An unexpected encounter

The next morning, the sun shone in a clear, cloudless sky. It was another rare day of lovely weather.

Everyone at Jujutsu High was training on the sports field, but someone seemed to be missing. Where was Akutagawa Shang?

Meanwhile, in downtown Tokyo, a long line had already formed outside the Kikusuian dessert shop.

And Akutagawa Shang was one of the people in that lengthy line.

As for why, he glanced at the patch of black on his left hand. He had no choice. The Cursed Tool had been too tempting, and accepting a gift left him beholden to the giver.

"Seriously, this place is a little too popular." It was only early morning, but the entrance was already buzzing with voices.

Akutagawa Shang thought he had gotten up early enough, but a large crowd had already gathered ahead of him by the time he arrived. Helpless, he could only obediently take his place behind them.

"Seriously, do these people not sleep at all?" Akutagawa Shang grumbled speechlessly.

When he first joined the line, it had not really sunk in. After all, it would only cost him a little extra time.

But as the number of people ahead steadily dwindled, a bad feeling slowly rose in his heart.

"They're not going to sell out right when it's my turn, are they? Come on, don't do this." Akutagawa Shang's expression shifted uncertainly, his eyes darting toward the front of the line from time to time as he silently prayed they would not sell out just before his turn.

Unfortunately, reality did not grant his wish.

It was not exactly that they announced they had sold out when his turn came; the shop's limited-edition daifuku had all sold out before he even reached the front. Akutagawa Shang stood rooted to the spot, watching in despair as the crowd ahead of him dispersed.

"No!!!" Akutagawa Shang wailed where he stood.

He had failed to buy the desserts, which meant he would have to get up early again tomorrow to line up here-and even earlier than he had today.

When it came to Akutagawa Shang, asking him to stay up was no problem, no matter how late.

But asking him to get up early was worse than killing him outright.

Just as he was about to resign himself to heading back and returning the next day, he suddenly sensed what seemed to be the presence of a curse nearby.

Upholding his professional ethics as a Jujutsu Sorcerer, he felt it necessary to find and deal with the curse.

He followed the curse's presence through the crowd toward its source... straight ahead... then left.

He could feel that the source of the curse was not far away.

At an intersection nearby, a somewhat haggard-looking girl stood, apparently waiting for the traffic light at the crossing.

An ugly Cursed Spirit was clinging to her.

An ugly Cursed Spirit lay wrapped around her body. Its six arms tightly bound her torso, its forehead was densely covered with eyeballs, and its large, wet, sticky mouth kept rubbing and licking at her cheek as its body writhed.

"Looks like this is it." After confirming his target, Akutagawa Shang stepped forward and greeted the girl.

"Hello, can I help you? I don't think we know each other."

The girl turned and politely returned his greeting.

"This might be a little intrusive, but I wanted to ask whether anything strange has happened to you lately, like feeling unwell.

Although asking a stranger about private matters outright was indeed a little strange, Akutagawa Shang's face was genuinely rather handsome, only a tiny bit less so than the esteemed reader reading this right now. Thanks to that, the girl did not immediately turn and leave, but instead told him what had been happening to her lately.

"Lately, whenever I sleep at night, I keep dreaming that a stranger is going to assault me..."

"Have you felt anything else? Like not being able to breathe, or your shoulders feeling heavy?" Akutagawa Shang looked at the Cursed Spirit lying on him, a pair of its hands locked tightly around the girl's neck.

"Huh? How did you know? I've been to lots of hospitals, but none of them could find anything wrong. My mother told me I might be possessed, and said she would take me to see a famous master nearby in a couple of days."

"Uh, I don't think that'll be necessary. I can fix it for you right now." As soon as Akutagawa Shang finished speaking, he extended his right hand and pressed his white-glowing Reverse Cursed Technique directly against the disgusting Cursed Spirit. Before it could even scream, the Cursed Spirit turned to ash like a paper napkin meeting a raging fire.

The girl only felt the oppression and suffocation that had hung over her for so long suddenly vanish. Her breathing immediately became easy, and the heavy ache in her shoulders faded as well.

Her eyes immediately widened as she stared at Akutagawa Shang in shock, her mouth almost forming an O.

"Y-you, you..." She seemed somewhat incoherent.

Akutagawa Shang merely raised a finger and placed it against her lips.

"Shh-you have to keep this a secret for me." Akutagawa Shang struck a mysterious pose, looking every bit like a secluded master hidden in the city.

The girl nodded furiously, her eyes sparkling. After all, who could have imagined meeting a master just by going outside?

She hurriedly took out her phone. "Thank you so much. Could we exchange contact details? I'd like to treat you to a meal sometime to repay you."

Akutagawa Shang scratched his head. "Uh, there's no need for a meal. I was only doing what I should. Huh? Is that Kikusuian's new dessert?"

Akutagawa Shang suddenly noticed that the girl was carrying the very desserts Satoru Gojo had been longing for.

"Huh? This...? I think so... My friend brought it for me."

"If you insist on thanking me, how about giving me those desserts?"

"Huh? These? Here you go." The girl looked disappointed when she heard him, but still handed him the desserts.

"Arigato. Thank you so very much." Akutagawa Shang accepted the desserts and bowed deeply.

"Oh, it's fine, it's fine. I should be the one thanking you."

"I still have something to do, so I'll be going." With that, Akutagawa Shang turned and left, ignoring the girl's somewhat wistful gaze. All he wanted now was to hand over the desserts, return to his dorm, and collapse into bed.

But someone did not want to let him go back just like that.

A figure had been silently watching everything from the side and quietly followed when Akutagawa Shang left.

As Akutagawa Shang hurried back, humming a song, he suddenly collided with someone in front of him.

"Sumimasen, sumimasen!" Just as Akutagawa Shang started apologizing, the person in front of him grabbed both his hands.

Akutagawa Shang rubbed his head and took a closer look. The man before him was extremely tall, tall enough to look straight down at him.

He wore loose, elaborate monk's robes that stood out from the crowd, and his narrowed eyes made his gaze impossible to discern.

*?!!*

Wait, monk's robes, narrowed eyes-is this fucking Suguru Geto?

Once he realized who stood before him, Akutagawa Shang froze on the spot as though struck by lightning.

Suguru Geto, one of the four existing Special Grades in Jujutsu Society, had killed his own parents ten years ago over a clash of ideals, then defected from Jujutsu High and become a Curse User.

Although he was called the disgrace of the Special Grades because he had no domain, no Reverse Cursed Technique, and a skill set badly behind the meta, and could not even beat Yuta Okkotsu, who had only entered Jujutsu Society a few months earlier.

Still, a Special Grade was a Special Grade. Given his current situation, it seemed he really could not beat him.

And if they actually fought, he did not know whether he could hold out until Satoru Gojo received word and rushed over.

After racking his brains for ages, he found he still could not think of anything.

Helpless, Akutagawa Shang could only shakily address Suguru Geto before him.

"H... hello. Can I help you?"

Suguru Geto opened and closed his eyes, then slowly spoke.

"My friend, you're a Jujutsu Sorcerer, aren't you? Would you be interested in joining me-to change this filthy world?"