What was my Cursed Technique again?

[Above you!]

Whoosh!

A cold gleam flashed across Slaughter Demon.

Almost the instant Sukuna warned him, Itadori raised his blade and severed a scythe-like tentacle reaching down over his head.

He swiftly retreated two steps, warily watching the curse slide down from the ceiling.

It was an utterly disgusting, hideous curse.

Its tiny head was covered in fleshy folds, with two enormous eyeballs protruding from it. Its bloated body bulged in layers like a queen ant's abdomen, and several scythe-like tentacles densely speckled with black spots extended from its sides-one of which had just been severed and lay on the floor, leaking filthy blood.

Its head trembled as it emitted a meaningless, piercing noise like a malfunctioning radio, stabbing into their brains like a knife.

Sukuna held his breath.

This was the first time he had truly faced a curse since his resurrection.

So...

So incredibly...

...ugly!!

He felt as though he could barely breathe.

So this was a curse...

This was actually a curse??

Calling it an eyesore didn't even begin to cover it!

Help...

Sukuna closed his eyes in despair.

King of Curses, my ass... I wanted to quit right this instant.

[Yuji, you're on your own...]

Sukuna's voice was so weak that he sounded ready to depart this world at any moment.

"Huh?"

Itadori, who was trying to figure out how to deal with the curse, was a little bewildered by Sukuna's unprecedentedly feeble voice.

But he had no time to think it over. The curse had already attacked, so he immediately charged forward and dispatched it in a few quick moves before he had a chance to ask.

"Sukuna, what's wrong?"

[Nothing... I just took ten thousand points of emotional damage... Please leave me alone.]

Itadori: "...?"

With Sukuna offline, Itadori had to head upstairs alone to continue the mission. As he passed a corner, he happened to see a curse slip through a wall to the other side.

"Ah, found it!"

He hurried after it, and when he discovered there was no door into the room, he simply punched the wall.

Despite being made of flesh and blood, his fist easily punched through the wall. On the other side, Nobara, the curse, and the child it had taken hostage all stared dumbfounded at the hole and the fist sticking through it.

All three shared a single thought-

This guy definitely wasn't human!

The rest was simple. With Itadori's help, Nobara finished off the curse with a single Resonance, and together they rescued the hostage.

The two began forging a comradeship founded on mutual respect and mutual annoyance.

"Nice work," Gojo said, raising a hand in greeting. "Let's get something to eat. What do you want?"

"Steak!"

"Sushi!"

The two out-of-towners with opposing opinions glared at each other.

"Ladies first! Don't you know that?"

"Huh? That doesn't matter for something like this, does it?"

"Then rock-paper-scissors! One round decides it!"

"Okay!"

"I'm going to throw paper!"

"Huh? What? Wait..."

"Rock, paper, scissors! Hahaha, I won!"

Looking at Itadori's scissors, Nobara laughed triumphantly.

Itadori stared at the scissors he had thrown and clutched his head in anguish.

How could I have believed her... How could I have believed her!

I knew this woman was unreliable, and I still fell for her lies...

With my dynamic vision, I could have won a normal game in seconds!

"Okay! Sushi it is, then. Let's go!"

Gojo, standing nearby, delivered the final verdict.

They took a taxi to the conveyor-belt sushi restaurant Nobara had been dreaming of.

It had individual tables for four, and besides taking sushi from the conveyor belt, they could place separate orders.

Nobara, who had never eaten conveyor-belt sushi before, nervously watched the rows of food rolling past automatically, almost overwhelmed by the choices.

Meanwhile, Itadori quickly ordered himself two bowls of chashu ramen and rolled up his sleeves, ready to dig in.

"Where's your Sukuna?"

Gojo suddenly asked. He found it strange that Sukuna hadn't popped out to order anything.

"Well..." Itadori scratched his head. "He doesn't seem to have much of an appetite."

Gojo: "..." That was certainly unusual.

"...Teacher Gojo."

"Hmm?"

"That curse..." Itadori struggled to describe it with a few gestures before giving up. "Do they all look so... distinctive?"

"Are there any curses that don't look so weird?"

As he spoke, he secretly pointed at his left hand with his right and gave his teacher a meaningful look.

Gojo understood instantly.

"Hmm..." The unscrupulous teacher propped up his hands, pretending to search his memories.

"There are good-looking curses, actually."

The unscrupulous teacher had only intended to make up a few Cursed Spirits, but as he said this, he suddenly found himself thinking of his dearest friend, whom he knew so well.

His words involuntarily took a different turn, his voice carrying a nostalgia and warmth that others could scarcely detect.

"...I once saw a Cursed Spirit that looked like a dragon. Its whole body was covered in snow-white scales. It was especially beautiful..."

He rested his chin on one hand, his lips curving as he lowered his head slightly, his expression unreadable.

But he quickly reined in his emotions and returned to his usual carefree demeanor.

...Especially beautiful?

Deep inside Itadori, a figure curled into a ball stirred, secretly pricking up his ears to hear what Gojo said next.

"There are humanoid curses too. Mature beauties with long, flowing hair, and cute little girls."

"Basically, it depends on the type. Some curses take animal forms, while others look human."

"Like Megumi Fushiguro's Shikigami—they actually count as a kind of curse too. Aren't his two Divine Dogs adorable?"

Itadori's eyes lit up, and he nodded furiously. He loved those two Divine Dogs.

Megumi Fushiguro's eye twitched as he stared at Satoru Gojo in disbelief.

"And the stronger a curse is, the closer its form is to its original self."

"Take Sukuna. A thousand years ago, he was actually human, and the strongest sorcerer too. He only became a curse later."

"After becoming a curse, he should still have looked human, probably much the same as when he was alive."

With every sentence, Sukuna lifted his head a little higher.

By the final sentence, the light had returned to his eyes.

He hesitated for a while before slowly emerging on the back of Itadori's hand.

"...Is that really true?"

Gojo replied without batting an eye, "Of course it is. Why would I lie to you?"

Right. He had no reason to lie to me.

Once he worked that out, Sukuna instantly relaxed.

He perked up, regaining his usual liveliness.

Even his voice was full of vigor again.

"I knew it! I'm the King of Curses. How could I be anything like those ordinary specimens?"

"Yuji, hurry! I want grilled eel... and that slice of Black Forest mousse cake. Quick, it's going to pass us!"

Megumi Fushiguro, who had watched the entire exchange from the sidelines: "..."

Sensei, was it really okay to lie so blatantly... and to a curse, at that?!

Once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Gojo cleared his throat and got down to business.

"Starting tomorrow, you'll officially begin classes."

Megumi Fushiguro, who had already attended classes for years, calmly took a sip of tea.

Nobara, the out-of-towner, was still leaning in front of the conveyor belt, watching it.

Only Itadori obediently put down his chopsticks and looked attentively at Teacher Gojo.

What a good kid... Gojo sighed inwardly.

"You'll study theory in the morning and do physical training in the afternoon."

"Normally, your homeroom teacher-that's me-would teach all your classes. However..."

He picked up his phone and waved it.

"I have another business trip coming up. So Megumi Fushiguro will teach your morning classes. For the afternoons, I'll ask the second-years to train with you."

Megumi Fushiguro: Just as I expected.

Itadori: "Wow! Megumi Fushiguro's going to teach us?"

Nobara: "More precisely, he'll teach you. You're the only one here who doesn't know anything yet."

Itadori: "Says who? Sukuna doesn't know either!"

Nobara: "...?"

Sukuna: ...Ahem! Could you not drag me into this right now? Were you trying to expose all my secrets?

Gojo: "Anyway, pay attention in class. You still need to learn everything you ought to know."

"Especially you, Yuji. You're good at close combat, but you still have no idea how to control Cursed Energy. I'll find you a tool later to help you practice."

"As for Nobara and Megumi Fushiguro, you two should improve your close-combat skills—the second-years, Panda and Maki, will help train you in that."

All three of them straightened up and sat attentively when their names were called.

Itadori's close-combat abilities had left a deep impression not only on Megumi Fushiguro, but also on Nobara. If an enemy like him got close, they might not be able to use any of their Cursed Techniques, no matter how many they had.

Meanwhile, Itadori's weakness was glaringly obvious. He had no foundation whatsoever in using Cursed Energy and had been fighting entirely through his innate physical abilities.

"Then, sensei, when can we learn Cursed Techniques?" Itadori asked eagerly.

"Well... Yuji, you can't use Jujutsu."

"Huh?"

"A Jujutsu Sorcerer's Cursed Technique is engraved into their body from birth-Yuji, you don't have a Cursed Technique within you, so you can't use Jujutsu."

Itadori stood frozen, his eyes wide.

"So I can't summon Shikigami like Megumi Fushiguro, or go bang-bang-bang like Kugisaki?"

Kugisaki: What the hell did he mean by bang-bang-bang?!

"That's right. But you can improve your Cursed Energy control-your physical abilities are already special, and if you reinforce them with Cursed Energy, you'll be far ahead of other sorcerers. That alone could be like a finishing move."

Itadori didn't feel comforted. Heaven knew how badly he wanted to use all sorts of amazing abilities like Megumi Fushiguro and the others.

Utterly dejected, his face gloomy, he flattened himself across the table like a sheet of paper.

Gojo pressed a hand to his forehead.

...I hadn't intended to tell him yet. Ah, well...

"But there's another possibility that could let you use Jujutsu."

"Hmm...?" Itadori's head shot up.

"You don't have a Cursed Technique, but Sukuna does, and he's inside you right now... In other words, if you're lucky, you might be able to use Sukuna's Cursed Technique too."

Itadori: !!!

Sukuna: ???

That was possible?

"But-" Gojo drew out the word.

He looked at Itadori-or rather, at Sukuna inside him.

"That depends on Sukuna being able to use his Cursed Technique."

"So, Sukuna..."

"Do you know what your Cursed Technique is?"

Sukuna: ...

Well, that was an excellent question.

So, what was my Cursed Technique again?

A certain curse frowned and sank deep into thought.

Perhaps anticipating Sukuna's confusion, Gojo continued, "Based on the records left behind, we suspect Sukuna's Cursed Technique might be 'Dismantle.'"

"But whether it actually is, and exactly how it works, are probably things you'll have to figure out yourself."

"Given the situation you two are in, you'd better recover your Cursed Technique sooner rather than later. So, Sukuna, your next assignment is to find a way to recover your Cursed Technique and master it~"

"Good luck! I'll be cheering you both on in spirit!"

Sukuna: ...He'd suddenly been singled out and saddled with a pile of homework.

"Sukuna! You can do it!" Itadori's eyes shone. "Remember to teach me once you know how to use it!"

Sukuna: ...

...Kid, are you really the right person to be attending Jujutsu High...?

Why don't I just take your place?