"One of my own"

After throwing a huge fit to get a signal base station installed and internet cables laid in the Zenin Clan estate, I soon got a phone of my own.

As soon as the desserts arrived, I snapped a few mouthwatering photos of the pretty little treats.

Then I opened my contacts, found someone saved as [Secluded Six Eyes], and sent him the photos.

[Me]: [Image][Image][Image].

[Me]: I'm in Tokyo.

[Me]: Want me to bring you some?

Satoru Gojo didn't reply. Who knew what he was up to?

So I stopped checking for his messages and tucked my phone back into my kimono's roomy pocket.

I looked at Suguru Geto. "You must have gone hungry in that domain all day, Geto. Let's eat first."

Suguru Geto thought, This girl, Kamu Zenin, seems rather cold, but she's surprisingly kind.

Touched, he smiled faintly, picked up the dessert closest to him, and took a bite.

...?

What was going on?

Suguru Geto's smile froze on his face as he stared uncertainly at the dessert in his hand.

Had he... finally lost his sense of taste after just three years of constantly eating those disgusting cursed spirit balls?

Why did this dessert taste so bland when it looked like it was covered in icing sugar?

"What's wrong? Does it taste bad?"

"No, it's delicious." He stopped dwelling on the taste and polished off the dessert in a few bites, then quickly grew serious and asked eagerly, "Can you answer my questions now?"

He said it was delicious.

Satoru Gojo, I told you your taste buds were the problem.

Having gotten the answer I wanted, I was in an excellent mood.

"Those monsters are called cursed spirits. They're born from ordinary people's negative emotions. Only a tiny minority with a talent for jujutsu can see and fight them. Most people can't see them at all."

"Since you managed to protect two other people for almost a whole day, it looks like you've already awakened your cursed technique. So, what is it?"

I picked up the juice on the table and took a sip.

Second grade. He looked about the same age as Satoru Gojo.

He'd protected two other people inside a special domain formed by a cursed spirit close to special grade, despite coming from an ordinary family and having no one to guide him!

If he'd held out that long, the technique he'd awakened had to be something special.

"My technique is called [Cursed Spirit Manipulation]." The name of the technique had mysteriously surfaced in his mind on its own.

"[Cursed Spirit Manipulation]? A technique for controlling cursed spirits?"

"More or less... but I have to subdue a cursed spirit before I can control it."

Curious, I asked, "Is there a limit?"

He hesitated a little. "I'm not sure. So far, no."

Now that was an incredible technique.

And in a sense, his fighting style was pretty similar to mine as a "shikigami user."

We both fought by summoning things.

"Could you let a cursed spirit out for me to see?"

"Uh..." He fell into an embarrassed silence for a moment. "My cursed spirits weren't very strong. They were all used up on the top floor earlier."

"All right, then." I felt a little disappointed.

After finishing his dessert, Suguru Geto said to me, "I don't have any money on me right now. Could you give me your contact information? I'll pay you back another day."

"No need. It's my treat."

I had no intention of getting too involved with him.

...One Satoru Gojo in my contacts was annoying enough.

But Suguru Geto didn't seem willing to leave it at that. There was a hint of stubbornness in his eyes, and the faintest trace of hope in his words.

"Then... will I be able to see you again?"

For someone who had awakened a cursed technique, being born into the world of ordinary people was, in a way, a tragedy.

No one understood them. No one accepted them. Others might even think they had gone mad.

The year Suguru Geto first awakened his technique, he had been afraid, anxious, and helpless... He had tried to tell his parents about the monsters he saw, but they had only looked at him with concern.

[Geto, did you have a nightmare?]

That was what his parents had asked.

But the more he tried to prove it, the more worried they became. They even took him to see a psychologist.

Unfortunately, none of it helped.

Then, one day, he saw a monster attacking someone. In that moment of crisis, he awakened his technique and saved the little girl it had hurt.

And for the first time, he swallowed a "cursed spirit ball"-ominous, nauseating, and as foul as a rag used to wipe up vomit.

Suguru Geto realized one thing with absolute clarity: he could never return to an ordinary life.

-That was fine, too.

That was what Suguru Geto thought.

Because he could see them, monsters often came after him. Other people would be much safer if they stayed away from him.

But... surrounded by the startled, frightened looks of those around him, he still couldn't help feeling lonely deep down.

At last, Suguru Geto tried to become a "normal person."

He transferred schools and started over in a new environment.

He did his best to ignore what was unusual about him, threw himself into his studies, and tried to fit into ordinary life.

Until an aura far stronger than that of any monster he had ever seen suddenly appeared on the top floor.

Suguru Geto was kind. He couldn't stand by and let his classmates get hurt, so he followed them.

The monster was powerful. He couldn't beat it.

...But he had no regrets. In fact, he was glad.

Because he had met this girl named "Kamu Zenin," someone like him... one of his own.

A lonely, helpless heart had wandered for three years without anyone understanding it, only to finally find another "outsider" like himself.

Faced with that look from such a pretty child, I had to admit I was a little outmatched.

Damn it. I was starting to soften.

At that moment, I found myself caught in a strange dilemma.

He wanted to know if he could see me again?

-That was obviously pretty unlikely.

But now, with him looking at me like that, I actually found it hard to say.

Suddenly, my phone on the table vibrated a few times.

[Secluded Six Eyes]: ?

[Secluded Six Eyes]: You went out to have fun without inviting me again!

[Secluded Six Eyes]: Yes, yes, yes! But forget the stuff in your pictures. I want a strawberry parfait with a super-extra helping of sugar!

In an instant, a brilliant idea sprang to mind.

I smiled at Suguru Geto. "Of course. I can even introduce you to another friend."

With one more friend, Satoru Gojo would probably bother me a little less, right?