Meeting

They found all four fragments in Saitama and Chiba in two days. Beneath the bell tower in Kawagoe, in the hot spring shaft of an abandoned mine in Chichibu, in a shrine alcove at Horenji in Ichihara. The process was the same everywhere: Echo pointed the way, Satoru Gojo confirmed it, Suguru Geto dug, found it, and swallowed it.

The last one was at Zeniarai Benten in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. A cave at the foot of the mountains north of Kamakura. A short tunnel led into a small cavern with a pool inside, its water seeping from the rock walls. Supposedly, money washed in this water would double. Suguru Geto had researched the place. Worshippers came year-round, and it was busy during the day-not somewhere to hide things. But this was the address written on the paper.

They left Jujutsu High at three in the morning. Dawn had yet to break, and there were barely any cars on the road. Satoru Gojo sat in the back seat, unusually silent.

By the time they reached Kamakura, the sky was just beginning to lighten. The entrance to Zeniarai Benten was a tiny shrine. Its worship hall was closed, and a path beside it led to the cave. The stone lantern at the start of the path bore the inscription "Zeniarai Benten."

They followed the path inward. It was narrow, only wide enough for one person, with moss-covered stone walls on either side. About fifty meters in, a tunnel entrance appeared ahead. The tunnel was so low that Suguru Geto had to duck to enter. The flashlight beam swayed across the stone walls, illuminating wet streaks and tiny cracks. The air was cold and damp, tinged with mildew.

The cavern lay at the end of the tunnel. It was about twenty square meters, with a ceiling several meters high. A pool stood in the center, its water clear enough to reveal the pebbles and coins on the bottom-offerings tossed in by worshippers. Behind the pool was a stone wall carved with a Buddha. Moisture had worn its face smooth, leaving no features distinguishable.

Echo pulsed once in his chest. It pointed toward the pool.

Suguru Geto crouched and reached into the water. It was ice-cold, and his fingers soon went numb. He felt around the bottom: pebbles, coins, sediment, but no bead. He moved to another spot and kept searching. Still nothing. Echo pulsed again, still pointing toward the pool, but the location had shifted to its very center.

He rolled up his sleeve and plunged his entire arm into the water. It rose past his elbow, soaking his sleeve and pressing the fabric against his skin with a bone-deep chill. His fingers searched the sediment at the bottom, touched something, and lifted it out.

It was an old copper coin. Layers of green corrosion covered its surface, nearly clogging the square hole in the middle. One face bore the inscription "Kan'ei Tsuho"; the other was blank. Suguru Geto turned it over and spotted an extremely fine line along the edge of the square hole. It was not engraved, but part of the coin itself, circling the hole before curling into a spiral at the end. The same spiral as the one on the stuffed doll.

He gently traced the line with his fingernail. The coin split open. It was hollow inside, with a silvery-white bead nestled in the cavity.

The seventh.

Suguru Geto took out the bead. There was also a scrap of paper inside the coin, folded into a square the size of a fingernail. He unfolded it. A single line was written on it: "Whoever gathers all seven may see the source of Echo. The source lies in Kumano."

He folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. Then he brought the bead to his mouth and swallowed it.

Echo absorbed the final bead. Its temperature rose sharply. Its shape remained unchanged, still smaller than a fist, but its weight had changed. It was heavier now.

"Geto, how is it?" Satoru Gojo's voice came from behind him.

Suguru Geto stood and turned. Satoru Gojo stood at the cave entrance, his flashlight aimed at the ground rather than Geto's face.

"All seven are here," Suguru Geto said. "Echo is complete."

"Does anything feel different?"

Suguru Geto pressed a hand to his chest. Echo was pulsing in time with his heartbeat, but more strongly now. It did not hurt, but he could clearly feel it.

"It's heavier. I couldn't feel its weight before. Now I can."

Satoru Gojo was silent for a few seconds. "Let's go. It's almost dawn. The worshippers will be here soon."

They left the cavern, passed through the tunnel, and returned to the shrine courtyard.

Suguru Geto stood in the courtyard, Echo pulsing in his chest.

"Let's head back first. Wait for him to come to us."

It was already morning when they returned to Jujutsu High. Suguru Geto did not go back to his dorm. Instead, he went to the mountain behind the school. The cherry blossoms were in bloom. He sat beneath a tree with his back against the trunk and gazed up at the flowers, Echo pulsing in his chest.

On the seventh day after Echo became complete, word came from Tokieda. A phone call to Masamichi Yaga. Masamichi Yaga answered, listened for three seconds, then handed the receiver to Suguru Geto. The voice on the other end was low and flat, with a trace of raspiness.

"Suguru Geto, I can't go to Jujutsu High. You know that."

Suguru Geto held the receiver. "I know. Where are you?"

"Gunma. Asama Ridge Mine. Come find me. My Echo can't hold on anymore. If you come, we'll merge them here. If you don't, I'll die here alone."

The call ended.

Suguru Geto put the receiver back. Masamichi Yaga watched him, and Satoru Gojo watched him from beside the window. Neither said anything.

Satoru Gojo walked over from the window. "I'll drive you. Once we get there, I'll wait outside. I won't go in."

Masamichi Yaga took a key from a drawer and set it on the desk. "Take my car. Don't call an assistant supervisor. Don't leave a record."

Suguru Geto picked up the key and put it in his pocket.

The drive took almost three hours. Satoru Gojo drove, and Suguru Geto sat in the passenger seat. Neither spoke. There were few cars on the highway, and the bare trees along the road had turned a tender green. Spring was well underway.

Satoru Gojo parked at the foot of the mountain. The abandoned mine entrance was halfway up, along the same path Suguru Geto had taken last time. Satoru Gojo shut off the engine and leaned back in his seat.

"Geto, go in. I'll wait in the car."

Suguru Geto got out and followed the mountain path upward. The trees on either side were greener than on his last visit. Echo pulsed in his chest, and with each pulse, the direction grew clearer. It knew where Tokieda was.

The abandoned mine entrance was unchanged. Suguru Geto walked inside.

The mine tunnel was dark, the flashlight beam swaying across the walls. The air was cold and damp, carrying that familiar, cloyingly sweet smell. His footsteps echoed through the empty tunnel, mingling with Echo's pulses. He passed the bend, followed the narrow passage, and reached the open space.

Tokieda sat on the ground with his back against the rock wall. His legs were drawn up, his hands resting on his knees, his head lowered. A faint, dark red light glowed in his chest.

Suguru Geto approached and crouched before him.

"Tokieda."

Tokieda raised his head. His face was thinner than before, his cheekbones jutting out, his eyes sunken, his lips dry and cracked.

"Suguru Geto, Echo can't go on. It's held on inside my body for too long. It wants to get out, but it can't. It needs you."

Suguru Geto sat opposite him, a step away. He extended his hand, palm up.

Tokieda looked at his hand. He extended his own, also palm up. A fist's width separated their palms. The two pieces of Echo pulsed in their chests at different rhythms. Tokieda's pulsed rapidly, like a heart making its final struggle before stopping; Suguru Geto's pulsed steadily, neither fast nor slow.

"Suguru Geto, do you know what will happen after they merge?"

"No."

Tokieda reached a little farther. His fingertips touched Suguru Geto's.

Both pieces of Echo pulsed at once. Tokieda's flowed out through his fingertips, along Suguru Geto's fingers, palm, and arm, surging toward his chest. It found its place inside Suguru Geto's body and pulsed alongside his Echo. Two pulses, one fast and one slow. Then, gradually, the fast one slowed and the slow one quickened, until they settled into a single rhythm.

Suguru Geto closed his eyes. Through something more primal, he sensed Tokieda's Echo. It carried fragments of Tokieda's memories: a boy's smiling face; a pair of hands teaching him to hold a knife; a figure disappearing at the end of a corridor. Shigure. Tokieda's younger brother. The deepest traces within Tokieda's Echo belonged to his brother.

Suguru Geto opened his eyes. Tokieda's hand had fallen, and his head had dropped. His chest no longer glowed, and the black mark on his palm had vanished. His breathing was faint and slow, like someone who had just come out of surgery.

"Tokieda."

No response.

Suguru Geto reached over and placed his hand on Tokieda's wrist. His pulse was weak but steady. He had not died. Echo was gone, and he was still alive. A jujutsu sorcerer without cursed energy was no different from an ordinary person.

Suguru Geto stood, draped Tokieda's arm over his shoulder, and helped him up.

They emerged from the mine tunnel. The sunlight made Tokieda squint. He had not seen the sun in a long time. Satoru Gojo stood beside the car. Seeing Suguru Geto supporting Tokieda as they came out, he said nothing. He opened the rear door, and Suguru Geto settled Tokieda inside.

Suguru Geto got into the passenger seat and closed the door. Satoru Gojo started the car and drove off down the mountain road.

"Where to?" Satoru Gojo asked.

"Chiba. Hazuki said the jujutsu sorcerers whose cursed energy he drained are there. Take him there."

Satoru Gojo did not ask why. He drove onto the highway. Suguru Geto glanced at Tokieda in the rearview mirror. Tokieda leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, breathing faintly. There was no pain or fear on his face, only a weary calm.

Echo pulsed in Suguru Geto's chest. Golden and warm. The two pieces had become one. Complete. It no longer needed a host, no longer needed cursed energy, no longer needed anything. It was simply there, waiting for Suguru Geto to take it to Kumano, back to where it had come from.

Suguru Geto pressed a hand to his chest and felt that pulse. He did not know what he would become once he returned it.