Kids, look who's here

"To be honest, you've made an even bigger mess of your life than I have."

While they waited for the elevator, Hajime Kashimo broke the dead silence between them.

Toji, who had remained silent all this time, turned his head, seemingly unsure what he meant.

"I used to be like you. I thought this world was lousy, that nothing in it offered any challenge."

"But there's one difference between us. I'm not that irresponsible."

The elevator doors slowly closed. In the cramped space, Kashimo's hostile tone, coupled with the flickering overhead light, felt especially cold and threatening:

"I wouldn't have a child and then treat him with such carelessness and irresponsibility."

Kashimo's eyes met Toji's. As Megumi Fushiguro's biological father, whatever unspoken hardships Toji had faced, none of them justified ignoring his son.

People gained a deeper understanding of life after serious illness or the threat of death, and Toji Fushiguro was no exception as a father.

But compared with any normal father, the report card Toji Fushiguro had handed in before Satoru Gojo killed him was a zero among zeros...

"I'll give you a time and an address. Go there at that time, and you'll definitely be able to help."

"As for now..."

The elevator doors slowly opened, revealing wave upon wave of transfigured humans before Toji Fushiguro...

"Start by fulfilling a father's duty to lighten his son's burden."

Without any warning, Kashimo kicked Toji Fushiguro square in the ass, sending him flying out of the elevator.

But as the elevator doors slowly closed, something else was tossed out after him: a black, long-bladed cursed tool of a fairly respectable grade-

It was the very weapon Megumi Fushiguro had slightly damaged during the Yasohachi Bridge curse incident, then had repaired and reforged afterward.

The father inherited his son's weapon. Even though Megumi Fushiguro was still some distance away, Toji could feel traces of warmth coming through the hilt in his hand.

Roaring transfigured humans swarmed toward him. Tightening his grip on the hilt, the Heavenly Tyrant finally revealed a smile that belonged solely to his gentler side.

Dwelling on the past no longer had any meaning.

All Toji Fushiguro could do was use this life to repay the time he had failed to give Megumi.

He had already spent one lifetime living selfishly for himself.

Next, he would try living for someone else...

"There's a... very familiar presence..."

Out on the street, Fushiguro, Itadori, and Junpei had worked together to take down Kurizaka Jiro.

Although his [Reversal] cursed technique had been troublesome at first, once they understood how it worked, the middle-aged man, whose hand-to-hand skills and speed fell short of both Itadori's and Fushiguro's, had been dealt with almost immediately.

But just as they secured the unconscious Kurizaka Jiro and prepared to head to Shibuya Station together, an unconscious Ino suddenly came hurtling down toward the three of them from above.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!!!"

Reacting instantly, Itadori stepped onto a roadside barricade and leaped high into the air to catch Ino.

In the darkness, he couldn't see who had thrown Ino down so precisely from that height, but it took only a little guesswork for Itadori to realize it was Kashimo's doing.

"Ino's badly hurt. I'll use Nue to get him out."

After examining Ino, Megumi Fushiguro's expression turned grave.

Though Ino was a Grade 2 Sorcerer, his abilities had long since reached Semi-Grade 1 level. Anyone who could injure him this badly...

"Junpei, come with me. We need to get Ino out."

"Itadori, go to the subway station first and rescue the survivors. We'll come over as soon as we've gotten Ino somewhere safe."

Megumi Fushiguro calmly assessed the situation and laid out a plan:

At present, the cursed spirits and curse users clearly had the upper hand.

Every sorcerer was tied down by a different enemy, leaving no one free to help elsewhere.

The enemy who had attacked Ino was powerful and unidentified. They didn't know whether Kashimo could defeat that opponent, but under the current circumstances, Grade 3 Sorcerers like Junpei Yoshino and Nobara Kugisaki would only become liabilities if they stayed inside the Curtain.

So even though Junpei said he wasn't afraid to die and wanted to fight alongside Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro still refused him outright.

"Don't worry. I won't die."

Itadori patted his chest, assuring Junpei and Megumi Fushiguro as they left.

He still had a sworn enemy to destroy. He still had a mission to finish.

Until he rescued Gojo, until he destroyed Mahito...

He would never throw his life away!

"How touching."

Halfway up the tower, the corpses of transfigured humans filled the corridors and passageways.

Covered in blood, Toji Fushiguro carried his blade to the window and wiped a patch clean with his fingers. He saw Fushiguro and Itadori splitting up on the street below.

They were so far away that Toji couldn't hear what they were saying.

But there was no doubt that Megumi Fushiguro's eyes held a "light" he had never possessed-or had possessed only briefly.

"Awooo~ awooo~ roar!"

A distorted howl sounded behind him. Toji Fushiguro turned, his black, long-bladed cursed tool becoming a blur as it sliced through the air behind him.

A dense flurry of blade flashes passed through the transfigured human lunging at him. As though carving up an ingredient, Toji indulged his playful streak and cut the creature into neat shapes.

Blood stained the walls red and spattered the hem of his clothes.

Cutting through transfigured humans felt no different from cutting through ordinary sorcerers, which left Toji quite satisfied.

Fifty? Sixty?

Or had he already passed a hundred?

He didn't know.

Every punch struck flesh. Every slash drew blood.

He kept track of the time, steadily increasing the efficiency with which he killed the transfigured humans.

According to Kashimo, he had to reach that place at the appointed time to save Megumi Fushiguro.

Too early, and Megumi Fushiguro wouldn't get the chance to grow.

Too late, and Megumi Fushiguro might lose his life.

With a swift slash, he severed the last transfigured human's head, then opened a phone belonging to some unknown unlucky bastard.

On the dialing screen, Toji stared at the bloodstained display. He wanted to tell someone that he had been given another life, but his finger merely rested on the call button, lingering there without lifting.

Perhaps, in the time he had been gone, this world was no longer as rotten as he had imagined.

So after much hesitation, he still didn't place the call.

By the old rules, his current situation should count as being "hired."

Only, the person hiring him...

Was his own son's friend-

9:54 p.m.

The strongest mercenary.

Was about to make his entrance in Shibuya.