"Is there really no convenience store at all?"
At noon, everyone once again poured scorn on Kyoto School—its standards were even worse than Tokyo School's.
Ieiri Shoko's nicotine craving had flared up. She had originally planned to hide in the restroom for a smoke, but after considering the two human-shaped "scanners" in her class, she decided—for once—to play the role of a superficially well-behaved girl. She set out to find a scenic, out-of-the-way corner where she could smoke in peace.
Who would have thought that the direction she chose would collide head-on with two other people taking a leisurely walk after lunch.
Ieiri Shoko halted in her tracks, her fingers tightening around the cigarette pack in her hand.
"Getou, you'd better not stir up trouble these next few days."
"That's not my intention. You've misunderstood me—the one who wants to cause trouble is Gojo."
The voices of the two male classmates drifted from behind the branches, tickling her curiosity, as though she had stumbled upon a secret.
[I didn't hear anything.]
Ieiri Shoko hypnotized herself with that thought and detoured away, yet her ears still caught fragments of the conversation.
Once again, she found herself admiring Asou Akiya's mind.
"This exchange event may involve a special-grade cursed spirit. Just in case, we can't afford to rely on Gojo for everything," Asou Akiya said.
"You should go see the Headquarters. While you're there, make a formal request to learn Simple Domain."
"Will they agree to that?" Getou Suguru asked, puzzled. "I can't afford to pay any price right now."
"Your future is one of the prices," Asou Akiya explained calmly. "Your position should have aligned with the Headquarters to begin with. If it weren't for the unexpected variable that is Gojo, your chances of advancing into the upper ranks of the Headquarters in the future would have been very high."
"Me? The upper ranks of the Headquarters?" Geto Suguru pointed at himself, incredulous.
"Even Yaga-sensei counts as half a member of the Headquarters," Asou Akiya said. As he spoke, he set up a [Curtain] around the two of them, sealing off the space and blocking out sensitive conversation. Then, piece by piece, he broke the matter down for Geto Suguru. "The Japanese government cooperates with the upper levels of the jujutsu world to establish the Headquarters. On the surface, there are no members of the Three Great Families within it, but behind the scenes, those affiliated with the Kamo family are the most numerous. The Headquarters' day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing Kyoto School and Tokyo School, exterminating cursed spirits, maintaining barriers, and continuously injecting fresh blood into the jujutsu world…"
Geto Suguru's eyes cleared with sudden understanding. "So I'm the so-called fresh blood being fed into the system?"
Asou Akiya corrected him without mercy, forcing a bit of self-awareness into him. "You're blood? You're a growing 'nuclear warhead.'"
Asou Akiya continued, "No matter how you see it, before you gain the power to pose a real threat to the Headquarters, the Headquarters is not your enemy. For now, it is an ally—one that is willing to provide you with a measure of support."
Geto Suguru did not forget the unfair treatment Asou had once suffered. "Then what about the other civilian jujutsu sorcerers?"
Asou Akiya replied calmly, "That's what truly counts as blood. Some of it is healthy, circulating blood; some of it is wasted, useless blood. It all depends on individual value."
Geto Suguru pressed his lips together. He did not consider himself a man driven by impulse or pride alone, yet being asked to bow his head to the Headquarters was, in all honesty, something he found deeply distasteful.
Getou Suguru replied with careful tact, "I can always learn it after I become a special grade. It amounts to the same thing."
Asou Akiya cut straight to the point, sharp and unyielding: "You'd rather place a Binding Vow on yourself with strangers instead? Do you really think favors and human debts are so easy to repay?"
Seeing that the other party had already understood his meaning, Getou Suguru could not help but lapse into willful slackness and said, "It's not that crucial of a technique anyway."
Asou Akiya: "..."
The instant Asou Akiya's expression cooled into indifference, Getou Suguru felt his scalp tighten. A heavy sense of guilt washed over him as he suddenly remembered—among them all, the one who despised the Headquarters the most was Asou Akiya, not himself.
Asou had thought through so much, all for the sake of helping him grow stronger, yet he himself was unable to show a mature, responsible attitude in return. His thoughts churned chaotically, tangled and incoherent, like fragments of meaning colliding without order, leaving only a dull ache of self-reproach echoing in his mind.
Getou Suguru's resolve finally loosened. "Then with the Headquarters… does that mean I wouldn't owe them a human debt either?"
Asou Akiya replied evenly, "If they want to invest in you, then they must also be prepared for the possibility that their investment will fail. You wouldn't seriously believe that anyone who gives something to you must be repaid in kind, would you? Do you think they truly understand how to treat the strong? The only special-grade jujutsu sorcerer Japan has produced in the modern era graduated from Tokyo Jujutsu High. As for why Tsukumo Yuki fled overseas—I think you already have some guesses of your own."
There was no change in Getou Suguru's expression. The truth was, he had never thought that far ahead.
"…So what kind of study plan did you custom-make for me?" Getou Suguru finally conceded. "Go on, Class President."
"The first step is to meet with the Headquarters and formally request permission to study," Asou Akiya said flatly. "And during that meeting, you must clearly display your distaste for Gojo. Praise him even once, and your entire study plan goes straight down the drain."
Getou Suguru frowned. "Is he really that universally hated?"
Asou Akiya let out a quiet sigh and exposed the truth with a single sentence: "The Headquarters and the Three Great Families do not stand on the same side."
Before he could completely fall in line with Gojo Satoru, Getou Suguru had to hate Gojo Satoru.
The future incarnation of Hot-Blooded Teacher Gojo Satoru would come to dominate Tokyo Jujutsu High, turning it into his personal fiefdom, forcing the Headquarters to yield step by step, and admitting a whole host of problematic students. In political terms, this was an extremely shameless act of "plucking the fruit" after others had done the hard work.
The school had been established by them. The teaching materials had been compiled by them. The financial budget had been provided by them. The jobs of jujutsu sorcerers and assistant supervisors were arranged by them. And yet, in the original course of events, Gojo Satoru—armed with the dual status of a head of the Three Great Families and the modern era's "strongest" sorcerer—simply seized the Headquarters' century-long accumulation and built a Gojo faction centered entirely around himself. No wonder the Headquarters hated him so deeply their teeth itched; any member of the Headquarters would be close to suffering a stroke just thinking about it.
In Kyoto, the Headquarters approved Getou Suguru's request for an audience.
For the first time, Getou Suguru set foot on the Headquarters' territory and saw the shoji doors that concealed the true power players behind them.
They were exactly as Asou Akiya had described in advance.
Unlike curse users who followed no formal path, orthodox jujutsu sorcerers were trained in "cursed energy perception." Whenever Getou Suguru found himself surrounded by people, his instincts drove him to sense the fluctuations of cursed energy in his surroundings—and the outcome was, as one might expect…
[So weak.]
[One, two, three… absurdly weak.]
[Did I misjudge my perception?]
[Can members of the Headquarters really rise through the ranks without relying on strength? Then where do their pre-promotion achievements even come from?]
Getou Suguru acknowledged the jujutsu sorcerer ranking system and cared deeply about it, because advancement depended on documented merit. No matter how powerful you were, even if you possessed the ability to defeat a special-grade cursed spirit, it meant nothing without proof. To be recognized, there had to be irrefutable evidence of exorcising a special-grade curse—complete cursed energy records left at the scene.
The fact that Gojo Satoru could not rely on family background alone to advance to special-grade jujutsu sorcerer filled Getou Suguru with a quiet sense of satisfaction.
So the jujutsu world did possess its own patch of pure land after all…
And yet, at this moment, Getou Suguru felt himself twisting inward, a faint knot of discomfort tightening in his chest as he realized how naïve he had been. Next time, I should listen to Asou, he thought.
The powerful figures of the Headquarters scrutinized the young curse manipulator before them.
"Getou Suguru," came the measured voice from behind a shoji door. It belonged to Gakuganji Yoshinobu, principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High and leader of the Headquarters' conservative faction, speaking now in his capacity as host of the exchange event. "Instead of remaining at Kyoto Jujutsu High to prepare for the competition, what brings you here?"
Standing before this assembly of elders, Getou Suguru stated his request clearly: "I wish to learn New Shadow Style: Simple Domain."
Bearing himself with the composure of a future special-grade jujutsu sorcerer, he showed no fear toward the upper echelons.
A murmur of hushed voices rose in response.
The members of the Headquarters exchanged glances and quiet words among themselves, each fully aware of what it meant to draw a curse manipulation technique user into their sphere of influence.
Gakuganji Yoshinobu asked, "Where did you hear about Simple Domain?"
Getou Suguru replied, "From my classmate—Gojo Satoru. He bragged to me that he had already learned Simple Domain when he was a child, and claimed that I would be completely helpless if I faced a special-grade cursed spirit. I come from a civilian background and cannot compare to the Three Great Families, but I am willing to learn. I ask you, honored sirs, to give me a chance—so that I may advance to special-grade jujutsu sorcerer before Gojo Satoru does."
Getou Suguru applied what he had learned, drawing inferences from a single example—he had picked up, from Asou Akiya, the art of provoking the Headquarters.
He was turning it into a competition with Gojo Satoru.
And the Headquarters would surely welcome any opportunity to suppress the Three Great Families.
Sure enough, the previously stifling atmosphere in the room loosened at once. It was as though they had glimpsed a hope of restraining the "Six Eyes": a highly motivated curse manipulator who fought and brawled with Gojo Satoru on a daily basis.
One member of the Headquarters asked carefully, "And what kind of person do you think Gojo Satoru is?"
As a first-year student, Getou Suguru felt absolutely no pressure when it came to speaking ill of Gojo Satoru.
"Arbitrary and willful!"
"A bully!"
"Breaking down doors in the middle of the night—rude, shouting 'ore-sama' this and that, yelling at people right beside their beds!"
"He can't cook, throws his clothes everywhere, a complete slob!"
"He alone occupies three male dorm rooms and even tore off two of the doors from the other dorms!"
Had this been their second year, even Asou Akiya would not have held out any hope that Getou Suguru could say such things aloud. And yet these heartfelt criticisms left the members of the Headquarters utterly stunned, unable to produce any rebuttal. What they gathered was the latest intelligence on Gojo Satoru: a universally detested, tyrannical young master of one of the Three Great Families, running rampant within Tokyo School.
Meanwhile, in the Kyoto Jujutsu High dormitory, Gojo Satoru sneezed.
"Someone's definitely talking trash about me!"
He clutched his reddening nose and viciously yanked a tissue from the napkin Asou Akiya handed him.
"That's impossible, isn't it?" Asou Akiya said. "Who would dare curse you out? Are you sure you're not catching a cold?"
He played dumb with practiced ease.
"It was the same thing a year ago." In Asou Akiya's eyes, the white-haired boy was venting in impotent fury as his tone abruptly shifted, drifting toward those curse users lurking in the shadows. "Back then, I sneezed three times in a row at the deepest part of my clan's barrier. We searched everywhere and found nothing abnormal, and yet somehow I got hit with a super long-range curse. I swore I'd crush that curse user with my own hands!"
Asou Akiya immediately grew serious about Gojo Satoru's safety. "The 'Six Eyes' didn't detect any change in cursed energy?"
Gojo Satoru shook his head. "Not a single warning sign. It just suddenly felt… wrong."
Asou Akiya rapidly ran through the curse users who appeared in the original story, combing his memory, but he could not find any technique that matched.
"Cursed Speech?"
"There's only one family in the jujutsu world that inherited the Cursed Speech sorcerer profession," Gojo Satoru said dismissively. "They wouldn't have the guts to provoke me."
And yet, Gojo Satoru himself did not truly believe that. The Inumaki family was famously eccentric within the jujutsu world—generation after generation expending enormous effort to abandon their inherited technique, their family power dwindling into ordinariness. Each successive head of the family harbored the same wish: to become a normal person.
Asou Akiya felt lost. What kind of curse user could cast a curse on Gojo Satoru from such an extreme distance? Even if Kenjaku possessed that level of ability, surely he wouldn't be that bored… right?
Then again, recalling Kenjaku's long history of outrageous antics, Asou Akiya found himself unable to guarantee anything.
"If you're feeling upset…" Asou Akiya sympathized deeply with Gojo Satoru's experiences. Assassination attempts from childhood to adulthood—yet he had still managed to retain his trust in humanity. What kind of ironclad nerves did that take? "…how about going out and beating up some students from Kyoto Jujutsu High?"
According to the traditional customs surrounding the thirtieth exchange event in the original timeline, provoking others and getting into fights before the competition was practically routine. Kyoto Jujutsu High's shameless first-grade sorcerers had even attacked Tokyo Jujutsu High's second-grade sorcerers, resulting in Fushiguro Megumi being severely injured.
Asou Akiya had been born a Tokyo Jujutsu High man, and if he died, he would die a Tokyo Jujutsu High ghost—his stance firmly and unwaveringly aligned with Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Therefore, the people of Kyoto Jujutsu High could endure a little suffering.
"Alright!" Gojo Satoru, having received exactly the suggestion he wanted, cheered as he grabbed someone and dragged them outside.
"Slow down—Getou won't steal your battle record," Asou Akiya said. He staggered a few steps as he was yanked along, his vision blurring for an instant. In the next moment, Gojo Satoru activated short-range teleportation, carrying Asou Akiya straight to the nearest marked location.
A white-haired youth and a black-haired youth appeared out of thin air. From on high, they looked down upon a student who had just returned to campus.
Students of Kyoto Jujutsu High wore black uniforms; students of Tokyo Jujutsu High wore white.
The moment they met, instinctive hostility flared.
A familiar cruelty surfaced on Gojo Satoru's face, eerily reminiscent of years past. Like a cat playing with a mouse, he tallied the debt of those two sneezes onto the head of a curse user. Unable to find the true culprit, he could only vent his anger on the enemies of the exchange event.
Asou Akiya tested the sensation of standing suspended in midair—it was strangely wondrous.
Gojo Satoru smoothly removed his sunglasses, his pale cerulean eyes blending seamlessly with the sky behind him.
"Relax, I'll make it quick," Gojo Satoru said. His entire body seemed to glow, cursed energy raging violently as he declared, "Either you kneel and beg for mercy, or you wait for me to leave you barely breathing."
"W-Wait—are you the 'Six Eyes'? And the one beside you is a 'Curse Manipulator'?"
The fifth-year upperclassman from Kyoto Jujutsu High was struck with terror, fear seizing him before the battle even began. He did not even have time to call for a halt before a blast of Blue came crashing down like a raging torrent! The focused destructive power of this attack was comparable to an axe-style cruise missile!
First marked location—defeated.
Gojo Satoru ranked his targets by the intensity of their cursed energy, from strongest to weakest, and disdained to take the initiative in bullying those who were genuinely weak.
That day, the fifth- and fourth-year students who had returned to campus brimming with enthusiasm met with disaster. Amid their screams, they wailed, "We're not enemies—ahhh! We're not even participating in the competition!"
By the time the Headquarters received word, the students of Kyoto Jujutsu High from second year through fifth year had been completely wiped out. Only the trembling first-year newcomers remained. They survived solely by dropping to their knees and begging Gojo Satoru for mercy, thereby escaping the fate of being left half-dead for an entire day after undergoing Reverse Cursed Technique treatment.
Gojo Satoru's "blue bar"* had barely been depleted at all. He was still lively and full of energy, truly living up to the title of the strongest first-grade jujutsu sorcerer.
*{Note: His mana bar, like the ones in a game}
Asou Akiya, who stayed by his side the entire time, played the perfect audience. Wearing a serene, gentle smile, he held Gojo Satoru's hand, neither explaining his identity nor mocking anyone—yet he nonetheless carved a deep psychological shadow into the hearts of every student at Kyoto Jujutsu High.
When news of the incident reached him, Yaga Masamichi's first reaction was that Getou Suguru must have gone along with Gojo Satoru to cause trouble.
When Getou Suguru returned and ran straight into Yaga Masamichi, he was immediately scolded by his homeroom teacher. Crying injustice, he protested, "Sensei, I went to the Headquarters! The principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High can testify—I didn't get into any fights!"
Yaga Masamichi didn't believe him. "If it wasn't you, then who was it?"
Getou Suguru, filled with envy toward the male classmates' thrilling exploits, replied, "Isn't it obvious? It was Asou and Gojo."
For the sake of learning Simple Domain, Getou Suguru endured the pain of giving up his chance to stir up trouble at Kyoto Jujutsu High.
After Getou Suguru finished explaining everything, Yaga Masamichi offered an awkward apology and asked, "Did the Headquarters agree?"
"They're still discussing it," Getou Suguru answered. "They told me to wait one more day."
Yaga Masamichi offered a few perfunctory words of encouragement, then hurried off to look for Gojo Satoru and Asou Akiya. It had to be Gojo Satoru who had led his one and only good student astray!
…
As for the Headquarters' final deliberation, it leaned toward recruiting Getou Suguru.
"They want to help Getou Suguru grow stronger as quickly as possible, in order to form a counterbalance against Gojo Satoru."
A member of the Headquarters, dressed in black, knelt outside the door and faithfully relayed the contents of the discussion to the master behind it. Within the Headquarters, at least one-third of its members, in essence, obeyed the orders of a single individual.
"Simple Domain…"
A gentle, feminine voice drifted out. "It's not that he absolutely cannot be allowed to learn it, but this is far too fast, isn't it? He has formally stepped into the jujutsu world for less than a year. Things obtained for free are never truly cherished."
"Then… are you instructing us to refuse?" The Headquarters member asked cautiously.
"Did something unexpected happen that made you all resolve yourselves so firmly?" the woman's voice continued, calm and probing. "An undeveloped 'Six Eyes' shouldn't be enough to frighten you to this extent."
"He smashed the Headquarters once," the member replied bitterly, "and then brought others with him and swept through Kyoto Jujutsu High."
"Heh—" The woman chuckled softly. "'Six Eyes' have always been like that. You'd best get used to it sooner rather than later."
She delivered her conclusion unhurriedly: "Still, letting the 'Six Eyes' serve as a whetstone for a curse manipulator isn't a bad idea. Go tell them this—set a threshold for learning Simple Domain. Require Getou Suguru to kill a curse user of the same rank for the Headquarters, to stain his hands with human blood. As for the special-grade cursed spirit needed for this exchange event, I will provide it myself."
Inside the room, a short-haired woman hummed an unfamiliar lullaby. There was no infant in her arms—only an old photograph taken at home in the spring of 2003, an image already two years old.
In the family portrait, the figures of an elderly man and an adult male had been deliberately blacked out.
Only a woman who shared her exact features smiled at the camera, holding a pink-haired infant barely a month old in her arms.
A stitched seam ran across the woman's forehead.
Her smile was languid, bewitching.
—
Author's Note:
The character appearing at the end of this chapter: Kenjaku.
The body "she" currently inhabits belongs to Itadori Yuji's mother, Itadori Kaori.