A strangely familiar turn of events

"Hey, system, you can find Sakura's location, right?"

After putting some distance between himself and his two classmates, Aikawa Kaze spoke with an expressionless face.

Ultimately, his guess that Sakura was in the club Internship Building was only a guess. She might also have been lingering in the classroom building.

His main reason for insisting on separating from his classmates was to make it easier to communicate with the system.

"Don't tell me you can't."

[The system can indeed locate Sakura Oogami.]

Aikawa Kaze wasn't surprised to hear the system's answer.

After his last conversation with the Jujutsu Kaisen World Consciousness, he had realized that this system was most likely its handiwork. Even if it hadn't created the system directly, the two were certainly closely connected.

There was no way the system couldn't handle such a trivial task.

[To obtain something, you must pay an equivalent price.]

"I have to fight cursed spirits soon. I'm not weakening myself at a time like this," Aikawa Kaze said evenly. "But if we resolve this incident, I'll use all my cursed energy for a [ten-pull] tomorrow—you need my power too, don't you?"

Yes, Aikawa Kaze had already realized the true nature of Heroic Spirit Summoning, which currently resembled a gacha game.

He couldn't be certain of the nature of his own power, but he had a few guesses.

Satoru Gojo had said that even the Six Eyes couldn't see through all his power, so he could only speculate about abilities related to his being a "transmigrator."

It probably possessed some attributes related to "traversal," "space-time," "disruption," or "fate." In any case, it was certainly something the World Consciousness wanted.

If the summoning succeeded, there was naturally nothing more to say. If it failed, however, that was when the World Consciousness stepped in.

To obtain the power with those special attributes, the World Consciousness would use other cursed objects or items to "trade" for the power he expended.

The reason its later offerings were much better value than the initial ones was probably "equivalent exchange."

Aikawa Kaze's lips curved mockingly. The system hadn't mentioned anything of the sort at the beginning.

Even being a World Consciousness didn't mean it could act without restraint and do whatever it pleased. Presumably, it also had rules it had to obey.

He wasn't stupid, either. If the value of what he paid and what he received differed too greatly each time he summoned, he might even give up once he realized the problem.

After all, he had already begun feeling reluctant during his second summoning. Especially after actually summoning a Heroic Spirit, he had stopped summoning as soon as his cursed energy recovered, as he had before.

Today, for instance, he had absolutely no desire to pull again.

Although that was partly to preserve his strength for the mission, Aikawa Kaze had clearly already grasped the key issue.

"Of course, I expect tomorrow's trade to be fair too. As for this time... heh, I still remember my first summoning."

As Aikawa Kaze recalled the scene back then, the corner of his mouth-

"Was all my power only worth one plate of Mapo Tofu?"

[...]

The system fell silent for a moment. He didn't know whether it was calculating something or contacting its superior.

A few seconds later, the system compromised.

[Sakura Oogami is indeed in the martial arts activity room on the first floor of the Internship Building. Proceed straight for 200 meters, then turn left to reach your destination.]

Aikawa Kaze broke into a run down the corridor and soon reached the location indicated by the system.

"Sakura!!!"

He flung the door open, prepared for an ambush the moment he entered, only to find a completely unexpected scene.

Little Sakura wore her hair in a cute ponytail. Though she looked slightly nervous, she was punching cursed spirits of every size away, one after another.

This girl... could she have talent as a jujutsu sorcerer too?!

Aikawa Kaze was bewildered for a moment. But he distinctly remembered that Sakura couldn't see cursed spirits when he first took her out.

Still, jujutsu abilities typically awakened between the ages of four and six. A first grader was more or less within that range, wasn't she?

Something still doesn't seem quite right...

"Big Brother Aikawa!"

The instant she saw Aikawa Kaze, Sakura's eyes lit up. Her little fists clenched tighter, and she swung them with even greater vigor as she rushed toward him.

"Sakura?!"

Aikawa Kaze caught Sakura and checked her over. Finding no injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did you..."

"After I went home last time, all the grown-ups said I'd had a nightmare. But I didn't think it was a dream, so I started training harder."

Although Sakura had never disliked training, she was still a sweet little girl, and she couldn't really be said to love martial arts. She had only done her best to practice because she didn't want to disappoint her parents.

In the past, whenever her father went abroad to compete and her mother accompanied him to provide support, Sakura would relax at home and slack off a little.

Fortunately, she was talented enough that even a little training put her far ahead of her peers. Even when she slacked off, she was still stronger than the others.

But after that terrifying day, Sakura's thinking had changed.

This time, she chose to practice martial arts not for "her parents' wishes," but to become stronger, for herself, and to protect others in times of danger. That was why she trained so hard.

Self-motivated effort was naturally different from before. Already exceptionally gifted, Sakura's strength had advanced by leaps and bounds.

Moreover, ever since that incident, she had been able to vaguely make out the shapes of those monsters. When she concentrated, she could even sense those disgusting monsters with her eyes closed.

"So that's what happened... you've worked really hard, Sakura."

Aikawa Kaze's feelings were complicated.

If she hadn't met him, perhaps Sakura could have grown up carefree, just like any ordinary little girl.

Now, however, her life seemed to have taken a different path.

"I'm sorry."

"You saved me, Big Brother Aikawa. Why are you apologizing?"

Sakura tilted her head, thoroughly puzzled.

"I've gotten much, much, much stronger because of it too."

"That's true. I can't deny that."

Thinking about it that way, perhaps the cursed spirits around Sakura were all weak because low-level cursed spirits lacked intelligence, while the stronger, higher-level ones knew how to seek advantage and avoid danger.

Perhaps that high-level cursed spirit intended to devour the weak first to grow stronger, then deal with the more powerful ones.

Of course, there was still one question Aikawa Kaze wanted answered.

"Sakura, why were you here alone after school?"

"Hm? I'd already left school and walked a little way, but a classmate ran over and said the teacher wanted to talk to me about next week's competition, and told me to come here."

As she spoke, Sakura tilted her head in confusion.

"But when I got to the classroom, I didn't see the teacher... ah!"

At this point, Sakura's expression suddenly changed, and Aikawa Kaze sighed.

If possible, he would have liked to protect this child's pure, young heart. Unfortunately, no matter how he looked at it, she had been dragged into this incident because of him.

Recognizing reality sooner would also help her stay alert.

Yet what Aikawa Kaze never expected was that Sakura's first reaction after her surprise would be...

"Oh no! Big Brother Aikawa, could the teacher and that classmate be in danger?"

"..."

Aikawa Kaze pressed a hand over his conscience. Even after a long pause, he couldn't bring himself to tell her it was a setup.

Either that classmate had been controlled and ordered to do it, or they had been deceived by whoever was behind this...

Never mind. That's not the point.

Aikawa Kaze hesitated, but ultimately left the truth unspoken. He simply picked Sakura up and ran outside, glossing over the difficult part.

"Besides you, two other children have been caught up in this danger. Everyone else is safe."

Considering that Satoru Gojo wasn't outside the barrier, if he really let Sakura leave alone, he would have to worry about her running into some other scheme or danger.

After all, she shouldn't have been here in the first place. Better to keep her with him.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!"

The sound of a collapsing building rang out. As Aikawa Kaze ran with Sakura in his arms, he looked toward the source of the thunderous noise.

It was a little worrying. He wondered how his two classmates were doing-had they found the two missing children by now?

They seemed to be inside the cursed spirit's body...

Right, cursed energy can strengthen the body, so strengthening the five senses should work too.

Aikawa Kaze tried hard to concentrate his cursed energy on enhancing his ears. He wasn't sure whether he was imagining it, but he seemed to hear Yuta Okkotsu and Maki Zenin's voices.

"I... never want to hurt anyone again."

Yuta Okkotsu's choked voice reached him.

"I want to connect with people. I want to be needed. I want the confidence to keep living."

"Then exorcise, exorcise, and exorcise some more! Keep exorcising cursed spirits, and both confidence and people will naturally gather around you! Because that's the kind of place Jujutsu High is!!!!"

"Rika... lend me your power!"

"Rumble, rumble, rumble-"

An even more violent roar than before battered his hearing like an explosion. Aikawa Kaze even felt the urge to cover his ears.

He decisively cut off the hearing enhancement. Any longer, and he felt he would go deaf.

By the time he ran out of the Internship Building with Sakura, half the classroom building had already collapsed. The Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit Rika Orimoto was furiously tearing apart a massive cursed spirit a full six stories tall with her bare hands.

Below the building, a bedraggled Yuta Okkotsu was struggling along with the seriously injured Maki Zenin and the two children on his back.

It looks like things haven't changed much?

At this rate, the incident could be resolved perfectly.

That should have been the case, but Aikawa Kaze's sixth sense kept warning him, leaving him uneasy.

"Okkotsu! I found Sakura!"

With the situation so urgent, Aikawa Kaze had no time to think further before rushing over.

"I'll help."

"Ah..."

Carrying three people was indeed a strain on Yuta Okkotsu. He was injured himself, and both his stamina and cursed energy had been severely depleted, making every step a struggle.

Seeing Aikawa Kaze in good condition, with a little girl in his arms, reassured him somewhat.

"We have to get them medical treatment as soon as possible!"

"Got it!"

Aikawa Kaze was just about to take the other two little boys to lighten Yuta Okkotsu's burden when he noticed something was wrong.

Rika Orimoto was delighted. She had effortlessly torn the villain who had bullied Yuta to pieces, bit by bit. Yet just as she was about to crush the last remaining part of the cursed spirit, something stopped her.

"Huh? What... is this?"

Rika Orimoto tilted her head, seemingly puzzled about why she had been stopped. It seemed there was something hard inside this lump of cursed spirit blocking her.

The next second, Rika Orimoto, who had just been overwhelming the cursed spirit, was sent flying. Where the obstruction had been, something stick-shaped faintly emerged.

"Rika!!!"

Startled, Yuta Okkotsu looked back in concern.

"What is that thing?!"

"Ah! Big Brother Aikawa, that, that..."

Sharp-eyed Sakura worked up the courage to look over, and was utterly stunned.

"That shape looks like the chicken foot Big Yellow was chewing on back then! Do all monsters like eating those?"

"..."

Aikawa Kaze took one look. This turn of events felt awfully familiar-he'd seen something like it before!