Students

At Tokyo Jujutsu High, a little over a year had passed since the Star Plasma Vessel Incident.

It had been roughly three months since Satoru Gojo had mastered Automatic Limitless.

"Huh?"

The setting sun shone into the corridor of the school building, as though emphasizing the sorrow of parting.

A tall, slender, white-haired teenager stood facing a muscular man in sunglasses.

Satoru Gojo stared at Masamichi Yaga in shock. "Teacher, say that again!"

"I'll say it again..."

Masamichi Yaga sighed. "Geto was attacked last night. He still hasn't woken up."

"He hasn't woken up?"

Satoru Gojo hurried up to Masamichi Yaga. "Didn't Shoko treat him with Reverse Cursed Technique?"

"She tried. We don't know why, but even though Geto's injuries were external, he's still unconscious."

"Take me to him!"

Moments later, they arrived at the school infirmary.

Satoru Gojo pushed open the door and saw Shoko and Ze Zenin sitting beside the bed.

"Ze, how is he?" Satoru Gojo asked urgently.

Ze Zenin shook his head and said gravely:

"We don't know what's causing it. Geto's electrocardiogram is stable, and all his readings are normal..."

"But I sensed traces of cursed energy from Reverse Cursed Technique on his hand, along with another sorcerer's cursed residue."

"Who was it, Ze?" Satoru Gojo shouted.

"Gojo!" Shoko sounded displeased. "Ze is worried too. Don't you understand how he feels?"

"Sorry..." Satoru Gojo lowered his head and clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms until blood seeped out.

Ze Zenin watched Satoru Gojo without speaking.

That was how Satoru Gojo was. He seemed carefree, but he treasured his bonds with others.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have lowered the Hollow Purple aimed at Suguru Geto in the original story, or been sealed inside the Prison Realm over a single sentence.

"It's all right, Shoko."

Ze Zenin smiled at Shoko, stopping her before she could say more.

"I understand how Gojo feels. I think if I were the one lying there...

he'd be questioning Geto like this too, wouldn't he?"

"..."

Satoru Gojo seemed to regain his composure. He rolled his eyes and said, "Like hell I'd worry about you."

"All talk."

"What's it to you?"

"I think Geto's hand just moved."

Shoko spoke quietly, pointing at Suguru Geto's hand.

The two bickering boys turned toward Suguru Geto in unison. His brow was furrowed, and although he hadn't woken up, he was clearly showing signs of consciousness.

"Looks like he wasn't hit by some strange cursed technique..."

Ze Zenin silently withdrew his hand, a vague sense of unease stirring within him.

But who was behind this?

Was it you?

Kenjaku...

Suddenly, a flicker of anxiety rose in Ze Zenin's heart. Ever since he had gone to exorcise that completely unfamiliar cursed spirit in Southeast Asia last year,

his grasp of the plot had slipped completely out of his control, although he could still roughly guess Kenjaku's objectives and methods.

But knowing how that sneaky bastard thinks, he might not even be in this country anymore...

What a headache. Kenjaku, that thousand-year-old schemer.

I have to stay on guard against the tricks he pulls behind the scenes.

Still, that thousand-year-old monster can only hide in the shadows and play his little games...

Ze Zenin murmured to himself. He felt there were some things he had to tell Satoru Gojo.

Although he knew that, given Satoru Gojo's personality flaws, telling him ahead of time probably wouldn't do much to keep him from being sealed...

he still had to try.

But first, he turned to Shoko. "Want to hear me tell another story?"

"Hmm?"

Shoko looked puzzled for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile. "Sure!"

"Gojo, there's something I have to tell you..."

Three days later.

"Teacher, so this is where you live now?"

Ze Zenin looked at Toji with disdain. "The house looks pretty big. How is it for your family of four?"

"Come to think of it, what did you do with all the money you earned over the years? Why didn't you buy a villa?"

"Shut up, you little brat." Toji calmly picked his ear. "Back then, I strolled into the racetrack with my hands in my pockets, and no one could touch me. Then something unexpected happened..."

"But you're a heartless little bastard. You only came to visit me now!"

"Don't change the subject. So you went broke?" Ze Zenin asked disdainfully.

"You little brat, you really think you're all grown up now!" Toji narrowed his eyes at Ze Zenin.

"Stop gambling, and I'll stop giving you grief."

"Tch."

"Your first wife-

the one you told me about ten years ago, my teacher's wife. What happened to her?"

Ze Zenin asked suddenly.

"Her..."

The image of a black-haired woman flashed through Toji's mind. Regret and guilt filled his eyes as he said:

"She passed away after giving birth to Megumi."

"It was my fault. She already had an underlying illness. Having a baby was too much for her...

I failed her so badly that I couldn't even face Megumi, the child she left behind."

Ze Zenin glanced at Toji. He had never seen him like this before, and he couldn't help feeling a pang of sadness.

Before long, the two reached the front door of a house, and Toji knocked.

A boy with spiky black hair opened the door, his expression somewhat cold.

But he visibly brightened when he saw Toji, then called into the house:

"Sis, Dad's home!"

Megumi Fushiguro immediately ran inside and sat beside a girl with a ponytail.

Toji and Ze Zenin exchanged a glance, then stepped inside.

Seeing that her father had brought an older boy home, the girl introduced herself with a smile. "My name is Tsumiki Fushiguro, and this is my little brother, Megumi Fushiguro..."

"I'm your uncle, you know." With a faint smile, Ze Zenin crouched down and patted Tsumiki's little head.

What an ill-fated family. Both siblings ended up having their bodies taken over by thousand-year-old monsters.

The girl seemed very considerate. She quickly stood up and said, "I'll go make something for Dad and our guest to eat."

At this point, neither the girl nor Megumi Fushiguro knew that the older boy before them was nominally their uncle.

When Megumi Fushiguro saw his sister head toward the kitchen, he immediately followed her.

As Toji watched the siblings, a happy smile unwittingly spread across his face.

"Even though I couldn't face Megumi, and I don't know enough about his life...

I still sensed the same aura from him as I did from you.

His cursed technique... is the Ten Shadows Technique too!"

Ze Zenin wasn't particularly surprised. He simply watched Toji in silence.

Toji let out a helpless laugh, pointing at Ze Zenin as he jokingly scolded him:

"The older you get, the less cute you are, you little brat. When you were little, you used to follow me around, begging for attention."

"I just think you're pretty lame, Teacher. You can't even face your own son."

"Get lost."

"I just feel like I really let Megumi's mother down," Toji grumbled.

Pulling himself together, Toji said, "So, how about it? I'll leave Megumi's training to you."

"After all, I don't have any cursed energy or a cursed technique. Teaching him to use the Ten Shadows Technique would be a joke."

"You taught me, and I'll be teaching your son. What are we supposed to call each other now?"

"Son?" Toji said uncertainly.

"Screw you!"

Amid their laughter and banter, Tsumiki brought out several plates of snacks.

"Let's eat!"

"Don't hog them, you little brat!"

Time flew by, and before long, it was 2011-the year Rika was cursed in the original story.

On a road with no traffic, a boy and a girl were about to cross to the other side.

"Yuta, let's go!"

"Okay!"

The girl looked back at the boy with a smile, then prepared to step onto the empty road.

Watching her, the boy was just about to follow when his pupils contracted. He shouted, "Rika!"

"Huh?"

The girl turned and saw a yellow car speeding toward her.

But the expected collision never happened.

A white-haired man standing six feet three inches tall held out his hand in front of the car, shielding the girl behind him.

Strangely, the car had stopped in front of his hand and remained completely motionless.

His azure eyes rested on the boy as he grumbled quietly:

"Four years of searching, and I finally found you..."

Then he looked at the boy again and flashed a sunny smile.

"My name is Satoru Gojo. Would you like to be my student?"