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The jellyfish-shaped Shikigami emerged from the shadows, its translucent body gleaming eerily in the sunlight.

It floated gently in the air, countless slender tentacles extending beneath its bell.

The laughter in the gym stopped.

The students froze at the bizarre creature that had suddenly appeared.

Or rather, they couldn't see it, only a blurry black shadow.

"Wh-what is that?"

"A monster?!"

"Yoshino...!"

Shōta froze too. He stared at Moon Dregs, the sneer on his face slowly giving way to confusion and... a barely perceptible trace of terror.

"You..." He opened his mouth. "What the hell are you doing?"

I didn't answer.

I simply willed it.

Moon Dregs' tentacles swayed gently, releasing colorless, odorless poison gas from their tips, which quickly spread through the air.

A few seconds later, the nearest students began to sway, clutching their foreheads, their faces turning pale.

"D-dizzy..."

"I feel sick..."

"I can't stand..."

One, two, three... the students in the gym collapsed one after another.

Some knelt on the floor, dry-heaving. Some slumped down, gasping for breath. Others passed out outright.

The poison gas wasn't lethal, but it was enough to incapacitate them.

Shōta was affected too.

He staggered, grabbing the basketball hoop's support beside him, his face turning ashen as cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"You..." He glared at me, his voice trembling. "What did you do...?"

I walked up to him.

Step by step, very slowly.

Students lay sprawled all around us, their agonized groans echoing through the gym.

The sunlight was still bright, but despair hung in the air.

Gradually, though, the sky darkened too.

The Curtain had fallen.

"Why?" I looked at Shōta, my voice frighteningly calm. "Why did you kill my mom?"

Shōta froze.

"Wh-what?" His eyes widened, as though he hadn't understood. "Your mom? Kill? What the fuck are you babbling about...?"

"Sukuna's Finger turned up in my house," I interrupted, staring into his eyes.

"Something that attracts Cursed Spirits. A Cursed Spirit killed Mom. You put it there, didn't you? Because you hated me, because you thought it would be fun, because... that's just the kind of person you are."

Shōta's expression shifted from confusion to shock, then to anger.

"Are you fucking sick?!" he shouted, but the poison left his voice weak.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! Sukuna? Cursed Spirits? Have you lost your mind?!"

"Still pretending," I said, raising my hand.

Moon Dregs floated above Shōta. One tentacle gently lowered until its tip rested against his forehead.

Shōta's body went rigid.

Then he began to convulse.

His face turned from ashen to purple, his lips blackened, his eyes bulged, and a rattling sound came from his throat.

"I..." He tried to speak, but his tongue no longer obeyed him. "Didn't... do..."

"I don't care whether your answer is true or false." As I watched his face twist in agony, the black fire in my chest burned even hotter.

"I just want to see you suffer."

Just like the expression I wore when I saw Mom lying on the floor.

Just like the expression inside my heart right now.

I kicked him in the stomach.

Shōta doubled over, dry-heaving, but nothing came up.

Another kick, to his ribs. I heard a faint crack.

Another kick, to his face. Blood spurted from his nose, spattering the floor.

One kick after another.

Not hard, but in rapid succession.

Like kicking a punching bag, like stomping on a bug.

Shōta curled up on the floor, clutching his head and whimpering in pain.

Blood ran from his nose, mouth, and forehead, mixing with tears and snot and smearing his entire face.

As I watched Shōta suffer, the emptiness inside me... seemed to fill just a little.

But only a little.

Nowhere near enough.

Mom wasn't coming back.

She was never coming back.

Just then-

"What are you doing, Junpei?!"

A familiar voice came from the gym entrance.

I turned and saw Yuji Itadori standing there, staring wide-eyed at the scene, his face filled with shock and incomprehension.

He had come.

My... friend.

But I didn't want to see him now. I didn't want to explain.

I didn't want to talk.

"Get lost," I said, looking at Itadori, my voice icy. "Jujutsu Sorcerer."

Itadori froze.

"Jujutsu Sorcerer?" He repeated the words, then shook his head.

"Junpei, what are you talking about? What's going on? What happened to these people?!"

"I said, get lost!" I interrupted, raising my voice. "This has nothing to do with you!"

Itadori looked at me for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and walked toward me.

"Of course it has something to do with me," he said, his voice heavy. "You're my friend. What you're doing... is wrong."

Friend?

You're saying that now?

Mom is dead, Itadori.

Mom is dead, and you're standing here telling me, "What you're doing is wrong"?

Ha.

What a joke.

"Moon Dregs," I called softly.

The Shikigami floated toward Itadori, its tentacles swaying as it released poison gas.

But Itadori didn't fall.

He didn't even frown. He simply kept walking toward me, his steps steady, his gaze resolute.

I froze.

Why?

My poison should have worked.

Breathing in even a little should cause dizziness, nausea, and weakness in the limbs.

But Itadori... wasn't reacting at all?

Was the poison I used too weak?

Then I'd increase the dose!

Moon Dregs' tentacles shot out at once, spraying venom toward Itadori like a fine rain.

Itadori still didn't dodge. He didn't even raise a hand to block it, simply letting the venom shower over him.

Then he reached me.

He threw a punch.

So heavy.

It hurt so much.

I didn't even see him move. I only felt a burst of excruciating pain in my abdomen before I flew backward, smashed through the gym window, and landed in the corridor outside.

Broken glass pierced my back, making me suck in a breath at the pain.

I struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.

Itadori jumped through the broken window and landed in front of me.

"Although I don't know what drove you to do this..." He looked at me, holding back the emotion in his voice.

"There has to be a reason!"

What was he talking about?

"But are you really willing, for that reason..." Itadori continued, each word striking my heart like a hammer.

"To lose that kind of life?!"

That kind of life?

What kind of life?

A life eating meals with Mom? A life chatting and watching movies with Itadori? A life with something to look forward to?

That life...

It was already gone.

Mom was dead.

She had died at home, on the floor, with a hole in her chest and blood everywhere.

That life was never coming back.

"You said people's hearts are false." Itadori's voice trembled, whether from anger or something else, I didn't know. "Could you say that in front of that person?!"

That person?

Who?

Mom?

Or... someone else?

"What right do you have..." I lifted my head and looked at Itadori, tears having started flowing again without my noticing. "To mention her in front of me... Yuji Itadori..."

What right did you have?

What right did you have to stand here when I'd lost everything and talk to me about "that kind of life"?

What right did you have...?

"Damn it..." I covered my face, tears spilling through my fingers. "Damn it..."

Itadori watched me in silence.

A few seconds later, he spoke again, his voice softer than before, but heavier.

"Why are you still like this...?"

"There aren't any!!" I jerked my head up and shouted at him, my voice hoarse and broken.

"People don't have hearts! Otherwise, are you saying Mom and I were both cursed by people's hearts?!"

"That's just too unfair..."

Too unfair.

What had Mom done wrong?

What had I done wrong?

Why us?

Why...?

I no longer knew what was right and what was wrong.

All I knew was that Mom was dead.

All I knew was that I was in pain.

I just wanted... to end all of this.

"Moon Dregs." I summoned the Shikigami again.

The jellyfish floated beside me, its tentacles gently swaying, ready to release an even stronger poison.

But Itadori didn't move.

He simply stood there, looking at me, looking at Moon Dregs, and then-closed his eyes.

Poison gas enveloped him.

Venom showered over him.

Venomous barbs stabbed into him.

But he didn't dodge, didn't block, didn't even frown.

He simply stood there and took it.

I froze.

Why... didn't he dodge?

"Itadori..." I said without thinking.

Itadori slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.

His face was a little pale, his lips faintly purple-but he was still standing, steady on his feet.

Then he walked toward me.

One step, then two.

He came up to me and crouched down, bringing his eyes level with mine.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice very soft, but every word reached my ears clearly.

"I didn't know anything, but I still stood there making thoughtless remarks."

I looked at him, unable to speak.

"Tell me," Itadori said, looking at me. Something flickered in his eyes-sincerity, pain... understanding?

"What happened?"

He reached out and gently rested his hand on my trembling shoulder.

Just as Mahito had done outside the movie theater that day.

But it felt... completely different.

"Junpei," Itadori said, his voice soft but firm, "tell me."

I looked into his eyes, something blocking my throat.

Then I opened my mouth, letting out a broken, wavering sound.

"Mom... died..."

As the words fell, my tears burst free.