"Let us make an agreement for next year," he said softly, his voice steady despite the weight of what lay ahead, "after the 'Star Plasma Vessel' mission is concluded.
[After Yaga Masamichi is promoted to principal.]
"We will make it official."
[If we can all survive safely, if Gojo Satoru can truly shed his shell and awaken as 'the strongest.']
"Before that happens, you promised me you would speak properly with your wife. You cannot agree to something like this on your own, without her consent."
[If there is any trouble at all, come to me as much as you can.]
Asou Akiya extended his little finger, hooking it with Yaga Masamichi's, allowing himself—for once—to behave like a child who lacked a sense of security, and said in a small, earnest voice, "Pinky swear, Papa Yaga. A liar has to swallow a thousand needles."
Yaga Masamichi's expression tightened as he accepted the promise with equal seriousness. "All right."
Compared to the formal and unforgiving Binding Vows between sorcerers, they seemed, at this moment, far more willing to place their trust in such a simple folk custom.
Asou Akiya looked up at him and asked, carefully but with unmistakable hope, "Do you accept me calling you that in advance?"
Yaga Masamichi rested his hand on the black-haired boy's head, rubbing it gently. "In private," he said, his voice lowering, "call me whatever you like."
"It's settled, then," Yaga Masamichi continued, his tone firm but reassuring. "Next year, I'll submit the adoption application. With Lord Tengen speaking on our behalf, the chances of the higher-ups approving it are very high. This year, all you need to do is focus on growing stronger, and stop letting your thoughts run wild."
Asou Akiya muttered under his breath, almost sheepishly, "Not letting my thoughts run wild is… a little difficult, but I'll do my best."
Yaga Masamichi felt a familiar headache coming on at the thought of this personality of his, and changed the subject decisively. "Do you still remember what the core essence of learning Black Flash is?"
Asou Akiya fell silent for a moment. His expression turned solemn, his gaze sharpening as he answered with conviction, "Focus."
Yaga Masamichi nodded. "That's right. Can you actually do it?"
Asou Akiya did not reply immediately. He frowned slightly, and the intense joy still lingering in his chest slowly settled, transforming into a calm that flowed like a quiet stream—deep, steady, and restrained.
By morning, the classroom was as lively as ever. The DK boys roughhoused noisily with one another, while the JK girls rested their chins on their hands, gazing lazily out the window at the scenery beyond. When Yaga Masamichi and Asou Akiya entered one after the other, Suguru Geto immediately spoke up, his tone half-complaining and half-playful. "Sensei, you haven't called me for extra training at all lately!"
Yaga Masamichi fixed his gaze on this particular problem child and called him out without mercy. "Geto, you think you're strong enough already, don't you? You've been having a great time running around with Gojo lately—always leaving the assistant supervisors behind and going on missions by yourselves."
Geto replied guiltily, scratching his cheek. "Did another assistant supervisor file a complaint?"
Asou Akiya stepped out from behind Yaga Masamichi's tall figure and returned to his seat, speaking calmly as he did so. "At least Geto still remembers to put up a Curtain."
The moment that was mentioned, Yaga Masamichi's temper flared. "Gojo! How exactly did you promise me you'd handle this?!"
Gojo Satoru froze when the verbal artillery suddenly locked onto him. "What does this have to do with me?!"
Yaga Masamichi condemned him sharply. "Last month alone, you forgot to deploy a Curtain again and again. Do you think going on missions is some kind of game?"
Gojo argued back without the slightest hint of remorse. "For me, exorcising cursed spirits is like playing a monster-hunting game. Besides, ordinary people can't see cursed spirits or jujutsu anyway."
Asou Akiya interjected flatly, without missing a beat. "But they can see a white-haired teenager flailing around and losing his mind while yelling at thin air."
Geto burst out laughing. "Gojo, if you keep that up, you're going to scare civilians. As jujutsu sorcerers, we're supposed to maintain social stability for ordinary people."
Hearing that, Asou Akiya turned his gaze toward Geto. There was a faint trace of mockery in his eyes.
Geto's instincts screamed danger.
Asou Akiya spoke calmly, one question at a time. "Are you the Higher-Ups?"
Asou Akiya continued, his tone unhurried but piercing. "Are you the head of state, or the clan head of one of the Three Great Families?"
Asou Akiya continued without pause, each sentence cutting more deeply than the last. "Social stability should be handled by the police and the officials responsible for public order. Jujutsu sorcerers receive pay to exorcise cursed spirits, living lives more dangerous than hired mercenaries, and yet you expect everyone to take on an extra, unpaid role as well? Tokyo Jujutsu High doesn't even have a single professional psychologist—where exactly are we supposed to find the time and energy to act as someone else's emotional shield?"
Asou Akiya fixed his gaze on Geto Suguru, his tone calm but relentless. "Geto, where exactly do you stand? On the side of ordinary people, or on the side of jujutsu sorcerers?"
Asou Akiya went on, his words carrying a quiet contempt. "You don't even know how to fight for your own interests?"
His voice grew colder, the logic unforgiving. "After we gamble our lives in battle, why is it never ordinary people who protect our hearts, who remember us? Where is the so-called 'hero's glory' we're supposed to receive? It doesn't exist at all. Ordinary people are weak—does being weak automatically make them righteous? There are countless ordinary people far wealthier and more powerful than we are. Some utterly powerless civilians can even hire people with awakened cursed energy to work as maids."
Gojo Satoru hadn't been listening very seriously at first, but the moment Asou Akiya launched into his theory about weakness, something struck his funny bone. He burst into laughter, unable to stop himself.
Geto Suguru, however, did not find it amusing in the slightest. His expression darkened. "Asou, those words of yours are a little too selfish."
Geto added pointedly, "I've never seen a jujutsu sorcerer who willingly works as a maid."
Asou Akiya replied lightly, almost carelessly, "Oh, you will in the future."
Then he leaned forward slightly, his tone sharpening again. "What, can't stand it after just a few words from me? Do you want to give me a thumbs-up first and then drag me outside for a fight? If you need to rely on violence to convince yourself that you're right, doesn't that mean you also believe in the idea that strength is everything?"
When Asou Akiya decided not to hold back, his small mouth was like it had been smeared with poison, every word lethal.
He turned his attention next to Gojo. "Gojo, stop laughing. When Geto lectures you, is all you know how to say really just 'I don't feel like it'?"
Gojo slammed his hand on the desk. "What's wrong with you today? Did you eat something too spicy and get overheated? I didn't even say a word!"
Starting from yesterday morning, the preferential treatment he used to enjoy over Geto had completely vanished.
Yaga Masamichi finally cut in, interrupting their escalating argument. "Just don't forget the rules of being a jujutsu sorcerer. Fulfill the responsibilities and duties you're supposed to carry out."
Ieiri Shoko, having listened to the clash among the three of them from start to finish, felt nothing but boredom welling up inside her.
Wasn't it just a Curtain?
That was the responsibility of the assistant supervisors in the first place. If a sorcerer could set it up, then fine—if they couldn't, then next time they should simply avoid taking solo missions.
In any case… if something went wrong, dock a bit of pay and use it as compensation to society. That was all.
Everyone held different positions and different beliefs; keeping a certain distance, seeking common ground while reserving differences, was how most people chose to coexist. But Asou Akiya did not see things that way. To him, they were classmates, comrades who entrusted their lives to one another. Words that needed to be spoken should never be left vague or swallowed down.
The wealth of the Three Great Sorcerer Clans was the result of accumulation across a thousand years.
Jujutsu sorcerers, by contrast, were a minority hidden from society, far from living at the top of any pyramid. Mansions, yachts, private jets—how many sorcerers who worked their entire lives could ever afford such things? They used cursed energy to save the lives of ordinary people, held no official rank, and merely accepted the compensation they were due. They should not be forced to shoulder excessive social responsibility on top of that. Surrounded every day by curses born of negative emotions, a sorcerer's heart was not necessarily healthy to begin with; what they needed even more was care and understanding.
Asou Akiya's words struck something in Yaga Masamichi. He found himself thinking: in regular schools, there were usually counselors or psychologists—yet Tokyo Jujutsu High seemed to lack a dedicated professional for emotional guidance altogether.
A moment later, he sighed inwardly, feeling helpless.
Such an important role would have to be taken on by someone with cursed energy. Asking assistant supervisors to handle it as a side job was unrealistic; they were already under immense pressure themselves, forced to act with constant caution, and utterly incapable of helping sorcerers sort through their emotional burdens.
Tokyo Jujutsu High was still a relatively young school. It was not lacking in resources, but there were many gaps yet to be filled.
[If I become principal, I'll change all of this.]
Yaga Masamichi made his decision.
With Asou Akiya's assistance, he believed that the things he himself was not good at could be entrusted to those who were.
Outside, the clear sky was swallowed by heavy clouds, thunder rolling one after another. Yaga Masamichi taught indoors for a while before dismissing the class into self-study. Tokyo in October spent nearly a third of its days under rain; the weather swung unpredictably between extremes, the air sometimes dry, sometimes damp, and anyone with a weaker constitution could easily catch a chill if they were careless.
When the lunch break arrived, Gojo Satoru vanished on the dot, punctual to the second.
Ieiri Shoko, Asou Akiya, and Geto Suguru remained behind in the classroom, waiting for the rain to let up.
Less than a minute passed before Ieiri Shoko was summoned away by a phone call without the slightest complaint. An assistant supervisor in a black suit held an umbrella over her, his expression solemn and respectful. She bent slightly at the waist to step beneath the shelter of the umbrella, the pooled rainwater on the ground splashing against the stockings that clung to her legs. She had not yet put on her white coat, and yet she already looked like an angel in white, hurrying toward a place of death.
Asou Akiya stood beneath the eaves, rainwater dripping steadily beside him, watching Ieiri Shoko's figure fade into the downpour as she headed off to work overtime.
Suddenly, Geto Suguru—who had ignored him all morning—walked over to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.
"Shoko's really busy," Geto said.
"…Yeah," Asou Akiya replied.
"Ak—Asou," Geto hesitated, then continued, "can we make peace? Stop arguing about sorcerers and ordinary people?"
"Sure," Asou Akiya answered easily. "I don't actually want to say so much either, but it always feels like some things have to be said."
He lifted his hand slightly, as if to catch the rain drifting on the breeze. The air carried the damp, decaying chill of the school building after the storm.
Geto Suguru did not look at him. Instead, he gazed up at the dim, overcast sky. "Your way of thinking sits almost exactly between mine and Gojo's. You agree that sorcerers have a responsibility to exorcise curses, but you don't agree that the strong are obligated to protect the weak."
Asou Akiya replied calmly, "Maybe it's because when I was weak, what I saw was the order of ordinary society, not some powerful figure standing in front of me."
In the depths of night in Shinjuku, Tokyo, there was a scene Asou Akiya would never be able to forget.
Countless curses had been peering into the world of ordinary people—and the moment they sensed that he could see them, every single one of them turned back to look at him in unison.
There was no hell more vivid than this.
Had it been a newly awakened, wild sorcerer—one without an innate technique—they would likely have been frightened out of their wits, their courage shattered, turning tail and fleeing in blind panic, only to be swarmed and devoured by the curses in their ignorance.
But Asou Akiya was different.
He was someone who had awakened his cursed energy through information, and who survived by relying on information.
He believed in changing fate through personal effort.
The atmosphere between the two of them gradually fell into silence.
Geto Suguru leaned against the wall, the toe of his left foot lightly touching the floor, his shoulders finally relaxing as he hugged his schoolbag to his chest. "All this time, I've hated filthy curses," he said slowly, "and I really like what you said before, Asou—that sorcerers are gods."
[It really was just like an ordinary student, speaking freely about what he liked and what he hated.]
That was what Asou Akiya thought to himself.
And yet, he could already guess that the next sentence would be anything but ordinary.
Their voices overlapped in the same instant.
Geto Suguru said, "If we are gods, then why does Asou think gods should live for their own interests?"
Asou Akiya said, "If we are gods, then why does Geto think gods should live for ordinary people?"
Geto Suguru's expression froze in that very second.
Blank.
He looked as though he had taken a direct hit from Unlimited Void.
Asou Akiya let out a soft, amused chuckle. Empty verbal preaching was so dull; youth should not be worn down and consumed by the trivial concerns of the masses.
"Gojo—over here!"
Asou Akiya raised a hand and waved toward the rain-slicked road. At the far end of the street, a white-haired boy came into view.
"..."
Gojo Satoru returned carrying two transparent umbrellas.
He tossed them over to the other two.
Geto Suguru caught one on reflex, still unable to quite believe what he was seeing. Gojo Satoru—going out of his way to bring umbrellas for them?
Gojo Satoru looked visibly displeased. "I thought you guys would be shocked or something. That's it?"
Asou Akiya replied calmly, "I'm very shocked, actually."
At that, Gojo Satoru's eyes lit up at once.
Asou Akiya asked, "Why did you take so long? Did something delay you on the way?"
Gojo Satoru answered in a lively tone, "Yeah. I saw a cat dash out of the bushes, so I stopped to watch for a bit."
Asou Akiya liked Gojo Satoru best when he wasn't maintaining his Limitless technique. Moisture would cling to the other boy's hair, raindrops would dot his shoulders, and as he walked he would deliberately step over puddles, occasionally flicking water from the tips of his shoes—looking every bit like a fastidious, clean-cut boy who disliked dirt and rain.
The "Six Eyes" child of destiny had stepped down into the mundane world, willing to let his guard fall before becoming the "strongest."
This was the first year at Jujutsu High that the younger students would never get to see.
Their youth belonged to them alone—memories filled mostly with clear skies, punctuated now and then by rain. And within that rain were three boys walking back to the dormitories together, along with the worries they had temporarily set aside.
"Geto, Akiya—don't forget to bring me along at the end of the month for Halloween!"
"Sure."
"Are you really going?"
Asou Akiya asked quietly. "I don't like Halloween."
October 31st was Halloween—a holiday Asou Akiya disliked, second only to the one he hated most: Christmas Eve.
"Why?" Gojo Satoru asked, holding his umbrella as he leaned beneath Asou Akiya's canopy of shelter, curiosity plain in his voice.
"You don't like dressing up?" Geto Suguru asked. His impression of Halloween was a festival where people could freely play at being demons and monsters.
"..." Asou Akiya moved his lips slightly before answering. "That's not it."
The Shibuya Incident would occur on the evening of October 31st, 2018—Halloween night. Gojo Satoru would stand alone against three special-grade cursed spirits and one incarnated special-grade curse. He would deploy a 0.2-second Domain Expansion, Unlimited Void, shielding the civilians on the fifth basement level of Shibuya Station, and slaughtering one thousand transfigured humans. So rational, so merciful—yet even Gojo Satoru would be caught by Kenjaku exploiting the instant of mental exhaustion. Wearing Geto Suguru's body, the enemy would step forward, call out to Gojo Satoru, and in one decisive move successfully seal him with the special-grade cursed tool Prison Realm.
After that, the higher-ups would mistakenly conclude that Gojo Satoru had colluded with the curse user "Geto Suguru" to orchestrate the Shibuya Incident. The Gojo faction would lose its central pillar. Yaga Masamichi, their former teacher, would be sentenced to death by the Headquarters and ultimately killed by the principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High.
Now, Yaga Masamichi was Asou Akiya's teacher, and half a father to him. How could he possibly bear such an outcome?
"I just don't like Halloween or Christmas Eve," Asou Akiya said at last. "There's no particular reason."
Those two looming shadows could not be erased in 2005. They lingered constantly, serving as a warning to Asou Akiya—never forget the tragic future.
"You can invite me for any other holiday," Asou Akiya added after refusing the Halloween outing, a trace of embarrassment creeping into his tone. "Gojo, Geto… I want to devote myself entirely to training Black Flash this month. May I ask—have my cursed energy control and physical conditioning reached the minimum standard required to learn it?"
Black Flash was tied to hand-to-hand combat and cursed energy control. It had nothing to do with the total volume of cursed energy, nor with innate techniques.
Geto Suguru couldn't make an accurate assessment on his own and turned to Gojo Satoru instead. Gojo Satoru activated the scrutiny of the Six Eyes, examining Asou Akiya's condition with meticulous precision.
As though awaiting a doctor's verdict, Asou Akiya held his breath, his chest tight with anticipation.
Gojo Satoru let out a mischievous chuckle and deliberately kept him hanging for a few seconds longer.
"You pass~."
That simple reply carried within it the confidence bestowed by the most renowned Six Eyes in the jujutsu world—a reassurance offered from one classmate to another.
—Go on. Try it without fear.
Back in the dormitory, Asou Akiya couldn't help clenching his fist in delight. He spun around in place twice before abruptly stopping, suddenly remembering that Gojo Satoru might be watching. Then, recalling that Gojo had promised not to spy on his classmates with the Six Eyes, he relaxed again, quietly reveling in his joy, celebrating alone the fact that he had reached the minimum standard required for Black Flash.
He walked to his desk and took a red cord from the drawer. Just as he was about to put it on, his phone rang—a call marked with a special alert.
Asou Akiya set the red cord aside, went into the bathroom, closed the door behind him, and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Asou-kun, this is the director of the nursing home. You once said that if she passed away, we should contact you…"
The director rubbed his hands together, hesitating as he continued.
Nishioka Yukiko had passed away.
She was eighty-three years old.
Asou Akiya replied calmly, his voice steady. "Please arrange for cremation. Take photos and send them to me for confirmation. I'll transfer the payment to you shortly."
What peace and tranquility of passing years? There was no such thing. What he had to do was to defy fate itself and rewrite his destiny.
—
Author's Note:
There are two special Christmas Eves in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
On Christmas Eve, 2017, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons took place, and Geto Suguru died.
On Christmas Eve, 2018, the decisive battle against Sukuna occurred—and Gojo Satoru died.