Best friends

In the first week of November, an uninvited visitor arrived at Jujutsu High.

He was a middle-aged man in a black suit. No one stopped him when he walked through the front gate of Jujutsu High, because the Jujutsu Association badge pinned to his chest granted him the highest level of access.

He was taken straight to Masamichi Yaga's office.

"Mr. Yaga," the middle-aged man said, sitting down and getting straight to the point, "I'm here to discuss Suguru Geto."

Masamichi Yaga looked at him without speaking.

"The Association has recently been reassessing the condition of all Special Grade Sorcerers." The middle-aged man took a document from his briefcase and slid it across to Yaga. "Satoru Gojo is fine. His Six Eyes are our greatest weapon against special grade cursed spirits. But Suguru Geto..."

He paused.

"There are some irregularities in Suguru Geto's recent assessment report."

"What irregularities?" Yaga asked.

"His cursed energy fluctuations are unstable." The middle-aged man opened the document and pointed to the charts. "Over the past month, his cursed energy has shown three distinct spikes. During those spikes, his cursed energy intensity rose to more than twice its normal level. Then the spikes subsided, and his cursed energy returned to normal."

Yaga studied the charts without speaking.

"We don't know what's causing these spikes," the middle-aged man said, "but the Association considers a Special Grade Sorcerer with unstable cursed energy a safety risk."

"A safety risk?" Yaga's voice grew colder.

"Mr. Yaga, you should understand what I mean." The middle-aged man's expression did not change. "Special Grade Sorcerers possess far too much power. If their mental state becomes unstable, or they develop problems controlling their cursed energy, the consequences could be catastrophic."

Masamichi Yaga fell silent for a few seconds.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Temporarily restrict Suguru Geto's assignments," the middle-aged man said. "Give him low-level missions that don't require a large cursed energy output. Meanwhile, the Association will send a specialist to observe and assess him."

"Observe and assess?" Yaga's voice grew colder still. "You want to put my student under surveillance?"

"Not surveillance. Assessment," the middle-aged man corrected him. "For his own good, and for everyone's safety."

The office fell silent for a long time.

Masamichi Yaga looked at the document, at its data and charts. He remembered what Shoko had said: he was waiting. Waiting for an outcome, whether good or bad.

Then he remembered Suguru Geto's face, that young, composed face that betrayed no emotion.

That boy was carrying something terribly heavy, but he had asked no one for help. He had told no one about the thing inside his body.

He was simply bearing it alone.

"I'll speak to Suguru Geto," Masamichi Yaga said at last. "But until then, I will not allow anyone to approach my student under the pretext of an 'assessment.'"

The middle-aged man looked at him, remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Very well," he said. "I'll wait to hear from you."

He stood, put away the document, and left the office.

The door closed behind him, leaving Masamichi Yaga sitting alone. He took off his glasses and slowly wiped the lenses with a cleaning cloth. The lenses were clean, but he kept wiping them for a long time.

Then he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Suguru Geto, come to my office."

Ten minutes later, Suguru Geto stood outside Masamichi Yaga's office.

He knocked, then pushed the door open and stepped inside when he heard, "Come in."

Masamichi Yaga sat behind his desk with a document in front of him. Suguru Geto recognized the markings on it. It was an internal assessment report from Jujutsu High.

"Mr. Yaga," Suguru Geto said, sitting down in a chair, "you wanted to see me?"

Masamichi Yaga looked at him for a long time.

"Geto," he said, "how have you been feeling lately?"

Suguru Geto's expression did not change. "Fine."

"Shoko said there's a foreign object in your cursed energy core."

Suguru Geto fell silent for a second.

"Yes," he said.

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

"Is it growing?"

"Yes."

"How is it affecting you?"

Suguru Geto fell silent for another few seconds.

"It absorbs the cursed energy in the Cursed Spirit Orbs I swallow," he said, "and uses it to nourish itself. Every time I swallow a cursed spirit, it grows a little. The stronger the cursed spirit, the faster it grows."

Masamichi Yaga tapped the desktop lightly twice.

"Why didn't you report it?" he asked.

Suguru Geto looked at him.

"Report it to whom?" Suguru Geto asked. "To you? To the Jujutsu Association? And then what? What would they do? Lock me up? Turn me into a test subject? Or dispose of me as a safety risk?"

Masamichi Yaga's hand went still.

The office fell silent.

"Geto," Masamichi Yaga said, his voice a little quieter, "do you think you're a safety risk?"

Suguru Geto did not answer right away.

He looked into Masamichi Yaga's eyes. There was worry in them, and concern, and a sincerity he had not seen in an adult for a long time.

"I don't know," he said at last. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. But I won't let that thing control me."

"What if it does?"

"Then I hope..." Suguru Geto paused. "Someone can stop me."

Masamichi Yaga looked at him for a long time.

Then he stood and walked to the window, turning his back to Suguru Geto.

"Geto," he said without turning around, "you're my student. No matter what happens, I'll be on your side."

Suguru Geto's throat tightened.

"But," Masamichi Yaga said, turning to look at him, "you have to promise me something, too."

"What?"

"Don't carry it all alone," Masamichi Yaga said. "You have classmates, teachers, friends. Don't carry it all alone."

Suguru Geto looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

Then he nodded.

"All right," he said.

He stood, bowed, and turned to leave the office.

The door closed softly behind him.

The corridor was quiet. Suguru Geto stood there, looking at the window at the far end, then started walking.

His steps were steady, just as they always were. But a voice inside him said, You didn't tell the truth. You won't ask them for help. You'll still carry it all alone.

That voice was small and soft, but painfully real.

Because that was who Suguru Geto was.

Whether he was seventeen, twenty-seven, or dressed in white and standing on the surface of a black river, he was the same person. Someone who had grown used to carrying everything alone.

When he came out of the Administration Building, Satoru Gojo was leaning against a pillar by the entrance, his hands in his trouser pockets, watching him from behind his sunglasses.

"What did Mr. Yaga want?" he asked.

"Nothing much," Suguru Geto said. "He just asked how things have been lately."

Satoru Gojo stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.

"Liar," he said lightly. "Then I won't ask."

He turned and walked beside Suguru Geto.

"Geto," Satoru Gojo said, "no matter what Mr. Yaga said, no matter what the Association wants to do, I'll stand between you and them."

Suguru Geto turned his head to glance at him.

"Why?" he asked.

Satoru Gojo did not look at him. He only tilted his head back to look at the sky.

"Because we're best friends," he said. "One and only."

Suguru Geto remembered the Satoru Gojo from another timeline, the man who stood alone atop the title of "the strongest." Had that man said it this way, too? Had he, on some afternoon like this, told a Suguru Geto who no longer existed, "You're my best friend"?