I Curse You to Live to a Hundred

"Huh?"

When the news came back, Satoru Gojo had just finished a mission when Masamichi Yaga summoned him without explanation. Kamo Xu had been called in too.

But the news they received shook them to the core...

"So, Suguru Geto defected and killed everyone in the village..."

"I heard you!" Satoru Gojo roared. "That's why I already answered!"

Masamichi Yaga fell silent. He knew just how close Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were. At a time like this, that disrespect hardly mattered.

"Suguru Geto's family home is empty too. But judging by the bloodstains and cursed residue... I'm afraid he killed his parents as well."

"Don't fucking joke about that!"

"Satoru!" The sudden shout silenced Satoru Gojo. It was Kamo Xu.

He stopped Satoru Gojo before he could lose all reason, signaling with his eyes for him to look at Yaga.

Only then did Satoru Gojo calm down and notice that Masamichi Yaga's face was just as anguished.

"I don't understand any of this either. What on earth happened...?"

That Yaga who was always so stern and serious, that man who was always putting on an act, that old bastard...

"Fuck..." Satoru Gojo clenched his fists so tightly he could no longer tell whether the pain came from his compressed muscles or his nails digging into his flesh and drawing blood.

Kamo Xu sat in his wheelchair, equally helpless...

Even now, the thing he feared most had still happened.

Fate was like an archer, and the plot an arrow already loosed. Everything he had done amounted to no more than a gust of wind in its path, an obstacle.

That bastard, fate, seemed to have foreseen every obstacle he would create, treating him as nothing more than a challenge on its way to the bull's-eye.

Everything seemed to have changed, yet nothing seemed to have changed at all...

Damn this plot!

Shinjuku.

Shoko Ieiri wandered down the street and headed to a smoking area, hoping a cigarette would ease her recent exhaustion.

But after rummaging through her pockets, she found fuck-all besides a phone and a pack of cigarettes...

"Need a light?"

Shoko Ieiri froze, her searching hand coming to a stop.

She turned around to find Suguru Geto smiling easily.

The dark circles were gone, he wasn't so thin anymore, and he looked much more lively... though his hair had grown longer.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Criminal. Here to kill me?"

Seeing that he seemed well, Shoko Ieiri teased the old friend she hadn't seen in so long.

"Thought I'd try my luck." Suguru Geto smiled and walked over to lean against the wall near her.

He seemed to have changed so much, yet not at all.

He was still the guy who never took her jokes seriously, still that good person who was always smiling.

But now...

"I might as well ask. Were you framed?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"One more nosy question. Why...?"

"I'm going to create a world of sorcerers only."

"Hahaha. That makes no sense." Shoko Ieiri gave a couple of dry laughs, took her phone from her pocket, and dialed a number.

Suguru Geto didn't stop her. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I don't expect everyone to understand me."

Shoko Ieiri had already dialed, but before the call connected, she took an irritated jab at Suguru Geto. "Giving up on yourself because you think nobody in the world understands you is pretty childish too."

The call connected. "Hello, Gojo? Suguru Geto's here with me. Yeah, Shinjuku."

"...No way. I'd like to stay alive."

Suguru Geto couldn't hear how angrily Gojo was answering Shoko over the phone, but judging by her response, the guy was probably asking her to hold him there.

By the time he said goodbye to Shoko Ieiri, dusk was approaching.

Satoru Gojo was fast. He caught up in just half an hour.

Suguru Geto sensed his arrival well in advance, but kept his head down and walked on.

"Tell me why, Geto!"

Suguru Geto stopped. Hearing Satoru Gojo's usual overbearing, unreasonable tone didn't anger him. For some reason, his friend seemed a little nervous.

"Shoko should have told you. It's that simple."

"So you're going to kill every non-sorcerer? Even your parents!?"

"Even my parents couldn't be given special treatment. Besides, I already have a new family."

"You know that's not what I'm asking!" Emotion surged, and the cursed energy around Satoru Gojo began rising out of control. "Didn't you say killing innocent people was wrong?"

At those words, Suguru Geto inevitably recalled their old conversations, their exchange on the basketball court, and all the little moments of their past...

But what did that matter? He had already found a path right before him.

Now, all he needed to do was cover his eyes, stop his ears, and run headlong in that direction. Even if the road beneath him veered off course, as long as he kept moving, he would eventually find a way out.

"This isn't indiscriminate slaughter. It's for a greater cause."

"That's bullshit! Creating a world of sorcerers only is impossible!"

"How arrogant... Calling someone else's dream impossible when you could easily accomplish it yourself..."

Suguru Geto turned to look at his friend, the best friend of his life.

"Are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo, or are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest?"

It was never us who were the strongest. It was you.

[Only you]

Compared to you, I'm just a lone star.

How could starlight compete with the bright moon? It's only a backdrop...

"If I were you, wouldn't my impossible fantasy seem perfectly achievable?"

The words rose like a wall between them.

"I've found my path. Now I just need to do [what I can]."

He turned and walked away.

An enemy!

Satoru Gojo frantically labeled him in his mind, and his body moved on instinct, taking the stance for Red.

But then...

He realized his hand was shaking.

He had faced the Heavenly Tyrant, special grade cursed spirits, assassinations, seas of enemies, and truly powerful opponents.

Yet those battle-hardened hands were trembling uncontrollably now?

He knew he couldn't bring himself to do it...

Cold sweat, struggle, indecision.

Confusion, a choice, life and death.

Right now, Satoru Gojo would rather have faced the Heavenly Tyrant!

And yet he was being asked to turn his power against his closest friend?

"If you want to kill me, go ahead..."

His arm recoiled as though it had been pricked.

"There would be meaning in that."

He clenched his fist...

As though his soul had left him, Satoru Gojo dropped onto the roadside, not caring how filthy the ground was or how much dust stained his trousers, and cradled his head.

All the strength seemed to have drained from his body. Though he remained upright, he felt as if he were swaying constantly, his head swimming as though he'd drunk bootleg liquor.

Masamichi Yaga slowly approached, pushing Kamo Xu. They weren't as fast as Satoru Gojo, so naturally they couldn't catch Suguru Geto before he left.

"Why didn't you go after him?"

Yaga's question carried an implication. With Satoru Gojo's temperament, breaking all four of Suguru Geto's limbs and dragging him back wasn't out of the question.

"Do you really want to hear it?"

"Never mind. That was my mistake."

That was just the kind of person Satoru Gojo was...

"Teacher, I'm strong, right?"

"Yes. And you act like a thug."

"Being strong all by myself doesn't seem to be enough..."

Meanwhile, Kamo Xu quietly slipped away in his wheelchair, following the blood he had left inside Suguru Geto.

A disc appeared, pressing against the wheelchair and propelling it forward at speed.

Yaga and Satoru Gojo saw him go but didn't stop him. They only remained silent.

Kamo Xu caught up with Suguru Geto, who hadn't gone far, out in a stretch of wilderness.

Suguru Geto leaned against a tree as though he had been waiting a long time. The dimming sky cast its final sliver of light across his face.

But shadow shrouded Kamo Xu...

"Aren't you going to comfort Satoru?" Suguru Geto asked.

"I'm no good at comforting people. You're so good with words, why don't you go? I don't want Satoru Gojo coming back, clinging to my leg, crying and wiping snot all over me..."

Suguru Geto chuckled. This guy hadn't changed either. He never took anything seriously.

"I won't stop you, and I have no right to police your beliefs."

That left Suguru Geto momentarily stunned. He had been wary of Kamo Xu attacking without warning, but now he relaxed a little.

"What do you mean...?"

"Don't get into a clash of ultimate attacks with anyone later. If you blow off half your body, I'll have to save you."

There it was again, that crazy nonsense.

Suguru Geto laughed once more and relaxed completely. If Kamo Xu was saying this kind of nonsense to him, it meant he really wasn't going to attack.

Kamo Xu never wasted words when he wanted to kill someone.

He understood Kamo Xu, and Kamo Xu understood him.

"You're always like this. It feels like you know something, but you never tell us."

Suguru Geto closed his eyes. This second best friend of his was the person he understood the least. He was powerful, and he had a vivid imagination.

Yet sometimes that vivid imagination could predict what was about to happen with uncanny precision. It was unbelievable...

If only I'd listened more... No. I can't waver.

"At a time like this, aren't you going to curse me?"

"Good point. Then I curse you to live to a hundred..."

[Volume One: Hidden Inventory Arc · End]