There's a Dog

Xia Xia helped Megumi Fushiguro out of the stadium.

The kid's injuries seemed to have healed completely, but for some reason, he looked as though he'd suffered a terrible blow.

Surely it wasn't because Xia Xia had picked up every one of his animal friends to check whether they guarded their food, causing his animal-welfare instincts to explode and inspiring him to abandon society's constraints and stereotypes to become a full-fledged furry?

Two minutes earlier.

"Little animals really are the best."

After vigorously ruffling the Divine Dog's head and its wonderfully strange, soft ears, Xia Xia contentedly handed the poor dog, which had endured torment beyond ordinary human imagination, back to Megumi Fushiguro.

But the dog kept struggling to run back to Xia Xia. Megumi Fushiguro might have been its master, but Xia Xia seemed to be some higher, greater being.

"What did you do?"

Pain and helplessness simmered beneath Megumi Fushiguro's words. Rather than angry, he sounded defeated. His best companions had been kneaded and squashed into someone else's playthings, and all he could do was stand there and watch. No, he didn't want this.

"This dog's a little malnourished. Have you been making it work without ever feeding it dog food?"

Xia Xia offered this remarkable diagnosis.

"Dog food? Do shikigami need that stuff?"

Megumi Fushiguro's pained expression turned blank.

Wasn't the Ten Shadows Technique an inherited innate cursed technique? Weren't the shikigami it summoned universally understood to be disposable workers? All he had to do was supply cursed energy on schedule so they could manifest and fight. Why would they need feeding?

"Exactly. Since you never feed it dog food, this poor thing's malnourished, running around everywhere, and constantly guarding its food because it's hungry."

"It was so vicious that I thought it was 'desperate poverty.' Turns out it was 'utter evil.'"

"Bro!"

"One scoop for muscle and bone, and I fed it until its belly was round. Look, it doesn't bite no matter how you pet it. Isn't that a good dog?"

Xia Xia reached back into his shadow, pulled out a metal ingot smelted using the Demon-Repelling Edge, and stuffed it into the Divine Dog's muzzle.

"So, so, so, so, so good!!!"

A second later, the dog, which had looked rather wilted after Xia Xia's vigorous rubbing, perked right up. Even the shadows making up its body grew denser and denser.

"Ninety-nine percent pure! Rare stuff!"

The dog joyfully circled Xia Xia, tongue lolling, its tail spinning like a propeller as it rubbed madly against his trouser legs. It seemed to have... fallen to depravity.

Its indistinct, shadowy eyes actually displayed unmistakable flattery. I mean, you could see a red-light district's adults-only expression in a dog's eyes, that feeling of a "seductive little slut" surrendering to primal urges-a long drought finally met rain, doggy.

That was how it was.

Already... from body to soul, every element that made me up... had taken Xia Xia's shape.

I still liked Megumi so much, but my body could never go back now. It had been thoroughly dyed in Lord Xia Xia's color (cursed energy).

Megumi, I'm sorry. I could never go back. Without that thing of Lord Xia Xia's (the metal ingot), watashi would truly lose all meaning and direction in life.

Once I'd experienced something so extraordinary, it felt as though my whole life before it had been spent waiting for this moment of affection.

Watashi already belonged to Lord Xia Xia.

The Divine Dog lay limp at Xia Xia's feet, gently licking the ground beside them, as though his scent and lingering warmth still remained there.

"Then... thank you?"

Prisoner Megumi said those words.

Yes, you had to say thank you when you got cucked.

If you asked why, it was just like showing your belly when apologizing or learning to read the room in class. This was a required course for Japanese jujutsu sorcerers.

Lord Xia Xia had driven all night and traveled all this way just to show you what a master dog trainer looked like. As the wronged party, did you have any manners, Megumi Fushiguro? Had you thanked Lord Xia Xia for all his hard work?

He had.

When he said thank you, he felt that although he hadn't really lost anything, his life could never go back either.

Megumi Fushiguro still smiled, but his face was pale.

Let's leave it at that, Divine Dog.

I failed to protect you. I couldn't give you the satisfaction and excitement you wanted. If that man could truly make you happy, then go with him. It would be better than staying with me.

Divine Dog, you had to be happy. You had to find happiness and enjoy every day. Divine Dog, you had my blessing. You had to be happy, Divine Dog...

Divine Dog! How could I live without you!

Divine Dog!

Please, couldn't you come to your senses? Look at me one more time. Don't leave me. Don't leave me!

"Snowflakes drifted~♪"

"The north wind sighed~♫"

Seeing that Xia Xia seemed to be a fellow Animal Crossing fan, Megumi Fushiguro's tension suddenly eased. Yet the sight was still hard to keep a straight face at. After all, Prisoner Megumi wore the exact same expression as the protagonist of Fire Punch.

People who liked animal friends couldn't be bad people.

But they might be cuckolders.

In other words, all those shadow shikigami now obeyed someone else. Prisoner Megumi's skills had been stripped away, leaving him with nothing but an elbow strike-and he might not even beat the other guy at that.

Stealing a Ten Shadows user's shikigami was perfectly safe. What could he do, send his shadow shikigami to bite you?

Prisoner Megumi looked at peace. In reality, he was out of options.

The shadow shikigami seemed to sense the change in the Divine Dogs and stirred within his technique, apparently eager to experience the sensation the dogs described, something powerful enough to make even their souls succumb...

Megumi Fushiguro's smile grew even more desolate.

I thought The Impotent Husband had stopped updating. Why was there a sequel? I was here first. The Divine Dog was my shikigami. Whether summoning it with cursed energy or giving it love, weren't those my exclusive privileges?

There was cucking here! Cucking!

"All right, I'm done teasing you."

"Here, have Bruce back."

Xia Xia crouched and patted the dog, which was bobbing its head, burrowing into his arms, and greedily inhaling his scent in epic, lung-filling gulps. Then he picked it up and handed it back to Megumi Fushiguro.

Hey, just teasing you.

"Big dog, big dog~"

"Big dog, big dog~"

"...Bark, bark, bark!!!"

The Divine Dog obediently let out a wolf's howl.

Actually, it was a dog's bark.

The most satisfying round of "big dog, big dog, bark, bark, bark" in the observable universe of Jujutsu Kaisen rang through the skies.

Xia Xia had had his fun.

Why tease Megumi Fushiguro?

Come on, bro. If you saw a summoning-dog player out on the street shamelessly opening a whole zoo in battle, could you resist locking him down with grab skills, countering his secret scroll with a skill, timing his substitution cooldown, and waiting for his stress to explode?

That was the Summoning King for you: three summons per match.

The funniest part was that Megumi Fushiguro really could summon a toad-hopefully the kid would unlock the Sage Ceremony.

Now it was clear how Satoru Gojo had died.

Someone who used summons and could summon toads was bound to have a fourfold type advantage against his teacher. Add Megumi Fushiguro's extra backstory of losing both parents and being adopted, and Prisoner Teacher had earned two to the third power, a full eightfold dose of heaven's attention. He simply had to die, and might even have to slit his own throat and ascend after the fight(?)

Whenever you felt stressed, think of Megumi Fushiguro. There was nothing a deathrattle ultimate couldn't solve.

But the undead and evil attributes that came with a deathrattle skill set took triple damage from holy light.

Speak of the devil.

He looked up. An angel lady was in the sky.

Hana Kurusu, the wielder of Angel's cursed technique, was the jujutsu world's Touma Kamijou. Her technique could destroy the effects of any other technique, and it worked on cursed objects and cursed tools too.

The most powerful, most expensive snap pop inside the Culling Game barrier, Satoru Gojo's legendary lock-picking maiden, Prisoner Megumi's childhood friend who dropped from the sky to repay a kindness, the foolish green-eyed blonde every Japanese manga needed, the owner of a god-tier lovesick brain...

There wasn't room here for that many people.

Never mind. What could sound more impressive than the permanently attached title of Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer, Prisoner Megumi?

"Were you attacked by ancient jujutsu sorcerers? Do you need my help?"

Hana Kurusu couldn't smell the unclean scent of reincarnated vessels on the two people below, so she was very friendly.

In her and Angel's eyes, as long as someone wasn't one of those heinous ancient jujutsu sorcerers or a sinner who slaughtered innocents, they ought to help a little, right?

"Yep. We just scrapped an ancient jujutsu sorcerer. He's already gone back to the Underworld."

Xia Xia pointed at the Gymnasium behind him.

"Too bad. If you'd come a little earlier, you could've watched a blood-pumping weightlifting contest."

Megumi Fushiguro said nothing.

"Let's roll. Let's go beat up Sukuna together."

Xia Xia knew how to get Angel's attention and sent out an invitation to start a fight.

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that, sir. Do you have information on The Fallen (Sukuna)? Perhaps we could work together."

Sure enough, hearing that name brought a flash of delighted surprise to Hana Kurusu's previously calm emerald eyes.

"Absolutely. Sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to come with us first. Looks like some trouble's gathering nearby."

Xia Xia agreed immediately, but glanced warily around.

Hana Kurusu readily reached out and took Megumi Fushiguro's hand. "Hold on tight. I'll get you out of here first."

Yes, this place wasn't safe. Whatever happened, they should meet up with the main group first-she certainly wasn't worried about Megumi Fushiguro. This was just to preserve their fighting strength.

"Yo, second bro!!!"

Yuji Itadori's voice reached them from far away.

He really was energetic. Kids this age were always so full of life. They made me feel like an old man.

"I'm back, Yuji."

"I brought one of your classmates along, too."

Setting aside why Xia Xia had counted Megumi Fushiguro like an animal, for some unknown reason, Hana Kurusu was holding Megumi Fushiguro, while Xia Xia dangled in midair, clinging to his leg.

Even more ridiculous was the floating Dayun truck beside the three of them. The visual impact rivaled Howl's Moving Castle.

A heavy-duty truck, flying through the sky!

"Hey, you! If you can use cursed energy to make the truck fly, why are you still holding on to my leg?"

Megumi Fushiguro was coming apart a little in this undignified position.

"Don't worry about the details."

"It saves effort."

Someone grinned without a shred of conscience and guided the truck gently down into the hotel's parking lot.