Summer's Burden

It was a busy summer, and the incessant cries of cicadas grated on everyone's nerves.

Meanwhile, the students of Jujutsu High were constantly on the move...

As the strongest by an overwhelming margin, Satoru Gojo was assigned to exorcise cursed spirits in the places where they were most numerous and powerful.

Shoko Ieiri wasn't a combatant, so naturally, she didn't have to fight on the front lines.

And so Suguru Geto had to split off from their original team of four and complete missions alone.

That was how it should have been...

"Hey, hey, Geto! Look, look! My blood can even do this!" The lively girl squeezed a little blood out of her body and gathered it in her palm, gradually shaping it into a miniature Eiffel Tower. Then she held it up to the boy with the side-swept bangs as though showing off a treasure.

It was Riko Amanai. As a newcomer to jujutsu, she had been foisted on Suguru Geto by Masamichi Yaga, ostensibly so he could help train a rookie.

In reality, he was still just babysitting.

Honestly, Suguru Geto would rather have tackled the endless missions alone right now. This kid was just too... lively.

No wonder Satoru Gojo had eventually declared that he never wanted to babysit a kid again...

Fortunately, Riko Amanai paid no attention whatsoever to Suguru Geto's utter despair and kept experimenting with shaping the blood in her hand.

Then she shoved each of her assorted creations in his face.

"Hey, hey, look!"

So loud...

Just these past few days of work and missions had made Suguru Geto's life a living hell. There was no hiding the exhaustion in his eyes, especially with the dark circles beneath them that had drained every last glimmer from his narrow eyes.

Exorcise, absorb, run himself ragged... look after a kid.

Exorcise, absorb, travel, look after a kid.

What am I working myself to death for?

Exorcise, absorb, occasionally visit Shoko when he got hurt, then listen to Riko and Shoko laughing together...

Repeat, back and forth, over and over...

"If only there were no curses..."

He rubbed the space between his brows. The frequent disasters of the previous year had brought cursed spirits swarming out like maggots. Even with Satoru Gojo handling most of them, the remaining workload was still unimaginably huge.

Day after day, time after time, he swallowed those spheres that tasted like filthy rags, forcing down his nausea and exhaustion as he traveled from place to place.

He was... tired.

Now Suguru Geto could barely take two steps without swaying three times. His stress and mental burden were greater than ever.

It was like "working on an assembly line just before New Year's, only for your boss to suddenly dump several times the usual workload on you, leaving you no choice but to push harder and finish it to make a living."

Exhausted in body and mind...

"Geto? You seem pretty listless. Are you okay?"

After going a long time without a response, Riko Amanai finally saw fit to give the poor boy's ears a moment of peace.

She returned the blood to a little bottle she carried with her. She had brought it because she didn't want blood she had already released going back into her body. A bit of a clean freak, she always felt that contact with the air would leave some bacteria behind.

Putting the bottle away, she walked up beside Suguru Geto, rested a hand on his shoulder, and raised an eyebrow. "Are you tired? There really have been loads of monsters lately. Why don't we get something tasty and take a break first?"

Suguru Geto looked down at the ground... thought it over, then decided against it.

"We're heading to a village next. Let's eat after we've dealt with the cursed spirits there."

"Yay! Your treat, then!"

You're the one who brought up getting something tasty...

Suguru Geto sighed, but didn't argue.

The cheerful girl in front of him was a large part of the reason he could still keep going.

If she had died that day, right there in front of him, he might have been in even worse shape than he was now.

Seeing her still smiling and joking with him wasn't so bad.

Saving people-that was the ideal Suguru Geto had held to ever since learning what he might face as a jujutsu sorcerer.

But ordinary people were ignorant, after all. They cursed one another over the smallest things, came to blows over minor friction, and killed each other over tiny misunderstandings.

The more missions he took, the more he saw, and the more clearly he understood the [malice] inherent in human nature.

Whenever he returned to school and washed away his exhaustion alone in the empty bathroom.

He would force himself not to waver.

[I must fulfill my duties as a sorcerer.]

After leaving the bathroom, he would always wander around Jujutsu High for a while. If he was lucky, he might run into Satoru Gojo, exchange a quick greeting, and watch him leave on another mission.

Then he would drift over to the operating room, both to see Shoko Ieiri and to check on Kamo Xu's condition.

Once, after coming out of the operating room, he sat on a bench in the hallway, head bowed as he tried to empty his mind of its tangled thoughts.

"Oh! Geto!"

He looked toward the voice. It was Yu Haibara, who was also wandering around after finishing a mission.

Oh, it's him. Isn't he tired after a mission? Still as sunny as ever...

"Thanks for all your hard work!"

"Oh, Haibara. Want something to drink?"

"Huh? I couldn't possibly impose... a cola, please!"

Cheerful kids can accept things so freely. How nice.

Suguru Geto managed a rare smile. After buying Haibara a can of cola, the two chatted idly.

"Man, it's been so exhausting lately. There are tons of missions, everything's a hassle, and Nanami and I are practically spinning like tops!"

"And tomorrow's mission is so far away!"

Yu Haibara pulled a thoroughly miserable face as he talked about his missions, resignation creeping into his voice, yet none of his energy had faded.

Seeing his junior still working so hard, Suguru Geto couldn't help feeling ashamed.

"Haibara... can you keep going in this line of work as a jujutsu sorcerer?"

"After seeing so much... doesn't it hurt?"

Using concern for his junior as a way to voice his own doubts, Suguru Geto had unknowingly become just as roundabout as Masamichi Yaga.

Haibara naturally understood what his senior was really asking. Coupled with how visibly unwell Geto looked, it made him turn his head, prop his chin on both hands, and say solemnly:

"I'm not really the sort of person who thinks things through..."

Old habits died hard. His attempt at solemnity crumbled in less than a second. With his signature smile and his tendency not to overthink things, he said something Suguru Geto might never manage in his entire life.

"But working hard at what you can do really feels great!"

What an incredible outlook...

Suguru Geto looked at his junior in surprise. Yes, why couldn't he wrap his head around something so simple?

He only needed to do what he could. Thinking too much would just add to his worries...

"Yeah... you're right."

Suguru Geto's brow relaxed a little, and he followed Haibara's example by asking him for something.

"Bring back a souvenir after your mission."

"Sure! Something sweet or savory?"

"Satoru Gojo might have some too, so something sweet..."

Would things be better if I were a little more cheerful and thought a little less?

What an awful personality I have...

Just then, a woman who wasn't from Jujutsu High appeared before them.

"Oh? I've found two young guys! What kind of women do you like?"

With one hand on her hip and the other against her head, her confident smile lent her lovely face an outrageously flashy air. Even standing in the shadowed hallway, her long blond hair looked bright.

But her lively eyes left the strongest impression.

Haibara decided at first glance that this woman was a good person!

Suguru Geto, on the other hand, frowned and asked who she was.

"Who are you?"

There was no answer... only the cries of summer cicadas broke the silence.

Haibara suddenly answered at the top of his voice, "I like girls with big appetites!"

Only then did the blond woman respond, nodding as though she approved of him.

What's that supposed to mean?

Suguru Geto looked at the sunny young man with a wry smile. Sometimes, his unguarded nature really did have its merits.

"You really are something..."

"It's okay. She's not a bad person." Yu Haibara smiled confidently and said with absolute certainty, "I'm never wrong about people!"

Even though you're sitting with someone like me...

Suguru Geto looked away, unable to resist a jab at his confidence. "You say that while you're sitting next to me...?"

Yu Haibara was puzzled. That remark had left the boy at a complete loss; he couldn't understand what his senior meant.

But surely his senior had a reason for saying it!

"Yes!"

And so... Haibara wholeheartedly agreed with Suguru Geto's remark.