A boy. Tears. Rebirth

On the large screen in the monitoring room, Yuta Okkotsu finally reappeared after a long absence.

"Whoa-!!! It's Yuta-!!!" Watching Yuta Okkotsu reappear on the screen, Satoru Gojo sprang out of his chair and shouted excitedly, so worked up that he started clapping like a seal.

"Satoru. Fucking. Gojo. Can you shut the hell up? You're so damn loud-!!!" Unable to take it anymore, Utahime Iori grabbed her cup, still full of tea, and hurled it at Satoru Gojo beside her.

Unfortunately, before the cup could touch Satoru Gojo, Limitless stopped it in front of him. Scalding tea dribbled onto the floor, but not even the hem of his clothes got wet.

"Aw, Utahime, don't be so cranky. Getting angry all the time will give you wrinkles." Satoru Gojo merely waved dismissively. More precisely, he had always thought Utahime just liked joking around, completely unaware that she really, really, really hated him.

Utahime Iori wanted to throw something else, but unfortunately, she had already thrown everything within reach. All she could do was sit down helplessly, her cheeks puffed out.

"But Yuta's condition... doesn't look too good. Has he already been in a fight?" Stroking his chin, Satoru Gojo studied Yuta Okkotsu's filthy figure on the screen while stealing a glance at Gakuganji beside him.

The moment Yuta Okkotsu reappeared on the screen, Gakuganji realized that his plan had most likely failed.

The old man's face remained as dry and expressionless as ever, betraying little emotion, but his grip on his cane had clearly tightened.

But there was still a chance. Fighting Aoi Todo would surely weaken him, and then Noritoshi Kamo could seize the opening and order that Grade 1 Cursed Spirit to kill Yuta Okkotsu.

Unfortunately, he had no idea that Akutagawa Shang had long since crushed the cursed spirit he had pinned his hopes on with a single slap.

Satoru Gojo snickered and stopped looking at him, turning his gaze back to the screen. "Oh my, Miss Mei Mei. Your crow has finally come back," he drawled.

Mei Mei was leaning to one side, twirling her hair around a finger. At his words, she hummed in acknowledgment. "Crows want to rest when they get tired of flying, too. It's simply finished its break and returned to work."

"Who's that fighting him? Todo? Looks like they're having fun." Satoru Gojo chuckled as he watched the screen.

"It looks like nobody cares about the rules anymore. They're such a handful. Can't they just get along?" Utahime Iori held her forehead, seemingly truly at a loss.

On the screen, Yuta Okkotsu looked gray with grime, his body covered in patches of black and white.

Like Todo, he was bare-chested. As for his shirt-the earlier attacks from Kyoto Jujutsu High had long since reduced it to a few scraps hanging from his body.

Since those rags no longer covered anything and only hampered his movements, Yuta Okkotsu had simply tossed them aside and fought shirtless.

If he hadn't been afraid of people seeing him, he would have thrown off his underpants, too.

Yuta Okkotsu and Aoi Todo traded blows, answering punches with kicks in an even exchange.

In theory, having enrolled less than half a year ago, Yuta Okkotsu lagged far behind Aoi Todo in physique, technique, practical experience, and combat awareness. But his absurd reserves of cursed energy and the way he poured it out as though it cost nothing made up for those differences.

That made their fight look evenly matched, with neither able to defeat the other easily in the short term.

But as the fight continued, Yuta Okkotsu remained much the same, while Aoi Todo's expression grew grimmer with every exchange, until his face was positively thunderous.

Seizing an opening, Yuta Okkotsu drove a vicious punch straight at Aoi Todo's face.

Yet Todo neither dodged nor defended himself. Instead, he stood completely still and let Yuta Okkotsu's fist land squarely on his face.

"Huh-?" Feeling his fist hit the other boy's face, Yuta Okkotsu froze as well. With Aoi Todo's speed, dodging that punch should theoretically have been effortless.

"Wrong-!!!" But Aoi Todo suddenly opened his mouth and roared toward the sky, his shout exploding outward.

Aoi Todo's voice echoed through the woods, startling the birds in the trees into flight.

"Huh? What's going on?" Yuta Okkotsu withdrew his fist and took a step back, staring blankly at Aoi Todo.

"What's wrong? And why didn't you dodge just now?" Yuta Okkotsu asked the boy before him in bewilderment.

Aoi Todo whipped his head around and stared at Yuta Okkotsu, his face flushed red.

"You rely too much on your cursed energy."

"What?"

"You have a lot of cursed energy. That's certainly a strength, but it's also a shackle holding back your growth."

"Yuta Okkotsu, you rely far too much on your cursed energy."

"You tank attacks with cursed energy when you defend, and overwhelm your opponent with cursed energy when you attack. But where's your technique? Your intuition? Your instincts as a human being? And your cursed energy control is an absolute mess. You're only keeping things going through sheer volume. And another thing-"

"What's with these feeble attacks? Are you trying to tickle me? This is a fight, not a game of house. You're not putting your full strength into your attacks at all. I can feel you holding back with every punch. What exactly are you afraid of? Why won't you give it everything you've got? Are you afraid of hurting me? Or do you think I'm scared of pain? Tell me."

Yuta Okkotsu merely lowered his head without speaking.

"Listen, Yuta Okkotsu. You really are talented, but right now, you're pathetically weak. Maybe you can overwhelm weaker enemies with raw numbers, but what will you do against a powerful opponent? Keep brute-forcing it with cursed energy? As you are now, there's no question you'll lose miserably. If you don't change, if you keep going like this, then without a doubt, you'll remain a half-ass your whole damn life-!!!"

Yuta Okkotsu fell silent. He couldn't refute a single word Aoi Todo had said. He truly hadn't used his full strength-not while trading blows with Aoi Todo, not while fleeing the Kyoto Jujutsu High students trying to kill him earlier, and not even when things had turned desperate against that Grade 1 Cursed Spirit in the shopping district.

As for why, deep in Yuta Okkotsu's heart lay an indelible fear of his own power.

He was afraid. Rika had hurt too many people before. Some had died, while others were still lying in hospital beds. He was afraid that if he used his full strength, he would become like that, too... afraid that once he used his full strength, once he lost control, innocent people would get hurt because of him again.

Yuta Okkotsu kept his head lowered as tears pooled in his eyes, falling drop by drop from his lashes onto the grass.

"Are you even a man? If all you want is to stay as you are and be a half-ass for the rest of your life, then you'll no longer be a man I acknowledge. Do you want to stay weak forever? Tell me, Yuta Okkotsu! Do you want to get stronger or not? Do you want the power to protect everyone you want to protect-!!!"

The words "get stronger" struck Yuta Okkotsu's heart like a bullet, awakening his desire to protect the weak from further harm. He remembered the people hurt by cursed spirits, remembered what Akutagawa Shang had said, remembered his great aspiration to save more people who had been hurt.

"Listen, Yuta. Since that power is inside you, it can only be yours. It won't go out of control just because you use it, and it won't disappear just because you don't. Power is like an untamed beast. The more boldly you use it, the tamer it becomes, and the better you can make it serve you."

"Now tell me, Yuta Okkotsu! Do you want to get stronger or not-!!!" Aoi Todo shouted at him.

"I..." Yuta Okkotsu kept sobbing, his body trembling. His throat felt blocked, and he couldn't get the words out.

When he failed to get the answer he wanted, Aoi Todo walked straight up to Yuta Okkotsu and raised his hand.

Smack-! With a sharp crack, Aoi Todo slapped Yuta Okkotsu across his tear- and snot-streaked face.

That slap was like a switch, jolting Yuta Okkotsu fully awake and completely breaking apart the tangled knot deep in his heart.

"Look me in the eye and answer me, Yuta Okkotsu! Do you, or do you not, want to get stronger-?" Aoi Todo roared again.

Yuta Okkotsu jerked his head up. The tears on his face had yet to dry, but his eyes had changed:

"I want to get stronger-!!!"

"That's right. Now that's a man I can acknowledge." A smile finally appeared on Aoi Todo's face.

He spread his arms and pulled Yuta Okkotsu into an embrace, letting him sob against his pectorals, trembling all over.

"Go ahead and cry. A real man is never afraid to cry. Cry out all the fear in your heart."

"Once you've cried enough, save all your strength for your fists. Remember, don't hold back," Aoi Todo said in all seriousness.

A minute later, seemingly having cried enough, Yuta Okkotsu slowly raised his head.

Aoi Todo slowly released him. Yuta took a deep breath and slowly stepped back a few paces, completely readjusting his mindset.

A gust of wind blew past, as though scattering all the pent-up gloom in his heart.

"Whew... Todo, let's go. I want to try again. This time, I'll give it everything I've got." Yuta Okkotsu looked firmly at Aoi Todo before him.

Aoi Todo laughed loudly, his grin spreading wider and wider. He opened his arms, leaving himself completely exposed, and waited for Yuta Okkotsu to come forward.

"That's right, Yuta! Come at me with everything you've got! Don't hold back-!!!"