[Once Riko Amanai understood the situation, Satoru Gojo could not help remarking.]
["This kid's livelier than I expected."]
[Suguru Geto agreed.]
["I thought she'd be upset about having to be assimilated."]
[Although you said nothing, you had actually thought the same thing.]
[You had considered it: if you were told one day that you needed to sacrifice yourself to be assimilated by someone else, you thought you would most likely refuse.]
[You would choose to run or resist, but if two top-tier Special Grades like Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were forcing you to submit, you would probably ultimately choose suicide as your way of resisting.]
[Even if it all ended in death, you would absolutely never accept such a bullshit fate.]
[At that moment, however, Riko Amanai wore a proud expression.]
["Hmph, just the sort of thoughts I expected from lowly sorts like you!"]
["Huh?"]
[At that moment, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto once again wore expressions that said, what are you talking about?]
["Listen well! Lord Tengen is I, and I am Lord Tengen!"]
["Though there is no shortage of fools who equate assimilation with death, they are utterly mistaken!"]
["Through assimilation, I shall become Lord Tengen, and Lord Tengen shall become me!"]
["My thoughts, heart, and soul shall endure in this world forever, even after assimilation!"]
[Despite what Riko Amanai was saying, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were not actually listening at all. At some point, they had even started discussing their phone wallpapers off to the side.]
["Oh? Did you change your wallpaper?"]
["Yeah. Waka Inoue."]
[Seeing her painstaking explanation ignored, Riko Amanai shouted in displeasure.]
["Are you even listening?!"]
[Satoru Gojo pointed at Riko Amanai and said to you and Suguru Geto.]
["Talking like such an edgelord, she probably doesn't have many friends at school."]
["That's just as well. We can send her on her way with an easy heart when the time comes."]
[Suguru Geto promptly agreed.]
[But unlike them, you remained silent and listened seriously to what Riko Amanai said.]
[From what you had learned, the purpose of assimilation itself was to allow Lord Tengen to continue existing as Lord Tengen.]
[With that as its core purpose, you did not think much of the assimilated Star Plasma Vessel could remain, let alone have any right to autonomy.]
[After all, even Lord Tengen, who had yet to undergo this assimilation, probably already had more than one Star Plasma Vessel within him...]
[To you, those words sounded more like an embellishment and whitewashing of the cruel truth.]
[If one gained the chance to endure in this world without any right to autonomy, would that not be more of a curse than a blessing?]
[What was more, after assimilation, one probably would not even have the option of choosing death, would they?]
[After a long silence, you murmured softly.]
["So that's how they persuaded you, or is that how you persuaded yourself...?"]
[Your voice was quiet, and with Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo chatting nearby, Riko Amanai should theoretically have been the only one who could hear you.]
[You were not sure whether she had heard your question. You only saw her expression stiffen for an instant, but she quickly composed herself, then spoke up to argue with Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto.]
["I talk like a normal person at school!"]
["Wait, school! Kuroi, what time is it?!"]
["Huh? It's still morning, but under the circumstances, perhaps you shouldn't go to school..."]
[Misato Kuroi had clearly realized what Riko Amanai wanted to do. Although she tried to dissuade her, it clearly did little good.]
["Enough! I said I'm going, so I'm going!"]
[Seeing Riko Amanai about to leave, Suguru Geto stopped her.]
["Wait. After what just happened, you still want to go to school?"]
["Shut up! What right do you have to stop me?!"]
[Riko Amanai snapped.]
["What right..."]
[Suguru Geto muttered, then suddenly realized that the mission information he had received from Masamichi Yaga did indeed seem to be about protecting her, leaving him momentarily at a loss for words.]
[Satoru Gojo also spoke up.]
["Don't you know how much danger you're in right now? You'd be safer coming back to Jujutsu High with us!"]
["I don't want to!"]
[While they argued over there, you had already called Masamichi Yaga.]
["Hello, sir? Riko Amanai wants to go to school now. Is that really all right? Somewhere that public?"]
["Let her go. Stay with her."]
["What?"]
[Masamichi Yaga's answer on the other end surprised you. You had only just dealt with those people from Q, and had yet to see the enemies from the Time Vessel Association make a move.]
[Yet Masamichi Yaga was actually allowing Riko Amanai to go to such a crowded public place. Even setting aside Riko Amanai's safety, how many ordinary people might such an action drag into this?]
[Take Kekun's "Directional Blast Boundary" just now. You could not imagine what kind of tragedy would result if it exploded somewhere like a school.]
[That truly was not a tragedy that could necessarily be prevented just because two Special Grades, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, were there, nor was it something you could resolve simply by putting up another Curtain.]
[Those people called Curse Users were complete lunatics.]
[You seriously confirmed it with Masamichi Yaga once more.]
["Sir, are you serious? You're letting her go to school even though Curse Users might still attack?"]
[But you heard Masamichi Yaga sigh on the other end of the call.]
["Of course I understand what you mean, but these are Lord Tengen's orders."]
["What?"]
["Lord Tengen wants us to fulfill Riko Amanai's every request."]
[You did not listen to that last sentence alone. Instead, you pressed the speakerphone button so Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto could hear it too.]
[Of course, their expressions upon hearing those words were actually much like yours.]
[Only Riko Amanai lifted her chin upon hearing those words and spoke to Suguru Geto in front of her.]
["Did you hear that? Make way for me already!"]
[Suguru Geto looked toward you with a questioning look.]
[All you could do was shrug helplessly, indicating that you had no good solution either and could only act according to Riko Amanai's wishes.]
Before you continue