Fragments

The day after returning from Ome, Suguru Geto received a call from Satoru Gojo.

"Found it." Gojo's voice was graver than usual. "The Kumano Society was founded fifteen years ago. Every member is a curse user. Its leader is named Hazuki. Cursed technique unknown, grade unknown. There's only one photo in her file, and it's the woman you described. The Association tried to capture her three times. She escaped all three times. Not because she was strong, but because she always knew in advance that someone was coming. The Association suspected a mole within its ranks, but two years of investigation turned up nothing."

Geto sat on his dormitory bed, phone in hand. "What about Tokieda? What's his connection to the Kumano Society?"

"Tokieda used to be a member. He joined fifteen years ago and left twelve years ago. The Association's records don't give a reason for his departure. But an old file mentions that when he left the Kumano Society, he took someone with him."

"Who?"

"His younger brother. His name was Shigure. The file says Shigure was also a jujutsu sorcerer, cursed technique unknown. When Tokieda left the Kumano Society, Shigure went with him. But a year later, Shigure died. The Association's records list the cause as 'cursed energy core collapse.'"

Geto's hand tightened on his knee. Cursed energy core collapse. Ichiro Nakajima had died of cursed energy core collapse too. Shigure's cause of death was the same as Nakajima's. It wasn't a coincidence.

"Satoru, was Tokieda's brother's death connected to the echo?"

The other end of the line fell silent for a few seconds. "I don't know. But there's one thing. After Shigure died, Tokieda began investigating the Kumano Society. He waited almost a year. Maybe it took him a long time to realize his brother's death was connected to them."

Geto recalled Hazuki's words. "Tokieda is looking for the Kumano Society. He thinks we killed his brother. But we didn't kill him. The echo inside his own body did." Her expression hadn't changed as she said it.

"Geto," Gojo's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you still going to investigate?"

"Yes."

"Investigate what?"

"Where Tokieda is. Once he's gathered the cursed energy of those four jujutsu sorcerers, he'll come for me. But I don't know when or where he'll show up. I don't want to wait."

Gojo was silent for a few seconds. "You can't investigate this alone. Every member of the Kumano Society is a curse user, not an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer. They don't follow the Association's rules or jujutsu sorcerers' rules. They only follow their own."

"Then I won't go alone."

The other end of the line fell silent again for a few seconds. Then Gojo laughed.

"When do we leave?" Gojo asked.

"Tomorrow."

The next morning, Geto stood at Jujutsu High's main gate. Gojo stood beside him in his black school uniform with a dark gray coat over it, sunglasses perched on his nose and both hands in his pockets.

Geto opened the car door and climbed into the back seat. Gojo got in from the other side and sat beside him. The car started and drove out through Jujutsu High's gates.

"Ome first," Geto said.

The assistant supervisor glanced at him in the rearview mirror and nodded. The car drove onto the highway.

Gojo took two candies from his pocket, one strawberry and one grape. He handed the strawberry one to Geto, unwrapped the grape one himself, and popped it into his mouth.

"Geto, what did that woman Hazuki say?"

Geto unwrapped his candy and put it in his mouth. Strawberry. Very sweet. "She said Tokieda was looking for the last portion of cursed energy. Once he has it all, he'll come for me."

"Where's that last portion coming from?"

"I don't know. She didn't say."

Gojo chewed his candy, watching the scenery rush past the window. "Geto, don't you think it's strange? Hazuki leads the Kumano Society. It's an organization of curse users. Curse users don't help you for no reason. She must have had a motive for giving you that information."

Geto was silent for a few seconds. "I know. But the information was accurate. Tokieda really is extracting cursed energy from jujutsu sorcerers. Those four missing sorcerers didn't just disappear. Tokieda took them. Hazuki didn't lie to me."

"Not lying to you doesn't mean she has no ulterior motive."

It was already nine in the morning when the car entered central Ome. The assistant supervisor parked in the plaza in front of the station, and Geto and Gojo got out. There weren't many people in the plaza. A few elderly people sat sunning themselves on benches, and a young woman slowly passed by with a stroller. Geto headed north along the road, with Gojo following behind.

"Geto, do you know the way?"

"Yes. I walked it yesterday."

After walking for about two hours, they reached the entrance to the abandoned mine. The iron barrier was still shut, the brass padlock still hanging from it. Geto went around to the side, crouched down, and examined the vent. The wire mesh was still cut open, just as it had been when he left yesterday. He shone his flashlight inside, then turned sideways and squeezed through. Gojo followed without a word.

The chamber deep inside the mine tunnel was still there. So was the long table. The candles had gone out, and a thin layer of dust covered the candleholders. But Hazuki was gone. Geto walked up to the table, picked up a cloth doll, and turned it over to inspect its back. No embroidered words, no hair, nothing. He put it down, picked up another, and turned it over. Nothing again. He checked every doll on the table. Not one bore the word "Kumano." The embroidered dolls he had seen yesterday had been replaced.

"Geto." Gojo's voice came from farther down the tunnel.

Geto turned and directed his flashlight beam toward him. Gojo stood before a stone wall at the end of the tunnel, shining his flashlight over it. Scores of scratches had been carved into the stone. They were thin and densely packed, as though someone had clawed them out with their fingernails. They were exactly like the scratches on the iron door in the Old Library's basement.

Geto walked over and pressed his hand against the wall. The stone was cold and rough, the scratches digging into his fingertips. The echo gave a violent throb in his chest, as if to say, Here.

"Satoru, there's an echo here too."

Gojo raised his flashlight to illuminate the upper part of the wall. Near the top, about three meters above the ground, was a recess. A wooden box sat inside it. It was small, palm-sized and black, with no decoration on its surface. It was identical to the box Geto had found in the Old Library containing the incomplete text of the Soul-Sealing Technique.

Gojo jumped, caught the edge of the recess, and retrieved the box. He landed beside Geto and handed it over. Geto took the box and opened it. Inside was a sheet of paper, thin and yellowed, its edges already brittle. A single line was written on it in neat handwriting, the same handwriting as in the incomplete Soul-Sealing Technique text.

"He whose echo is complete shall behold the truth."

Geto turned the paper over. Another line covered the back, its writing smaller and more closely packed.

"After Ichiro Nakajima's death, seven echo fragments remained. Their destinations: three in Tokyo, two in Saitama, one in Chiba, and one in Kanagawa. Whoever obtains these seven may restore what the echo lacks."

Geto's fingers stilled on the paper. Echo fragments. After Ichiro Nakajima's death, the echo had shattered into countless pieces. Two large pieces had gone to him and Tokieda, while seven smaller ones had scattered throughout Kanto. Hazuki had been right when she said there were more than two pieces of the echo, but she hadn't told him everything. Only part of it.

Gojo frowned at the sheet of paper. "Geto, what is this?"

"A map of the echo fragments. After Ichiro Nakajima died, the echo broke into many pieces. The two large pieces are inside me and Tokieda. Seven smaller ones are scattered throughout Kanto. Those seven can complete the echo."

"What happens when it's complete?"

Geto recalled Hazuki's words: "I want all the echoes to come together. To become whole. To stop disappearing." Not just two pieces coming together, but all of them. The two large pieces and the seven small ones. Every last one.

He folded the paper, returned it to the wooden box, and put the box in his pocket.

"Satoru, let's go."

They emerged from the mine tunnel. Gojo stood beside him and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Geto, where next?"

Geto took out his phone and brought up the map of the Kanto Region. Densely packed red dots covered the entire region. Ichiro Nakajima's echo fragments were hidden at seven of those marked locations. He didn't know which seven, but the echo did. It pulsed in his chest, not in a fast or slow rhythm, but to show him the way.

Geto put his phone back in his pocket and looked at the eastern sky.

"Tokyo," he said.

Gojo didn't ask why. He turned and headed down the mountain path. Geto followed, one behind the other, their footsteps echoing along the narrow trail.