probably wanted to distance himself too. I could see him trembling all over. I'd really made things difficult for this poor senior staff member.

Not only did he have to navigate between Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups and Jujutsu High, with one misstep potentially costing him his life, but he also had to endure being frightened by me like this.

Still, I wasn't going to apologize-

I'd figure out how to explain this to the higher-ups later. Honestly, trouble was trouble, and these two classmates beside me were even more troublesome.

Still, I hadn't expected those higher-ups to use cameras. That bunch of higher-ups probably wanted to communicate by handwritten letters. Installing cameras there didn't seem like something they'd do.

As I pondered this, they remained frozen in their earlier shock and said nothing. Without consulting one another, they chose seats farther away from me, preferring to squeeze together.

Although this was what I'd wanted, it wasn't as if I was going to eat them. What was wrong with them?

Still, I couldn't be bothered to think about that and opted for a short nap in the car.

Unfortunately, the three people around me were far too conspicuous to let me rest properly. The moment I sensed another person's presence nearby, I would become alert.

Honestly. What a pain.

I shook my head lightly and abandoned the idea. Watching the scenery along the road did bring a hint of cool relief. Hmm... perhaps that was because I'd scheduled all my working hours at night.

The procedure was the same as before: get out, go inside, touch the cursed spirits, watch them crumble to dust, then quietly turn around and return to the car.

Excluding travel time, I needed only a minute on average to eliminate each cursed spirit, and my assignments were too numerous to count.

But I wasn't someone who would put himself out. I always waited until the very last moment of the final day; otherwise, there was no way I'd go. Wasn't playing games in my dorm room better?

I'd finally escaped writing documents, and now they wouldn't even let me get some proper rest. That was going too far.

Unfortunately, something was bound to happen today.

For instance, certain higher-ups still insisted on having me brought over today. Did those senior officials of Jujutsu Society ever stop?

No. Once I got back today, I'd find a little something to keep them busy.

With that thought, I set off for Headquarters alongside my two classmates.

However, those two classmates seemed to have dreamed up something else in their heads. I was certain it was something I didn't want to know.

At least, their expressions of wanting to speak, stopping, then wanting to speak again-and Sōsuke Mizukawa's deeply guilty look-were still there when I turned to enter Jujutsu Society Higher-Ups Headquarters.

Me: ...

I simply didn't need them. If they weren't even qualified to become blades, what right did they have to remain beside me?

I just didn't need them. I never had...