"Do you two know each other?"
Suguru Geto held back a laugh, trying to make his voice sound as warm and friendly as possible.
"Not really."
"This brat is the reason people have been trying to assassinate me since I was a kid!"
Two utterly different voices exploded in Suguru Geto's ears. He looked left at the expressionless girl. She tucked her large hand back into her sleeve and gazed up at the sky, inexplicably forlorn.
Then he looked right at the bristling high school boy, who was muttering nonstop complaints.
"This little runt came by the Gojo Clan when she was barely knee-high, pointed right at my nose, and said I was a menace who would upset the balance of Jujutsu Society. Ever since I turned six, more and more people have been coming after me!"
"Ohhh," Suguru Geto drawled, as though he had just uncovered an important clue.
Miwa Chisei shook her head in clear disagreement. "Even without me, people have been trying to kill you since you were born."
"What do you know? After I turned six, the bounty on my head went from a hundred million to three hundred million, all thanks to you."
Apparently hearing a topic she enjoyed, Miwa Chisei sounded considerably more cheerful. "You're worth quite a lot. How much is your bounty now?"
Satoru Gojo couldn't resist sneering. "Whatever it is, you won't get a penny."
Miwa Chisei pursed her lips in disappointment, then waved them away. "Then stop getting in the way of my business."
Satoru Gojo's patience had run out. He slapped the stack of papers again. "Are you deaf? Come to Jujutsu High with us."
But Miwa Chisei's expression turned rather cold, with a hint of incomprehension.
"What, has Jujutsu Society finally remembered the Miwa family exists?"
Those words stuck in Satoru Gojo's throat. He didn't know how to retort.
The Miwa family descended from Emperor Sutoku, one of Japan's four great vengeful spirits. Five hundred years ago, Jujutsu Society had been ruled by the Four Great Families, but the Miwa family had later been stripped of its standing for unknown reasons. Now, it had blended into the world of ordinary people and was slowly dying out.
Emperor Sutoku's vengeful spirit was known as "Japan's greatest demon king," inspiring both reverence and terror. Miwa Family Jujutsu was even more mysterious: its practitioners could glimpse a person's destined fate, then use cursed energy to defy heaven and change it.
Miwa Family Jujutsu specifically targeted people, and so the Miwa family had been expelled from Jujutsu Society. That was the most widely circulated explanation.
And Miwa Chisei was one of the few remaining blood descendants of the Miwa Main Family.
When Satoru Gojo had forced Suguru Geto to join this mission, he had looked through the relevant records, but descriptions of the Miwa family had been few and far between.
"Miss Miwa, as someone with cursed energy, Jujutsu High is the best place for someone your age."
Miwa Chisei shifted her gaze to Suguru Geto, and he immediately felt as though he were being laid bare and dissected.
"Could you write something for me?"
Suguru Geto was a little puzzled, but he still wrote the two characters for "jujutsu" on the white paper.
Miwa Chisei studied the two characters intently, then spoke after a few breaths.
"In a year, you'll reach a crossroads in your life. Whether it leads to death or leaves you a way to survive, you'd better think carefully."
The girl delivered this out of nowhere, then added, "You're still a good person for now, so I won't charge you for this reading."
Suguru Geto's mouth twitched. It was as though some charlatan had arbitrarily decided his fate, and he was expected to be eternally grateful.
"Well, thank you?"
His tone made his disbelief obvious, but Miwa Chisei didn't care. She simply continued, "The Miwa family will never set foot in Jujutsu Society again. Please leave."
Her answer left no room for argument, yet her manner was perfectly polite. Suguru Geto found himself at a loss.
Satoru Gojo irritably scratched his head. "No wonder I've had a bad feeling since this morning. Nothing good ever comes from running into you."
Suguru Geto wanted to tell Satoru Gojo not to say that—the more he talked, the worse things would get—but Qianxing smiled.
"That bad feeling has nothing to do with me. Be careful when you leave the alley."
"Geto, we're leaving! Like hell I'm begging this brat to come back to Jujutsu High."
Watching Satoru Gojo turn and leave in a foul mood, Suguru Geto couldn't help glancing back at the silent girl.
Miwa Chisei happened to lower her eyes, and Suguru Geto caught sight of them behind her sunglasses.
They were deep crimson, like pools of blood, carrying an air of ill omen and slaughter that left even Suguru Geto struck by the sight.
So that's why she wears sunglasses. The mark of the Miwa family-blood-red eyes cursed by the demon king.
"We'll come visit again."
Suguru Geto said it anyway. Miwa Chisei looked thoroughly uninterested and even opened her mouth to yawn.
He quickened his pace and soon caught up with Satoru Gojo.
"Satoru, why are you in such a hurry?"
Satoru Gojo clicked his tongue, sounding displeased. "What that brat said reminded me of something. Why did Jujutsu Society suddenly remember the Miwa family?"
Suguru Geto began to realize that Satoru Gojo's mood wasn't caused by his argument with Miss Miwa, but by his suspicions about Jujutsu Society.
"But you met her when you were little?"
Satoru Gojo fell silent for a moment, then spoke somewhat awkwardly. "Back in the days of the Four Great Families, the Gojo Clan and the Miwa family were close. Even now, we keep in touch occasionally. That's also why the Zenin Clan and the Kamo Clan are hostile toward the Gojo Clan."
"Isn't that because the Gojo Clan has the Six Eyes and is too powerful?"
At Suguru Geto's question, Satoru Gojo lowered his sunglasses and pointed at his azure eyes. "Did you know the Gojo Clan didn't originally have the Six Eyes?"
Suguru Geto froze. He had never heard anything like this before. It had to be one of the Gojo Clan's secrets.
But what Satoru Gojo said next truly made Suguru Geto's scalp prickle.
"Five hundred years ago, when the Miwa family was expelled from Jujutsu Society and the era of the Three Great Families began, the first person with the Six Eyes was born into the Gojo Clan."
"Why was that...?"
Satoru Gojo pushed his sunglasses back up, hiding his eyes again. "No idea. Probably only the people of that generation knew. The Gojo Clan has no records of it. Maybe it was just a coincidence?"
If it really was a coincidence, it was far too convenient.
Feeling that the mood had grown a little heavy, Suguru Geto teased him.
"The way you tell it, you two sound like childhood sweethearts."
Satoru Gojo shook his head. "I only met her once. Are you asking for a beating?"
"The first time I saw her hair, I thought she was my old man's illegitimate daughter. I even beat her up."
Suguru Geto held his head. No wonder people call you a menace.
"You have no idea how much she cried as a kid. Seriously..."
Before he could finish, they rounded the corner just as a middle-aged woman at a vegetable shop casually flung a basin of water full of vegetable leaves onto the roadside.
Swift, precise, and merciless, it drenched the boy who had turned sideways to talk.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry! Let me get you a towel!" The woman was terribly apologetic. She had been daydreaming, and her hands had moved too quickly for her to notice the two boys appearing around the corner.
Satoru Gojo was a bedraggled mess, with green vegetable leaves clinging to his dark uniform. His entire face had frozen at the unexpected turn of events.
Suguru Geto suddenly remembered the girl's warning for Satoru Gojo to be careful when leaving the alley.
Looks like I really should treat the Miwa family with a healthy dose of reverence.
Meanwhile, Satoru Gojo had already exploded, pointing toward the entrance of the alley as he shouted.
"Damn you, Miwa! I'm going to drag you back to Jujutsu High and make your life hell!"
His words had come back to bite him so quickly. That was Satoru Gojo for you.
Before you continue