Adults

I told Itadori everything that had happened.

Everything came out, haltingly, between sobs and tears.

The tears wouldn't stop flowing.

I was a boy. I should have been strong.

I should have gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and held back my tears.

I should have been like the tough guys in movies, silently bearing everything, letting actions speak instead of words.

But under Itadori's gaze-those eyes held no impatience, only attentive listening and deep concern.

I cried helplessly, like a lost child.

I laid all my weakness, all my hurt, all my despair bare before him.

After hearing me out, Itadori wore a very complicated expression.

Something like sympathy.

Something like sorrow.

Something like indignation.

Something like sadness.

He understood how I felt.

He really did.

"How could this happen..." Itadori murmured, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "Your mom... she was such a good person..."

Such a good person.

Why?

After a moment, Itadori took a deep breath and looked up again, determination on his face.

As though he had made some major decision.

"Junpei," he said, looking into my eyes, each word clear and deliberate. "Come to Jujutsu High."

Jujutsu High?

What kind of place was that?

"Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu High School," Itadori explained, his tone earnest.

"It's a place that trains jujutsu sorcerers. There are teachers as strong as monsters there, and lots of dependable friends."

He paused, then continued, "If we all work together, we'll definitely find whoever cursed your mom."

"We'll make them pay!"

An invitation.

An invitation from a friend.

No, more than a friend-an invitation from a "comrade."

Could I?

Someone like me, who already had blood on his hands, who had nearly killed a classmate-could someone like that really go?

Itadori seemed to see through my hesitation.

He held out his hand, not placing it on my shoulder, but opening it, palm up, as though extending a formal invitation.

"Let's fight together!"

His eyes were shining.

Not figuratively, but truly shining-with a firm, unquestionable light.

Ah...

Yes.

I wanted that too.

I wanted to be with friends, to fight together, to share joy and pain.

I wanted to walk normally in the sunlight, to talk normally, to make friends normally.

I wanted to stop hiding, to stop bearing everything alone.

I wanted... that kind of life too.

"Itadori..." My lips parted, my voice choked with tears.

Just then-

"This is our first time meeting, isn't it?"

A familiar voice came from the hallway behind me.

I whipped my head around and saw Mahito slowly emerge from the shadows.

His signature smile was on his face, his gaze resting on Itadori as though he were sizing up an interesting toy.

Itadori's expression changed instantly.

The determination and concern from a moment ago turned into utter vigilance.

Almost instinctively, he stepped forward, placing himself between Mahito and me, lowering his body slightly into a defensive stance.

"Who are you?!" Itadori's voice was low, filled with undisguised hostility.

Right, I'd forgotten to introduce Mahito to Itadori.

As long as I explained everything, as long as Itadori knew Mahito was an important companion of mine, as long as Mahito could come to Jujutsu High too-then everything would be all right.

I'd have more friends.

Itadori, Mahito, everyone at Jujutsu High... we could fight together, find the real culprit together, avenge Mom together.

"Oh, here's the thing, Itadori," I hurriedly began, trying to explain. "This is Mr. Mahito. He's-"

"Sukuna's vessel."

Mahito cut me off.

His voice was soft and calm, but his words made my whole body stiffen.

Sukuna's vessel?

What was that?

Then I saw Mahito's arm begin to swell.

It inflated like a balloon in an instant.

The bones beneath his skin twisted and warped, muscle fibers growing wildly like vines, his entire arm turning into a thick pillar of flesh in the blink of an eye.

Itadori's pupils contracted sharply.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted at me, darting sideways.

But Mahito was faster.

The pillar of flesh clamped around Itadori's neck like iron pincers and slammed his whole body against the wall.

Bang-!!

The wall cracked, fragments of stone flying.

Pinned tightly against the wall with his feet off the ground, Itadori struggled desperately.

He tried to pry the arm away, but its strength was terrifying. It didn't budge.

I wanted to stop it.

My mind went blank, and my body moved before I could think.

"Wait, Mr. Mahito!" I rushed forward. "Itadori's my friend! You've misunderstood! He's not-"

"Run, Junpei!!"

Itadori's roar cut me off.

His eyes were fixed on me, holding no fear, only extreme urgency.

"I don't know what your relationship with this guy is," Itadori forced out through gritted teeth, every word flecked with blood.

"But run, now! Please!"

Run?

Why should I run?

This was just a misunderstanding.

As long as we cleared it up, as long as we talked it through, as long as...

Itadori's voice grew more urgent, more desperate.

"Junpei! Run!!"

His eyes, his tone, the way he still remembered to tell me to flee even as he struggled for his life-

Like a bolt of lightning, they split apart the murky fog in my mind.

I began to doubt.

To question Mahito's motives.

To question why he had approached me in the first place.

To question why he had "guided" me to awaken my power.

To question... everything I had believed until now.

But I still didn't want to believe it.

How could Mahito possibly mean me harm?

He understood me so well. He'd appeared when I was at my most desperate, answered my questions, given me power, practiced my cursed technique with me...

How could he possibly...

"Itadori, calm down." I heard my own voice speaking, dry and strained. "Mr. Mahito isn't... a bad person?"

I stopped halfway through.

Wasn't he a bad person?

What was Mahito?

A curse born from human hatred, fear, and malice.

He saw humans as toys and delighted in toying with their lives.

When he turned the high school students into monsters in the movie theater, an innocent smile had been on his face.

When he killed, he showed no hesitation, no remorse.

Was someone like that... really not a bad person?

I looked at Mahito.

He was still pinning Itadori down, the smile on his face unchanged.

But there was no warmth in his eyes.

When he looked at me, it was as though he were looking at an interesting test subject, a... pawn that had served its purpose.

A pawn.

The word suddenly leaped into my mind.

Then all the pieces fell into place.

The "chance encounter" at the movie theater.

His happening to be at the scene after Mom died.

Sukuna's Finger "happening" to appear in my house.

His "happening" to guide my suspicions toward Shōta.

His "happening" to appear when I was falling apart, giving me "explanations," giving me "direction."

His "happening" to awaken my power, turning me into a... blade in his hand.

Sukuna's vessel.

Itadori was Sukuna's vessel.

So Mahito's target had been Itadori from the very beginning.

And I was merely something used to approach Itadori, earn his trust, then stab him in the back at the crucial moment-

A pawn.

I understood everything.

Back at the movie theater, the moment I rushed out of the screening room and searched everywhere for Mahito-

I had already become a pawn.

Something he had painstakingly honed, coated in a poison called "friendship," then aimed at Itadori's heart-

A blade.

Mahito slowly raised his other arm and reached toward me.

His fingers spread, their tips slightly bent, as though he meant to caress my face, or perhaps... touch my soul.

"Junpei," Mahito said softly, his voice as gentle as ever. "You did very well. Now it's time to complete the final step."

The final step?

What was it?

Killing me?

Using this pawn to deal Itadori one final blow?

Making him watch his "friend" die before his eyes, making him break down, making him despair?

I understood.

I understood it all.

Was this my life flashing before my eyes?

Everything became so slow.

Mahito's hand slowly reached toward me, his fingertips drawing closer and closer to my face.

Itadori struggled desperately against the wall, opening his mouth wide to shout something, but no sound came out. Only blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Sunlight slanted through the windows into the hallway, forming shafts of light in the dust.

Mom's smile flashed before my eyes.

"Junpei made a friend. That's wonderful."

"Let's invite Itadori over for dinner again next time."

She said...

I'm sorry, Mom.

I'm sorry, Itadori.

I closed my eyes and waited for that hand to come down.

Waited for the end.

Waited...

Madara knew perfectly well that Junpei's death was a major step in spurring Itadori's growth.

In the original "plot," Junpei Yoshino would die at Mahito's hands, and Itadori would witness it all.

That pain, that helplessness, that despair of "wanting to protect someone but being unable to" would become the catalyst for Itadori's inner transformation.

He would become more resolute, stronger, and more certain of his mission as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Junpei's death would become a stepping stone for Itadori to reach new heights.

One life in exchange for the growth of someone who would become "the strongest."

A good bargain, wasn't it?

In countless worlds manipulated by the Deity, such trades happened every day.

The death of a supporting character was used to trigger the protagonist's awakening.

The sacrifice of companions was exchanged for a breakthrough in power, and blood and tears nurtured a so-called "hero."

Madara knew this rule.

He had seen those "plots," remembered the death at every crucial turning point, remembered the price of every instance of growth.

By rights, he should stand by and watch.

He should let Junpei die, let Itadori suffer, and let the "plot" follow its predetermined course.

After all, hadn't he come to this world to "change the ending"?

And changing the ending required Itadori to grow stronger, required Itadori to experience those necessary "trials."

So, he should...

(Let a fifteen-year-old child grow... to face the world's crises?)

Madara stood on a distant rooftop, clearly seeing everything that happened in the corridor.

He saw Mahito gripping Itadori by the throat, saw Junpei close his eyes in despair, saw that hand reaching toward Junpei.

He saw... in Itadori's pocket, the "protective charm" he had made from a Wood Clone and given him a few days earlier.

(Do you think adults grew up eating for free!?)

The next second-

Inside Itadori's uniform pocket, the wooden Doll shook violently.

Then, amid a sudden burst of white mist, the Doll's form began to change.

The Transformation Technique was released.

The white mist dispersed, revealing a figure identical to Madara Uchiha.

The clone's eyes had already turned blood-red the instant he appeared. Three Tomoe spun rapidly, then connected and changed shape, forming the pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The clone did not even glance at his surroundings.

"Susanoo!"

Blue light erupted from the clone's body, and a massive, spectral-blue blade swept out.

It cut between Junpei and Mahito!

Just before Mahito's hand could touch Junpei's cheek, the blue blade rose like a wall, separating the two completely.

For the first time, the smile on Mahito's face froze.

He stared at the Madara clone who had suddenly appeared, stared at that blue blade, and a flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes.

"Oh?" Mahito tilted his head, unconsciously loosening his grip a little. "What's... this?"

Itadori slid down the wall and fell to the floor, clutching his throat and coughing violently.

But he had no time to worry about himself. He jerked his head up and looked at the figure who had suddenly appeared.

"Madara-senpai...?"

The Madara clone did not turn around.

He simply stood in front of Junpei, shielding him completely.

Then he spoke, his voice calm, yet every word carried clearly throughout the corridor.

"You."

The Madara clone looked at the Special Grade Cursed Spirit before him, a cold light gleaming in his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Who gave you permission..."

He paused, raising the blade slightly.

"To touch my junior's friend?"