A four-line poem

In the third week of November, the observer, Yuka Matsumoto, submitted her first report.

The report was short, just three pages. The first contained data, the second analysis, and the third a conclusion. After reading it, Masamichi Yaga locked it in a drawer and told no one.

The report's conclusion consisted of a single sentence: "There are significant unknown factors concerning Suguru Geto's physical condition. We recommend suspending his Special Grade Sorcerer status and conducting a comprehensive examination."

Masamichi Yaga did not follow that recommendation.

His reply to the Jujutsu Association was just as brief: "Suguru Geto is my student. I will take responsibility for him."

The Jujutsu Association did not reply.

But they did not recall their observer, either. Yuka Matsumoto continued to stay in a guest room at Jujutsu High. Every morning, she appeared in the administrative building's corridor on time, device in hand, waiting for Suguru Geto's next mission.

Suguru Geto had no missions. He had requested time off himself. "I'd like to rest for a while," he told Masamichi Yaga. Masamichi Yaga glanced at him and nodded without asking why.

Satoru Gojo knew the real reason.

Suguru Geto did not want to rest. He wanted to keep the observer from seeing anything more. Each time he swallowed a cursed spirit orb, the thing inside him grew a little larger. Each time it grew, its light became a little brighter.

Satoru Gojo came to his dorm room one night.

He stood outside without knocking, simply watching the light through the gap in the door for a long time.

Then he left.

The next morning, he said nothing.

On November 20, Yu Haibara completed his first solo mission since becoming a second-year.

The mission was in Tochigi Prefecture, where a Grade 3 cursed spirit was haunting an abandoned shrine. Grade 3 was no longer much of a challenge for Haibara. He got up at five every morning to train. His control of cursed energy was growing increasingly refined, and his hand-to-hand combat had improved considerably. Kento Nanami said he seemed "like a different person." Haibara smiled and said, "Really?" Then he kept training.

After returning from Tochigi, Yu Haibara went straight to the hill behind the school instead of his dorm room.

Suguru Geto was there.

Lately, he had spent almost every day on that hill. Satoru Gojo and the others came by occasionally, but they all knew Suguru Geto needed time alone.

"Geto!" Haibara ran up the slope with a bag in his hand. "I'm back!"

Suguru Geto leaned against a tree trunk and watched him run over.

"How did the mission go?" he asked.

"Really well!" Haibara sat beside him and opened the bag. "I bought a local specialty, strawberry daifuku from Tochigi. They're supposed to be really good!"

He took a box from the bag and opened it. Six pink-and-white strawberry daifuku sat neatly arranged inside. He handed one to Suguru Geto, took another for himself, and bit off a huge mouthful.

"So good!" Haibara said through his full cheeks.

Suguru Geto looked at the strawberry daifuku in his hand. After a few seconds of silence, he took a bite. The outer layer was soft and chewy, the strawberry inside sweet and tart, the bean paste fragrant and sweet. It tasted good.

"Geto," Haibara said, swallowing his mouthful, his expression turning a little more serious. "Have you been avoiding something lately?"

Suguru Geto glanced at him. "Avoiding what?"

"The observer," Haibara said. "That woman named Matsumoto."

Suguru Geto fell silent.

"I heard about it," Haibara said, lowering his voice. "The Jujutsu Association is investigating you. They think something's wrong with you."

"What do you think?" Suguru Geto asked.

Haibara looked at him for a long time.

"I think," Haibara said, "you're a good person, Geto. Whatever's inside you, you're still a good person."

"Haibara," Suguru Geto said, "if one day I'm gone, take care of Nanami."

Haibara's hand went still.

"Geto," he said, his voice tightening, "where are you going?"

Suguru Geto did not answer. He gazed at the sky, at the gray clouds drifting aimlessly across it.

"I don't know," he said. "But I'm not sure how much longer I can stay here."

Haibara fell silent.

He did not press him. He simply sat there, holding his half-eaten strawberry daifuku.

On November 25, Satoru Gojo was called to Masamichi Yaga's office.

"Satoru," Masamichi Yaga said, getting straight to the point, "how much can you see of that thing inside Suguru Geto?"

Satoru Gojo sat in a chair with his feet propped on the desk, his eyes behind his sunglasses fixed on the ceiling.

"All of it," he said.

"What is it?"

Satoru Gojo was silent for a few seconds.

"An egg," he said.

Masamichi Yaga frowned. "An egg?"

"An egg that's hatching." Satoru Gojo's voice was level, but Masamichi Yaga could hear what lay beneath that calm. "There are cracks on its surface, and light is shining through them. The light keeps getting brighter. It's absorbing Geto's cursed energy to nourish itself. Once it's absorbed enough, it'll hatch."

"What will hatch from it?"

Satoru Gojo lowered his legs and sat upright. He took off his sunglasses and looked at Masamichi Yaga with his azure Six Eyes.

"You mean," he said, "there's a soul inside that egg?"

"Maybe," Satoru Gojo said. "Maybe not."

"Why did it appear inside Suguru Geto?"

Satoru Gojo was silent for a long time.

"Because Suguru Geto can withstand it," he finally said. "The essence of Cursed Spirit Manipulation is 'absorption' and 'control.' Suguru Geto's body is already accustomed to absorbing outside cursed energy. That egg chose him because he's the only vessel capable of containing it."

"A vessel," Masamichi Yaga repeated.

"Yes." Satoru Gojo nodded. "Geto is that egg's vessel."

The office fell quiet for a few seconds.

"If that egg hatches," Masamichi Yaga asked, "what will happen to Suguru Geto?"

Satoru Gojo looked into Masamichi Yaga's eyes.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe it'll leave, and Suguru Geto will return to normal. Maybe it'll merge with Suguru Geto and become something new. Maybe it'll devour Suguru Geto and hatch from his body, like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis."

"What happens to the chrysalis?"

"The chrysalis dies."

Masamichi Yaga closed his eyes.

He sat motionless, like a statue. After a long time, he opened his eyes.

"Satoru," he said, "you have to protect Suguru Geto."

"You don't have to tell me." Satoru Gojo stood, put his sunglasses back on, and headed for the door.

When he reached it, he stopped.

"Mr. Yaga," he said without looking back, "whatever's inside that egg, whatever it becomes after it hatches, Geto is Geto. I won't let anyone treat him as a vessel."

Then he left.

The door closed softly behind him.

Masamichi Yaga sat in his office, staring at the closed door. He thought of Suguru Geto's face.

That boy knew what he might become.

Yet he had not run away, asked for help, or given up. He was simply waiting for an ending that could come at any time.

Masamichi Yaga picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Shoko, come to my office."

Five minutes later, Shoko Ieiri pushed open the door with a lit cigarette between her lips. She sat in a chair and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

"Mr. Yaga, what is it?"

"That egg inside Suguru Geto," Masamichi Yaga said. "Can you remove it with Reverse Cursed Technique?"

Shoko was silent for a few seconds.

"No," she said. "That egg has already fused with his cursed energy core. Forcing it out would destroy his core. He can't survive without it."

"What if we leave it?"

"It'll keep growing." Shoko's voice was level. "I don't know what will happen to Suguru Geto when the time comes."

Masamichi Yaga was silent for a long time.

"Shoko," he said, "have you ever thought about why Suguru Geto ended up like this?"

Shoko raised her head and looked at him.

"Because of Haibara," she said. "He went to Zama to save Haibara and was corrupted by that special grade cursed spirit. If he hadn't gone to Zama, if he hadn't saved Haibara, that egg wouldn't be inside him."

"Do you think he regrets it?"

"No," she said.

Masamichi Yaga nodded.

"Then we can't regret it on his behalf," he said. "If he wants to save Haibara, we help him. If he wants to bear that egg, we help him bear it. He's my student. I won't give up on him."

Shoko looked at him and gave a soft laugh.

"Mr. Yaga," she said, "you're a good person."

Masamichi Yaga paused in surprise, then smiled too.

"Don't tell anyone," he said.

On the last day of November, Suguru Geto received a package.

There was no sender's information, only his name and address. It had been carefully wrapped in several layers of brown paper and sealed tightly with tape.

He opened the package. Inside was a book.

It was not a book about jujutsu, but a poetry collection. He had never heard of the author or the publisher. The book was old, its page corners curled and its paper yellowed, as though it had passed through many hands.

He opened it to the first page and saw a line of writing.

It was handwritten. The handwriting was beautiful and neat, each stroke deliberate, like calligraphy practiced countless times.

"To Mr. Suguru Geto. May the light be with you."

There was no signature.

Light. Light again. That word had appeared far too often in his life lately. The light inside him, the light Satoru Gojo had mentioned, and now even this spoke of light.

Suguru Geto looked at the inscription, then set the book on the desk and turned to the second page. The first poem was short, only four lines:

I opened my eyes in the darkness

And saw my own light

It was not my light

It was borrowed

Suguru Geto's fingers rested on that page. He did not turn it.

He read it again and again. Those four lines were like four keys, trying to unlock a tightly shut door in his heart.

After a long time, he closed the book and put it in his drawer.