"Nice coordination just now, Gojo."
After watching Geto leave in a daze, Asou Akiya stayed behind to clean up the loose ends of the incident.
Geto was someone perpetually entangled in trouble, but Gojo was hardly any better. If Asou Akiya had not sent that message in advance and made Gojo act as a mouthpiece, the line "Then I'll kill you" would have been etched into Geto's memory for the rest of his life.
Gojo glanced at his phone. No new messages appeared. He said flatly, "I got yelled at."
Asou Akiya shrugged. "I never promised you wouldn't."
Gojo fell silent.
Indeed. Asou Akiya had only demonstrated through action that there were benefits to being a "repeater," but that did not mean there were no downsides.
"Actually, there's something I've been wanting to ask," Asou Akiya said, tilting his head slightly. "Were you serious? When Geto asked you for help, you didn't waver even a little? You called his name, 'Suguru,' but in your heart you didn't treat him as a friend at all?"
"No," Gojo replied, instantly denying it the moment he thought of the so-called 'conditions' for friendship.
"Then it seems this is my fault," Asou Akiya sighed softly. What a heavy sin.
He corrected Gojo's warped understanding. "Gojo, ordinary people don't need 'conditions' to be friends. Shoko and I are very good friends, and I've never had any requirements regarding her strength."
After processing this in his own way, Gojo said, "Girls are different. Shoko doesn't need to go on missions in the first place."
Asou Akiya pressed his temples. "I'll need to be more careful about your eavesdropping next time."
Even climbing a mountain couldn't shake off Gojo Satoru.
One instance of eavesdropping had already caused a catastrophic friendship incident. He could not afford to leave the same opening again.
Sure enough, the greatest significance of Geto learning barrier techniques was to guard against the "Six Eyes."
Gojo protested indignantly, "You don't trust my promise? I said I wouldn't look around randomly, and I've held back no matter how hard it was!"
Asou Akiya paused. "…How hard was it?"
Gojo had been waiting for that question. Without thinking, he answered immediately, "It's like changing TV channels—knowing full well that the next channel is about to air your favorite anime, but still forcing yourself to skip past it."
As the so-called "favorite anime," Asou Akiya fell into thought, deciding that at most he was a news channel.
And not even an ordinary one.
More like the kind obsessed with broadcasting jujutsu-world gossip.
[Breaking News: xxxx from the Three Great Sorcerer Clans caught cheating with xxxx...]
"Thank you for your hard work," Asou Akiya came back to his senses and said calmly. "It's fine. Endure a little bitterness now, and sweetness will surely come later."
Gojo stared at Asou Akiya as if he had gone insane. This reaction was completely different from what he had imagined!
"Akira, shouldn't you just wear the red cord so I don't have to suffer this much?"
Listen to that—this was the top-tier straight-ball player of the Jujutsu Kaisen world speaking.
Either sweet enough to kill, or choking enough to kill.
Asou Akiya, a fake straight-ball type, replied, "Sorry, I don't want to wear matching wrist accessories with Geto."
Gojo said,"Then just put it in your pocket."
Asou Akiya replied, "I'm afraid I'd lose it. No, I'll keep it in the dorm instead—it's safer that way."
Gojo said, "If you lose it, I'll just get you a new one!"
Asou Akiya said, "That would be too embarrassing. Classmates shouldn't take things for free, especially not something so personal to you."
Gojo finally understood. This guy was deliberately refusing to carry it, deliberately making things harder for him!
Damn it. Six Eyes, don't look at Akiya anymore—Akiya is awful!
Gojo stiffly changed the subject. "You scared Geto off. Did he offend you today?"
Asou Akiya smiled. "What are you imagining? Even if Geto wanted to offend me, he wouldn't get the chance. He understands how to be considerate of his classmates better than you do. At worst, some of his words aren't very pleasant to hear, but at heart, his intentions are good."
Once the emotional impact of Yu Yu Hakusho had run its course, Asou Akiya stopped indulging Gojo's all-night behavior.
Such beautiful, brilliant eyes—how could they be allowed to grow weary?
He gently pushed Gojo toward the sink. "Go wash your face and get some rest. You've stayed up for so long; it's time to sleep."
Gojo protested, "I can't fall asleep. I'd rather play games. Geto has insomnia too—why don't you go nag him instead?"
Asou Akiya answered almost instinctively, "Huh? How could you two be the same?"
Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru were fundamentally different people.
Back then, he had been willing to run headlong into the jujutsu world for the sake of a completely exhausted twenty-eight-year-old Gojo Satoru, yet he would never feel the urge to save Geto Suguru once he became Kenjaku, the one with stitches across his forehead in the Shibuya Incident. Their levels of danger were comparable, but the "light" on Geto Suguru could not draw Asou Akiya in. Asou Akiya was a kite that had lost its string; he needed a grand, dazzling light to guide his path forward.
Suddenly, Asou Akiya stopped mid-sentence, feeling a little embarrassed, and a little reproachful toward himself.
He truly had not been gentle enough with Geto.
Asou Akiya said, "I'm sorry, I meddled too much. Go wash your face first—don't exhaust yourself any further… I'll switch the TV over to the game screen for you. If you want to play, go ahead. I'll come wake you up for class in the morning."
He handed over a warm towel, but Gojo Satoru did not take it, instead staring straight at Asou Akiya.
Asou Akiya tossed the warm towel directly onto Gojo's face.
"Fine. I'm going to sleep."
"Angry?" Gojo laughed at Asou Akiya's rare loss of composure, pleased as he wiped his face. "Where did that ability of yours to scare Geto stiff go? I was counting on you to knock him back to normal. He was so strange today—did he go crazy together with Sensui Shinobu from Yu Yu Hakusho or something? Oh right, I can answer your question from last time now—"
"I would never be friends with Urameshi Yusuke."
"…Why?"
"He wants to be the leader, and I want to be the leader too. I'd only fight him—I'd never peacefully coexist with him!"
"..."
"And he actually started dating at fourteen! I seriously don't understand what's so great about girls!"
"..."
"Kurama the fox demon is more interesting. I think he's meticulous, treats his family and friends well—pretty comparable to you. It's just that when Kurama met Yomi in the Demon World, he chickened out a bit, wasn't tough enough. If it were you, Akiya, you wouldn't leave Yomi any way out at all—either you'd toy with him like it was a joke, or you'd bury him completely and cut off the danger at its root."
Gojo casually laid bare parts of Asou Akiya's nature, fully deserving of his reputation as the bearer of the Six Eyes.
"Akiya, I suggest you set up a 'binding vow' with Geto during the day. Don't worry about me. When it's time to cut off danger, use the style you've always had."
"I don't think self-preservation is wrong. The living don't need to sacrifice themselves for the dead. Just go and do what you must do."
"Just don't go and die somewhere I can't see."
Gojo Satoru understood better than anyone how dangerous the jujutsu world was, and how rotten the Three Great Clans were to the core; otherwise, he would never have advised the other to change paths in the first place.
By facing battle head-on and confronting his own weakness with courage, Asou Akiya had earned Gojo Satoru's genuine respect.
Asou Akiya turned away, and before leaving the dormitory, spoke lightly, as if it were nothing at all: "As long as you're willing to watch over me, to acknowledge that I exist…"
Watching the person called Asou Akiya push upstream against the current, clench his teeth, and step into a world that surpassed reality itself—
"Then nothing is a problem."
The thief of fire steals a single thread of survival.
…
Daytime, the teaching building.
With only half a minute left before the class bell rang, the moment Ieiri Shoko stepped into the classroom, she let out an exclamation.
"Geto, the resentment you're giving off could qualify you as a special-grade cursed spirit."
An unprecedented sight.
Geto Suguru sat in his seat without his hair tied into its usual bun, dark circles pooled beneath his eyes, his face drained of color. Dense negative emotions coiled around him, tugging at his cursed energy, black miasma spreading in waves and pointing straight toward Asou Akiya in the neighboring seat.
This disheveled Geto—hair loose, fox-like eyes, a gloom-laden face—looked like a spirit from an ukiyo-e print that fed on human essence.
When it came to outward appearance, no one present could compare to Gojo Satoru.
But when it came to bone structure and bearing, Geto Suguru stood out unmistakably—his appeal lay in a temperament that ensnared people without effort.
"The pressure in here is intense," Asou Akiya said, lifting a hand to fan the air. Fortunately, he had already seen what a true special-grade cursed spirit was like.
Asou Akiya raised his phone toward Geto Suguru. "Come on, Geto. Smile for me."
The bloodshot veins in Geto Suguru's eyes were plain for everyone to see. His lips were dry and peeling as he gave a cold, shadowed smile. "It's fine. Take as many photos as you want. Asou is my best classmate—of course I'm willing to spare some time to help him clear up his doubts."
Asou Akiya snapped a commemorative photo and, satisfied, stopped there. "But you've been staring at me this whole time and still won't say what you want to ask."
Ieiri Shoko looked puzzled. "What kind of riddle game are you two playing?"
Gojo Satoru raised his hand. "I can testify—Suguru ditched us and went to the classroom alone, then just sat there without saying a word."
Ieiri Shoko turned to the boys. "Did you two get into a fight?"
Gojo Satoru thought for a moment. "Nope. Yesterday Suguru was still watching anime with me—we even binged all the way to the finale. Then Akiya dropped by in the middle of the night, and Jet started acting like he'd seen a ghost."
Geto Suguru said weakly, "Gojo, do me a favor and shut up."
Gojo Satoru answered frankly, "Oh, then I'll leave it to you guys. I like the Suguru who's usually full of energy."
Geto Suguru: "..."
Asou Akiya offered his "interview" verdict on Geto Suguru. "It feels awful, doesn't it—getting hit with a straight ball like that."
Geto Suguru's gaze went hollow. "That still doesn't make it a good reason for you to help him write a speech."
Asou Akiya replied with troubled sincerity, "If I don't, I'm afraid he'll end up angering you to death. I really don't want two genuinely good people to fall into misunderstanding—especially when the cause is nothing more than a failure of communication, when both sides are thinking hard but operating on completely different wavelengths."
Asou Akiya slowly dragged a large bento box out of his backpack and set it down on Geto Suguru's desk.
He opened the lid to reveal the meal he had prepared with care.
The breakfast he had brought for someone else still carried a faint chill: cold soba noodles tossed with refreshing shreds of cucumber and crisp mung bean sprouts.
"Geto, Gojo and I were up all night too. No one managed to fall asleep."
Those words made Geto Suguru close his eyes. His hard-earned experience screamed a warning inside his head: Don't forget Asou's way with words—don't be defeated by these small kindnesses! Those two thick-skinned classmates probably just stayed up all night playing games!
"I didn't play any games," Asou Akiya said.
"And I didn't read, didn't watch anime, didn't do anything you'd expect me to do."
"After I went back to the dorm and thought about the situation you two were in… I couldn't sleep."
Asou Akiya spoke in a gentle, measured tone, quietly soothing the lingering aftershocks that had been reverberating in the other man's heart.
The bell for first period had already been ringing for quite some time.
Oppressed by the suffocating low pressure of cursed energy in the classroom, the assistant supervisor didn't dare to enter. They lingered at the doorway, craning their neck to peek inside, waiting for Student Asou to announce when class could actually begin.
Everyone had an instinct for survival.
The poor assistant supervisor was no exception, and had no intention of confronting terrifying students head-on just for the sake of a teaching stipend.
Inside the classroom, Asou Akiya took out a hair tie and handed it to Geto Suguru. "I've always had the habit of carrying a lighter, hair ties, and bandages with me," he said calmly. "But aside from Shoko, I've never really had the chance to give them to anyone. Let's put this hair tie I bought to use today—tie your hair properly, finish your breakfast, and then we'll have plenty of time to talk. Don't scare the teacher who's here to give us lessons."
A lighter, huh. Ieiri Shoko smiled knowingly.
Bandages? Gojo Satoru twirled his pen, spinning it twice, and fished a faint impression out of the far corner of his memory.
Geto Suguru accepted the hair tie in silence. He gathered his hair with his fingers and tied it into a casual bun at the back of his head. After confirming that no loose strands would fall against his face, he took up the chopsticks again, lifted the chilled noodles, and began eating breakfast during class.
Ten minutes later, the oppressive aura around Geto Suguru had mostly dissipated, and he no longer treated his classmates with that biting, sardonic edge.
What had happened before dawn still stuck in his throat like a bone he couldn't swallow.
Geto Suguru asked, "How can you look at all of this and remain indifferent?"
Asou Akiya cherished youth; he would never allow the heart of a boy filled with dreams and burning idealism to grow cold.
"Me?" Asou Akiya answered after a brief pause. "I suppose I try to be a little more rational. I'm waiting for you all to grow stronger—strong enough that I can say anything I want to say."
"When that time comes, I'll support you in doing everything that is right."
"Can you accept that, Geto? Give yourself some time. Give me some time. Give everyone a little time."
"Some things simply can't be rushed."
"I promise you this: the things you're imagining won't turn worse. It hasn't reached that point yet."
He always possessed a little more patience and composure than a minor his age should have.
Asou Akiya packed away the lunchbox and, seeing that it had been eaten clean, spoke again. "For example, right now, I want to see a smile that comes genuinely from your heart. I want to see you understand us. But I know you can't do that yet, so I'm willing to wait…"
Asou Akiya continued softly, "One day, you'll smile at me like that, won't you?"
Sakyo from Yu Yu Hakusho toyed with human nature, a villain rotten to the core from birth. And yet, on this very morning, Asou Akiya—who had left Geto Suguru with the impression of a supernatural-horror final boss—returned to being a gentle boy. He no longer provoked Geto Suguru, nor did he follow Gojo Satoru's idea of establishing a secretive "binding vow" with him.
Asou Akiya was not Sakyo. Even if there were traces of similarity between them, he harbored no malice toward Geto Suguru. On the contrary, he held deep expectations for the humanity of his classmates.
"There's no need for a pact between us."
"I trust you that deeply—deeply enough to wager everything on you."
With that said, Asou Akiya called out to the assistant supervisor standing outside the classroom. "Sensei, thank you for giving us the time. It's time to start the lesson."
Geto Suguru, completely seen through, propped his heavy head in his hands and avoided looking toward the lectern.
No pact?
That meant no "binding vow"—it meant entrusting one's very life.
Through this incident, he had realized that there were different tiers of interests among jujutsu sorcerers. Gojo, too, was not as simple as he appeared. Given that, what right did he have to vent his anger on Asou Akiya? He couldn't do it. Asou was too cunning, leaving him no room to be angry at all.
The world of adults was complicated.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, among jujutsu sorcerer students whose relationships were still untainted and sincere, he continued to hope that they could help one another rather than become cold, detached, and merciless people. It was precisely because Asou Akiya understood this truth that he had been able to give such a precise and flawless answer to him.
There would never again be a second classmate in this world who understood the human heart so thoroughly, nor could there be a reply more perfect than this.
—To wager one's very life on the possibility that the other would keep a secret.
…
Gojo Satoru quietly pulled out his phone, crouched down, and angled it upward.
With a soft click, Gojo Satoru captured, from an exquisitely chosen angle, the sight of Geto Suguru lowering his head, the corners of his eyes faintly red, the restraint in his expression laid bare.
The dark history of that ridiculous fringe—revenge successfully achieved!